a whole new world

The sharp, bipolar worlds of the Dominican Republic would shock anyone who experiences or lives it. Julie and I had a chance to spend a short time in Bavaro, a resort area next to Punta Cana. My friend Jonathan, who works at one of the all-inclusive resorts, gave us a great deal that we couldn´t pass up. We left our small town, rural Dominican livestyles for 28 hours and stepped into a world of private beaches, fine dining, airconditioning, running water, unlimited food and drinks, Americans and Europeans, and simply put...luxury. It was a nice hiatus from reality I must admit; however, it was culture shock all over again. Going from one extreme to the other accentuated the lavishness and exorbitance that we North Americans and Europeans have come to depend on (myself included). It makes me wonder what the Dominican resort staff think of it all.

After living here for over two months, it was weird and oddly uncomfortable to be treated like a tourist. Many of the staff with which we conversed were often astounded when we told them we were only there one night because we had to return to work in Hato Mayor and El Seibo. I´m not sure what shocked them more, our Spanish speaking abilities or the fact that we actually knew of these two rural communities (not to mention live in them). I met a lot of staff that are from Hato Mayor but travel to the coast to work. Good, stable jobs are hard to come by here, so many work 12 days straight at the resorts and then return to their families for 3-day breaks. Despite my mixed feelings of the extravagant, foreign-owned resorts that line the coasts of this impoverished country, the economist in me can´t help but see it as a positive impact in the sense that it is creating jobs. Traveling through a community mid morning in the middle of the week often looks like people are enjoying a relaxing Sunday afternoon--men sitting in the shade playing a friendly game of dominos while sipping on an ice cold Presidente. At first I mistakenly dismissed it as laziness, but I was reminded that unemployment and underemployment are significant problems.

I had an amazing time at the Caribbean Club Princess, but 28 hours away from reality was sufficient for me. In my opinion, the best part of it all was being able to talk to the staff about their culture and relate to them in a way that most tourists cannot. The luxurious world was fun and rewarding because of my connection to the reality of local life.

happy birthday to me

It has been quite a while since I wrote...not sure if it´s because I´ve gotten busier, I´m into a routine, I no longer have internet at my house, or maybe a combination of all three. Despite my busy routine, I continue learning and trying to understand this foreign culture. The following are just some interesting observations and perhaps satirical comments on the Dominican culture:

1. I have a `niece´, Massiel, who is 7 years old and living with us during her vacaciones. That is what my family told me originally. I thought, oh vacation, that´ll be fun having her live at the house for the week or so. Well once 3 weeks passed, I asked again and realized that vacaciones really meant her entire summer vacation. Apparently the grandparents take on the role of the parents for a couple months, which isn´t uncommon here. The house dynamics have changed slightly with her around as there are always little neighbors running in an out of the house. They wait for me to come home from work and start cheering `Lindsey, Lindsey, Lindsey´ as soon as they see Beirut and me turn the corner onto our street. The other night they threw me a surprise birthday party despite the fact that none of them actually know when my birthday really is. Pretty smart idea actually because then I had to play with them. I mean, what kind of person would I be if I didn´t show up to my own birthday party?

2. The mosquitos continue to be a nuisance, but I have figured out a way to sleep without having to put up my mosquito net...turn the ceiling fan on high of course. This works most of the time except for when the electricity decides to shut off in the middle of the night. I have to frantically rush to put up the net in darkness before the mosquitos catch word of the fresh meat.

3. There is a joke here that says the Dominican Republic has two seasons...summer and hell. Well you would think that because it is hot here all the time (just different degrees of hot), the locals would be accustomed to it; however, every day I hear complaints like `ah que calor´ or `que fuerte el sol´. I just have to giggle every time. I don´t know if I should break the news to them, but I feel like telling them that they live on an island in the middle of the Caribbean and that the weather will probably be like this for the rest of their lives. Instead, I just smile and agree :)

4. I am finally feeling like I am making some friends, learning how to interact with my family, and feeling more independent. Of course now its almost time to leave. But I have met this amazing lady, Sofia, who, every time I visit her, makes me feel so welcome. I can never just stop by. The visits are always at least 2 hours long, filled with long conversation and good food. She has started her own school in an impoverished community in Hato Mayor and is always hosting large American groups for service projects in the area. It is through her that I have met other friends as well, Dominican and American.

