Thursday, July 30, 2009

HONDURAS AL FIN!

I'm finally here safe and sound in Honduras. The weather is the most incredible thing. It's a perfect 72 degrees and there's a slight breeze. Right now I am wearing pants, a shirt, a sweater, and a rain jacket. It's that cool. I love it! The training site is beautiful as well. We are up in the mountains and there are lots of pine trees (which I thought to be strange) and other exotic plants as well.

My family is really sweet. The mom is pretty young and she has 3 children: Eduar (3), Cristian (6), and Alexandra (9). They live in a pretty small house, but fortunately, we have running water and there is much more power here than in the DR. The water is freezing though and I haven't had the courage to ask her to boil the water for me to shower with. It has been about 55-60 degrees in the morning so you can imagine what cold water feels like at that temp. Ice water.

Today I am in a little town called Santa Lucia, and it is beautiful, complete with cobblestone streets and view where you can see for miles through the mountains.

Training is going well. The staff is great, very positive and we start formal Spanish classes tomorrow that will be divided among our groups of projects (I am doing youth development). We have also been given a more detailed account of what we will be doing here as well. Pretty much I am going to be doing teacher training and then whatever youth programs the community wants to participate in.

I hope that I am going to be in a site with weather and a view like this one. It's incredible.

Also, things here seem pretty safe. The zona where we are is pretty calm, so please don't worry too much about me. Most of the people here seem to want Zelaya back in power to restore democracy and have elections this fall, but it just depends on who you ask. The worst part about all of this is that the children here aren't able to go to school because the teacher's union is on strike. It affects everyone and it's really sad that the children are the ones who seem to be suffering the most in all of this. Hopefully things will continue to settle down and be resolved. Other than that, there is just a curfew and you aren't supposed to be out after dark, which doesn't really affect me, because I'm so tired right now, I want to go to bed as soon as the sun does.

Thanks for all your prayers/thoughts/concerns. I'm looking forward to my service here. It's going to be amazing and I love Honduras already!

If you want to send me mail, you can do it now, and I would love it (even if it's a silly card)! Send it to:

PCT Jessie Strange
Cuerpo de Paz
Apartado Postal 3158
Tegucigalpa, D.C 1110
Honduras, America Central

I am also getting a Honduras cell phone by tomorrow, so if you get a call from a random number, it's me! International calls from a cell phone here to the U.S. are only $.10, so I will be taking advantage of that. I'll also give you my number if you want, so you can always call me from Skype.

Sunday, July 26, 2009


This makes me happy. This is Joe.

I feel hopeful today. For the first time since about June 28th, I feel like we're actually going to get to go to Honduras this time. Just a couple more days.

This is our group:


It's been a good time in Miami, but we're all ready to be there. We also lost another group member today. Someone has decided to go home. Makes me sad. Who else will we loose over the next few weeks and months?



See ya on the other side! (Si Dios quiere)

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Hoping the sun will come out.

The past four weeks have been a crazy emotional roller coaster. I moved out of my apartment, sold my belongings, said tons of goodbyes, and left my life for a supposed 2 years in the Peace Corps. That was tough. One day before we leave, plans are changed and we're sent to the Dominican Republic. That was totally fine with me. I got to see another country and learn a new culture. I wasn't however prepared for the extent of this whole experience.

When I said goodbye to my host family in the Dominican, they cried. I walked out the door and waved goodbye, but this was something that I was not expecting. I just spent 3 weeks getting to know this family and now it's over. The Doña said her door was always open for me to come back if ever I were to be in Santo Domingo again.

Following this, I am thrown unexpectedly back into American culture without giving a second thought to what we have just experienced in the DR.

Our flight Wednesday morning was delayed out of DR, so we ended up missing our flight to Honduras. We were rescheduled for a flight today and put up in a hotel by the airlines.... Lots of other things have happened too, like lots of people being sick and crazy scheduling, but we're safe and sound in a hotel in Miami and it looks like we're going to be here for several more days and we will try to leave again next week.

