Photos of the Week

The following photos were taken during our first 3 weeks here. They include Matteson atop a mountain, Matteson in preparing to skype in favorite place for accessing wifi, a view of the sunset from our regular beach "Punto Papi", Matteson trekking along the dirt road towards the beach, and another view of another beach (so sorry), a restaurant we cant afford, and more beach.  More to come, but the uploads are slow and our patience - and battery - is low.

Enjoy!

Glitter-tastic

This week began, officially, on Sunday with a much different vibe than the days to follow. Sunday, Matteson and I were invited to a house party. We spent the day at the beach, then headed to Reyita & Rick’s, who recently moved to Las Terrenas from Santa Cruz, California. Reyita grew up in Santo Domingo, DR and Rick has been diagnosed with a stress-related heart condition, so they came here for a year of relaxation.

Trick’s on them! On Sunday we toured their beautiful beach home, swam in their cool pool, and played with their animals. Plural. All seems calm and quiet until you watch two puppies tear up a couch and a bunny, you meet all 8 chickens in their laundry room, their three birds, a recently caught lobster and their 2 new horses. Seriously. Not a single bit of it seems complimentary to a year of peace. Best of luck to them. However, I will say they were incredibly kind to us and had wonderful things to say of Las Terrenas. They may prove to be good people to know. Not to mention their offer to hire me as a sitter for their two kids – score!

Anyway, our nice Sunday proved polar opposite of the disastrous adventures Monday beheld. Matteson and I agreed to start some daily activities to keep kids occupied (aka, out of trouble). The first project was a fish mobile for Jose to hang in the library. Monday, we cut about 30 cardboard fish ‘til our fingers blistered. Then gathered the kids around a few tables, aging 4 – 15. Each was handed a fish to color with markers.  Markers are a huge privilege, one of very few forbidden library accessories.

All was fine and dandy, a few troublesome moments over whom got the pink marker, but nothing we couldn’t handle with our minimal Spanish vocabulary.

Then, the glitter. That’s right, glitter. Everyone knows glitter is permanent – it hides in unimaginable places for unimaginable amounts of time. And kids LOVE it! They went nuts. We anticipated the attraction; we structured a table outside of the regular library area, next to a sink (perfect), for the glue and glitter. The kids knew the rules: line up, single file, and two at a time may come paint the glue where they’d like Profe Erin or Profe Mateo to place the glitter. Under no circumstances was ANYONE other than Erin or Mateo to touch the glitter. HA! Who knew kids could crawl so fast between our legs, through and over the fence, and around our blockades? They outsmarted us, and for that they deserved all the glitter, or “brilla”, they wanted.

The event lasted about 30 minutes until, finally, we had kicked the last kid out, covered head to toe in red, green, gold and blue glitter.

Brilla. The word tastes sour in my mouth.

Needless to say, we slept hard Monday night. Tuesday was no better – another project, another mess. The same for Wednesday and Thursday. Fortunately, the projects did result in some beautiful library decorations. The kids were so proud to see their work on the wall! They get a real kick out of tangible results.

Food this week was an entirely different story. Each night we prized ourselves with something new – difficult to do on a tight budget, but we’re getting to know the cheap places.  For $1.50 we can get two large Empanadas, perfectly fried with cheese and ham and chicken, and a ketchup-like topping. And a place down the street sells pizza, a large slice for about the same.  We also, timidly, stopped at a fruit-truck for bananas and mangos. Three large mangos for $3 – I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore, Toto! Thanks to my father’s foodie expertise, I peeled the Mango for breakfast and was overwhelmed with its perfection. And believe you me, that is not an overstatement. It was incredible, I can’t believe we did not try one sooner. So, guess what we’ve been feasting on for breakfast!

Then we had Tapas. They weren’t free like in Spain, but worth it anyway. We sat overlooking the water, munching on Patata Espanola and Croquetas with either chicken or tuna, depending on which of us you ask. All washed down with a large Presidente, the local beer. This end-of-day prize made the glitter fiasco entirely worth it.

