Ups and Downs

Wednesday was a good day and a bad day. Wednesday was a typical day.

On Wednesday I woke up not wanting to get out of bed. I was supposed to go to school that morning to help teachers prepare for the upcoming school year, but based on the lack of work that was achieved the day before, I wasn't too motivated to walk 20 minutes under the hot morning sun. It took two hours of arguing with myself to get me out of bed (good thing I set my alarm early). When I arrived at school it looked like it would be another wasted day, but then to my surprise parents started showing up for a meeting. 

Turns out the school principal had invited the members of the parent's association over to discuss the planned events for the first week of school. The day before I had asked the principal when the next parent's meeting would be and she said she wasn't sure. Turns out she thought I was referring to an all school parents meeting, which is different than a parent's association meeting. During the meeting the principal talked about many of the issues I have been harping-on including parent participation and student attendance. I didn't know until then that she had been listening to what I have been preaching over the last year. After the meeting my principal surprised me again by informing me that a teacher-trainer I work with ran into an ex-Peace Corps Volunteer. The trainer said that the the former volunteer wants to help with our library project, fingers crossed I will hear from him soon.

My two phones - one even has a QWERTY keyboard!

After school I went into town. After purchasing a drink at the internet café I was informed that the power had been out in town since the morning. They never tell me when the power or internet is out until after I have bought my food. Ugh. I really should ask before I buy anything but it seems tacky. Anyway, I should have known better, power is frequently out in town on Wednesday so the power company can make repairs (or so they say). I made the most of the situation and paid to get 24 hours of internet on my phone. Internet on my phone is pretty bad, for example I can read emails but not send them, but it is better than nothing. Side note, I have two phones they are supported by different companies so they each get signal in different places. Neither of them work in my house. One of them lets me call other volunteers for free, and the other allows me limited internet and I can call people on my front steps (sometimes).

As I went through my notifications on Facebook my annoyance at the lack of power dissipated. On Sunday a news article was published in a local South Jersey newspaper about the library project. Many of my family and friends had sent me messages of congratulations and support. It means so much to me when I receive those kinds of notes. Kind words make a big difference when you are on the monstrous two year-long roller-coaster called Peace Corps. From the bottom of my heart I want to thank everyone for the well-wishes. I also received a emails from people interested in supporting the library, and possibly some more publicity for the project. We shall see what develops.

When I returned to my community, I stopped by to visit my host-sister who was celebrating her birthday. Last year she didn't do anything special because her birthday fell on Tuesday the 13th, which is the equivalent to Friday the 13th in the U.S., and she was afraid of getting cursed if she tried to do anything. This year her grandmother made her a pizza and they saved me a slice. Score!

Superstitions came up again later in the evening. I recently started a new course called Me Toca a Mí which revolves around a novela (spanish soap opera) made by Peace Corps Volunteers in the D.R. All the actors are Dominican youths and each episode focuses on a different issue. So far we have discussed: self-esteem, bullying, having sex at a young age, family relationships, being a good role model, and the importance of education. On Wednesday night the main topic for discussion was discrimination. Everything was going fine, until we began to talk about Dominican-Haitian relations. Many Dominicans do not like Haitians. Dominicans have accused Haitians of practicing witchcraft, causing the Cholera outbreak on the island in 2010, and in general being evil. The negative perception of Haitians goes all the way back to colonial times. Haiti was the first country in the western hemisphere to end slavery, via a slave revolt. Lead by freed slaves, Haiti invaded the Dominican Republic and took over for 22 years. Dominicans have never forgotten the invasion, and it has lead to many more negative, and often bloody, interactions between the two countries.

Back to my class. Samaná does not have many Haitians. It is far from the border, and there are no sugar cane fields to entice migrant workers. I had never heard any youths speak negatively about Haitians before, so it shocked me when many of them stated that Haitians were evil curse-casting witches. Some even said they would never speak with a Haitian if they could avoid it, even though most have never met a Haitian before. When I tried to explain their shared history and the culture roots of voodoo, my students just shook their heads. One declared that Haitians want to invade the D.R. again. I asked how they could do so, as the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Other students then interjected that Haiti was poor because it is filled with bad people. By the end of class I was still unable to convince my students to change their minds about Haitians. I told them we would discuss the issue again next week, so if anyone has ideas on how to combat this issue please let me know ASAP.

I keep all the cards I receive on display

Wednesday ended as it began, on a negative note, but the positive news I received through-out the day kept me buoyant. My service would be a tougher, bumpier one if I didn't have the support of both my American and Dominican friends. Thanks again to all of you for making my life a lot easier.