In the trenches

I am thankful today that the Dominican Republic is at the very least, a poorly functioning democracy. Tomorrow is August 16th, Inaguaration day for the various politicians who were elected or reelected during the ridiculous month of May. But why am I thankful? It’s a Holiday! The Monday holiday makes a ‘puente’ (bridge) or long weekend. I have had two straight 6-day workweeks with trenches, concrete, hundreds of boiled bananas, and lots of walking uphill in the morning with calculations, organizing, and hurried trips to the city in the afternoons. I have today and tomorrow off. This Sunday morning, I slept in until at least 6:30am, and then read a book for a bit listening to everyone else get up before me. It was great. Tomorrow there is a party after the inauguration – or perhaps more as part of it – of course. The party should be fun, as will starting off fresh again in the trenches on Tuesday laughing at guys working hung over.

Dominican- Y como va el trabajo? Ya empezaron? (How is the project going? Did you start construction?)
Me (yo) - No (No)
Dominican – y cuando, entonces? (when then?)
Me (yo) – Casi casi, ya pronto arrancamos. (almost, soon we’ll start!)

This is the conversation that all ‘water’ volunteers repeat 100s of times during their first 6 months to a year on site. Now it’s really fun to respond something like

‘Ay piipoo, hace mucho! Ya tenemos como dos meses faja’o! Tu no supiste?’
(Whoa, started a long time ago! We’ve got like 2 months of work in. Where were you?)_

So here’s a summary of what we’ve accomplished

1. moved sand and gravel to tank site
2. moved sand, gravel, and cement to intake works site
3. Constructed smaller intake works
4. Constructed larger intake works
5. Connected two sources/ intake works
6. Crossed large streambed with a buried pipeline in concrete
7. Placed 250+/- meters of PVC pipes in trenches buried 1.5 to 3 feet deep
8. Crossed over two temporal streams in the air with galvanized pipes.
9. Gotten Ryan’s clothes really dirty every day

The next kilometer or so to reach the tank site should go much quicker. I think we can get pipes there in about a month at which point we will either start on placing distribution lines or build the tank. Since we have gotten started, a number of families have joined the project (skeptics…), which will make the work go quicker and the benefits greater.

Thanks again to anyone who donated to the ‘PCPP’ Grant for the project through the Peace Corps site. We have actually received the money now and I am just trying to find time between work and afternoon rainstorms to buy 700+ more 19’ PVC pipes with the money.

Excuse me for lack of communication over the last month or so – being tired and busy – and now rain – makes it hard to get out to use the internet or find phone service. At least I think about calling home every day!

To finish up, here are some things, besides work, that have kept me happy lately –

· Seeing a cool green frog on a big leaf that no one wanted to kill (Dominicans are very afraid of things that jump)

· Other dudes remarking with surprise that my machete is sharp “pero CORTAAA..”

· Ripe bananas

· ‘Swimming’ in the river – it’s not all that deep
· bathing in the stream – nice and cold

· Some of my plants (peppers, oregano..) are actually growing!

· Motorcycle trips on hot days (there’s always a breeze)

The afternoon storm has begun, so I think I will take a nap until the rain passes. Hopefully I can make it into town today to post this blog.

-Ryan