Pregnancy

I have a countdown on my phone and I have it set to the day we arrived in country. Today it says nine months and twenty days. I want to point out that most women are pregnant about this long with their babies and also that my mom was pregnant with me for longer.

Never have I appreciated just how long 9 months can be for one dramatic thing. Way to go pregnant women of the world, and also, my mom, who did it longer to bring this awesome piece of work into the world.

Getting crafty

It's almost the new year. Christmas is over and it's time for me to start thinking about fresh starts. It probably doesn't help that I've spent the past few days with a bottle of wine and two of the best chicas on this little island. When the girls get together the gabbing is in no short supply!

Because of all of the future talk, and all of the fresh startness I am doing we decided to be crafty on out last night. We have some charla paper, and we are going to work.

Ashley and I are making sort of hope, dream, or happiness boards, while Conner is doing a more exotic piece of realistic artwork.

The crayons are out and "Don't stop believing!" is blaring through my iTunes so I guess it's time for me to feel powerful and write something wonderful to inspire 2014 to be as wonderful as 2013. It may have been a year of firsts, a year of development, a year of the highest mountains and the lowest valleys, but that doesn't put any of it in short order. I love my life, daily, and I expect 2014 to be just as exceptional.

Christmas in the Campo

This was my first Christmas out of the good old United States of America.

Now, I wouldn't say I come from a huge background of tradition. Let me explain before my wonderful family full of tradition jumps back in shock. We do have very many traditional things that we do and love to do. I have had Christmas trees, ornament traditions, mornings with stockings and cousins and even pajamas and light viewing. What I mean by not having tradition is that my Christmas is always simply based on where I am and who I am with. When I think back to the past 23 Christmases in my life I have stints when I am with the same people (The beginnings are Mom, Gabby and I in a little apartment spending the season together, that is followed by another wonderful stint, this time in Colorado with the cousins, quiche, a blue penguin, a magical giant Christmas tree, and baking cookies with my aunt, and finally, the mystery years, I had no idea what I would do or who I would be with in the years that followed. Last year was a movie with my sister and I didn't even put a tree up. Because of this lack of tradition, I wasn't as sad to be away from home as some of my friends. Some other volunteers have spent 20+ years in the same house or with the exact same people. My life just hasn't been like that. I didn't even think about heading back to the states. I miss the Christmas season. I miss my mom. I really miss my sister. Other than that, a new type of celebration wasn't all that strange.

I started my celebration with a trip to the capital. I was going with another volunteer, Sara (she's the cutie in the coral dress in the group photo I keep on my blog), to visit a third volunteer, Ashley, in her site, Boyá. I left my host family house around 6:45 in the morning to make my way to caribe tours. I took a giant bus to the capital and met Sara at the metro stop. We took the metro to the end and went to La Sirena for lunch and to purchase supplies. We crossed the street, or should I say river of black water, and finally made our way onto the most overcrowded bus I've ever been on. I got into a verbal fight with a Dona over the course of the two hour trip and we finally landed in Boya.

In this country, it seems that the Christmas eve dinner is the most important part of the holiday. They roast an entire pig and dig in. We had rice, salads, and a few other choice Dominican dishes. The holiday felt very different, but the pig was great. I love pork and therefore I love this holiday tradition.

On Christmas morning the three of us woke up, forgot and then remembered and then forgot again that it was Christmas, and watched a few holiday episodes of FRIENDS. Later we went back down to Ashley's friends house and tried to get our internet to work enough to talk to our families back home. It didn't really work, but it's the DR, what can you expect?

That afternoon we made eggless cookie dough batter (thanks for the inspiration Gabby!) and watched movies while drinking wine and talking. I got a lesson in how to knit, and gave a crap lesson on how to crochet, because I only had a knitting hook, and that doesn't really do what I want it to.

Today, the 26th, we are going to go on a hike, and tomorrow we are going to try to go to some after Christmas sales in the capital and then I will head home. I think I'm just ready to jump head on into my new project and life. Things are looking up for me in this world after a lot of time spent in limbo.

The new year is coming and with it many new beginnings.

Know that I love you and miss you all, and while I would love nothing more than to spend next Christmas in America, I can't say that I know where this world is taking me. I do know that I have a long list of friends and family that I miss this season, but let's get real, I miss you all every day that I am not with you, and that doesn't' just include this time that I am spending in the Peace Corps. You are my life my world.

Peace Corps changes

I'm going to subtly jump back into a life of blogging. For now I'm just going to give you a list of the good, the bad, and the interesting from my new site.

1. My "Dominican" host family is a Hatian woman, a Canadian man, a combination of kiddos and me, an American girl. We speak a combination of English, Hatian creole, Spanish, and French. No one speaks every language, but it looks like we are going to get this communication thing accomplished.

2. My new house is wonderful. Not only is my family great, but they prepared me my own room, living room, and bathroom. The electricity is all the time and so is the water. I think I've fallen in love!

