Blackouts and Burnout

Here's a post that is long overdue. Welcome, dear reader, and thank you for checking back in!

First things first: let me be clear about the title. I'm a sucker for alliteration, so when the opportunity arises I can't pass it up. But when I say "blackout" here I am decidedly NOT referring to a night of high-blood alcohol content accompanied by memory lapse. Rather, I am referring to what is known affectionately (?) in the Dominican Republic as "se fue la luz": a power outage. These are frequent in Nebya, but thankfully my family has an inverter; there have been many an evening when we sit on our lighted porch in the midst of an otherwise dark neighborhood, me contemplating how the income gap has literally been illuminated before my eyes. There are times, however, when the inverter is also not working, such as last week. Now I had become begrudgingly accustomed to grading quizzes by the light of my laptop screen and sleeping in 80-plus degree weather without the relief of a fan, but last week's "apagón" (power outage) saw me acting differently. I decided to go outside and investigate with my host brother, Jorge Miguel (age 8). Our adventure concluded with me being regaled by the inimitable dance moves of Jorge and his neighborhood friends by the light of a mosquito zapper. One thing's for sure: that hour or so of gut-busting hilarity (one of the rare moments I regret not having a smartphone to capture the moment) far beat hunching over yet another set of student compositions. Little by little I am learning the meaning of "tomarlo suave" or 'take it easy'!

The second bit of my alliterative title is also a bit misleading. While it is true that I am feeling happy to be past the halfway point in my Dominican journey, I am not ready to leave without proving to myself what good teaching entails. I know that the both the goodbyes and the homecoming will be bittersweet events. What I actually want to address here is a safety issue. Last week I burned myself pretty badly while dismounting from a motorcycle. I no more than grazed the muffler with my calf than I was greeted with the smell of singed skin and a reflexive cry of pain that couldn't possibly have come from the brave, adventurous me (!) Thankfully, again, I live with a doctor and due to his ministrations my burn is healing nicely. Note to the squeamish: stop reading NOW! My skin is on it's third "peel" and the pus-filled blisters are long since gone. And the pain of the experience has long since receded. But I am now much more leery around motorcycles!

I'll be back with more anecdotes and adventures!

Saludos,

Kirsten

Mosquito-borne maladies (and other musings)

the ever-pesky mosquito...this time with a nasty payload

In spite of the fact that I was armed to the teeth with medication from my travel doctor before arriving in the Dominican Republic, I managed to contract a sexy new, cure-less tropical disease: chikungunya (pronounced CHEE-kuhn-GOON-yah). This lovely little illness brought with it aching bones, sore joints, a high fever and a nasty red rash. Needless to say I was bedridden for a couple of days. Thankfully I did not have to cancel classes; my body always seems to "time" its bouts of sickness for when we are on vacation. Many of my students were not so lucky: I saw the attendance numbers greatly reduced this week as the chikungunya virus ran its course through the town. One small bit of good that may be coming on the heels of this epidemic is increased consciousness about Dominican habits with regard to trash. The mosquitoes that carry the virus tend to favor warm, moist locales such as the discarded heaps of rotting garbage that are all-too-common around town. Hopefully the increased public awareness of this fact means that there will be more efficient garbage pick-up in Neyba...although I'm not holding my breath. Admittedly, being sick also has its personal advantages: I was able to make a lot of headway in a lovely little (*) novel called Don Quixote. Reading has always been a great pleasure of mine, and it was nice to have the time to do so without feeling guilty that I wasn't going for a run or writing lesson plans!

In other news: I was fortunate enough to meet three other Americans this week; one is a Peace Corps volunteer in a neighboring town and the others a married couple on medical mission at an orphanage in Neyba. At times I have found being the only "gringa" in town to be a lonely pursuit, so it is nice to know that I am not alone in my humble quest to change lives in this overlooked part of the world.

In other other news: there is a man in my life who makes me happy. That is all I am going to say about that.

Until next time, dear reader, watch out for those mosquitoes!

Saludos,
Kirsten