Sunday, July 26, 2009
One more thing...
Another hilarious part of life right now is that there is a large tree outside my room that has these hard, round fruits. Well apparently it's that fruit's season because they are dropping like crazy. And there is a tin roof below. So I'll be sitting in my room reading and all of a sudden BOOOOOMMM. When it's raining, it's sounds like a war zone. The first time it happened, I was like what in the...??? Fun stuff.
the way out is through
This might be a long one. Apologies in advance...
I struggle with this in my journal as well - the pull to write about both the actual occurrences in my life and the things in my head. There's too much! I will try to mix it up.
I guess the main feeling I have in my life right now is that there is simply not enough time in the day. There never is and it's getting to me yet again. I'm trying to read, learn, and brainstorm as much as possible for work. I'm trying to read/take notes/do research for my thesis. I'm trying to learn Spanish. I'm exercising about an hour a day. Oh and I have a full time job. It's too much. I'm stressing out about the thesis in particular. I want to do the best job I can at INSTRAW. The more I learn about my responsibilities, the more excited I get. I was nervous at first about my abilities to handle this job. But I have the increasing feeling that I am going to do a fantastic job. My confidence in my abilities is increasing every day. Why? Because while I might not have as much of the content-related knowledge (I have not yet read every single publication on gender, peace and security or worked on these issues "in the field"), I have the passion, dedication, motivation, creativity, and discipline to get a lot accomplished; I have a fresh eye; I think strategically while also being detail-oriented. I'm sorry if this sounds like I'm selling myself to the people reading my blog. It's more for me, to be honest. And it's also because I am excited about this. Tremendously so. Nervous, yes, but excited definitely.
So I'm stressing about my thesis because I feel like I need to throw myself into this job headlong and just make as much of a mark/impact as I can in my short time. This will require a huge commitment and will not give me much thesis time. I recently reconceived my thesis topic - instead of widows and transitional justice, I want to look at the discourse of victimization in transitional justice through a gender lens. Basically, I want to look at how are "victims" defined in transitional justice both at the legal level (mandates, peace agreements, etc.) and then practically speaking (in the functioning of the transitional justice mechanisms). Then I want to look at the implications of these definitions. The legal and practical definitions of transitional justice mechanisms have tangible results on people's lives, for instance if someone receives reparations or not. But then there are also the implications for people's lives in terms of the stereotypes that surround victim discourse and the processes of self-identification as a victim. For instance, many anti-apartheid activists rejected the notion that they were victims even though they had experienced what the Truth and Reconciliation Commission had defined as "gross human rights violations" because they didn't "feel like victims." By using a gendered lens, I want to tease out how the traditional "women as victims" plays out in transitional justice. It would also be interesting to look at the people that TRCs deemed as male victims with an eye towards self-identification as a victim and the hierarchy of masculinities. And then there's the whole media attention given toward transitional justice - how conflicts are talked about, which people are picked out to be portrayed in media about conflict to emphasize the innocence of one party versus the evilness of the other. And finally, there's the dichotomization of victims versus perpetrators, which, in my view, could perpetuate existing societal divisions and be a hindrance to reconciliation. So yeah. That's what I want to do. I think it could be incredibly interesting, has the potential for some really in depth theoretical work, and would also allow me to really get to know the mandates and human rights violations in the different TJ mechanisms. If only I had an academic adviser who actually communicated with me and could give me feedback and tell me whether I'm completely whacked or if it is a valid research topic. Oh well.
But the other option is to make my thesis more in line with INSTRAW's work so that when I start working on my own working paper in November, I could be doing research and writing that could be included in my thesis. That would mean doing something (most likely) on security sector reform and transitional justice. This wouldn't be as interesting to me as my first topic, but this scenario could set me up for spring semester really well.
Advice anyone? I'm struggling!
