. . . and the fun begins

We’re back in the mountains. We got back from Philadelphia the night of the 31st and took an early bus from Santo Domingo the following morning. Although I had an amazing time in the states it’s wonderful to be back again. Schnickelfritz had moved in with the neighbors and seemed rather confused for the first 30 minutes after I brought him back home but within the hour he was all cuddles and purrs.

Our vacation was sublime. We send a big thank-you hug to everyone who made the trip possible! We ate tons of cheese of course. A lot of days I didn’t even eat a regular meal. I just snacked on the things that I rarely get here like good cheese, apples, pretzels, grapes, and apple cider, just to name a few. We ate so well that even I, notoriously difficult that it may be, gained a few pounds. Eighteen days of catching up with friends and family and eating all the things I’d fantasized about for so many months was nothing short of a winter paradise. And to top it all off we were gifted quite a valuable pile of Clif and Luna bars. They really are the equivalent of Peace Corps gold, so thank you!

In other news, we finally found a horse. We’re still working on a name; I’ll update you on that once we get to know her better. She’s not very big and has a rather mulish-looking face but she’s super tame and has a very smooth trot. Like most Dominican campo horses she’s rather desensitized. To make her step sideways you can’t just tap one of her hindquarters, you have to give her a good shove. Also, unlike every horsey book you’ve ever read, she doesn’t want to eat treats out of your hand. So far Anna has tried sugar, a carrot, and a handful of grass but she wants nothing to do with it. She eats weeds and that’s it. It’s clear that no one has ever tried to hand-feed her before. So Anna is working her horse charms. Pictures are on the way.

One of the hens that likes to hang around our house showed up the other day with eight peeping chicks. After two of the chicks disappeared we decided we’d better cage up the hen so that the chicks are safer. I caught her and put her in a large mesh cage which allows the chicks to slip through the cage and peck around in the immediate area. When they wander too far the hen clucks them back. Often when a hen is loose she wanders around too far too fast and chicks get lost or a hawk gets one. So now they are (hopefully) safe under the mango tree. We’ll probably let the mother range free in a week or two. We feed them pancakes and cracked corn kernels while they cheep-cheep-cheep all around our house. Fritz has taken an interest in them, but so far I’ve always chased him away before he pounced. He thinks that he can attack all moving things smaller than himself.

We've finally received some grant money! We've been waiting for months for this so we're pretty ecstatic. We got a small grant to start off our latrine project while we wait for more latrine funds. We also received funds to build improved cookstoves. My community is also working on building their own landfill to properly dispose of inorganic waste and I received grant money for art supplies so that the youth of the community can help put up posters and signs that will visually educate others about this (and other) environmental projects. In other words we'll be pretty busy for awhile. I'll keep you updated.

-paz