We're safe in a hotel. However, I do not feel that safe is really the word to describe how I feel right now. We are in a super nice hotel overlooking the Miami Bay, complete with running water (and hot water), swimming pools, air conditioning, and fluffy sheets, pillows, and comforters. Not the same scene I was in a mere 2 days ago. I feel guilty. Really guilty. I am trying to devote two years of my life to serving in the developing world, but instead I am being spoiled with U.S. tax dollars and fluffy pillows, and lots of them.

All I wanted was to live simply with a little host family, taking bucket showers and sleeping under a mosquito net, and hopefully learn and grow in the process. I guess that's too much to ask.

It's still unclear as to why we weren't able to fly down today though, which is frustrating. There are 2 senior staff members from D.C. down here now though so we're going to do some training activities and hang out in the community here in Miami.

This has been hard. It's hard to stay positive when doors keep getting slammed in your face and when everywhere you turn, plans are changed, all the while you are carrying around tons of luggage awaiting who knows what. I usually am one that just goes with whatever happens; for example, doing the Peace Corps in the first place. I applied on sort of a whim, and doors opened for me to do it, so I went through with it. Now, though, it's tough not to take all these bad things that are happening as signs that maybe this isn't what I am supposed to be doing, but does it mean that for the 49 other members of this group? However, it's not like I can just walk away. I'm in Miami with two suitcases full of stuff awaiting a long adventure. I don't have a job or a place to live back at home. What else would I do?

I just have to wait it out.


It's been a long day. I hope tomorrow is better.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Friday, July 17, 2009

HONDURAS BOUND!

We're finally officially headed to Honduras next week. We got word today that we had gotten the State Department's approval, so we're good to go! I'll let you know when I get there safely.

It's hot. So very hot. I cannot wait to be in Honduras.

There are lots of problems with infrastructure here. The main problem that I have been most in contact with is the lack of energy. Yesterday there wasn't any power for 12 straight hours. Please imagine this in 95 degree weather and 80% humidity. It's rough. Basically what is happening is that the government here doesn't pay very much for their electricity. All government buildings basically get away with paying pennies for all the energy they use. There are also lots of problems with people just running electricity lines to their houses and also not all the houses have meters. In turn, the cost of electricity for the normal person is extremely high. The people of the DR consume much more energy than they pay for and in order to make up for that deficit, they just turn off the power for hours at a time. So that, even the people who religiously pay their bills are without power because the society as a whole cannot resolve this problem (which seems to be such a simple solution). Businesses cannot operate because they either have to run on expensive batteries or just suffer the losses. It's terrible, and is a huge cause for the lack of development here.

The internet cafe I am in right now is running off of battery power, and fortunately there's a fan on here, so it's bearable.

Training is getting boring and it's tough because we cannot really proceed any further without actually being in country. Our trainers are doing the best they can, but it's been a boring week. We did however get to go on a trip with Spanish class to visit a Botanical Garden, and then yesterday we went out to the campo (rural part of town) to visit a PCV there and see her projects. It was a much needed change from the mundane.

This is our last weekend here and I think we may try to go to the beach again. We'll see.

Take a look at my facebook pictures if you like. :)


Sunday, July 12, 2009

Rubios

It's tough here because everywhere we go, we are rubios (blondes). We are Americans and we stand out no matter what. People stare at us constantly, almost to the point where sometimes I want to scream. I hung out with some friends today, all of which are proficient in lots of languages. I feel dumb because I only know two. Between the four of us we had English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Russian. People kept coming up to us to ask where we were from. We just kept throwing out new languages. It was a fun game.

I have to learn Portuguese next. Maybe I'll head to Brazil after the Peace Corps to take on that task. Then I will remember what it feels like to learn a new language again.

There are lots of people in our group of volunteers that don't even speak Spanish very well. I'm thankful that I have already accomplished that task, because it makes moving into a new country and new home so much easier. Some friends here are so exhausted from trying to learn the language that they don't even want to hang out with others at night. I remember feeling that way in Costa Rica.

