Profe in the DR 22
August 23, 2011
On Wednesday the the 10th, I spent the morning in Neyba running errands, and downloading photos of Japan for the boys presentation on Japan for Celebrando el Sur. I taught 3 classes of English in the early afternoon, then Batey 7 came here to play soccer. My team won 4-0.
Thursday the five boys and I prepared for Celebrando el Sur. We were in charge of putting together an obstacle course. The boys also had to do a presentation on Japan. At about 5pm we realized that the pictures we downloaded on Wednesday didn’t work because the computer in Neyba had a virus. I then had to get a motoconcho to Tamayo to try and get some more photos. However, Tamayo didn’t have electricity. So then we went to Batey 4. I had to wait a half hour for them to get their computer and internet up and running, but eventually I was able to get enough photos. The boys and I then prepared and practiced the presentation until about 10:30pm. Friday the six of us set out for San Juan. The army officer at the security check point asked all my kids for their papers, but no one else. My kids were the only really dark skinned people on the bus. The checkpoints look for Haitians, and my kids all look Haitian. We spent three days at the Celebrando el Sur conference in San Juan. About 53 kids participated in all sorts of workshops and activities celebrating diversity. They also had a lot of fun, and probably learned more in three days than they would in a month of school. For the 16 volunteers who put on the conference, it was a lot of work and little sleep. (I crashed for 13 hours once I got home.) On the way back, we had a trouble getting a bus. The locals told me it was because I had five Haitian looking boys with me and that the buses didn’t want problems going through the checkpoints. Luckily, after an hour of trying to catch a bus, a man pulled up in a large truck, and offered us all a ride. (I hope God blesses him.)
Monday the 15th, I had all my normal activities, but in the early evening I was informed that the soccer coach (Blanco) had quit (again). He was once again upset with the lack of respect from the players. (Dominican parents don’t teach respect, but Haitian parents strongly do.) About the same time, I was introduced to Samuel who was a soccer coach and ref in Santiago. I went and spoke to Blanco and he agreed to continue coaching. I introduced him to Samuel, and the two agreed to work together. I was leaving for the capital for five days and wanted to get things set right before I left so I called a meeting with the team (it was now 8pm.) and we had the team come up with a list of rules that they agreed to follow from now on. (The list included “No eating sugar cane on the soccer field.” It makes a mess.) At about 10:30pm the transformer on the electric pole down the street started shooting out sparks everywhere, then the lights went out. Tuesday morning I headed to the capital to have more physical therapy on my little finger. It still doesn’t bend all the way. On Wednesday the 17th, Batey 9 came here to play soccer. Cameron came with them and told me that it was the best soccer game he had seen yet. Both sides had tons of great shots on goal, but defenses held tough, and in the end it was a tie 0-0. Friday marked one year in country. I came back one day earlier than planned, and arrived in my site late Friday. Saturday our soccer team traveled to Batey 9. Once again it was a great game. Our team managed to keep the ball in front of their net most of the time; however our defense didn’t do so well and let them score. They won 1-0. Their fans were quite obnoxious, running out on the field after Batey 9 scored and at the end of the game, yelling and screaming and shaking things in the air (chairs, sticks, machetes, etc.) Our two coaches were upset at the refs calls and the fact that he didn’t add any extra minutes for all the stoppage earlier. The two sides didn’t want to shake hands, and this made their fans even more obnoxious. Cameron and I got them to all shake hands, but as my team loaded into the back of the small pickup, their fans blocked us from leaving, chanting, dancing, waiving things in the air, drumming, etc. This lasted for 10-15 minutes, until finally an old man from Batey 9 told them to go away. They continued chanting and dancing down the road through the rest of the batey. As we were driving out, just about at the edge of the batey, we met up with this group of fans again, now mostly teenagers and children. They started to throw rocks at us. The driver, coaches and I got out and yelled at them. I then stayed there to keep them from following the pick up, and I caught up with the pick up a little later.
Sunday I spent helping Jairo again. Yesterday, I had my normal Monday classes. At 5pm, I headed out to set up volleyball. I am trying to get a volley ball program going here now that soccer is well established. I bought one net in the states, and got a second net from the Department of Sports here. I also got two balls from a grant I had written. I am trying to get some metal poles. We are currently just using long sticks.
Tropical storm Irene is passing by, and we are on alert, but here in the Deep South, all we got was about a minute of rain. Not even enough to keep the dust down, however it seems it was enough for the principal to delay starting school for another week. (They use any excuse they can to cancel classes.) I did hear that several people died near Bani which is closer to the capital.
