Hotel Casablanca Barahona

... Dolio. We made a giant taco feast and talked about our time here and how it has been both the slowest and fastest times of our lives. We go through periods of being extremely busy and happy and periods of missing home and having a whole week free of work. It's been nice to have a job that is so flexible, where I can travel and visit friends and work on the projects I'm passionate about, but at the same time, it's been difficult realizing the realness ...

... subjects like this and how it was bad of me to be teaching it to them. I asked him while pointing to the girls in the class he if wishes that they get pregnant, which he didn't like considering some are 12 years old. He just walked away and I didn't think much about it. Well, I had to cancel class the following week for the Business Plan Conference and when I came back the following week for class, only 2 kids showed up. 2 KIDS!! It is really ...

... I'm the only gringo, always, but I'm used to it. The odd thing is that I am not used to the fact that just because I am a lighter skin tone I get prefered treatmet. My community had the inauguration for the Liceo (High School) that was just built (it looks amazing) and for the ceremony I dressed in my Sunday best, which I never do here. I met big players in the region who helped with donations and planning of the liceo construction and one ...

... and generally not knowing what to expect. I felt this overwhelming sense of confidence when Dan, the trainee, was visiting me in my site. I showed him all of my projects, introduced him to the people I work with and hang out with, and allowed for some “free time” in which we played with muchachos and met up with some other volunteers to go to the beach. He enjoyed it and actually seemed to relax a bit from the engulfing experience of training ...

... we were setting up. The doctors and volunteers got to work and continued until 3pm. We had a registration area, nurse station, rooms for adults and pediatrics, and a pharmacy. It was so exciting having them there because not only did we see just fewer than 300 patients from my community but they received valuable information to hopefully prevent future illnesses. Oh, and I got to poke peoples’ fingers to test their blood sugar level!!


PLAN DE ...

... We survived and even saw the picture they took during the trip right when we were going down a steep section of the river and our of our faces look distorted with fear! It was definitely an experience!

DOMINICANOS Y AMERICANAS: There have been ISV groups (International Student Volunteers – university students who do 2 weeks of service and 2 weeks of traveling) coming through Bahoruco once a week to make their own Larimar jewelry. As is ...

... that my little palm board, zinc-roofed shack was going to blow away. The wind was howling, the clouds were booming, and the lightening was striking with force. The rains, of course, were nonstop for hours on end. My bathroom eventually flooded because the little holes in the roof expanded when the hard rains came. It was definitely a little scary but since then it has calmed down and things have been somewhat normal weather-wise. We're fixing ...

... service (I was even at the exclusive C.O.S. white party in Bahoruco last October*), and in conversations with experienced volunteers, that excitement seemed to have been transformed over time. Not necessarily in a negative fashion, but turned into something of practicality and realism. Volunteers have said to me, in some form or another, that even if we did ...

... up and basically says the same thing as the man before him but just in different words. Another applause. It's been two hours and people are getting restless. "Oh, a cookie and juice? Gracias!" We start discussing pertinent issues for 15 minutes then end the meeting. "Ay, pero discutiramos a la promixa reunion" (We'll discuss it at the next meeting). A quick group prayer to end the meeting and we're off ...

THE GRANT FROM HELL: consumed most of my life in the beginning of March. It was a grant to start an eco-tour. My Artisan Association was very excited when I brought it up at the meeting, so I figured I'd get some help with the solicitation form. Not the case. I ended up writing the entire thing and the things that were delegated did not get done in the least. It is difficult to promote sustainability when the motivation, drive, and accountability just doesn't seem to ...