lunes, 16 de abril de 2012

The bike trip

4-9-12
This last week was semana santa.  I joined 3 other volunteers for a multi-day mt.bike ride in the mountains in the center of the country.  Paul, Justin, Will and I set out early from Paul’s house and headed west.  We started out on asphalt following along a fast flowing river, winding up into the mountains, looking across the valley at terraced farms and forests running up the hills.  The further away from Jarabacoa we headed the more remote it became.  We had lunch in Manobao, and from there the road turned to dirt.  We finished the day by climbing hard to the top of a mountain overlooking the valley on the other side and the little town of Ciénaga.  We descended into the valley, rode through a small river and into Ciénaga.  Five minutes after arriving it began to rain.   We spent the night at a visitor’s center for those climbing Pico Duarte.  It was located next to a river and surrounded by forest.  The guard there was nice enough to loan us sleeping bags and mattresses, and we found a little comedor to cook us up some rice and beans and fried chicken.   We played some cards and slept well in the fresh air coming through the open-sided building. 
            The next day we set out early and instantly were confronted with the mountains.  The climbs were steep, wet, and full of loose rock.  After about 20-30 minutes of climbing we came across a tall gate across the road, locked of course.   I checked for the keys at a house about 100 yards up a steep slope along side the road, no luck.  We then lifted the bikes above our heads and handed them over the fence.  This fence would be the last piece of civilization that we would see for the next 4-5 hours.  The washed out, wet, steep road was horrendous, but the views were absolutely incredible.  Mountains upon mountains filled with pine forest and streams.  It was such a pleasant change from the flat, dusty, dirty batey where I live.  Will and Justin had to walk up the majority of the climbs.  Paul only had to walk a few.  I managed to make all the climbs except a 30 yard section that was so steep I couldn’t keep the front wheel down, and the back one was spinning out.  I don’t think I have ever spent so much time in granny gear on one ride.  Around 2pm we finally encountered a long hard descent coming out in a small valley.  There we got lost twice, rode through a few streams, cleaned off the bikes, and finally found the correct route out, naturally going back up.   After quite some time climbing we all started to run out of water, and Paul brought out the iodine tablets, filling up a bottle in a small stream.  The water had so much silt in it, it looked like weak coffee.  Luckily, we came across a house before we had to result to drinking the runoff water.  From there we started to descend again, coming out in a valley full of farms of all sorts.  We stopped momentarily in the small town, and then started climbing out of the valley.   After a half hour or so we reached a point overlooking the city of Constanza.  From there it was a hard descent down to the town.  The road had widened out and the curbs were full of loose sand.  Will missed a turn and went flying off his bike.  Luckily he was taught in the Marines how to roll and escaped with only a few small scratches.  (All good mt. biking trips should have a little blood.) We arrived around 4:45pm.  It began to rain shortly after that.  We spent the night in a hotel.  The next day the three of them wanted to rest so we spent another night in Constanza.  Since it was Good Friday the town was just about shut down.  We had problems finding places to eat.  On Saturday, we set out from Constanza around 9:30am and rode up out of the valley.  We gained 1000m of altitude in about 3 hours.  Around 1:30pm we came across an eco-lodge.  The owner’s daughter is married to a friend of Paul’s.  We stopped to say hello and just as we were about to leave it started pouring.  It rained so hard that it wasn’t just a matter of getting soaked, but also whether we could ride safely on such bad roads.  The owner offered us a cabin to stay in, so under the circumstances we accepted.  The cabin was huge and very nice.  It was quite chilly so we sat around the fireplace and played cards at night.  Will tried his best to make something to eat out of what little he could find in a colmado a few kilometers away.  He tried making a spaghetti sauce out of tomato paste and garlic.  I just threw a poached egg on my noodles instead; life sustaining, but not gourmet.  We set out Sunday morning early and continued climbing until we reached 2500 meters altitude.  From there we rolled up and down hills for a while and eventually started encountering longer downs.  The road was so washed out and full of rocks, bumps and loose gravel that it was not possible to go too fast.  My breaks had taken quite a beating heading down into Constanza that now there was very little grab (or break pads) left.  The descending with all its bumps etc, seemed harder on my body than the climbing.  We were threatened by rain when we passed the pyramids that Trujillo built to commemorate having made the road between San Jose Ocoa and Constanza.  Luckily we out road the storm and stayed dry once again.  We pulled into San Jose Ocoa at 3:15pm.  Here I said goodbye to my riding partners and took off on my own. They were planning to catch a bus from there to the capital.  I needed to get 28km up the road to Cruce de Ocoa to catch a bus heading back to my site.  I wasn’t sure how long that would take me considering there were still a few mountains in between the two places.   I was worried I might miss the last bus heading my way so I pushed myself and rode hard, and arrived at Cruce de Ocoa in one hour, covered in sweat, but once again, just beating the rain.  From there I threw the bike on a guagau and returned home.  It was a great ride, great weather, and great company. 