PUERTO PLATA!

A week and a half ago (I know, long overdue) I had the privilege to travel up to Puerta Plata for 5 days and visit my friend and fellow intern, Travis. It was a great time to see where he is working and the programs that consume his time. The main event of the week was to see the conclusion of the program `40 Días de Propósito´ or `40 Days of Purpose´, based on the book by Rick Warren. The program was initiated by an intern who preceeded Travis, which then was his responsibility when she left. About 15 Haitian women were asked to participate in this program, all of whom work/worked in prostitution. Out of these 15 women, about half of them have HIV/AIDS. The group gathered every weekday for 40 days to hear a devotional from the book, presented by a local volunteer or pastor, as well as little health presentations. It was so encouraging to hear the women in deep discussion about the topic of the day despite the fact that I knew not one word of Criole. I just sat and watched intently, wondering what their lives were like outside of the little church sanctuary. Travis leaned over and told me that the one girl to my left, the one holding the baby, was 18. She had a 4-year-old son running around the church wreaking havoc and the 8-month-old baby boy that looked about 3 months old (pictured above, front center). He was so malnourished because she could rarely afford to feed it milk. Instead she often arrived to meetings feeding it juice or sugar water.

Friday afternoon into the evening we all celebrated-the women, their families, the volunteers, and the Esperanza staff. There was music, dancing, singing, food, pictures, sharing and laughter. Seeing how Travis had formed relationships with these women and got a glimpse into their lives was well worth the trip. The next step in the process is to get these women loans so that they may start businesses and provide for their families in a safe and healthy manner.



The energetic boys fighting for camera time and their angel counterparts. Riiiiight.

The trip didn´t stop there. After all, you can´t go to Puerto Plata, the biggest beach resort area in the country, and not go to the beach. Travis led a few of us girls to his favorite spot close to Sosua Beach where we spent most of the day enjoying the magnificent coastline and the chrystal clear water. After some snorkeling, reading, and sunburning (I just made that a verb), we called it quits.

Me and brother Travis. Everyone here thinks we´re related.

good times riverside

Julie and I have gotten together the past two weekends, the first at her place and then last weekend at mine. It´s been really nice having her close by. A 20 minute bus ride is the only thing separating us. Most people find it hard to believe we only met two days before coming to the DR. I guess after experiencing what we do on a daily basis, it is hard not to become friends instantly.

The following pictures are from the weekend in her town, El Seibo.

This is a crew of Esperanza workers from Julie´s town. We spent the day out in the `campo´ and did a little swimming in the river.

Julie´s `nephew´, Mimi. He´s so precious. He turns everything into a microphone and raps.

A little afternoon drink at the office. Nothing like some fresh coconut juice.

Milan´s Legacy

This update is long overdue, but things are getting a little busier
here lately. Work has picked up and I´m finally finding where some of my skills can be put to use.

Last Friday (6/20), Julie and I traveled along with a HOPE group to get a different perspective on the work that Esperanza is doing. It was refreshing to be with a group of Americans who were interested and eager to learn more about microfinance and the impact it has on individuals and communities. Being able to answer some of their questions and give my insight and opinion on the mulitfaceted industry made me realize how much I had learned already.

After showing the group what a biweekly bank meeting looks like, we went to another meeting that´s called a capacitación. Each new loan group goes through a process of five meetings where they are informed on the basics of a group loan and the repayment process: investment, savings, payments, interest, solidarity, attendance, etc. The picture below is from the capacitación of 15 new group members from a Haitian batey. A batey is a community usually owned by the government or sugarcane industry that houses the sugarcane field workers and their families. These communities, primarily Haitian, tend to be the poorest of the poor and are located in the middle of the fields in the middle of nowhere. It is encouraging to see these women have the desire to start a business or improve their existing one in order to better their lives and their families.

The afternoon was spent visiting one of HOPE and Esperanza´s biggest success stories--Milan´s school. To make a long story short...Milan had taken out several loans with Esperanza to grow her business making clothing and fabric for furniture. At the same time, she was being called to serve the street children in her community. She provided a refuge for these children in her home every day by caring, feeding, and teaching them. She gave them notebooks and pencils and made uniforms to emphasize an educational aspect of her ministry. Word spread among the street children to the point that she was squeezing 100 children into her tiny house every day. Esperanza noticed Milan´s passion for the children and looked to assist her any way possible. Esperanza and HOPE worked together to make Milan´s dream of building a real school a reality. They broke ground in November and had the opening ceremony in April of this year....

floods and craziness

Finally I got to go to the beach at Juan Dolio. We didn´t arrive until 4pm so as to avoid the sun, but I´m just happy to get out of the house and see a little bit of the country.