Becoming Accustomed

We are now into our second week in Las Terrenas and things are starting to become familiar. We have located a favorite spot to steal a WiFi connection (photo below) from a nearby restaurant, we’ve found a favorite beach to swim at every night before dinner, and we’ve started recognizing new friends on the streets.  We know how to find the grocery store, the best empanadas and pizza. Unfortunately, I’m still searching for the best cup of joe. There are so many places to go, and not enough mornings for them all!

We are also getting to know the students well. Matteson has been recognized three times already by students from the library. They shout out “Profe Mateo! Profe Mateo!” And he loves rubbing it in my face because I have yet to get a shout out. I’m blaming it on his height.

At the library, it is becoming much easier to work with the students. Both of us are improving our Spanish quickly, and with students visiting regularly we can get to know them and their learning levels. There is one girl, age 8, who I have become good friends with. And an eleven year old who is the nicest of them all but stays busy helping her boyfriends with homework, so I don’t work with her much. I still don’t know the eight year olds name. She has told me 10 times but the names here are so strange and difficult to pronounce. They aren’t like Spanish names I’m familiar with. No name seems to be traditional, most start with the letter "Y" and some even "Q" (and Matteson thought his name was unique). It’s amazing what some parents can think of as names for their children. Even Jose admits he has students write their name in hopes of figuring it out, and remembering is another challenge entirely. But the 8 year old and her English are incredible, and she is at a very high reading level in Spanish. And, on top of it all, she LOVES to practice reading both languages. I assumed 2 hours of reading English and Spanish would exhaust her, but every afternoon she’s hesitant to leave. I love that.

Oh, then there are the trouble-makers. Most of the kids who come to the library don’t have toys or games at home, no puzzles or coloring books or anything. So at the library, all they want to do is play. Jose and Annette have set up a rule that there is no playing until 4:00, but some of the kids make puppy faces, thinking they can get us to bend the rules for them. They whine and pretend to cry, but eventually start laughing and walk away to grab a book if we don’t give in. It drives me nuts. Then there are the rambunctious kids that cannot sit down for the life of them! A few will ask me to help with homework, hand it to me and run away as if I’ll do it for them. Then I find them splashing water from the drinking jug at each other, or playing tag in the library’s tiny courtyard.

And the trouble-makers? They try the same tricks on me and Matteson, but separately. And when Matteson get’s sick of them he sends them to me. Then I send them back. Some days, it’s two hours of groups going back and forth, back and forth. And while they don’t get tired of the game, Matteson and I have got to figure out a better way to handle these kids. The most frustrating part of all of it is that the library is a library so some ids actually come to read and finish homework, while the troublemakers just come for a spot to hang out. As Jose explained to us, Matteson and I are volunteers at the library, not babysitters, though some days it may feel like it. It’s very hard to get the trouble-makers to sit down and focus while maintaining professional command, as teachers rather than parents.

Oh, and note that if you’re sensing frustration, we just finished a day working at the library without Jose. While they respect Jose, we haven’t earned it yet.  Today was pretty rough.

A more positive note: this island! I may have mentioned it already, but it is beautiful here! The food is as colorful as the fruit being sold on the streets, and the shops with bright clothes and accessories branching out beyond the open doors and windows. The music is fabulous, you can’t help walking to the beat. We were returning from the beach a few nights ago and there were two young boys walking ahead of us. As we approached a restaurant blasting “reggeatone” music, the boys started tapping their hands to their hips. Then they started waving their arms a little, then bouncing their heads, and as the music got louder their dancing got bigger, until they were jamming down the street. I loved it.


Photos to come!

Upon Arrival

Estamos aqui! We’ve arrived safely to the Dominican Republic and, three days after arrival, are still adjusting.  

We got off the plane and were overwhelmed with a heavy, moist heat and distinct smells of smoked meat, diesel exhaust and trash. Yum. The cab ride was three hours spent napping and sight-seeing. And the traffic was absolutely terrifying. We saw a van turned over upside down in a ditch. In response, I whispered "ten quidado" to the cab driver. I think I said "be careful" but I'm still not sure...he smiled and nodded. At the very least, he knew what I was getting at. 

