Lists

by Vickie

Right now, our lives seem tied to lists and schedules. Here are a few of them.

List of shots we need:


DT and Rabies 1..........Rabies?!  I'm picturing roving packs of wild dogs...with sharp, poisonous teeth
MMR and Polio
Rabies 2 and Hepatitis A.......Rabies 2?   Maybe crazed, rabid squirrels - with sharp, poisonous teeth AND claws
Typhoid and Meningitis
Rabies 3 and Hepatitis B1....
( Rabies 3? I remember my dad told me that Rabies shots involve long needles -- maybe 10 or 12 of them -- given in the stomach area. Granted, he was trying to keep my from approaching wild animals when I was a kid and we lived in the country -- but still. I'm not happy about these Rabies shots.)
Hepatitis B2
Influenza

Lists of things we must NOT do:


Wear flip-flops, low cut tops or tank tops, shorts, mini-skirts
Dress like a tourist....(Hmmmm )
Skip our daily shower
Forget to wear deodorant
(Women only -- in bold print)...allow underarm hair to grow
(Men only) -- have long hair
Have long or dirty fingernails or toenails
Have body piercings or tattoos
Have overnight visitors (Hmmmm)

So, sounds like the cultural divide between us and the other Peace Corps Volunteers may be greater than that between us and the Dominicans.

List of things I think I'm going to miss

Unlimited access to Facebook, Netflix, and Google
Unlimited access to electricity
Cherokee Park

The amazing variety of food within walking distance - especially Pad Thai, Falafals, Sushi, Fish and Chips, Pizza, Goat Cheese Salads, Jack Fry's hamburgers, El Mundo's 3 Bean Crispy Tacos - and their Margaritas, Korean Rice Bowl, Bagels, Smoothies, Peanut Butter, and Popcorn

My car
My shoes
Being retired (!) - 2 glorious months of lassitude
Hot water (or maybe just running water?)
My bathroom (the one that a year ago looked so woefully inadequate)
Fall and Spring

My iPhone
My privacy
Wine
Unlimited access to my friends and family

List of things I absolutely won't miss - probably


2012 election news
All news
The 4 AM drunks (we live right behind Molly Malone's)
The 4 AM sirens (must be a hospital nearby for the 4 AM drunks)
Clanging radiator pipes
The cellar -- but that's another story
Winter and Summer

List of things I'm looking forward to


The weather
The natural beauty of the DR
Leaning to dance the meringue
Learning to speak Spanish fluently
New challenges, new ideas, new perspectives
The people of the DR

Schedule for the First 3 Weeks 


8-10  PC Dominican Republic Sector Development Projects and APCD presentations (not sure what this means)
10:15 - 12:00 Spanish (YEA)
12:00 Lunch (YEA)
1:15 - 3:15 Spanish (YEA)
3:30 - 5:00 Regions of the DR (YEA)

This sounds like fun!

Schedule for the Next 5 Weeks


8-12 Teacher Training Workshops/interactive teaching methodologies  (Sounds like work)
12-2 Lunch with host family (YEA)
2-6 Spanish (YEA)
Evenings - -- ICT (Information, Communication, and Technology) Youth Group (YEA?)

I'm ready to go! As soon as I get everything crossed off my "To Do" list.

The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Peace Corps - Don't Panic

by Jim

Apologies to Douglas Adams, but I have always felt a little like Arthur Dent, kind of a hapless character who just reacts to the big events of life. And, only when they are impossible to ignore. That approach has worked quite well for me for 58 years, thank you very much.

Now it feels as if there really is an intergalactic freeway coming through my planet and it is time to go. (I wonder if this feeling has anything to do with the reopening of the Sherman Minton Bridge). The weirdest thing is that, as I want to do nothing more than lie in the road in a futile attempt to stop the destruction, Vickie keeps talking to me about towels.

I fear I may be married to a female version of Ford Prefect, the intergalactic traveler.  Evidence:  Vickie insisted that I buy an “extra-large” travel towel, ostensibly so I won’t try to steal hers. I did as instructed and shoved it deep in my duffle. I just noticed that she has hers, which is large and fluffy, strapped to the outside of her backpack in easy reach in case she needs it when the Vogons appear.