I still owe Jen a post on my work (I think my work environment) and the wealth dichotomy in the DR. But instead, I will end with these two little living life down here tidbits; ok three actually. First, most of you know, but I want to record here as well - I found a cockroach on my toothbrush. I think I need therapy just for this event. Second, I was walking to work the other day and say a bunch of DR soldiers, one of whom was holding an alto saxophone. If I had the vocab, I would have asked if I could try it out. How surprised would he have been! Third, I have been eating so well down here. Lots of fruits (pineapple, tons of papaya, mango, starfruit(!!), bananas), vegetables (eggplants are my new fav), lots of salad, low fat granola and yogurt. It's nice. AND my fabulous venezuelan roommate (the plantain queen) occassionally cooks for us/me. Last Sunday she made me typical Venezuelan food which I don't remember the name, but was like corn patties with a tomato, onion, ketchup, mayonaise salad. The next night her husband made typical Spanish food, including my new favorite: gazpacho! It's amazing! It's salad, blended, that tastes creamy and rich, but is actually excellent for you! A dream come true really.
Ok this is ridiculously long. So, I will leave you with a picture of my favorite flowers (how can you not love periwinkle colored flowers?) and get my exercise on:
(i highly recommend clicking on the photo. look at those raindrops! what an awesome photographer! :)
I struggle with this in my journal as well - the pull to write about both the actual occurrences in my life and the things in my head. There's too much! I will try to mix it up.
I guess the main feeling I have in my life right now is that there is simply not enough time in the day. There never is and it's getting to me yet again. I'm trying to read, learn, and brainstorm as much as possible for work. I'm trying to read/take notes/do research for my thesis. I'm trying to learn Spanish. I'm exercising about an hour a day. Oh and I have a full time job. It's too much. I'm stressing out about the thesis in particular. I want to do the best job I can at INSTRAW. The more I learn about my responsibilities, the more excited I get. I was nervous at first about my abilities to handle this job. But I have the increasing feeling that I am going to do a fantastic job. My confidence in my abilities is increasing every day. Why? Because while I might not have as much of the content-related knowledge (I have not yet read every single publication on gender, peace and security or worked on these issues "in the field"), I have the passion, dedication, motivation, creativity, and discipline to get a lot accomplished; I have a fresh eye; I think strategically while also being detail-oriented. I'm sorry if this sounds like I'm selling myself to the people reading my blog. It's more for me, to be honest. And it's also because I am excited about this. Tremendously so. Nervous, yes, but excited definitely.
So I'm stressing about my thesis because I feel like I need to throw myself into this job headlong and just make as much of a mark/impact as I can in my short time. This will require a huge commitment and will not give me much thesis time. I recently reconceived my thesis topic - instead of widows and transitional justice, I want to look at the discourse of victimization in transitional justice through a gender lens. Basically, I want to look at how are "victims" defined in transitional justice both at the legal level (mandates, peace agreements, etc.) and then practically speaking (in the functioning of the transitional justice mechanisms). Then I want to look at the implications of these definitions. The legal and practical definitions of transitional justice mechanisms have tangible results on people's lives, for instance if someone receives reparations or not. But then there are also the implications for people's lives in terms of the stereotypes that surround victim discourse and the processes of self-identification as a victim. For instance, many anti-apartheid activists rejected the notion that they were victims even though they had experienced what the Truth and Reconciliation Commission had defined as "gross human rights violations" because they didn't "feel like victims." By using a gendered lens, I want to tease out how the traditional "women as victims" plays out in transitional justice. It would also be interesting to look at the people that TRCs deemed as male victims with an eye towards self-identification as a victim and the hierarchy of masculinities. And then there's the whole media attention given toward transitional justice - how conflicts are talked about, which people are picked out to be portrayed in media about conflict to emphasize the innocence of one party versus the evilness of the other. And finally, there's the dichotomization of victims versus perpetrators, which, in my view, could perpetuate existing societal divisions and be a hindrance to reconciliation. So yeah. That's what I want to do. I think it could be incredibly interesting, has the potential for some really in depth theoretical work, and would also allow me to really get to know the mandates and human rights violations in the different TJ mechanisms. If only I had an academic adviser who actually communicated with me and could give me feedback and tell me whether I'm completely whacked or if it is a valid research topic. Oh well.