Our first few days were spent orienting us to the community and the foundation’s library. The sites were impressive – long, beautiful beaches masking barrios, slums, and poverty.  As Jose stated, founder of the Library with his wife, Annette, “This is not a poor country. This country is wealthy enough to ensure people do not live this way.” He went on to explain the laws are great, with good intention, but they are not enforced. The creek that runs through town is filthy, used for bathing, washing animal intestines, dirty clothes, and drinking.  And with the tide, many throw their garbage down into it. Kids play in the creek at some points, too. And at the end of the day, all the creek water ends up in the beautiful beach. Las Terrenas depends on tourism, and can’t afford to polute the beaches as it does. But there is nowhere else to do these things. No public land, anywhere, to build a park for the children to play, a public bathing facility, or a new garbage dump. The current garbage dump is beyond capacity; we got to visit it. There were men and women “diving” for recyclables; things to wash and resell.

Anyway, Jose explained the Library is not his attempt to save the country. It’s simply one effort to make a few children’s lives better. There are no libraries, at all, in the area. None. And with internet assignments and such from school, kids have little access a place with textbooks, dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc. 


Jose’s library is run only by volunteers. There are two young women from the area who come to oversee students, help with homework and teach literacy classes. The children love the library. They are waiting in the mornings and the afternoons for us to open it’s gate. They love being read to, even if our Spanish is broken and halted. They don’t care.

Yesterday I read “Donde Viven Monstruos” to a few kids. Loved it. That’s “Where the Wild Things Are” in English. 

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We have been introduced to three parts of town. The main city central has two main streets, we live a few blocks from those.  Around our home are the lower-class houses and illegal Haitian immigrants (our neighboring house, just over the fence, is a two bedroom cement building with approximately eight Haitians living together inside). The majority of housing seems to be poor, single bedroom shacks shared by whole families.

Then there is the middle class, with larger homes, some double-story. Both the poor and middle-class neighborhoods have tiny shops in-between houses, everyone trying to sell something.

Then we visited the tourist portion of the area. The hotels were beautiful, massive, and overtaking acres and acres of land. Resorts, actually, not just hotels. I can see how tourists visit and never see the real “downtown".

The “downtown” consists of the two main streets, as I stated, and a number of small restaurants, pizza joints (yum!), and bars.  The streets run along the beach, which are never fully packed with people but always a few here and there.  Unfortunately, the streets are poorly kept and not pedestrian friendly. Huge pot holes, manholes left uncovered, and kids in their undies running around! Dodging traffic, skipping over pot holes. Man, the kids here are street smart at a young age.  And even toddlers are wondering around. A watchful eye may be ten, fifteen feet away, but no one is chasing them saying “Stop running! Don’t run into the street!”  By the time they can walk, they know to watch out.

The people are wonderful to watch. They are beautiful, too.  A mix of many ethnicities, light and dark, with bright eyes and huge smiles. Oh, and their smiles! No matter if they are washing their motorcycle, riding the back of a truck, cooking dinner or just lounging beside the street, everyone is smiling.  And they seem so kind and gentle toward one another.  Not when they’re scolding children, but when they meet on the street and say hello, or are just ordering a coffee.  Despite the poverty, the atmosphere is positive and relaxed.  Everyone just seems comfortable, even if for us it seems nearly impossible to live in such conditions and be satisfied. It’s what they have.

Jose knows the library can’t change what they have. It can’t fix a thousand lives or bring everyone out of poverty.  But positive experiences with education and reading will influence their motivation to stay in school, pursue college, and eventually read to their own children.  This is the cycle that may help a family raise out of poverty, without relying on prostitution of the Hanky-Spanky’s.


Below are a number of photos taken this week. We've experienced quite a bit in our first few days, please be patient as I continue to update with more.

Jose took us to a home nearby. Not a home, a mansion. The owners weren't home, but their caretaker, William, was there to give us a tour. The home was INCREDIBLE, atop a mountain with a full view of the town, the beach, and the ocean. Above is a view of the steps going toward the house. Below is the backyard with a deck and an infinity pool overlooking Las Terrenas. Que Linda!

This is how the other half lives.