3. I was on a moto the other day. It was darker than I would have liked. This was confirmed when a dead Labrador appeared out of no where and we ran over it. I was convinced I was about to experience paralyzingly road rash, but the dog was merely a speed bump. Thank you moto driver for not swerving.

4. I went to an English speaking church that was only 40 pesos away. I really enjoyed worshiping in English, but I think a closer more Spanish speaking church may become the permanent home.

5. I just listened to the entire Miley Cyrus CD... Did you know her album has a version of the "N word" openly stated on it? I guess that's the new Pop style! Ha ha.

6. I now live in a world where other PCV's are 10 or 15 minutes away... As is a grocery store... As is a book store... As is a Chinese restaurant. What is this life? I guess this is the new Peace Corps style.

7. Goats are funny.

8. I have been openly hit on three times in my new city. I guess I'm better looking the closer I get to the ocean.

9. I live real close I the beach. I wish I cared about it more.

10. It's Christmas and I'm on an island and I haven't bought a single present.

11. I just realized I lied. I bought one gift. I forgot. ... You know who you are. You should feel so lucky. My pesos are valuable and I spent some on you, so that was a thing.

Okay. That's it. I promise to write more. I just didn't have anything to say about sitting in the capital and watching the calendar fly by.

One last thing. My Spanish is getting better which means more people think I'm Dominican every day. This is a whatever thing, but I will say it helps me not get overcharged and I'd say it adds to my safety in tight spots. Yay for genetics and being a bit of a middle man.

Off the radar

Okay... I've been a little of the radar. I've moved and am now living with my new host family in a new town near a great city. I'll let you in on it all when I have more time. For now I'll just tell you I've lived a perfect Amanda day.

I woke up and took my time doing it.
I dressed for church and took in breakfast with my family.
I caught a crowded guagua to a new church.
I took another crowded guagua into the city and got out when it felt right.
Now I'm sitting in a little Chinese restaurant sipping sangria and reading a book.

Don't try to tell me my life isn't great!

I miss casual Sundays. I think I'm going to bring them back into my life.

Thanksgiving in the Dominican Republic

Before I left for this country I was an avid Peace Corps blog reader. I read so many blogs I felt as if I had already lived a Peace Corps service. Though many of the blogs were very different, one thing they all had in common was praise for the Peace Corps Dominican Republic Thanksgiving. Having experienced this myself now, I have to say it was a blast!

I want to start out by thanking any friend and family of mine (Erik :-) who donated money towards the Peace Corps thanksgiving.

Having Thanksgiving so close to Christmas puts many volunteers in country for this holiday. Since most people have chosen to go home for Christmas and it isn't feasible or sensible to be home for both holidays, most volunteers are in country. While some choose to use this time to teach their communities about our beloved holiday, most choose to go to the all-volunteer fiesta hosted in the capital.

It starts with a team of volunteers who "volunteer" to run Thanksgiving. That three man team which this year was lead by Turner, Courtney, and Erin. This team of three was leading a baking team and a talent show team. We were funded through donations from generous family and friends back in the states and that allowed the volunteers to only have to spend RD$1000 pesos... aka only 1/10 or so of our income. Some other "donations" to our effort included the embassy families who volunteered to host the different Thanksgiving teams at their houses for a week so they could bake and plan and put together.

The day started out like no other. The night before was filled with all of my friends making it to the hotel I was already living in (site change in progress). We stayed up very late and the 6:35 bus felt very early. When I woke up at 5:30 ready to take a shower, the three hours of sleep I had the morning of felt like nothing. The only reason I was able to pull myself out of bed was I knew Lobo was expecting me to walk to the bus as well. I couldn't leave a man behind right? We called Andrea, who was also leaving from the same hotel to see if she wanted to walk with us. She said she'd be down in five minutes. It turns out she had been asleep as well and only decided to come after we called her. Needless to say, the volunteers were a little sluggish for the morning sports and 5K turkey trot.

I was tired as we pulled into the wonderland of a park in the middle of the city. There was loud outdoor ZUMBA and cool outdoor exercise machines. The music was up loud and the energy was rocking.

Volunteers that had more energy than I ran 5K and the rest of us simply chose to walk down the path.

Then, in true thanksgiving fashion, we pulled out the football. We played the "classes" against each other, which basically means I am a sophomore, because there is a new group that swore in on Halloween that took away my "newbie" status. We went by the name "Rumble butts!" and spend a lot of time "rumbling" our butts. It was a rockin good time and the sophomores beat the freshman. 

After that game we played a bit of volleyball and they definitely beat us... I think, but then it was time for us to take on the Senior class. It was looking good for us early on, but the seniors had a quick play at the end and brought the game to a tie. After some overtime we promptly kept it at a tie and our hungry stomachs lead to a fast vote to end it there. 

The bus took a while and we spent some time decompressing while we waited for a guagua. 

