Earthquake in Haiti

It was the first time I had ever felt an earthquake. It was felt as far East as Nagua, Dominican Republic. But we are safe and there was no damage here.

I have friends visiting and we were inside a large market plaza in Santiago. I was looking at a wall of souvenirs and it moved away from me, but I didn’t realize what was happening until I heard the men outside the store yelling, “The earth is trembling, the earth is trembling!” I still can't believe what some Haitian communities were going through at that same moment. I was in the middle of a giant old building. I certainly would have been trapped inside had the earthquake hit Santiago instead.

If you want to help I would recommend the Red Cross but if you prefer to send your money with a certain motive I will deliver it personally to Port au Prince in May when I am no longer serving in the Peace Corps.

Welcome 2010!

Happy New Year! As I will complete my Peace Corps service in May, the last few months of my life have been sacrificed to graduate school applications and the struggle that goes along with trying to research, communicate, complete, and send important documents without reliable Internet, phone or transportation. While I will bring that struggle into 2010, I will approach it with more tenacity! I am excited to spend time reflecting on this experience and also to begin something new. I am already though, feeling the painful loss that my move will bring to me and my friends here.

I was incredibly fortunate to have welcomed so many friends and couchsurfers into my home in 2009, to learn about Dominican culture and to teach me about being a hostess - mainly how incredibly rewarding and exhausting of an experience it is. This is also an awesome challenge I will bring into this year!

This new year has brought nothing but rain and cold to my corner of the Dominican Republic. Our dirt road is nearly impassable, but with a new baby to snuggle who could attest to a day spent indoors? And the entire day must be spent indoors because according to traditional Dominican wisdom no one that has been in the rain or cold can touch the baby. To stop his hiccups they pull a string off of his clothes and spit-paste it to his forehead!

My new 'nephew' Hendryk