So today is the day all the kids will sign up for my english classes. I cant start my computer class because the power goes out too much and we dont have a generator....that works. Im supposed to go by their classroom and collect the money (100 pesos) to sign up. Its gonna be another 25 pesos each week to stay in the class. Hope people sign up. Vamos a ver.
So for the forseeable future i will be reformatting every computer in both the Liceo and Detention center, lol. This becomes tricky because we lose electricity for about 6 hours during the middle of the dayso ill usually have it until 10 am, then lose it until 4, school closes at 5. Each computer takes a good 45 minutes to reformat. I have a long road ahead of me. Plus im trying to teach the IT teacher how to format the computers, but she is kind of slow, and takes multiple repititions.
Ive also met a new friend in my neighborhood. His name is joseal and he studies at the English Institute in Santiago. So he speaks very well. HE asked me to be a guest speaker at his class, so ill be going on friday to show off my poorly organized english dialect. Just look at the grammer and punctuation in this blog, should i be teaching anyone? haha. Should be a good time though, im looking forward too it.
Also, im looking after my friends dog for a while, its a mix between a doberman and a chow chow, whatever the heck all that means. All i know is, she is crazy, she pees whenever she gets excited, which is all the time. ITs reaffirmed the fact that i will never get a dog here.
Man, well thats about all the news here. Steelers play on Saturday 8 oclock!
Love and miss you guys a lot. Adios

La Capital

So ive been here in the Capital this past weekend. Santo Domingo, for those not familiar with this fine country. It was committee weekend. I was elected MEdical Mission Chairman, woohoo. That just means i will be coordinating with different NGOs with medical missions and stuff. IT shouldnt be too hard, but it will look AWESOME on my resume!!
We stayed at a hostal with AC and hot water showers!!! Luxury! Went out last night to Calle Venezuela to dance a little bachata/merengue. It has been a good time.
Sorry for this boring post but i feel like i should take advantage to the internet.
adios

Platos favoritos

Ahora, I knew in some of my later posts i discussed how much i hate the food, and ill never adjust to it. Well....im adjusting. I have honestly never been this healthy for this long in this country (knock on wood). I guess ive never had the opportunity to really enjoy everything i eat, because im either sick, worried about getting sick, just getting over a sickness, etc. Pero, Gracias a Dios estoy in bien salud. Entonces, i thought i would review with you a fie of my favorite dishes:
1. Spaghetti with tostones - i cant really describe the spaghetti, but its different, and good, tostones are flattened platano chips fried twice.
2. Moro de guandules con Pollo Frito - This is like brownish rice with spicy little bean thingys, and fried chicken, super good.
- Ive also found that avocado and bananas are good to mix in with the rice. Seriosuly you should try it sometime. Hot rice with a cold avocado/banana.
3. Sopa - Soup, says it all. Usually noodles, potatoes, chicken, and anything else on the table.
4. La Bandera - This is the typical Dominican Dish. White rice, beans, salad, seasones chicken. Super awesome, super delicious.
-I have also grown accustomed to boiled bananas, platanos and yuka. Sure they boil the flavor right out of them, but they make a great compliment to a slice of cheese or an egg. A plate of boiled platano with 2 fried eggs and a slice of cheese, mmmmm.

Also, i find it amusing how no one drinks liquids with their food. They usually drink afterwards. Im sorry, i cant pound 3 pounds of rice on a dry mouth, its just no happening. Everyones like, here comes Jose better give this weirdo a glass of water with his dinner, pssht.
Well, thats my food rant. In other news, im fixing every computer in the computer lab because they all have a abajillion viruses because these muchachos download anything and everything they can get their hands on. I have to re-format practically every single one. Doesnt help when the electricity goes out either, lol. Also, i taught at the detention center today, and 13 of the 15 computers pooped out so i had 9 kids huddled around 2 computers teaching them how to type. You had to have been there.
Anyways, thats all for today, Hasta Lunes.