But the other option is to make my thesis more in line with INSTRAW's work so that when I start working on my own working paper in November, I could be doing research and writing that could be included in my thesis. That would mean doing something (most likely) on security sector reform and transitional justice. This wouldn't be as interesting to me as my first topic, but this scenario could set me up for spring semester really well.
Advice anyone? I'm struggling!
I still owe Jen a post on my work (I think my work environment) and the wealth dichotomy in the DR. But instead, I will end with these two little living life down here tidbits; ok three actually. First, most of you know, but I want to record here as well - I found a cockroach on my toothbrush. I think I need therapy just for this event. Second, I was walking to work the other day and say a bunch of DR soldiers, one of whom was holding an alto saxophone. If I had the vocab, I would have asked if I could try it out. How surprised would he have been! Third, I have been eating so well down here. Lots of fruits (pineapple, tons of papaya, mango, starfruit(!!), bananas), vegetables (eggplants are my new fav), lots of salad, low fat granola and yogurt. It's nice. AND my fabulous venezuelan roommate (the plantain queen) occassionally cooks for us/me. Last Sunday she made me typical Venezuelan food which I don't remember the name, but was like corn patties with a tomato, onion, ketchup, mayonaise salad. The next night her husband made typical Spanish food, including my new favorite: gazpacho! It's amazing! It's salad, blended, that tastes creamy and rich, but is actually excellent for you! A dream come true really.
Ok this is ridiculously long. So, I will leave you with a picture of my favorite flowers (how can you not love periwinkle colored flowers?) and get my exercise on:
(i highly recommend clicking on the photo. look at those raindrops! what an awesome photographer! :)Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Oy vey what a day!
Not really. It was just long.
So the last two days we've had "project management training" which was really just like this woman telling me stuff I already knew, but in Spanish. There were a couple interesting moments, but really it was just a waste of time. And those were some damn long days. For example, for about four hours yesterday, we learned about the database that her branch of the UN uses to track projects, but it's a database that INSTRAW will never have the resources to purchase. Very helpful.
Today, I started my training for taking over my boss' job. Today I learned mostly about information management, which was mostly about the listserves she subscribes to, what she does with interesting and pertinent information, how she managers our own gender peace and security listserve, the newsletter that we publish monthly, the virtual discussions that have been held and how to hold a virtual discussion. I'm going to have a lot to do! I think it's going to be a good mix of administrative tasks and content-based stuff, which is perfect. During this and my last internship, I have found that I usually have a small number of tasks that are largely content-based. While, the content-basedness of it is really nice and I feel lucky that I have had internships that have provided me with such an amazing amount of time to learn, it's hard to do that all day and I feel like it's also unrealistic as most jobs are mixed between content and administrative. I'm sorry, but sometimes I need something mindless to do. Editing, reading, writing, thinking all day is exhausting. That may sound lazy, but that's just the way I am.
After work, I had a bit of an adventure. I had my first Spanish lesson! My teacher lives a bit far away - it takes about 25 minutes to get there from work. But I found my way and had a good lesson. It was hard to focus after 8 hours of learning new stuff at work, but I did it. The thing is, I can understand Spanish - when it's spoken "correctly." When people speak slowly and without slurring their words, dropping endings, etc., I can more or less understand. It's just that in the DR, and anywhere really, they talk super fast, drop endings, use a lot of idioms, and slur their words. It has made me more cognizant of how I speak English and I have been trying to speak better English around non-English speakers. But yeah, the lesson was good and I think it will be really helpful. Yay! I am totally going to learn Spanish.
And now...time for exercise and then thesising!
So the last two days we've had "project management training" which was really just like this woman telling me stuff I already knew, but in Spanish. There were a couple interesting moments, but really it was just a waste of time. And those were some damn long days. For example, for about four hours yesterday, we learned about the database that her branch of the UN uses to track projects, but it's a database that INSTRAW will never have the resources to purchase. Very helpful.