The water was extra rough and stirred up from the heavy rains and flooding we had the day before (see below).

These pictures are from my neighborhood.

Top: around the corner from my house.

Middle: my street. Bottom: the baseball park next to my house completely covered by water. It rained heavily for about 6-7 hours straight. Luckily my house was not affected at all. It did make for a long day in my room. What would you do for 7 hours and no electricity? I read for a while and then went for a little walk outside in the rain to see what all the action was about, but I could only think of so many things to do.

Kacie, Gabby, whatever

Hmmm where to start. Throughout the day I make so many mental notes of things to write down and share with you all that by the time I´m actually writing I can barely remember any. Here goes trying to recall them all...

You know you were 10 years old and you did everything with your family because that´s all you really knew? If mom goes to the grocery store, so do you. If dad runs out to Paul B. Zimmermans, so do you. If the family goes to church, so do you. No questions asked. Well that´s my life right now and, well, that´s the life of nearly every son or daughter that still lives at home in the DR whether your 5 or 35. Children live at home until they are married and do exactly what their parents order (this doesn´t necessarily end at marriage either). This applies especially to the girls. Mom says jump, daughter says how high (bad example, there isn´t a whole lot of moving going on, but you get my point). I try not to be too critical because I realize that it is a deeply-rooted cultural difference, but it is difficult sometimes when I´ve had so much freedom from high school and even middle school on up--more than my 34-year-old host sister has now. This freedom that I have experienced has been such a blessing and has stimulated infinite personal growth. Now I´m having a lot of difficulty discerning the boundaries between respecting my host family and their lifestyle and living my life as a young, free, and bold college student should (shhh I´m still in denial). I feel as though I´m missing out on a lot of cultural happenings and socializing. Then again, maybe I am living the real cultural happenings. I have yet to figure this out.


One cultural difference is obviously their food. Have you ever eaten a hotdog, cheese, and peanut butter sandwich? I have. Two nights in a row. And then tonight I had the sandwich with TUNA instead of a hotdog. It´s not the worst thing in the world, but I would not recommend it. So my question to you all is whether I tell my mom that I prefer not to have that sandwich or just continue to swollow my pride? I´m open to suggestions. I think she thinks I love it because I told her that peanut butter is my favorite food. I´m a little scared about what she might put it on next. Another interesting meal I´ve had here was cow intestines. That´s exactly what it looked like too. Let´s just say I didn´t make it past my second bite. Apparently chicken feet have flavor because they just throw the entire leg into soups. Luckily my mom has been considerate enough not to serve me the foot so far. I´m just waiting for the day. At one of the community meetings I observed a little girl, probably about 3-years-old, chewing on the chicken foot like it was a teething ring. Just thought I´d throw that out there. Looks scrumptious doesn´t it?


I have found a few of the everyday norms to be pleasant while some are just straight up odd. I love how everyone greets one another with a `buen día´ o `saludos´everytime somebody enters the room. I´m convinced that they would still say it even on the worst of días. Confession: sometimes I´m just too focused that I neglect to respond...I really hope they don´t resent me for that. I think they´ve already given up on me understanding their Spanish. Like I said before, it is REALLY hard to understand! I think they have trouble understanding me sometimes because I talk too slow. But Dominicans do this really funny thing when they don´t understand what I (or anyone else is saying). They scrunch up their nose two times really fast. I really don´t know how else to describe it other than maybe a snobbish rabbit. *I know you just tried doing it...caught you* Another interesting facial expression they have is to point with their lips. It really appears as though they´re doing a disformed kissy face. Until I was semi-used to it, I wondered why my married coworker was making such a face to a single `gringa´ like myself. It turns out that was his way of pointing to our loca dancing coworker. Everyone in the office is so nice and some particularly quirky. It isn´t a normal day without Audilín busting out some worship song or Ruth dancing to the rhythms in her head. Both of them can never remember my name. I now answer to Kacie and Gabby in addition to Lindsey. I never realized my name was that difficult.