jueves, 12 de abril de 2012

profe in the DR 36

3-25-12
Last week I spent Thursday and Friday in the capital doing some work in the PC office.  When I got back I didn’t have any power whatsoever for four days.  Someone had knocked down a wire.  Electrical wiring here is mind blowing.  They use an overly small gauge wire, not designed for outside.  Then they splice into it anywhere they please, and many times as they please, running a million connections off it.  They tie a piece of a plastic bag over the connections.  It’s an electrician’s nightmare.
Sunday I got out on my bike for 5 hours 12 minutes.  I went out 3 hours and turned around.  When I did I noticed a big storm coming over the mountains so I rode as hard as I could to keep ahead of it.  It started to catch me as I was climbing the steepest hill on the way back, and I was starting to get wet, but on the long descent down, I got back in front of it and stayed there the rest of the way back.
            The rest of the week I was only able to get out on the bike once for an hour and a half.  It’s been a busy week.  In addition to my normal hustle and bustle, Thursday the APCD (Associate Peace Corps Director) for the education program came out and had a meeting with the teachers, director of the school and me.  She is thinking about placing a volunteer from that program here in May.  If she does the new volunteer and I would overlap by about 3 months or so.  Today we had an event with the Department of Sports.  They gave the baseball, softball, and soccer teams uniforms.  They are new but have the names of other towns, but the baseball and softball teams didn’t have uniforms so it is a big help.  Bateys 5, 7, 9 and Cuchilla were supposed to come as well and get uniforms and afterward we were going to play an all-star soccer game, but the Sugar Consorcio reneged on their promise to provide transportation, so the other bateys couldn’t come.  Instead my soccer team divided in two and played a game using the new uniforms.  
                        3-31-12
Another busy week, thank God semana santa is coming.  My math and English classes are all going well.  I am especially please with the progress in my reading classes.  I wish I had more time and resources because more and more kids want to join the classes but I am already maxed out.  I continue my quest for books for our library.   I spoke with three different people this week promising me books.    Art, chess, and soccer are also going well.  Tried to meet with the Sugar Consorcio on Thursday to ask for transportation for the summer soccer league but the public relations guy keeps putting us off.  He canceled our meeting at the last moment again.  Always says he will call me and never does.  Starting to think we need to speak to someone higher up the ladder.  Transportation is vital to making the league work.  I still can’t find another coach for the boys’ team, so I am teaching the two captains how to coach once I leave. 
Today a religious group from Canada stopped by the batey. They do so every year.  Half of the group was in the park preaching, the other half was in a church handing out medical supplies.  There was also a doctor from the capital with them.  They had a lot of sports equipment in the two buses they came in, but it was intended for some other locations.  However, after speaking with them, they were nice enough to change their minds and give us about 9 baseball gloves for smaller children and a baseball.  We have been trying to get gloves for the younger boys’ team for a while, so this was very helpful.
We’re about 2/3 of the way through the zafra (sugar cutting season).  When they burn the cane, the black ash from the leaves floats high up in the air and comes down far away, falling like snow.   My house is covered with ash, inside and out.  It gets inside even when the windows and door are closed, it’s amazing. 
            4-1-12
            Today the boys played soccer against Batey 7.  It was hot and windy, and I had to ref the game.  It was still 0-0 at the end of regulation play, but the boys looked so tired that I just called the game a tie.  Batey 7 was happy to tie us, and our boys were just happy to get out of the sun.