Today, I started my training for taking over my boss' job. Today I learned mostly about information management, which was mostly about the listserves she subscribes to, what she does with interesting and pertinent information, how she managers our own gender peace and security listserve, the newsletter that we publish monthly, the virtual discussions that have been held and how to hold a virtual discussion. I'm going to have a lot to do! I think it's going to be a good mix of administrative tasks and content-based stuff, which is perfect. During this and my last internship, I have found that I usually have a small number of tasks that are largely content-based. While, the content-basedness of it is really nice and I feel lucky that I have had internships that have provided me with such an amazing amount of time to learn, it's hard to do that all day and I feel like it's also unrealistic as most jobs are mixed between content and administrative. I'm sorry, but sometimes I need something mindless to do. Editing, reading, writing, thinking all day is exhausting. That may sound lazy, but that's just the way I am.
After work, I had a bit of an adventure. I had my first Spanish lesson! My teacher lives a bit far away - it takes about 25 minutes to get there from work. But I found my way and had a good lesson. It was hard to focus after 8 hours of learning new stuff at work, but I did it. The thing is, I can understand Spanish - when it's spoken "correctly." When people speak slowly and without slurring their words, dropping endings, etc., I can more or less understand. It's just that in the DR, and anywhere really, they talk super fast, drop endings, use a lot of idioms, and slur their words. It has made me more cognizant of how I speak English and I have been trying to speak better English around non-English speakers. But yeah, the lesson was good and I think it will be really helpful. Yay! I am totally going to learn Spanish.
And now...time for exercise and then thesising!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Fried plantains are like heaven
I have generally been trying to avoid fried food here (which basically means not eating out at all), but man oh man. My roommate makes the MEANEST fried plantains. I just fell over a couple times eating them. Wow.
Anyway...
I haven't written in awhile because my life has taken on the monotony that comes with becoming entrenched in a particular lifestyle. Right now, I am getting back into my working constantly mode. Get up go to work, work all day, come home, study spanish, work on thesis, exercise, go to bed (all interspersed with procrastinating on facebook, of course). I'm not complaining. I love working. But it's just not that interesting to write about. But then I realized. A number of things have changed, so I will write.
First, talked to the director today and she is almost positive that I will have a contract until December. Ah! So long! And we went over tasks that I will be involved in. I'm completely and utterly stoked. God I love being overworked. (This is not a sarcastic statement) Updating the website, making sure publications are completed, helping to plan a publication launch and a conference, working on my own publication. Sweet sweet gloriousness.
So, going home at the end of the month for a few days. I have already planned my meals. Well, no actually, I've planned my beverages: grapefruit seltzer, mango lassi, iced coffee from dunkin, pomegranate seltzer, iced soy latte from the danish pastry shop, repeat. And cats. And family. And friends. And books. And shopping. And not having to get up at 6am to go running. And the gym! And and and. Oh it's going to be good.
What else...my roommate moved out - he got his own place in la Zona, which is better for all of us. So the house is very quiet. Solo chicas! It's very different. What else...Ryan and I are officially broken up. Another life occurrence. What else...I started Jhumpa Lahiri's "The Unaccustomed Earth" - it's excellent so far.
Ok, I need to get back to work! How the hell is it 10:27??? There are never enough hours in the day. Never ever ever.
But first...an egg white mask with lime juice and oatmeal? Porque no?
Anyway...
I haven't written in awhile because my life has taken on the monotony that comes with becoming entrenched in a particular lifestyle. Right now, I am getting back into my working constantly mode. Get up go to work, work all day, come home, study spanish, work on thesis, exercise, go to bed (all interspersed with procrastinating on facebook, of course). I'm not complaining. I love working. But it's just not that interesting to write about. But then I realized. A number of things have changed, so I will write.
First, talked to the director today and she is almost positive that I will have a contract until December. Ah! So long! And we went over tasks that I will be involved in. I'm completely and utterly stoked. God I love being overworked. (This is not a sarcastic statement) Updating the website, making sure publications are completed, helping to plan a publication launch and a conference, working on my own publication. Sweet sweet gloriousness.
