Trying to keep you guys up to date...

I have been at my site a little over 2 weeks now. I feel very comfortable with my host family and also feel as though my Spanish may be getting a little better even. My host dad is super talkative and I am really appreciative of that because he is constantly trying to teach me things. Not only in Spanish but also about growing fruit trees and gardening. He is also planning to teach my how to put electricity in my house and how to set up a tube for water. Also, we are going to build a bed frame and other household items for me when it is getting closer to my time to live in my own house.

As far as my community diagnostic goes, I am feeling a little bit panicky. I have been going to all of my community meetings to keep trying to learn more but it is hard to imagine getting a report written and a presentation formed within the next 2 1/2 months. It seems like a lot of time right now, but when the days go by slow and the weeks fairly quickly it gets me a little worried. The only things that I have started to work on so far are my community map and some interviews to learn more about the financial situations of different families. It blows my mind that familys of 3-5 people are living off of 200-300 US dollars a month. We would not dream of that in the states! Although necessities are a cheaper here, $200-300 does not go far. So, you are probably wondering how these interviews will come into play for my community diagnostic. I am learning about how families spend and save their money so that I can see if there are ways that they could do things better. This will be included in my two year plan if I see it necessary to give "charlas" or, presentations, over financial planning and basic accounting skills that they can use. I have found that most families to do not really know what their actually income is because they don't have a set income from month to month. This is due to the fact that they are selling a few nuts or mangos here or giving a few moto rides there.

I am also continuing to attend community meetings and association meetings of my fruit producer group. I am trying to work on an organizational diagnostic with Andres, my project partner, but that is coming along slowly if at all. At the meetings, the members are constantly trying to talk at the same time and nothing every really gets accomplished. I think that I will be working a lot with getting them organized and getting them able to have more constructive meetings. An additional problem is that many of the members do not attend meetings.

Right now there is a volunteer COSing (close of service) in Dajabon about 15 minutes away from me. Yesterday I attended her going away party that was thrown by the association of bee keepers that she was working with for the last 2 years. They presented her with so many plaques and certificates it was unreal. I hope I will be able to figure out a way to make such an impact on my association, but right now it seems like I can't even figure out with is going on! Other volunteers that have been here awhile tell me that I should not stress about it because this is how everyone feels at the beginning...clueless! :) So, I am trying to just keep calm and not worry about it too much. It will all come together eventually.

As for all of you--keep saving those pennies to come visit. I really think that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to come see and learn about developing country first hand...and take a few trips to different beaches as well. Love you all and miss you all.

Life @ my site

I swore in as a volunteer about a week ago and came back to my site on Friday. I think it is going to be a lot harder getting started in my community that I had originally thought before getting out here. I have no idea where to begin as far as the fruit producer group goes but I have spoken with some people about the problems that exist and also was giving a "course" on how they plant and grow the fruit here. Basically there are 3 parts to growing the fruit. To my understanding, first they plant the seeds for the fruit in bags in something called a "jimanadero" and after 15 days they replant in the "vivero". The vivero is somewhat of a nursery where the seeds continue to grow for 45 days and then they go to the fields to continue growing until the fruit is ripe. I will probably continue to learn the process for this, as of right now that is the most that I got out of the "course" that a man named Gregorio taught me.

Right now I have decided to just focus myself on getting to know members of the community better and try to look for opportunities for secondary projects. So far I have taken notice that many families do not have bathrooms (latrines) and this could be a possibility for a project later on if I can find the resources to do it. Also, some members of the community have approached me about wanting to learn English and I think that that could be an option to start here in the upcoming month. For now, I plan to just settle in to my community and talk to people about their needs and wants. There are also some things going on in and around my community right now and some events have taken place that make me a little nervous about my safety and I know that I need to take precautions for the time being until I know my surroundings better. Thats all for now..:) Stay tuned for more.