Just as they are learning my name, I am learning to be more patient. Most times I don´t have a choice. On various occasions I have found myself in the middle of a Kiva entry when the electricity goes out (there is no saving kiva entries). I am officially a chronic saver whenever possible. Not a night goes by where I don´t find myself just laying on my bed in the candle light. Sometimes it´s for 2 minutes while other times it´s for 2 hours. The streets become pitch black except for the candle light on everyone´s porch and the occasional motorbike that passes. Everything seems to stop for that time. No loud tv or music coming from the neighbor´s house and certainly no blogging. It´s kinda nice to have to relax.

Another daily activity that has become quite tedious is bathing. Having to give myself a sponge bath from a bucket has made me realize how much I take showers for granted. We have had water about half the time I´ve been here, but even when we do have water the pressure gives me approximately 3 droplets from the showerhead. Believe me, the wash cloth and bucket is a quicker option. My dilemma come bath time is whether or not I feel like sacrificing my bare body to the starving mosquitos that enter the open window above the shower. Washing myself free of the repellent leaves me completely and utterly vulnerable to these heartless creatures. Is it possible to lose too much blood from excessive mosquito bites? As soon as I am done this laborious task, I layer on the repellent once again. It really is a vicious cycle that makes me wonder sometimes whether it´s even worth bathing at all. Just kidding...kind of :)

FYI- I posted links to Julie and Travis´ blogs (the other two interns in DR) on the side bar. I recommend reading some of their entries if you have time. It´s always interesting to hear their stories and perspectives! (Good idea Julie)

a glimpse of life

My family and coworkers thought I was absolutely INSANE for wanting to soak up a little sun. They avoid the sun almost as much as rain. My brother talks about taking me to the beach all the time (I have yet to see proof that he´s serious), but he said he likes to go around 3 or 4 just to avoid the sun. So much for my chances of coming back tan. I´m going to be whiter than the skin of a farmers back.

In the picture: sister Beirut, friend Angelo, mom Maria Estela, brother Micki

We are slaving over the 1000 piece puzzle or rompecabeza (literally `head-breaker´in spanish) of an Amish farm portrait. Good bonding time.

Mi gatito, Nikita. We have a love-hate relationship. Mostly love though.

The office of Esperanza.
Above the office is a large computer lab where Esperanza clients can come take basic computer classes nearly free.

The other office of Esperanza.
This is on the way to one of our community bank meetings. I apologize for the bluriness but it´s a bit difficult to capture a good picture while traveling along the pothole roads.

A little relaxation never hurt nobody. Me at the community pool.

such is life

Bare with me as these blogs may come long overdue. We have had our share of power outages lately, some lasting a few minutes while others last a few hours. This past weekend was very relaxing as Saturday I read most of the morning interspersed with a few naps (or was it slept most of the morning interspersed with some reading?). Saturdays Beirut has class all day so she arranged for her good friend from work, Dayra, to pick me up sometime in the afternoon to show me around town. Well, living in Ecuador for a few months taught me to add an additional hour or so on to any time they tell me something will happen. I knew it was going to be a difficult estimation with a broad a time as ¨en la tarde¨. So I waited around, chatted with my ¨mom¨ for a little while and read some more. By the time 5:00 rolled around I was getting antsy to do something with my life. I decided to take a walk, but before I ventured too far I ran into my brother, Micki. He gave me a nice, hour long motorcycle ride around the town. Hato Mayor is definitely more extensive than I had anticipated. Something that has become more and more apparent to me is the incredible hospitality that the Dominicans exemplify. Micki and I had stopped at a friend´s house part way through the ride; we weren´t even in the house two minutes and she was already preparing a fresh glass of fruit juice for us. Everything else in the house stops when company arrives--expected or not. I hadn´t been home for 5 minutes when Dayra and her 4-year-old son José showed up (at 7pm). We went for some delicious Bon ice cream and did some people watching in the park. The rest of the evening was spent on the porch enjoying the evening and company. I played mostly with José and our kitten as communicating with a 4-year-old and a cat seemed a little easier and more enjoyable than trying to decipher the lightning speed Dominican Spanish. Why don´t we do the (front) porch sit anymore?

