The Dominican Republic Day One with the Y

So now that I've been in Haii a few days, my time in the Dominican Republic seems like it was a year ago. I have some great travel companions, from Florida, Tennessee, Minnesota, New Mexico, Chicago, Des Moines. The first night, we were all nervous about venturing out on our own and how to manage the water and what can we eat, and what do we do when people ask us for money. . . and of course there's the whole getting to know you thing but we're all family now. In fact, we are discussing now how our leader, Antonio, is the youngest of us. There are three younger than me.
So the DR YMCA is led by Andres. A jolly man who draws small children like a magnet and leads the Y with a passion and desire to serve and better his country. He has gone to every effort to make sure we are taken care of and comfortable. His leadership is led with passion and vision but not so much organization. The big problem in the Dominican is that there isn't enough public education, so the Y is in place to meet the community need through schooling. But most of the families can't afford the $5 per month for the half day of school on weekdays so the schools loose money. So he's trying to develop ways to earn an income by building a new facility in a middle class neighborhood that will provide a fitness area and aerobics.
So, we went to the main Y, it has a classroom, a computer lab with computers that were probably used in the US 20 years ago. A Technical school to teach adults skills needed to work in restaurant services, beauty salon, fixing computers, electrical. Then we went to talk to the president of the DR Lawyers Association, and he talked to us about the history of the DR and Haiti. And there is just so much there that I am totally unaware of. We've heard so many different perspectives here from some really really smart people. The DR and Haiti don't really get along. Yet Andres was one of the first to support the Haiti Y after the earthquake. Haiti was the 1st independent nation from a slave revolt and they never want to be enslaved again- this affects their relationship with us and with every foreign country. We went through the whole history about the dictators in the past that behaved like Hitler with killing off of certain ethnicities and people who opposed them. Currently, the biggest challenges facing the island (a bird with two wings) involve migration, as the Haitians migrate to the DR, they aren't citizens so they take the benefits of the country but don't pay taxes because they don't have citizenship, even if they are born here. This drains the DR. There is no leadership here because the leaders were all killed off during the dictatorship so there is a void of leadership. I think it is definitely something we should all become more aware of. . . I mean I had no idea that there was a genocide going on here just a few decades ago. And this affects all of us, as we learned yesterday, you can't choose your neighbors, we have to work together like it or not. Of course, this is the girl who doesn't watch TV or follow the news.
We traveled to another neighborhood within Santo Domingo to visit a Y facility that has several classrooms, a computer lab with absolutely no working computers, a playground on the roof, a health clinic area, and a preschool. The children sang and prayed and ate lunch with us. They are all taught core values. We communicate through gestures and we take their photos and show them to them on our digital screens and they love it! They are all clean and dressed in uniforms but Ray told us that they're putting their best foot forward for us. The preschool is for single mothers- mothers from Haiti, husbands in jail, domestic violence while they work as street vendors.
We visited the new Y site. He wants it done in 3 months, they work by hand. He has amazing vision for this place. It was a huge beach house with a view of the ocean and they are building onto it a gym, aerobics, a medical clinic (that's the other thing, they provide medical check ups for their students) 8 classrooms, computer lab, kitchen. . so many dreams and not a lot of cash. It would be like us starting building a building without the money to finish. They don't want to borrow money because they come from a history of bankruptcy. After seeing the Haitian men that work in the sun laboring over the construction site for under $3 an hour, we went to the navy social club and sat by the beach and drank beer. That is one of the main things I am going to take away from this trip- the amazing discrepancy between those who have money and those who don't. And the beer in the Dominican Republic, by the way, is el Presidente. And I like it. We also had wine. I totally thought I wouldn't drink alcohol my entire time here - because of expense and the malaria pills-and I've had a drink every day. Mainly because of my generous family members here. I've also learned that females should not pour their own wine. Huh.
We went to a traditional Dominican Republic food buffet. I danced with a Dominican Republican man. He kept having to put his hands on my hips and say side-to-side No! Meringue. We have been eating very well in both countries. I'm probably gaining weight. I remember clear back on that night, sitting by the pool discussing Baby Doc (Duvalier) and our fears about going to Haiti. Ha! There is no need to fear Haiti.