So, going home at the end of the month for a few days. I have already planned my meals. Well, no actually, I've planned my beverages: grapefruit seltzer, mango lassi, iced coffee from dunkin, pomegranate seltzer, iced soy latte from the danish pastry shop, repeat. And cats. And family. And friends. And books. And shopping. And not having to get up at 6am to go running. And the gym! And and and. Oh it's going to be good.
What else...my roommate moved out - he got his own place in la Zona, which is better for all of us. So the house is very quiet. Solo chicas! It's very different. What else...Ryan and I are officially broken up. Another life occurrence. What else...I started Jhumpa Lahiri's "The Unaccustomed Earth" - it's excellent so far.
Ok, I need to get back to work! How the hell is it 10:27??? There are never enough hours in the day. Never ever ever.
But first...an egg white mask with lime juice and oatmeal? Porque no?
Friday, July 10, 2009
Thank you Sarah Palin
I'm sorry to poach this photo from Neeraja's blog, but I just have to share. This photo was recently published in Runner's World. There's an entire slideshow on the website, but this photo is clearly the winner. She is looking way fit. And my favorite caption is:
"When I run, I'm totally incognito because I'm not wearing the trough full of makeup. I can go running through a mob of tourists and they don't recognize me."
A trough???
There are a lot of interesting items in the news right, particularly Aung Sang Suu Kyi's trial (ahem...bullshit), the Honduran mediation talks (not looking so good), and body dumping in Chicago (mass graves in the US!), among other items (particularly the G8 summit). BUT what is sooo fascinating to me right now is this: the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its final report last week and in it named President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as a war criminal and recommended barring her from office. WHOA! This was because of her connection and support of Charles Taylor's rebellion 20 years ago. She is the first elected black female head of state in the world and the first elected female head of state in Africa. Her agenda for the country has been extremely well-focused on gender issues, including passing an extensive National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security for the implementation of Resolution 1325. I honestly don't know how to feel about this and it will be interesting to see how it all pans out. I mean President Sirleaf herself established the Commission! So it would decrease its legitimacy if she doesn't follow its recommendations. On the other hand, if she is effective as a leader today, should she be barred from office for something she was involved in 20 years ago? I'm very conflicted...
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Now the bitching
And why are my posts out of order?!? I'm so confused. Jesus this day.
I'm on the phone with Jetblue to see if I can change my flight to BOS for August 1. There are so many details to this changing of schedule/taking time off from school thing. Yesterday I got good/bad news regarding my consultancy and bad news regarding my job at home. First regarding the consultancy: INSTRAW will be giving me a contract until October 31. Yay! Longer than expected. The complicated and potentially awesome part is that they might be extending my contract until December...which is awesome...but complicated if I can't find out about that until later in the year. What about my apartment? Planning is not possible. I guess I need to get used to this if I want to work with the UN or as a consultant with any other organizations. Drive me crazy.
The bad news regarding my job at home...I could tell the whole story and bitch and bitch and bitch, which is what I want to do, but I will just say this: I got screwed. I busted my butt for Tufts for a long time and that apparently does not result in professional or personal courtesy. I'm really really really pissed off about it. I know I tend to overreact in some situations, but this...it's just very upsetting. I am pissed off, hurt, upset in general. Ok.
Life in the apt is less than ideal right now. There is a constant influx of people, one of our roommates isn't cleaning up AT ALL, it's always loud (I've been kept awake three nights in a row now), and four of us just don't feel comfortable with what's going on. We've been trying to talk with the roommate in question, but he is avoiding us. It's a bad situation and it makes me feel yucky. We're adults! Let's sit down and talk!
My thesis is still up in the air, though I think I'm finally getting my ideas together and I think I like the direction I'm going better than the widow thing. It's too early to describe, but I will write when I can about it. I know I know...you're sitting on the edge of your seats. Calm yourselves! I will get back to you this weekend hopefully. Oh blogging. Navel gazing, self-importance inducing blogging.
I guess all of this is just to say that while I have been loving my life here, I feel very unsettled on various levels right now. And I haven't even gone into the interpersonal crap. Oy vey. My heart is palpitating like crazy. I just want things to settle themselves including what's going on in my head. Ha!
