Escojo Graduation

Thirteen weeks ago, I began a course to teach the youth here in Baoba how to make healthy decisions with the hope that one day they could stand in front of their peers and teach them the same themes. And after thirteen weeks of coaxing the kids to come to the course on time and to pay attention, the kids have finally graduated. Kids here don’t often get the chance to graduate from something, so I wanted this to be really special. We made invitations and gave them to all of the family members and friends that lived in our neighborhood, and up until the graduation began, I was constantly harassing all of the parents to make their way to the church to support their kids in the graduation (I seriously mean harassing- it was extremely difficult to get these parents to show up). And to my delight, we had a great turnout, with about 30 family members and friends in the audience.

The kids all arrived at the church at 3:30 to prep for the graduation, which was set to begin at 4 (and in reality, began at 4:30). I didn’t want the graduation to just be me talking in front of everyone for two reasons: 1) I don’t speak Spanish that well and didn’t want to have to write a long speech, and 2) this course was for them to learn how to give lectures to the community so it would be good practice for the kids to speak in front of their parents at their own graduation. So that’s what we did.

The program for the graduation:

• Meri and Marlene gave the welcome and opening remarks, along with a guest appearance by Sandy for a little dinámica. (A dinamica is a short little song that gets the audience up on their feet singing and dancing. Dominicans love these, and I will teach them all to you when I get back home.)
• Brian and Franklin spoke on what we learned during the course- values and self-esteem; sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS and how to prevent them; teen pregnancy and how to prevent it; abstinence; drugs and alcohol; and how to use condoms.
• Henri and John Carlos spoke on what we did during the 13 weeks- went to La Capilla to participate in a march for International Women’s Day; hosted the group from La Capilla for a presentation on discrimination; went to Jarabacoa for a 3-day regional conference; and went to Matancitas for an all-day conference with 4 other Escojo groups.
• Andy and Leidi spoke on the groups plan for the future- to give presentations and lectures to the community; to have a talent show; to have a community march; and to present dramas to the schools and churches in Baoba and surrounding communities.
• The two regional coordinators, Joamver and Felix, then spoke more about Escojo and the benefits to being in the group. I invited these guys, who live about 2 hours away, to come and say some encouraging words to my kids for the graduation.
• Nanci and Yamel then presented the drama that the kids did in Matancitas, and the kids then repeated the drama so that all of the parents could see it as well.
• Then I said a short little speech telling the kids how much I enjoyed teaching them and presented all of the certificates.
• Javier and Elizabeth then gave closing remarks and invited everyone back to my house for cake and juice.

The After Party:

The after party was a huge hit. I had spent all morning making 5 gallons of juice with melon, apples, bananas, coconut and pineapples. And the day before I went into the closest large city to buy and decorate (yes I actually decorated the cake. They called me into the back kitchen of the bakery to draw my Escojo design with the icing because the bakers didn’t know how to do it) a 3 pound cake.

After serving the cake and juice, we all spent the next 3 hours dancing bachata and merengue. And towards the end of the evening, my kids were even able to drag me onto the dance floor to booty-dance with them to Dominican rap music.

I was extremely proud of how well the graduation and after party went. During the graduation, all of the kids spoke loudly and articulately, and at the after party, everyone behaved. I had told them beforehand that this would be the one party where alcohol would not be allowed, and surprisingly they stuck to this rule. I was also proud of all of the parents who showed up to support their kids. I feel like we take it for granted that our parents would show up at our graduation or a sporting event, but here the kids are pretty much on their own for that sort of thing. I could tell it really meant a lot to the kids for them to stand up in front of their friends and family and present what they have been doing for the past 3 months.

Thank you, Captain Obvious

As a basic generalization, Dominicans are extremely observant. And they love comparisons. When Jordan was here visiting, almost every single person that we passed by told me that Jordan was taller than me. Then they went to look at the pictures in my photo album and they told me that Jordan has always been taller than me. I was already aware of this fact, but they love to state the obvious. After Jordan left, a 6-year-old girl came up to me and told me that Jordan and I have the same feet. When I asked what she meant, she replied that we both use red nail polish and our toenails rise up.

Another example of their observant nature: Everyday I get an update on my weight from all of my neighbors. “Lauren, tu eres más gorda hoy.” (You’re fatter today) or “Lauren, tu eres demasiado flaca. Tu estás moriendo.” (You’re too skinny. You’re wasting away.) And while it’s nice to know that all of my neighbors are paying close attention to my eating habits and my health, hearing about how fat I’ve gotten in the past 24 hours gets a little old.

Other comments that I’ve recently gotten:

• “Wow Lauren, you sure are sweating a lot.” (I heard this from multiple people as I returned from my morning run.)
• “Lauren’s nose is very thin and pointy.” (This was not said directly to me, but was said as if I was not even in the room. I was in fact sitting next to the person talking.)
• "Lauren, did you know that you have love handles?” (Yes, I did know this.)
• "Lauren, you didn’t wash your hair today.” (No, I didn’t. Is it that obvious?)

Seriously, when recruiting Peace Corps volunteers for the Dominican Republic, there should be a disclaimer: Self-conscious people need not apply.

Ok, so Dominicans are observant. But ironically, they think all blonde-haired, fair-skinned people look exactly the same: like me. I was watching a movie that had Claudia Schiffer in it, and they told me that I could be Claudia Schiffer’s twin. This was extremely flattering, especially since they just got done telling me that I’ve gained weight. And they think all Americans look the same: blonde-haired, blue-eyed. They are shocked when they come across a picture of an American with African or Asian heritage, and it’s impossible to convince them that they are American. Or even just extremely tan people (like Shannon and Liz), they don’t believe are Americans because they don’t look like me.

Mango Season

Mango season has finally arrived. From the moment that I arrived in Baoba (back in November), everyone has been telling me to just wait until mango season, and so I have been anticipating it’s arrival. Everyday kids in my neighborhood bring me at least one mango, and I cannot eat them fast enough. On my run this morning, a little 8-year-old boy that I didn’t even know just stuck out a mango in his hand as I passed by for me to grab mid-stride.

Unfortunately, with the arrival of mango season comes the arrival of rainy season (and with rainy season, comes mosquito season). Apparently May is the rainy month in the Dominican Republic, and June begins hurricane season. Hurricane season will last until November, and people are already talking about whose sturdy-block house we’ll go to once a “cyclone” comes through. Because of its dirt roads and its proximity to three large rivers, Baoba has the tendency to flood, or at least to make the roads impassable. However I’m not too worried about it. Peace Corps has consolidation points for us, and if a bad hurricane is getting ready to hit, I will be called into San Francisco, a large city about 1 ½ hours away. And while Baoba will be fending for itself, I will be relaxing in a nice hotel where rumor has it has tennis courts, a swimming pool, and room service. Depending on when I get the call to come into San Francisco, it might be difficult to travel to the city, but if Baoba is really flooded and I can’t leave, they will (like, they have in the past) send a helicopter to fly me out to safety. And to be quite honest, I’m kinda hoping for the helicopter ride.