More about Kim

By the way, I'm in Haiti now. Arrival and airport transport all went well and we're at the Haiti YMCA in the cybercafe.
So back the DR. Kim ate six pieces of pizza and ice cream! We had a great time asking one another questions. The zoo and aquarium were both closed so we just ate and drove around. She didn't get disappointed or anything, they were all so sweet- It was her, her mom, her two sisters, a translator, a driver and the woman from Children International who works with Kim's family. It was a great day. Kim takes 12 courses at school and it's only an afternoon school. All three girls have great dreams for the future- to be a dentist, accountant and Kim wants to be a pediatrician. They sang and danced for me and tried to teach me a little. She asked three times if I would come back someday. . . and I think maybe I will.
My spanish is a struggle. I speak a few words and revert back to english!
I have to go to lunch now. I hope to tell you about the DR Y later.

So much to say. . .

Wow. I can't belive it's only been 3 days since I left. So everything is fine, there may be difficulties that I didn't anticipate in the cleanliness area and choosing what to eat but I'm having a good time.
To start with at the airport as soon as I got in line, a man started talking to me about universal religion- because I had a Y shirt on. Not only did he want to talk in line, he wanted me to meet him at the gate and continue our conversation! But he ended up being a nice guy, I thought he was misguided, he thinks I am but we agreed to disagree. . . or I stopped talking and maybe he thought he'd given me something to think about. He also did me the favor of finding Antonio- my Y leader. So, the dynamic of a flight in the middle of winter to Miami- want to take a guess of the median age?
So arrival in the Dominican Republic was very welcoming, Andres is the director of the DR YMCA and also the leader of the Carribean Alliance of YMCA's. We met up with him and his son, and Ray, a gentleman from Kentucky who used to live in Hait and is our Haiti expert. They took me out to a beautiful restaurant on the beach with multi levels and colors and I tried Mofundo, or something like that, plantains mixed with some meat and tropical fruit juice. It was good. Probably the most cultural food I have had so far. It was a great introduction to the country. I was warned not to expect that every night.
The hotel. So that first night, I had a room alone. And I know I thought to myself, I haven't done this for awhile. . . and it's almost panic when you realize how far you are out of your comfort zone. And I'm still only in the DR. When we came to my hotel room, the refridge had been left open and leaked all over the floor. . . and some of you know the problem I have with wet floors. Someone was supposed to clean it up while we were gone and didn't. Then, the shower didn't work. I got all ready for my nice hot shower after a day of travel and then a trickle of cold came out. It was about 12:15 a.m. and I had to get up at 6:30 a.m. Uh oh. So you deal with it. I imagine it's going to get a lot worse. Sleeping in bug repellent. Man.
And I'm thinking, how did I get here?
And I think back to a night where I was sitting in the pool office catching up on my reading because there weren't enough lifeguards and I read a Y Discovery Magazine about these ILI experiences and I thought, I'd like to do that someday. . . and then at a training this fall I heard about this opportunity again and I made it one of my short term goals. . . and I've wanted to come to the Dominican Republic for a few years because I have a sponsored child through Children International that I wanted to meet. Kimberlyn. And then I just happen to notice on our national Y website this ILI opportunity in the Dominican Republic (and Haiti) and I thought. . . well maybe I'll apply for that, just a few days before it was due. And I got in. So there you go, I'm here.
So after a breakfast of scrambled eggs and what I found out today is SPAM I headed out to meet Kimberlyn. . . which was amazing. Honestly. Not only is she real, she's really sweet and mature, and tall and gets along with her sisters and is considerate. But I should probably get off this computer now, so I'll have to tell you about Kim and the amazing work of the DR YMCA later. I've been drinking beer.

Country Mouse is off to new lands!