Things are going great here. Besides the ridiculousness that is the hot weather here, I really like it in the DR. Sweating is a constant. Life is sometimes boring and without your own "life" you sometimes feel like a child again, but that is to be expected when you move into a new country and live with a host family. Today we just needed to get away from that, so we took a trip outside our barrios (neighborhoods) and explored a little. It was a good feeling. The one good thing about loosing your sense of freedom is the care that you receive in return. I haven't even poured my own glass of water in the past two weeks if that tells you anything.

I am going to cook dinner for my family tomorrow night though. I'm making spaghetti with homemade sauce and Italian sausage. It will be a nice change from rice and beans.

One more full week here. Hopefully we will know something mid-week as to definite plans for heading to Honduras, but right now, it's looking like things are going to be fine.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

yesterday

I wrote this yesterday or the day before, but I haven't had a chance to post it. Here goes:

La Vida Republica Dominicana

I am really enjoying life here. The culture is very much like other Spanish-speaking countries that I have been to, yet very different. It reminds me a lot of Cuba. The Spanish here is some of the most different that I have heard. They speak extremely fast (I think even faster than the Puerto Ricans), and I am already starting to pick up on the extreme exaggerations and very expressive language the Dominicans use. Like other Caribbean Islands, everyone enjoys drinking rum and their national beer is Presidente. El merengue is the national dance and we’re learning it today in class, along with Dominoes. Everyone plays Dominoes like it’s their job. It’s great. People stop by all the time and we pull out the Domino table and play a couple games. The Domincan Republic is a very talkative culture. At night, I have been so tired from listening to so much Spanish all day that I want to go to bed at 9:00. The food has been pretty good, but not much variety or vegetables. It’s tough to get accustomed to eating this many carbohydrates.

The family I am living with is great. I have the most outgoing Doña (this is what you call an older woman, the head of the house). Her name is Oneida. She has 12 children, only one of which lives here with her. She also has 9 brothers and sisters, so pretty much there are always people stopping by and coming to visit their sister, mom, grandmother, great grandmother. She’s great and everyone around here knows here. La Doña never stops talking. Haha. My “sister” is Germinia and she’s 28, the youngest of the 12. That’s all that lives here, but it feels like a lot more than that are here at any given time. My family is also Baptist, which is kind of strange. Most the people here are Catholic, but I went to the good ole Southern Baptist Church with my family on Sunday.

Training is going well. There have been some definite boring times as we go through all the rules of Peace Corps and all the health and safety standards. Today we were told the results of our Spanish proficiency exam and I placed into Advanced High and I’m in one of the two highest classes, which is pretty exciting. This means that when we get to Honduras (eventually and hopefully), I will not have to attend daily Spanish classes like the rest of everyone else. Instead, I will get to do other projects out in the community. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know more people that are with us, but one person has already gone home. That leaves us at 50.

I have to get 4 more vaccinations, and I am not excited about that. Some people say they are already getting homesick and stuff like that, but I hate to break it to you, I am not. I am adjusting to this culture very easily and I have enjoyed it tremendously thus far. I’m sure the missing will come, but I don’t know to what extent I will experience culture shock this time. Who knows when it will hit me though, or how it will do so.

It’s extremely hot and humid and mosquitoes are rampant here, but fortunately, they don’t like my blood here like they do in the States. I have only been bitten once even though they swarm in the dark corners of the house (knock on wood). We’re taking Malaria medicine though and it’s giving me terrible nightmares. I’m not looking forward to taking this for the next 26 months. The humidity here is absolutely ridiculous. You can’t even imagine. The power goes out several times a day and we drag little chairs outside and sit under the trees or on the front porch and shoot the breeze (if we’re lucky enough to have one that day). I’m getting used to cold bucket showers twice a day. You almost crave those cold showers, because you need them to cool off and stop sweating, if only momentarily. I’m sleeping under a mosquito net with a fan blowing on me, at least until the power goes out. Oh and I can’t forget the ear plugs, a definite necessity if you want to get any sleep here. The culture is loud and I feel like people never go to sleep, the dogs bark, and the roosters crow, and I love it because it’s culture and I’m a part of it, even if I have the whitest skin and bluest eyes in my neighborhood.