So, we are packing. We are only allowed 80 pounds each, but the real limit is, how much can you carry? This is so unfair! Do you have any idea how much a pair of size 13 shoes weighs? Or, a pair of men’s Levis? I know exactly; I bought a scale. I’m taking three pairs of shoes, sandals, and three pairs of jeans. This has to last for over two years!! Now my bags weigh 79 lbs. and 15 oz.  Vickie, on the other hand, has somehow managed to pack something like 57 pairs of shoes (size teeny-tiny) and an ultra-lite weight wardrobe, suitable for all occasions and in a variety of colors. And, she has room for MORE stuff. 

The movers come next week to put the second half of all of our worldly possessions into storage (the first half has been there for almost a year now) so things are turned upside down here, boxes stacked everywhere. Most of the kitchen is packed so we cannot cook anymore. I never thought I would tire of eating out,  what with all of the great restaurants in the Highlands, but I find myself hopefully anticipating the beans and rice of the Dominican Republic. We’ll see how I feel about that in a few months.

The big thing is how little all of our stuff means to me. I know I will miss playing my wonderful guitar and mandolin, and I am sure going cold-turkey in regards to my iPhone will be difficult, but other than that, it is the people that I will miss.

A Year of Living Differently

     In March of 2011, Jim and I sold our house in rural Oldham County. We traded in the 5 bedroom, 3 and 1/2 bath house with finished basement, 2 decks, and a shade garden frequented by deer, hawks, and the occasional turkey for a 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment in a degenerate former mansion in the Highlands with a tiny, rickety deck overlooking an alley and the parking lot of a local nightspot.
     How did we get here?
     In June, 2011, we received an invitation to serve in the Peace Corps, Dominican Republic, Jim as an ICT (Information, Communication, and Technology) Specialist and me as an ICT Educator. We accepted.
     How did we get there?
     About 6 years ago, Jim and I started talking about what we'd like to do differently - after banking, after teaching. Somehow, and I'm not sure exactly how, we started talking about joining the Peace Corps. It kind of made sense for us - an adventure - really living in and assimilating another culture rather than just being tourists - becoming fluent in another language. After talking about it for 3 years, we submitted our applications in January of 2009. 
     In talking with our recruiter, we said we'd go anywhere and do anything - except not an isolated island in Micronesia, like Tonga -- too far away, too isolated, too much water, too....just too much. In the fall of that year, we received an invitation to serve.....IN TONGA. Really? Jim said, basically - it's a big world, try again. And besides, we have to sell the house.
     At that point we got a little more serious and we put the house on the market. About 4 months later, we received another invitation -- this time to somewhere in Africa where the primary language was either Spanish or Portuguese (Peace Corps likes to keep you guessing). I determined through research that it would either be Cape Verde or Mozambique. We said YES, contingent upon selling our house in time. They wanted us to leave that summer - only a few months away. Needless to say, in that abysmal market, we did not sell the house and we couldn't go. We actually put our application on hold for 8 months while we tried to sell the house. We also decided I was so close to retirement that we should change our possible leave date to January 2012 -- my retirement date. 
      In January 2011, with a new realtor we put the house back on the market, called the Peace Corps in February to reactivate our applications and to let them know that our house had sold (Yes! In 3 weeks!) and on March 23 we moved into our new home.
     After an initial settling in-- picture hanging and curtain making--we loved it. Everything we wanted or needed to get to -- doctor's office, store, bakery, hardware, wine shop -- was 1.6 miles - or less -- away, according to the iPhone GPS app. We were 1.2 miles from Cherokee Park and 20 minutes from our favorite hiking destinations. Life was good. 
     Jim and I both retired after Christmas, Jim for the 2nd time-1st time was 3 years earlier, from banking- this time from his job at Centro Latino in Shelby County, and me from teaching in Oldham County.
      Our leave date for the DR is February 28th. And so, here we are, packing and unpacking, arranging and rearranging the 2 bags (4 between the two of us) that must carry the perfect assortment of material goods we are allowed to drag across the ocean, that must sustain us as we adjust to a new reality. 


     And so it has happened (to paraphrase a quote from the movie Iron Woman): our thoughts became words, our words became actions, our actions became new habits. Our new habits will eventually influence our characters, and maybe even our destinies. So be careful -- not about what you wish for, because wishing is idle --like my mom always says, "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride," but be careful of the narratives you create about your life-- they could actually become your destiny!
     

      
    

Former home in Oldham County

Born in our backyard -- still wet!

I will miss this entwined double Dogwood tree!

Temporary Highland home- second floor is ours. 

Moving Day- March 23- rain and snow that day.

More Moving.

Settling In.

Settled!