My *Contact Information*

Dear friends, I hope to keep in contact and not disappear off the face of this earth! If you need to reach me, always try my e-mail: arinh13@gmail.com. It appears that we'll have access to internet at times.

Also, for anyone interested in using Skype or FaceTime, I have accounts for both under my e-mail. We can talk for free (granted the internet service is fast enough)! That would definitely by swell!

**For regular Snail Mail, the Peace Corps says that mail delivery can take 10 days to several weeks to arrive:

Erin Hicks, PCT Cuerpo de Paz
Av Bolivar 451
Gazcue Apartado Postal 1412
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

((Please Note: Do not send money, airline tickets, or other valuable items through the mail.))

{Should you need to have a package sent to the Dominican Republic, we recommend that the contents be limited to items that fit into padded envelopes. These are less likely to be lost, opened, or taxed than other types of packages.}

**For Packages: Packages may also be shipped via a parcel delivery service. Federal Express and DHL have offices in Santo Domingo. If you want them to deliver a package to the Peace Corps office, you will have to provide the office street address (instead of the post office box address listed above) and phone number:

Erin Hicks, PCT Cuerpo de Paz
451 Avenida Bolivar
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Telephone: 809.685.4102

((Please Note: Federal Express and DHL will not deliver items larger than an envelope to the Peace Corps office, so you may have to pay significant customs duties to retrieve larger items from customs, and picking up the items may mean an entire day’s travel to the capital. In addition, packages sometimes disappear in transit.))

{Additionally, there is a tax levied on every package received by a trainee or Volunteer. Peace Corps does not cover these costs. All packages received in-country are charged RD$100 (currently USD$2.77) for retrieval and then an additional RD$100 per pound. So, for example, a 10-pound package would cost the Volunteer RD$1,100 (USD$34.00), which is a significant amount considering a Volunteer’s living allowance.}

**Telephone: We'll have our own mobile phones with DR phone numbers after our 3 months of training. When I get my phone, I'll let you guys know.

**Visiting: I would love to have visitors. Please let me know if you're thinking of coming over! Mi casa es tu casa, siempre. Peace Corps policy is that we cannot have visitors for the first 6 months, so please plan accordingly. JetBlue flies to the DR and usually features affordable flights. . .I am sure there are many other airlines too.

One day left (Un dia mas)

Time really couldn't go any faster. . .I have one more day to complete my great packing challenge and then everything begins! The preceding exclamation point is an exhausted one. . .it is excited to encounter what will come but anxious because nothing has yet passed. . .and yet, the challenge always is to focus on the present (ode to you, dear Jose). As I have been trying to get ready, I have glimpsed at a few blogs of current volunteers. Reading about their first week in the DR, moving from various host families (I just found out we'll have 3 host families!), finding their own place to live, having goats and milking cows (ooh- I really like this idea), and facing the challenge that the work has to offer excites me and overwhelms me as well. But heck. . .we're going to do this in full "estilo loco" (crazy style)- Chaska Ñawi style. . .I'm throwing myself into this experience 110%! And everything will turn out fine. . .I know I have some good people looking down over me. . .and a candle or two burning for me (gracias abuelita). . .y todo la energia buena del mundo conmigo (and all of the good energy of the world with me).

Well, what my experience comes down to right now is 80 lbs. For me, this wouldn't normally be a difficult thing. I'm kind of a one - two pair of clothes type of person. . .re-wear, re-wear, and re-wear. The less I wear, the less I have to wash in a bucket. Sierra style, you might call it. Well, the Dominicans apparently don't live that way (from what it sounds). They like clothes, and nice clothes at that. And well, of course it would be my luck to be paired with a country that prides itself in the way it dresses! Mountain woman is going to have to learn how to do things differently. So. . .now, I have more than I would ever pack . . .and 2 bags too (one more than I would normally have- usually my backpack would suffice)! 80 lbs. . .well, sadly, I'm finding that I may not be able to accommodate my dear trusty sleeping bag. . .but it's a 0 degree and is probably too warm for the climate. Sounds like we won't need one for the first 3 months and by then I'll hopefully encounter a lighter and less warm one if I need it.

I have so much to do. . .and only one day left. Well, here it goes!

My Going Away Party!

Well, mis viejos (my old people ;p) decided to surprise me by throwing a Going Away Party. It was put on a little early as my mom had back surgery a few days after the party. My mom's doing well, is back home, and will have a 6 - 12 month recuperation process. . .the doctor said he was pleased with how the surgery went, so so far, all good. It was great seeing everyone who showed up! Thanks to all who came and a very special thanks to my Mum and Dad!