We still don’t know what we’re going to be doing about continuing on to Honduras. The situation isn’t looking very good from what I read today, but hopefully things will start looking up. They tell us they will make a decision by the end of the week as to if we will go or not. Please think and pray for me in this. I’ve given up pretty much my life to do this for the next two years, and I don’t want this to end here. There’s a possibility that if we cannot go to Honduras, they will try to assign us to different countries, but who knows how long that will take or where in the world we will end up. Keep an eye on the news for me.

Por tres semanas, soy Dominicana y lo me encanta. Mañana aprendemos bailar el merengue y la salsa, y jugar a los dominoes.

Friday, July 3, 2009

La Republica Dominicana

I am in the very hot Dominican Republic. We got in yesterday afternoon and stayed the night together and today we are at our training center. We just ate lunch and this afternoon we will have language interviews and then we will go to meet our host families tonight. We're all really tired and hot, so I am sure this is going to make for an interesting experience. The weather here is probably 95 and 80% humidity.

I'm getting to know lots of the other volunteers, but there are still a few that I haven't even met yet. I have some pictures to post, but I don't have my camera card with me right now. I'll post more later.


Things are going great and it's really looking like we're going to get to head to Honduras July 22nd.

Happy 4th to everyone!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Flexibility

Well, my journey has finally begun and there have already been some kinks along the way. First of all, the past couple of weeks have been so emotionally draining that I cannot even begin to describe that feeling. Monday and Tuesday, I was so nervous, I couldn't eat and my stomach hurt like I've never felt before. I kept questioning myself as to why I'm doing this.

Monday afternoon, the Peace Corps office in Washington, D.C., called and told me that Tuesday (yesterday) I would be still going to Miami for Staging (introduction and orientation to PC), but that we would be going to the Dominican Republic instead of Honduras. Wow. Big change in plans.

If you haven't seen the news lately, on Sunday afternoon there was a coup where the military arrested the President of Honduras. Since then lots of things have gone done, but all in all, Peace Corps made the decision that we should hold off on our entry into Honduras. They came up with a plan to send us to the Dominican Republic for a tentative 3 weeks where we will begin training as scheduled. Only now, in the Caribe!! (Which I am pumped about!) Most of the PC staff from Honduras will be joining us in D.R. for a couple of weeks to get us started. Because of the sudden change of plans, they were not able to buy plane tickets to get us all on the same plane to D.R. today. We are traveling there in 4 groups. One group left today. My group is leaving at 4 a.m. tomorrow (not pumped about that), and the other 2 groups will leave on later flights tomorrow. Meanwhile, we're hanging out in Miami.

Yesterday was an extremely long day with saying goodbye to family, almost missing my flight, getting to Miami, then sitting through hours of Staging, which really wasn't that bad. Our group is quite different than I had imagined. I thought there would be more hippie-type, but really most everyone is really normal. I was also surprised by the ages of all of us. Of course, I haven't met everyone yet (there are 51 of us), but most of the group is straight out of college. Maybe that's a generalization, but I feel older than a lot of these people. There are a couple of older people with us too though, including a couple from AZ. There are also 2 or 3 married couples. I'm really looking forward to getting to know everyone. The teacher in me is coming out, because I've already learned a majority of everyone's names. Haha. It's kinda sad.

I'm going to go play in Miami. Hopefully South Beach. :) I'll be in the Dominican tomorrow. I will have wireless internet there, so I will be sure to update as to where the road will take us next.

Flexibility is key in a successful Peace Corps experience. I'm perfectly fine with the flexibility I'm having to maintain right now. That flexibility is taking me to a Caribbean island that I wasn't planning on seeing, and I'm totally okay with that.