The House Amanda Built

So I am finally moving out into my own little casita! It is exciting because I have gone through A LOT to get to this point. However, the house I am moving into needs a few repairs. I bet you never thought you would see me replacing rotting wood with new wood, rewiring electricity (because I have to steal it from my neighbor), washing a house with a broom and laundry detergent, killing mice and cacatas, etc. etc. Anyways, we have done a lot of work on it, and it is almost to a point where I can move in! yay!

On the work front: I am almost done with my diagnostic report and presentation. I am going to Jarabacoa Feb 1-3 with my project partner to present our findings to my boss and the other health volunteers. When I return I will be starting 4 Hogares Saludables groups and 1 Escojo Mi Vida group. I will also be organizing a board of Public Health because my community does not have any kind of unity or organization, and I am hoping that by starting a board of Public Health we will at least be able to be unified in that sector. It will also be very useful to have a group organized and ready when I start projects or have problems. Lastly, I will be attending the PCDR 50th Anniversary in Santo Domingo so that will be a fun networking opportunity :)

Funny Story: My friend Estrella was helping me clean my new house out because it was previously used as somewhat of a storage unit because it was uninhabited. There was a big pile of old clothes in the corner, and neither of us wanted to touch it. We were deathly afraid that there was a giant snake in it (they get HUGE here) so we used brooms to pick up one piece at a time. There was a lot of screaming and running out of the house every time something moved (cacata, random insect, mouse, wasp, etc.) By the time we were done moving all of the clothes we had an audience. Apparently the community found us to be quite funny.

On My Spanish: I am slowly learning Spanish... haha. From what I hear Dominican spanish is the hardest to understand... so that makes me feel better. I am to the point now where I can understand 90% of what is going on but speaking is another story. I am still pretty slow at translating everything in my head, and my vocabulary is somewhat lacking. However I am learning (just keep telling yourself that right? haha). Anyways I feel like this clip sums up how I feel when I try to speak sometimes (the spanish part is about half way through) ...