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.