ATLManiac

I must preface this by saying that there are many things I like about this country, however there are several things that I don’t like and even detest about this country. As I have already mentioned before, the cuisine here is very very average. Basically my biggest problem with this country is that they eat things here before they mature. And honestly it just boggles my mind, I just say in my head why in the fuck would I eat that. For example, why would I eat green bananas or plantains? Nature is telling me that they are not ready to eat. They are fucking GREEN! And of course viveres (any starchy vegetable such as green banana/plantain, yucca, squash, etc), who wants to just eat them plain after you just boil them. I can’t believe no ... read more

6/14/12 Santiago, the capital of the north! This is my 2nd night in the 2nd biggest city of the DR, and as I had heard from many other Dominicans, the city is supposed to be much, much better. And well, I completely agree with all of those opinions; the city is decently clean, located in the mountains, and much safer (at least from my vantage point). In addition, there are around 1 million people in a small area, so the city felt more packed, but was much better maintained. Honestly, it felt like you were back in the US in a regular big city. However, with every new city I visit of course there comes another story. Story time! So after lunch with my group of 7 volunteers at a tourist restaurant, Montezuma, near the gorgeous ... read more

5/28/12 An interesting observation that I have seen is that the people that I usually understand best happen to be really religious. In this context, I mean that they are Evangelical. Basically, this is the new religion that is growing pretty rapidly in Latin America. The biggest difference between Evangelical and Catholicism is that Evangelicals don’t drink or dance, and that their faith is 1000% stronger. I have already had quite a few talks with Evangelicals about their religion and I have been pretty open with my views, that I have even admitted that I question the existence of God every day of my life. That last statement I have only shared with Rudy because I trust him, however he is also Evangelical, which means that he takes the bible in a literal sense. He believes ... read more

I must tell this story that happened today, actually just happened only 15 minutes ago. While I’m typing this entry, I am listening to bachata music because I make it part of my learning of Spanish and because I just love it! Bachata is especially popular in the campo because I believe that is where it first came from. Okay onto the story. I am in my neighbor’s house, talking to the family, and 2 of the young teenagers who have taken me to different spots to bathe (you guys already know what that means, once again, I have no shame (no tengo verguenza) and I’m not a pedophile). And they ask me if I could tell a story. You must understand that telling stories is a very important thing in this culture. Of course it ... read more

I might as well explain how I bathe every day. So at first, I was bathing in an unfinished latrine, but once that finished and well, I started shitting in the now completed latrine. I made an executive decision, don’t bathe where you shit. Hence I went with bathing in the river every day. I must warn readers: I am NOT a pedophile. For about half the time, I go to with several boys, who take me to a part of the river that is at least 5 feet deep. If I don’t go to that spot, I have to bathe in a river that is like 4 inches deep. These kids are either from my host family or my neighbors. I don’t say no when they want to show me places, so they usually come ... read more

5/02/12 Community Entry Day as the Peace Corps calls it, is on this specific day. I wake up crack-ass early, before 6, so that I had enough time to eat breakfast and pack the rest of my belongings. After realizing that I would profusely sweat if I tried to haul all of my suitcases to Ben Wargo’s house (trying to be economical by splitting a cab fare), I just asked my Dona to call a taxi for me, and after 5 minutes, I was on my way to the training center in Pantoja. The taxi driver deftly maneuvers inside, without scraping the underside of his car, and drops me off near Rindi. An hour later, I was joined by all of the trainees on a bus, and driven to another training center in Santo Domingo, where ... read more

I believe that I have a day that encapsulates my life: El dia perfecto Alarm beeping, 7:20am. I grudgingly swivel my head around to turn off my alarm. While rubbing my eyes, I get out of bed and willing step through my door to sit down at the table for breakfast. Literally, 2 minutes later, my Dona, Dona Chede (its her nickname, very common here to use), puts in front of me a breakfast of avena, some kind of sweet bread, and a mixture of papaya, pineapple and mystery fruit #3 (lets just say I forgot the name and really I only know the name of this fruit in spanish, but it tastes so similar to me). First, lets talk about avena…Genus English….Oatmeal…..Genus Tal’s dictionary…Not fucking oatmeal. Oh don’t get me wrong, I like it, really ... read more