Enter a thanksgiving like no other thanksgiving I have ever been to. We were at a roof top pool party. How often does that happen? Basically never. 

I sent this picture in a Thanksgiving message to one of my favorite people in the entire world, but I thought it was cute enough to post on the internet. 

517-13-01

A wonderful bunch of people who really do make my life a happier, funnier, more sarcastic place to live. 

After some of the shenanigans upstairs (I won't say any names, because I don't know them, but the drinks were not in short supply and the effects were apparent in some) we took off for the big thanksgiving meal downstairs. 

I had such a nice time catching up with my friends. 

The meal was followed up with a talent show that was quite entertaining. 

One of my best friends, in Peace Corps and now in life, was involved in the talent show, and I have to say, despite everything, I've heard many great things about the performance and I am proud to say I thought it was top notch and I obviously agree. 

I eded my time at this event with a little dance with my Peace Corps curly cousin. Chris and I are kindered spirits of the hair world, and I thank him kindly for adding to my bachata abilities. I can not seem to get anyone to teach me any bachata, but I took note of a few volunteers with skills and plan on abusing my fellow PCV power and asking them for some practice time in the future. 

After this I fell asleep in Catching Fire after a mad dash to get to the theatre late. The highlight of that particular trip had to be either falling asleep in the theatre (it felt just like home), or when the screen went blank and the entire thatre shouted "Se fue la luz!" Now you don't hear that much in the capital! 

At the end of the day, I am very thankful for the life I am living. I miss my family and hope to see them all again soon. I'm tryin y'all. Sallie Mae and the rest of them may prevent me from getting home when I wanted too, but I'm going to work it all out somehow. 

I want to end this with a huge thank you to anyone who donated money for us to have this thanksgiving. We all admitted that it didn't exactly feel like thanksgiving, but that it felt like a wonderful gathering. Exactly what we needed. We were with our friends and it was great. It wasn't our mother's pumpkin pie or baked macarroni and cheese, but it was the fuel volunteers need to keep going. I appreciate the baking team (oh, those brownies!) and appreciate the work that went into making thanksgiving the event it became! 

I'm still in the capital

I've spent the past week in the capital waiting for the upcoming circus that will be my life. Exactly one month from now is Christmas Eve. I'll be here, hopefully sitting around with a group of friends taking in the holiday season on an island. Before that though, I have the next month to get through.

1. Skype date with Taylor

2. Thanksgiving on Thursday

3. Ten A.M. Bus ride across country for scuba certification

4. End scuba on the 3rd. Stay the night with a PC friend. 

5. Wake up on the 4th for "THE SUPER EXCITING THING I"M WAITING FOR" (AKA. My first visitor. I think my PC friends are tired f hearing how excited I am)

6. Make plan, catch a bus, do something the day my first visitor leaves to get myself to the capital for language training. 

7. Study spanish and catch up with all of my other friends who don't speak spanish. 

8. Get a site. 

9. Go to site. 

10. Leave site all the time.

Gosh, I used to have fun punchy post with actual things going on in my life. I had readers. I had a following.... Now I'm just turning into one of those awful Peace Corps Volunteers that doesn't post anything, or if they do post, it isn't anything worth reading about. 

I'll get over that when I get another site. For now, I leave you with a set of pictures from my stay in the capital. Don't worry though. The next post is going to be a real post because I'm typing it in word and I plan on editing it. It'll be about the site I went to visit that I hope is my site. 

Changes

I haven't been writing much lately. I haven't known what to say because I was in the middle of a bind. 

In the end I think for this stretch of time I can only leave a few photos and mention that I am getting a site change. I don't know where the site will be and because of the holidays it will probably be a while. I'll get into more later, but for now I leave you with the knowledge that I am still here and still moving forward. 

I'm a real black girl

A Dominican asked me if I'd been to the salon to have my hair done. I was super proud to say that I hadn't, that I had fixed my hair myself, and that it was in fact, easy.

First a compliment on my makeup and now on my hair... It looks like this Americana is getting fancy in the campo.

Sometimes-bike trail

It's really nice that my iPhone can also be my sometimes-bible, sometimes-camera, and sometimes-iPod, because today I took myself down to the sometimes-horse pasture, sometimes-baseball field, and sometimes-bike trail for a few laps in the sun.

My life is always happiest when I have a bike to hop on. I've tried my hand at being a runner. That will never catch on. I only ever accomplish being a sometimes-runner or, more accurately, pretend-runner. I pick a playlist, grab my shoes, and become bored by the second lap. Biking on the other hand, biking always feels like an adventure, even if I'm just going in the same little circles.

Remind me when I get back to America to get a hold of a bike, someone may have left the one she was sharing with her sister (after her cute white basket bike was stolen) at a Safeway in Colorado when she decided to do her grocery shopping via bicycle in the dead of winter.

One day I'll get it together.