Playing Tourist for the Day

Well it has been a very long week of training, full of classes, shadowing, job site and school attachment. But thanks to my host mom Sam and I were able to relax a bit this weekend. Marilynns sister works for the tourisms department here and was able to get us two spots on a tubing trip down the Layou River that is normally reserved for the tourists who come in on the cruise ships.

It was really fun, nothing like rafting back home. It was calm, pretty much just sitting in a tub floating down the river. So relaxing!!! Plus it was kind of fun to play tourist for the day. We meet them at the dock and got on the bus with 30 tourists from the ship. Then we drove to the river, the bus ride was really different than the local rides, and it was about half the speed and craziness that I am use too.

It was pretty entertaining to hear the comments they all made as we drove through the villages and all the assumptions they made along the way. I guess it made me realize how much I have learned in only 2ish months of being here. And I cant help but wonder how much more I will know in 6 months, a year, and after I leave in 2.

Once we got to the river we got helmets, life vests and got in the tubes. (Yeah we were looking good for sure) There were guides every step of the way, so I pretty much zoned out and enjoyed the river. At the end we got complementary drinks! Oh the live of a tourist!!!

By the time we left everyone knew we werent actually tourists so we answered questions about Dominica and the Peace Corps all the way home. It was nice to dispel some of the myths we hear on the way up. I also got to ask some questions about cruises, like if they leave you behind of you miss the boat.

Its good information to know because there is this guy outside the PC office that plays this little guitar all day and sings so quietly that you can only hear him if you are 2 feet away. Anyways Im pretty convinced he was once left behind on a ship and the only logical thing for him to do was to become a street performer. Either that or he is a Peace Corps Volunteer that never went back home

Learning more and more about Dominica

Hello world, and or select few family and friends who read my blog. Well things have been getting more and more busy as we have entered into the second half of training. But we still have been able to fit in some cool cultural experience here and there.

The other day the Queens Baton (torch) came through Dominica for the Common Wealth Games happened in India in a few moths. There was a huge ceremony at the stadium, in Roseau, and a few of us trainees were able to attend. We were sitting four rows back from the presidents, the mayor of Roseau, the man who created the Dominica flag, the carnival royalty and various other distinguished guests. They were actually being served on a silver platter and the carnival king didnt want his so we got it ha!  I guess we got really lucky with our seating choice. We also sat right in from of a well know soukouyan (aka witch) here is Dominica.

It was an amazing event there was local singers, different cultural groups that did traditional dances, stilts (they were crazy  running, jumping, and hopping on one leg!), fireworks, steal drum bands, and tons of other cool things. It was so cool to be a part of.

This last weekend we also took a field trip to Cabrits National Park here and an old fort left behind by the British, Fort Shirley. There we had a special presentation on the history of Dominica. It was really really cool and I think we all enjoyed learning a bit about this country. After the talk we were able to walk around and take some photos and just explore the fort. It was a really fun day for all of us. On the way home we stopped at the beach for a quick swim.

So all and all things are going great for me, the Peace Corps keeps you busy for sure, but I wouldnt have it any other way.

Always Learning

Today I learned how to prepare a meal, as well as wash my cloths by hand. Can I just say, so not as easy as one might think. My forearms are still killing me from all the scrubbing. I also used lotion for the first time on my hands since coming here; they were so dry from all the soap in the water.

But it was good to learn so now when I move out on my own in three weeks I wont be completely helpless. For now I will leave you with a little tid-bit of information my host mom told me about washing:

When washing panties makes sure you scrub the crotch, the front, the boom boom, and the legs. And unless I am not mistaken that pretty much covers every part of the panty.

The Emerald Pool

I just realized that half my blog entries start with the word so, so I am going to try and be a little more creative in my entries from now on, but no promises.

One fine day in the lovely land of Dominica there was a group of Peace Corps Trainees with nothing to do on a Saturday so they decided to pull the tourist card and check out one of the natural wonders on the island.

Thats right we got a day off and deiced it would be fun to take a trip to the Emerald Pool. Well all meet in the capital and got a bus to take us on the hour or so journey into the rainforest and the Emerald Pool.

It started with a fifteen-minute hike that was really just a walk, through the rainforest. It was the most beautiful part of the island I have seen since coming here. The Emerald Pool is amazing, there is a waterfall that fills it and the water is crystal clear but has an emerald color to it. There is nature all around you, with giant trees that almost block out the sky above you, and so many different shades of green!!!!

Once we got to the pool we decided to go swimming, the water was pretty cold, but we all thought it was about the same temperature as the showers we take everyday anyways. We had a great time playing in the waterfall, and swimming around. I think we were annoying the tourist though they wanted photos of the pool without a group of 20 somethings messing around in it. By hey we didnt really care, were locals now!!!

Anyways it was a great trip to one of Dominicas natural wonders, cant wait to see more!