First day of school

Im not teaching at the highschool until next week. But, today was our first day of highschool!! Really, cool. It felt great to be able to start fresh with these kids, instead of when i came in at the end of last year. Im a little more familiar with everything, i know i few more people. Im liking this siuation. Well see how it plays out, but as far as first days go, it went pretty well. We gathered all the students in a large classroom and introduced all the teachers, adiminstrators, and even played a few games, a few videos. It was a very well put together presentation. Obviously, i was roped into managing everything technological, and when they couldnt hear sound from the computer and i just unclicked the Mute button, everyone gasped in awe and wonder, "this man knows everything". I dread the day i have to dissapoint them, haha. Everyone is excited about the new year, but isnt everyone always? even in the states everyone is pumped to have a new backpack, pencils, clean fresh notebooks, then you get the first assignment and want to go home. So my schedule is as follows, i dunno if i already told you about this, but anywas
Computer repair Mon-wed-fri 3-4
English Tues-thurs 3-5
Basic computer class at the detention center Tues-wed-thurs 10-11 am


So thats what im starting with. Once i get the feel of things i may or may not add more. Ive also been having to do some laptop repair on the side which gives me stuff to do at home....its lonely....lol.
I also wanted to address an issue of Dominican culture: cell phones. I m not sure how long ago they descovered cell phones but it may as well have been yesterday. People here are always on their cell phones, which is weird because no one ever has any minutes.....so you wander who they are talking to. There is also the part where they keep their phone on full blast...even in meetings.....francisco.....so that people can see them answer their phone, like they have something important to talk about. They pick up their phones during meetings also, its not like, oh ill get this later, its oh lets talk about how things are going in the middle of a budget meeting. They love attention, so they will let their cell phones ring on full blast until they see enough people turn around to look at them, then they answer and talk in voz alta (a high voice). I just shake my head sometimes.
Anyways, things are pretty normal here.....reading alot
Im going to the capital this weekend for committee weekend. Im trying to get on the Medical Mission board, wish me luck.
Friendly reminder: feel free to call me anytime, my number is 809-723-9772 it will cost me nothing but charge you out the wazzoo, lol, or buy a phone card and say hello, or send me a text, lol. Texts arent expensive. Love to hear from ya.
Cuidanse muchachos

Photos of my apartment!

Ok so now that i have awesome internet im gonna try to upload as many pics as i can. Here we go.

Im back

So im back from an awesome week. We spent Monday through Wed. in Jarabacoa which is a little town smack dab in the middle of the country. About an hour and a half from Santiago. Very cool. There we presented our project plans for the coming year and thusly ending (formely) our training period. We are now free to do whatever the heck we want to do for the rest of 2 years, lol.
After the conference on wed. a couple volunteers and I went up to visit another volunteers site in Manabao, which is way up the mountain towards Pico Duarte. We visited a freezing cold river, and got caught n a pelting downpour. IT was the first time i have felt cold in months. At night the temperature drops into the 50s, yea thats super cold here. We slept under comforters! We made a solomi, egg, platano dinner and played dominoes all night, it was a blast. The next day, Thursday, we went white water rafting down the same river we saw the day before. Since it had rained so much the rapids were sizable. IT was so much fun. We went with guides, obviously, but it was so cool weaving in between huge rocks down tiny waterfalls for 2 hours! A couple people fell out, including me, and a few people were injured but it was no big deal. After that we all went and got pizza in town. Sooo good. I love pizza. Then a few volunteers came back to Santiago with me to spend the night and check out my environment. WE ended up going to Chilis (thats right the american chain resteraunt). IT was built 2 months ago. Quesadillas, chicken tacos, burgers, fries,mmmmmmmmmm!!! Then on Friday we all went into the city to check out the sites and hang out for a bit. They all left after lunchtime and i was left extremely tired from the weeks activites. So i went back to my apartment and took a long nap....then went to bed, lol. Today ive just been chillin, tonight im going to the nursing school graduation of one of my neighbors. PRetty excited about that, should be a good time. Anyways...im gonna try to attach some pictures and see if it works.

Another sunny day

So its the hottest month of the year here.....if you can imagine that. Its one of these mind melting, slit your wrist kinds of heat. Where you sweat walking into the shower, sweat during your shower, and then sweat even more after your shower. There is almost no relief except to sprinkle water on your forehead and stand an inch away from the fan. Air conditioning is sorely missed here.
In other news, i will be presenting my project plan this week in Jarabacoa. All the volunteers in my group will gather to present their individual projects. What they plan to do for the next 2 years. Im psyched because Jarabacoa is supposed to be an awesome town, and some of us might get to go white water rafting!
My apartment is coming along nicely. Ive been able to take some cement blocks and a few peices of scrap wood to make some shelves for my room and kitchen. The other day we went to Price Mart. Which is like Sams club. Bulk shopping...I know, life here is tough....And i got a sweet deal on some peanut butter and bar-soap, woo hoo!
Not much else is going on here in the City of Gentleman, but im trying to upload this one photo of my apartment. Hopefully it shows up for you guys.
Love and miss you guys! Ciao

First Class!