Sunday I went to church with Beirut, yet another strange experience for me. Her church is the most Pentecostal church to which I have ever been (that doesn´t say too much as it´s pretty much the first). Lots of yelling, dancing, shaking, more yelling, etc. Definitely out of my Mennonite comfort zone. Beirut, Micki, Dayra and I enjoyed the afternoon at the local pool, Las Colinas. It looks pretty much like a resort area pool with a luxurious swim up bar and a little island in the middle. Nobody else seemed interested in joining me for a swim. I was just thrilled to do something that involved a little exercise. When time was up and I had to get out, there was (as I should have anticipated) a big, juicy, pre-dinner sandwich waiting for me. I know they can read my disgusted and repugnant expressions everytime they present me with more food. They just laugh and say `vamos a engordarte´. I don´t find it very funny.


Sunday night Beirut, her mother and I went back to the church for a baptism service. The music was very lively and moving. The electricity shut off three times for a few minutes each, and in those moments everyone seemed to worship even louder and stronger than before. We were at this service from 8-10:30pm, and we left EARLY.

Work has been a bit slow thus far as it has just been a lot of observing. If all four of our computers were working instead of just two it would probably be a different story. But, no one seems to be in a hurry to fix it. It´s just that relaxed latin culture sentiment, which, I must say is harder to get accustomed to than I thought. The most rewarding part so far is visiting the communities and seeing how such a small loan can empower those on the fringes of society.

Observations/Random Comments:
1. DR Spanish sounds completely different from the Spanish I previously learned
2. Dominicans love their music extremely LOUD!
3. They really know how to relax (maybe too much)
4. We have a cleaning lady
5. Mosquitos eat me alive (except when I am in my invincible net). I wear repellent like its my job.
6. Those who speak English are few and far between
7. Dominicans serve coffee like a little shot but add enough sugar for a large thermos.
8. Women are deathly afraid of getting their hair wet, which is inconvenient when most drive motorcycles. How do they solve this problem? Wear a shower cap of course.

paved roads end

My first two days in Hato Mayor have been quite an eye-opening experience. I live with a family in town that consists of a mother, father, 25-year-old son, and 34-year-old daughter. The daughter´s name is Beirut and she is also the manager of the Esperanza branch here in Hato Mayor. They are a very nice and welcoming family that loves to feed me. My host mother is
afraid that my (real) dad will think they didn´t feed me here if I come back looking even the slightest bit thinner. It´s quite funny.



To give you an idea of what my life has been like here so far, I´ll give you a little run down of my day. Today I woke up first to the neighbor´s rooster at 5:30am and tried to ignore it until I officially had to wake up at 7. Breakfast consisted of the cereal of my choice and a random hotdog (odd combo, I know). Every day Beirut and I travel via her little motor bike to the office, which is just a 5 minute ride. The town is in the process of updating their water pipelines, so it makes for a very bumpy ride. I´m not convinced that the streets aren´t always this way. Today Beirut, a loan officer named Ruth, and I rode out (by truck) to the countryside for a few bank meetings. The dirt roads begin just outside of town where the paved ones end. From that point on, the long ride consists of dodging the biggest of the potholes on the path. Being out in the countryside I feel EXTREMELY out of place compared to in town where I only feel out of place. Today, for the first time, I saw another gringa walking down the street. This may be odd but it is comforting to know I´m not the only one. Anyway, the meetings are all so interesting because each group and each site is different. The first 'bank' meeting I went to yesterday consisted of 4 groups, each with 5 women. We sat under a little hut outside where Ruth and Beirut collected their loan repayments. I just sat there taking it all in, trying not to make too much awkward eye contact with all of the curious stares coming my direction. I just smiled and focused on the baby chicks with bald spots that were running around looking for food. This meeting I got to see for the first time how the solidarity group concept works. One woman did not show up and pay; therefore, the entire group of women dug into their pockets to contribute a few pesos to cover for their friend.

Today we went to two banks. At the first bank meeting, 7 new members were accepted into the bank. When it came time for those new members to sign along with their group coordinator, it was apparent that at least four of them didn´t know how to sign their name. They simply signed XXX. The second meeting was among probably the poorest community I have seen thus far. It was an inspiring meeting because every single group payed their complete installment, and a select few shared how their lives have been changed after receiving the loan. I forgot to bathe myself in bug repelent before this meeting and started getting eaten alive. I have learned to keep it handy at all times.