Mail Call

If  anyone wants to send me letters my address is:

U.S. Peace Corps
Mary Steinke
P.O. Box 357
8 King George V Street
Roseau
Dominica

AKA I really like getting and sending mail so please send me some letters :)

The Life of a Trainee

Well as I go back and look at my blog I have realized that I have not really said much about Peace Corps training which really occupies most of my time. Its not just the fun beach visits and exploring Dominica, although we try to squeeze that part in as much as possible to keep ourselves sane. So I thought I would just tell you a little bit about being a trainee:

Let me start by saying I am not on official Peace Corps Volunteer as of right now, I am in fact a Peace Corps Trainee. Every PC Volunteers goes though an 8-week training before being sworn into the Peace Corps. I am about half way though training at this point, and hopefully will be sworn in to the PC in mid April and that is when my two years of service begins. As a trainee we are kept so unbelievably busy that I hardly have time to think let alone sleep.

Every week we go to the capital, Roseau, three times. It is about an hour and 15 min for me one way. So I get up around 6:30 to get there at 8:00  8:30 depending on how many extra stops the bus driver feels like taking. There we do training in the PC office, this includes sessions on:

-Cross Cultural Training
-Safety and Security
-Participatory Analysis for Community Action or PACA
-Working with Schools
-Tech by Track  or my NGO development class
-Language
-Project Design Management
-And a few various others

We are normally done around 3:00 or 4:00, and then we try to hang out as a group a little in town before going to our separate communities. Then its the bus trip home where I spend my time trying to hang out with my host family, integrate into the community, and do the homework I have been assigned by the classes.

The other two days of the week are set aside to visit the school we are attached to, visit our work site, and do our shadowing.

I am attached to Roosevelt Douglas Primary School. I have only been there a few times but it is looking like I will be doing some one-on-one time with kids that are falling behind in classes as well as helping set up the library. The school is lass than a year old and the classes are packed. The teachers are overloaded with kids and there is no special education at all. I hope I can make a difference with some of these kids throughout my time here.

My worksite is the Town Council and I kind of explained what my job will be there in a pervious blog entry. This is the hardest thing for me so far, its very difficult to jump into a working office and learn how things are done. But I just have to remind myself to take it slow and learn now so I can be effective later.

The shadowing has turned out to be very interesting. Each week I shadow a new person from the community and learn what they do on a day-to-day basis. The first week it was the Youth Officer for the North, the second was the Development Director for the North, and next will be the CALLS center (dont know what this is yet, but I will soon). I think I will shadow a Health Officer too at some point. I have learned more in these shadowing than in another place, just to be a fly on the wall at so many meetings, events, and in so many offices, has given me a lot of knowledge on the community. I am looking forward to my next shadow!

The weekends are normally ours to spend time with our host families and integrate into the community, although we have some field trips on Saturdays coming up. On Friday nights I go to BBQ with my host family in town. Some Saturdays all of the trainees try to get together and do some of the tourist things Dominica has to offer, just to get to know the island and each other a bit better. And that is where most of my posts have come from. I also go to market with my host mom on Saturdays at 5:30 in the morning; its quite an experience. Sundays I go to Catholic Church with my host family and it last 2:30 hours, really really long! Then we have a family lunch and hang out at home for the day. The buses dont run here on Sunday so everyone mostly stays home. Then I start the process all over again on Monday!

Well I think that pretty much sums up what I do as a trainee, and plus I need to go work on some homework :). Sorry it was so long, there is just so much that I do every week. And I am sure I left some things out to, ha!

P.S. the photo is actually from training on St. Lucia, but I dont have any of the office right now  but I will get some soon.

Comfort Cloths vs The Heat

So I realized something today I haven't warn jeans since I left Colorado and I don't even have a hoddie in my possession now. I feel like a part of me is missing

So tonight when we went to get dinner (BBQ chicken) I put on my only pair of jeans. I feel better now  more like myself.  Now only if I could find a hoodie here to buy and get use to wearing it in 90-degree weather. :)

Oh and here is a photo of some chickens. They are everywhere and the wake me up every morning... really really early

One small step for most people One giant leap for Mary

So yesterday was my first day off since leaving the United States. And it wasnt really supposed to be a day off I was supposed to meet with my counterpart from my job, but he is out of town all this week so I got the day off instead. So I got to sleep in and have a lazy morning, which was nice considering I get up most days at 6:30 and Im on the go all day.

But eventually I got a little restless and bored of being in the house. So I decided to go visit Rashawna and Marcus in Marigot, which is about 20 miles away from Portsmouth. Now in the US this really wouldnt be a huge deal right, you just get in your car and drive over to your friends house. Well, it was a big deal for me and I was actually a little nervous about getting there and back home again.

First I had to find the right bus to Marigot, not really an easy task considering there are no official bus stops here. Then I had to make it through the hour bus ride (yep thats right here 20 miles equals and hour bus ride) through the winding roads in the jungle. Its pretty but man its not so fun for those of us who are inflicted with carsickness. Then find Rashawna in a town I have never been in before. But guess what I did it all!!! I was very proud of myself, so funny for such a small task really. I couldnt help but think One small step for most people One giant leap for Mary

Marigot was fun, we went to the beach, again, and yes I do actually work here its not all beach visits. It was really different from the beach in Portsmouth; we had to hike for 20 minutes down these crazy mud steps to get to the beach. But once we were there it was really cool, it felt like a private beach.

All in all it was a good day for me, but I was exhausted by the time I got home.