One week and counting

The Mice Coast to Coast: By The Numbers

2626 miles traveled
200 cough drops eaten by City Mouse
47 rocks collected by City Mouse
30 degrees difference in temperature in 1 day(91 to 61)
15.5 rolls of film taken by Country Mouse
15 coffees/lattes
12 days of vacation
10 states
10 meals with eggs
10 bottles of wine purchased
8 bodies of water
8 friends we saw
7 places geeps directed us to that did not exist
7 things we ate that had blueberries
7 postcards sent
6 modes of transportation: walking,driving,the train,sailboat,ferry boat,tour boat
6 tanks of gas
6 wine tastings
5 Farmers Markets
5 delicious meals cooked over a campfire
5 state parks visited
4 nights camping
4 nights with friends
4 islands visited
3 successfully built fires by City Mouse
3 times we ate ice cream
2 hotels
2 national parks visited
2 times we heard Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson
1 Bed and Breakfast
1 the number of times we had to use nature as a bathroom (we won't tell you which mouse...)
0 the number of speeding tickets acquired by City Mouse


All in all, a VERY successful trip.

We thank you for following along!
City and Country

The Mice get their rainbow...

After a nice breakfast in Sketch-nectady, we moved on and made the mistake of trusting Geeps again and following her direction to a Meadery and Honey Farm that did not exist in the middle of nowhere far north of our original course. But we made the most of it and found another winery and Chimney Bluffs State Park where we dipped our toes in Lake Ontario and City Mouse collected rocks and driftwood for awesome art projects she will make in the future. We then headed further west to Niagara Falls with our first bout of weather that was less than desirable. It cleared up though as we walked toward the falls. I have always been under the impression that Niagara Falls was a big touristy gimmicky place but it is really a pretty and well serviced State Park. We went first on the Maiden of the Mist, a boat that takes you pretty close to the falls and you get soaking wet, they do however provide you with a nice blue poncho. As we were going by, the sun came out for some great rainbows and the falls were pretty amazing. Then you walk across the rapids on a pedestrian bridge and over to another area where you can do a Cave of the Winds tour. This tour provides you with a pair of awesome sandals and another poncho and you walk up a bunch of wooden stairs and on a boardwalk growing algae right next to the falls and you get drenched. It was pretty awesome. The water was really clean. We had possibly our last vacation dinner at the Top of the Falls restaurant complete with a chocolate decadence cake. And then we watched the colored lights on the falls change colors and the evening was completed with a firework show over the falls. The whole Niagara Falls experience was spectacular and highly recommended.

Country Mouse

I don't know, City Mouse makes up the titles and she is busy. . . she'll fill it in. . . maybe we'll call it Hillbilly Fun Park?

(Country Mouse, again City Mouse is busy) So on Wednesday we explored Camden, Maine. Quite the cute little tourist spot, complete with lots of little knick knack shops and a harbor full of beautiful boats. We had breakfast and coffee at Zoot and then walked about stopping randomly and always being very thankful when the store we were searching had air conditioning. We went out to the Cellardoor Winery and sampled a few wines which were pretty good (I’m up to seven in my road trip collection) they even had a wine that mixed blueberry and maple syrup into the wine. On the way back into town we spontaneously decided to take a swim at the lake, because really, how often can you take a swim in a random lake in Maine among the mountains? There were fish visible beneath us, the water was clear and it was quite refreshing. Then we headed back into town to continue our shopping after eating Lobster Rolls and Lobster Bisque while overlooking the harbor. And I’ve also discovered how great blueberry soda is. . . We tried to buy some to bring home today but apparently they only make it on the coast. We went to the Camden Farmers Market and headed down to Rockport, home of the Maine Photographic Workshops. I walked around the harbor and went up this little path I know to a bench that overlooks all the boats. It’s lovely. Great little town really. If you want to visit Maine and see the boats but don’t need all the hustle bustle of touristy shops, I would hang out in Rockport. Our last night at the campsite with some pasta, tomatoes and pesto and potatoes and zucchini. And finally we had the thing that defines camping- smores. The marshmallows were in one large clump from being in the car, but hey, they taste the same.
Thursday morning we took one last look around Camden and headed west. . . Through Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont to New York. Vermont was gorgeous, winding roads, mountains, a river and sunshine. We stopped at one point and ate a watermelon in a parking lot outside of what I think was a senior center. A not-nice-lady observed us and seemed a little put out by us using that parking lot and we’re pretty sure she called the police so we moved on. Safe and sound now in a motel in a place I can hardly pronounce. . . Schenectady, NY. Niagara Falls tomorrow.