La Navidad is here!

Right now I am in the capital and am dealing with some sort of allergic reaction on my mouth and face. It has calmed down a bit, but now my lips are just really chapped. The dermatologist that I saw on Tuesday told me that the reaction is either from 1) mangos 2) my toothpaste or 3) some other unknown source that enters my mouth. So, coincidentally, I have had several mangos that have popped out of the trees randomly even though it is not mango season (mango seasons is May and April). I am not completely sold that that is the case but for those that do not know, mango trees are from the same family as poison ivy, so this is why some people get an allergic reaction to them. What I have been told by other volunteers with mango allergies is that you can still enjoy mangos as long as you peel the peel off and wash and cut the mango off of the seed that is in the middle. I was relieved because mangos are pure deliciousness...so plan those visits in April and May if you want to enjoy unlimited mangos for virtually free (because of the Haitians selling them for dirt cheap in our market).

Things have been a little frustrating for me lately out here in the campo (countryside). My project partner is talking about quitting and selling his farm and it makes me feel very lost as to what my roles are as a Peace Corps Volunteer with the association/cooperative. Meetings are canceled frequently and when they do meet they discuss matters dealing with them forming the cooperative and nothing makes much sense to me as it is. So, when my project partner told me this I just wasn't sure what to think. The good news is that I talked to Joy, my APCD, and she said to focus my diagnostic on the community instead of on my organization. She said just throw in a slide or 2 about my organization but don't let it get me stressed out. She said if they need something, they will get it together and I am not there to hold their hand. I think that this made me feel a lot better about things because I know there is a magnitude of projects that I can work on in my community!

As for moving out in February, things are looking good. My host dad built the doors for my house and he helped me plant tons of Batata (which is delicious, kind of like potatoes but a little sweeter) and chick peas. My host sister and I planted tomatoes, eggplant, lettuce, papaya and pineapple. So, I am super pumped for all of this deliciousness right in my backyard! It will be great to finally just be able to cook my own food and have my own place for the first time in my life. It is so crazy for me to think that this is the first time that I will ever live on my own and here it is in the Caribbean. There is still a lot of work to be done on my house before I can move in, but hopefully we will get all of the necessities required by Peace Corps for me to be able to move in right away in Febraury. :)

Other news would be La Navidad! Christmas is here and it feels nothing like the holidays. I never thought I would say this, but I miss the snow. I have never been away from home for the holidays because studying abroad always worked out so that I left right after Christmas. I don't understand the holiday without the cold weather and snow..it is beyond me when people are all excited that it is Christmas. So what makes Christmas interesting here in the DR..first of all, there are people of all ages (2 years old to 80 years I'd say) and loud music at my house on Saturday and Sunday nights (which are the fiesta nights here) and lots of dancing merengue and bachata. Bottles of rum (Brugal specifically, a brand of rum here) being passed among old men playing super intense rounds of dominoes. The reason why they are able to splurge a little on the rum during the month of December is because most people receive a double wage during the holidays (I am not sure if this is true in my community because most people are unemployed...). We end our nights drinking a warm drink (non-alcoholic) that they make over a little fire in the ditch with boiling water, a spicy leaf called "inebre", cinnamon sticks and sugar and little touch of dona power. It is a sweet beverage with a unique spicy aftertaste you could say. Besides the weekend fiestas, my host family, several neighbors and myself are all doing an "angelito" which translates as "little angel" but is the equivalent of a secret santa. It will be nice to give a gift to someone at least to make it feel a little more like Christmas. I wish that I could have sent presents back to the U.S. for each and everyone of my friends and family, but with the cost of mail that is clearly just not feasible but I do want you guys to know that I love and miss you all and wish you a VERY Merry Christmas and a happy new year.