8:43
16 Nov 2001
Consuelo, Distrito Escolar
Yesterday, I arrived at the District Office at 8AM. E was not there. Crescencia put me to work sorting and counting textbooks. We did this for about two hours until E arrived and we got in the Jeep for a tour of the different facilities in the care of the district office. E is still in her “I’m-not-really-talking-to-you” scene, which I accept, albeit reluctantly.
In each place, we spoke with the director or directora about the programs offered. Later, I got on the back of a motorbike with Jean Luis, a bilingual Spanish/Haitian Kreyol educator. He took me home for almuerzo at 12:15. This consisted of fish, rice, lentils, and some stuff I’m forgetting. When I was done, the woman of the house commented that I didn’t eat much of the fish and I told her I’m just now adapting to such rich food as meat. “But fish?” she asked, and I said “Ni pescado ni productos animales comía.”
I’d like more of a partnership with E because apparently she had some information I was missing– namely that nothing that we had planned for the afternoon was going to happen. Since I didn’t have that information, I got on a motorbike back to the district office and waited. First I had a conversation with this one woman who said she didn’t know what I was supposed to be doing. Then the office secretary put me to work filing old bills by year. (My thought was “wow, what a piss-poor accounting system!”)
Sooner or later, I went back to Mierna’s house where Josecito conversed with me about his boredom; without electricity, he can’t play Nintendo. I finished The Tao Of Poo and started reading Robert Penn Warren’s wordy and lengthy novel All The King’s Men. Remember that students only attend liceo morning, afternoon, or night. Mirielli was out working on a project with a friend, but Jose was home. I tried to nap, and after the attempt, did sit zazen for a decent period.
For some reason, Mierna served a different dinner to each person. To Mirielli, it was fried plantains and hot dog pieces. She served me two hot dogs in buns. And Andrez got lunch leftovers. Bored, because no hay luz, I went to bed around 8:30.
This is a review of my personal journal from my time as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic in 2001-2003. Even if I feel differently now or found out later that I what I wrote was factually incorrect, I haven’t changed what I wrote then. Part of the joy of reading old journals is seeing a story arc where I’ve learned new things.
Names have been shortened to initials to provide some privacy. Even though those who were there may be able to use these initials to figure out who it is I wrote about, please remember that my journaling is not about other people or their experience.
- The next entry in this series is In which I list the reasons I doubt I will succeed as a Peace Corps Volunteer
- The previous entry in this series is The causes of noise
- You can see the journal entries as I post them here.
- If you’re just starting, here’s the first entry.