We returned to the office and it wasn´t long before it was time to go home for lunch and siesta time. I love siesta time! The rest of the afternoon was spent in the office learning some of the bookkeeping tasks, which isn´t too hard except that nobody speaks English in the office, so I have to try and translate their fast, jumbled Spanish that sometimes seems like another language to me. Another frustration of the learning process is that the electricity shuts off a couple times a day, resulting in a little break from any computer work. The evening consists of catching up on emails, listening to the neighbors´ loud raggaetone music, watching some telenovelas with Beirut, eating dinner (nobody else really eats dinner but they make me a huge one and complain that I don´t eat a lot...something is wrong here), and reading. I go to the bathroom hoping that the water has come back on since shutting off this morning. Lastly, I hang my mosquito net up over my bed so that I am not eaten alive.

I am thoroughly enjoying all of these new experiences, inconvenient or not, because they make me more appreciative of the luxuries I have back home.
(Sorry so long)

Learning Part II

Ok so now that I have a little more time I will expand a little more. Upon arriving at the airport yesterday, Tricia, Pablo, Daniel, Kayla, and Martini from the Esperanza staff were there to pick up myself along with the other interns, Travis and Julie. They were all so nice and welcoming. They took us to a restaurant right on the coast called Adrien Tropical to try some local foods like sancocho (similar to stew) and monfongo (plantain with meat and sauce). Somehow my dull descriptions of this food just don't do it justices, so don't judge. It's delicious!

After the three of us got settled into our apartment and took a little nap, Tricia and Martini took us for a brief tour of the old town Santo Domingo. It was very Spanish/European looking since this is the original island that Columbus conquered. The house in which he used to live is located in this area. I hope to go back to this area sometime during the day to take a tour.

Like I said before, today the three of us spent the day at the office. It began with a morning devotion that they do every Monday morning in every Esperanza office across the country. After that we got a tour of the office and met the majority of the Santo Domingo staff. The most interesting part, like I said in my previous, short entry, was learning the details of the programs that Esperanza offers. For example, today they just launched a program in a few provinces that seeks to transform the lives of prostitutes through loans and other education and spiritual guidance. There is a large problem with prostitution, especially in the tourist destinations, creating an unfortunate attraction for sex tourism. Another program is called 'Esperanza y Vida', which is primarily for individuals infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. This is slightly different from main microcredit services in that they charge a slightly lower interest rate. Also, if a person cannot repay on time, they are not charged a penalty or additional interest because it is usually due to health-related problems that are out of their control. I won't go into any more specifics but I look forward to sharing lots more in the next few months. This is a picture of Julie, Travis and I with the manager of Esperanza during our training in Santo Domingo.


Travis, Julie, and I are all so excited to be here and agree that it is finally nice to see first-hand what we have been learning for so long now. It seems so tangible now. It's been really fun spending time with them getting to know them before we head our separate directions (although we do plan on getting together to travel some, especially to Puerta Plata to visit Travis...que suerte!).

We have been doing a lot of talking and listening in Spanish so far; however, a bunch of the staff knows English, so it tends to be Spanglish a lot of the time, which is very entertaining. It's all starting to come back to me after my semester off. So many things take me back to my time in Ecuador (Beth, you'll appreciate this): certain brands of food like Social Club crackers, being a 'gringa', the crazy driving, and even the cat calls. The Dominican accent is a lot harder to understand as well since they talk extremely fast and cut off the end of most words. Anyway, I'm learning lots and look forward to all that is to come.

Learning

I finally made it. I still can't believe I am here in the Dominican Republic! Today I have been going through some training at Esperanza in Santo Domingo, and it has just been an information overload. So much to learn; all of it so incredibly interesting! I hope I remembered half of it. I wish I had more time to write about all of the programs and interesting things that Esperanza does, but I am sharing computer time with others...another time. Anyway, tomorrow we will have some training on translating and updating profiles for Kiva.org. I am really excited to learn about this aspect of my responsibilities. If you haven't heard of Kiva, check it out.

Right now I am staying in a little apartment with the two other interns while we are training in Santo Domingo. Wednesday I will be heading to Hato Mayor, the town in which I will be working. There I will be living with a lady who is actually the manager of Esperanza's branch. Her name is Beirut. That's all I really know so far.

No worries, I'll write more soon.