*Hasta Luego Mis Amigos!* See you later my friends!

At my interview, my recruiter asked me how early I could be ready to depart. I originally put down April though he was pushing for me to do January or February. So March was the compromise. I wanted time to spend with friends and family. It's been an interesting journey of living in the mountains, moving around. . .but the truth is, for a large chunk of time, I am away somewhere where there isn't much internet, telephone, or electricity. And when I finish those jobs, I have the tendency of running off to random places such as Peru and Bolivia. So, I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to spend time with friends on the East coast (who I haven't seen in over 2 years!) and with friends spread out through Cali (though I didn't get to do the whole tour that I originally had planned). Each experience I have had has allowed me to come in contact with some amazing people who have become very good friends. . .I look forward to the Peace Corps and what it may bring. But for the meantime, it is nice to have the chance to "tool around" with good old pals before I disappear for the next 2 years. Thanks all for the good times. Much love as always.

My Assignment

Country: Dominican Republic
Program: Community Environmental Development
Job Title: Community Environmental Development Promoter
Dates of Service: May 11, 2011 - May 11, 2013
Orientation Date: March 2, 2011
Pre-Service Training (in the DR): March 3, 2011 - May 11, 2011

Description provided by the Peace Corps:

The Community Environmental Development Project (EDE) works to increase the knowledge, skills, experience, and attitudes of community members, promoters, educators, park personnel, youth, and women groups to adopt appropriate behaviors in their interaction with the environment and for the implementation of community projects and actions for sustainable development and protection of the natural environment.

Volunteers work in 2 or more action areas:

1. Community rural-based Tourism and Ecotourism
-Implement conservation projects that combine the biodiversity conservation and the promotion of environmental awareness among community members and visitors of the protected area.
-Promote sound environmental practices and techniques by using protected areas as an outdoor classroom.
-Assist park managers and community-based organizations with the design, promotion, and implementation of eco-tourism activities to generate income so they can equate biodiversity conservation with improving their living levels.

2. Brigada Verde
-Work with youth leadership development centered around environmental actions including appropriate trash and waste disposal, prevention of water contamination, prevention of deforestation, watershed protection, protection of marine resources, protection of air quality, and gardening projects.

3. Home and community organic gardening promotion
-Carry out gardening activities at both the household and community level in order to improve diet.

4. Renewable energy and energy conservation (improved cooking stoves)
-Train community members in energy conservation and healthy cooking practices through the construction of improved cooking stoves.
-Assist community leaders and park rangers to learn and apply environmental concepts and design promotional materials.
-Organizing, forming, and strengthening existing community groups to implement specific environmental community activities.
-Establish organic gardens and/or tree nurseries.
-Promote reforestation campaigns, garbage disposal programs, and topic specific environmental workshops.
-Engage in participatory planning, monitoring, and evaluation processes with community organizations.
-Support complementary community projects with community organizations.
-Design environmental campaigns for communities located near national parks.
-Help park administrators to develop and implement eco-tourism activities

5. Food security
-Assist with aquaculture activities.
-Train community members about the importance of having sufficient protein intake in their daily diets which they can get from aquaculture activities.

Sounds like we'll be busy!!!

El camino comienza y continua (((The road starts and continues)))

“Challenging the meaning of life is the truest expression of the state of being human.”

-Viktor E. Frankl

At this moment, I feel most human. . .when life suddenly takes unexpected changes and "el camino tuyo" (your path) follows with a wild turn; when everything is at the verge of speeding up and slowing down simultaneously, starting and finishing en el mismo tiempo tambien (at the same time also); when you realize that even though you still don't know your purpose in life, you are continuing on in the correct direction. It is as real as cool earth between your toes, the damp forest scent entering your nose- that moment the connection with la vida pura (the pure life) is reopened, revitalized. I am connected with the state of being human . . .with the search for meaning and realizing my place on this planet. I embark on this Peace Corps adventure with the sincere hopes of having a positive effect on all that is around me. I also hope to take in the positive effect of all that I am around. I walk my path not only as an American, but as a citizen of this world, and my heart, a lover of this world and the beauty it still has. I am Peruvian, Bolivian, Dominican (and at the end of 2 years, I will surely be!), and so on. Each place I visit has shared with me it's beautiful spirit and I carry a part of each spirit within my heart. Now, I prepare to embark. . .with an open heart, an open mind, and with el espiritu de Pacha Mama (the spirit of Mother Earth).