So i taught my first class yesterday! You may ask what i have been doing up until this point, since ive been here for 5 months and am just now starting to work. I was in training for about 3 months, and when i graduated from training it was summer, so there was no school. School doesnt officially start here till the 18th, but i just taught my first class at the prison i work at on the side. IT was really overwhelming. I taught two classes from 10-12 yesterday. IT was difficult because there were inmates with all different kinds of education. I had a few who were very tech savvy, a few who new the basics, and then a few who didnt even know how to ready or write. It was such a shock. I didnt even account for the fact that they couldnt read Microsoft Office, so telling them two open that program was useless. So some students were interested, others bored, others had no clue what was going on. I was trying to juggle all of these competencies and it was just really overwhelming for the first class i have ever taught in my life. Not to mention one of the inmates who was pretty competent, but was in jail for murder....wrote a document in Word that said something to the effect of....Im in prison, but i dont want to be, ive killed a lot of different people for a lot of different reasons, but i dont want to be here anymore......That sent chills up my spine. Hes the only dude in there that legitimately scares me. He just looks the part, however bad that it is to say.I was accompanied by 3 legit security guards, so i don't think there will ever be any problems. They also stole my sunglasses, hahaha. I had set them down on the table and at the end of class they were gone. I should have expected that, shouldn't have left them that exposed.
It was a good experience and im glad i got the first class out of the way, so next time i will be more prepared.
So another group of peace corps volunteers is coming in this month. A Fresh batch of newbies. I cant wait to stare into their hope filled eyes and tell them, "you will have what can only be described as epic diarrhea." hahaha. It will be cool to show em the ropes though. Wide eyed and bushy tailed (mom). haha.
Well there is a mysterious odor coming from my bathroom. Im not sure what exactly it is. Ive been working the past couple days to try and pinpoint the source. Its like a mixture of dead rat....and pineapple curry.......and some carrot. Really odd. I disenfected the bathroom yesterday, but its still there. Oh, i also installed a new deadbolt on my door. woo hoo.
Thats about it for now.
Love and miss you guys a lot!

Apartment!

Soooo yea im blogging from my apartment! i randomly get wireless internet connections apparently. Its the weirdest thing.
In other news. My host mom is claiming i never paid her for the month of July, when i am 99.99 percent sure that i did. The problem is, there is no proof to say i did or didnt. I have the bank statement saying that i withdrew 6000 pesos from my account but she just refuses to believe i gave it to her. She keeps telling me that shes not trying to cheat me, but i think she forgot i gave her the money. I dont have that 6000 pesos. I gave it to her. ITs a really bad situation because, basically, if i dont giver her the money the barrio will ostracize me, and claim i took advantage of "dominican hospitality". But i dont have 6000 pesos to give her. Just because i am an american does not mean i can just dish out bills like its snowing. People just dont get that here, they beleive we have a bottomless ban account. I did give her the money, but if i dont give her another 6000 ill look really bad in my community. Its a really hard place to be in.
Well, other than that. I had my first deli-sliced chicken breast and meunster cheese sandwich today. MMMMMM. It was sooo good. I got some potatoe chips, a soda, and just chilled on my balcony. It was so much better than eating 18 pounds of rice. I love living on my own. And i apparently have wireless now, lol. This is PEace Corps.......ruffing it.
So, tomorrow i teach my first computer class to the detention center. Im pretty pumped! I have it all planned out in my notebook and am ready to get in there and teach these kids how to work a mouse! lol
Oh i also, lost my keys in cabarete, so we had to bust the deadbolt with a hammer and break into my house. That was exciting. And i had to buy a new deadbolt...
Well thats about it for now. Dish out some ideas about my host mom, help me figure out what to do.

Cabarete

So for those of you planning to make a trip down here, think about cabarete. It looks and feels just like southbeach miami. IT is an amazing site. A million kite surfers in the water. Windsurfers everywhere, a bunch of americans all the time. The food is good and normal (not dominican). Had fish and chips for the first time in 5 months, pumped about that one. We all jsut stayed a night there at a surf bungalow of sorts. Really relaxing really chill. Afuera de una problemita... everything went well.
Now im back at school getting ready for the year to begin (august 17), trying to plan my classes, which it looks like now will be one hour daily monday through friday 6-7 at night, lol. Im going to have to teach on the weekends now too which totally blows.
As far is sicknesses go, im realitively well! Knock on wood. It hurts when i eat, but that might be acid indigestion? i dunno, lol. Well see how that one plays out.
For the most part....everything is back to normal....yea.....just sweating a lot as usual.
Adios muchachos
faltaras cien porcentaje de los tiros no tiras ;)