Enough bitching. I will leave you with a couple songs that have been making me tremendously happy tonight: "Ring my bell" by Anita Ward (brings me back to the end of college and ringing the bell after finishing my Div III), "Hold Tight London" by the Chemical Brothers (it kills me), and "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover" by Sophie B. Hawkins (which, as Ryan and I discovered last summer, is the best song to drive with. i would kill to drive right now on that note.)
good night all.
p.s. please write me comments. is anyone out there listening to my ramblings?
I'm on the phone with Jetblue to see if I can change my flight to BOS for August 1. There are so many details to this changing of schedule/taking time off from school thing. Yesterday I got good/bad news regarding my consultancy and bad news regarding my job at home. First regarding the consultancy: INSTRAW will be giving me a contract until October 31. Yay! Longer than expected. The complicated and potentially awesome part is that they might be extending my contract until December...which is awesome...but complicated if I can't find out about that until later in the year. What about my apartment? Planning is not possible. I guess I need to get used to this if I want to work with the UN or as a consultant with any other organizations. Drive me crazy.
The bad news regarding my job at home...I could tell the whole story and bitch and bitch and bitch, which is what I want to do, but I will just say this: I got screwed. I busted my butt for Tufts for a long time and that apparently does not result in professional or personal courtesy. I'm really really really pissed off about it. I know I tend to overreact in some situations, but this...it's just very upsetting. I am pissed off, hurt, upset in general. Ok.
Life in the apt is less than ideal right now. There is a constant influx of people, one of our roommates isn't cleaning up AT ALL, it's always loud (I've been kept awake three nights in a row now), and four of us just don't feel comfortable with what's going on. We've been trying to talk with the roommate in question, but he is avoiding us. It's a bad situation and it makes me feel yucky. We're adults! Let's sit down and talk!
My thesis is still up in the air, though I think I'm finally getting my ideas together and I think I like the direction I'm going better than the widow thing. It's too early to describe, but I will write when I can about it. I know I know...you're sitting on the edge of your seats. Calm yourselves! I will get back to you this weekend hopefully. Oh blogging. Navel gazing, self-importance inducing blogging.
I guess all of this is just to say that while I have been loving my life here, I feel very unsettled on various levels right now. And I haven't even gone into the interpersonal crap. Oy vey. My heart is palpitating like crazy. I just want things to settle themselves including what's going on in my head. Ha!
Enough bitching. I will leave you with a couple songs that have been making me tremendously happy tonight: "Ring my bell" by Anita Ward (brings me back to the end of college and ringing the bell after finishing my Div III), "Hold Tight London" by the Chemical Brothers (it kills me), and "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover" by Sophie B. Hawkins (which, as Ryan and I discovered last summer, is the best song to drive with. i would kill to drive right now on that note.)
good night all.
p.s. please write me comments. is anyone out there listening to my ramblings?
Hump day
It is now 4 pm and I JUST realized that I have been wearing my shirt inside out all day.
It's been one of those days.
Pictures and more bitching to follow.
It's been one of those days.
Pictures and more bitching to follow.
First the pics
Ok, these are very out of order, but representative of the trip...I would give comments, but...alas...I cannot do this picture thing...boo to me.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Jarabacoa!
I should be working on my report, but...I'm out of it and I just did another salt water flush, so instead...I will record the amazing weekend that I shared with my roommates!
We decided to go up to Jarabacoa for the weekend. It's in the Cordillera Central, i.e. the "Dominican Alps"...um...yeah. I don't know about that description, but it was sooo amazingly beautiful in so many ways. The town itself didn't have much to offer, besides amazing papaya juice and frappchinos. But we found a good, cheap hotel and the people there helped us find a cheap (and hot) guide to take us around to the waterfalls.
It was sooo nice to be out of the city. I mean it was still polluted and whatnot up there, but there was so much green lushness. It was wonderful. Our guide took us to the first waterfall and it was beautiful (pictures are in the next post since I'm retarded). Then he led us up a path. I didn't think we were going to be doing any hiking which I was a bit bummed about, but then...we HIKED! It was intense! This wasn't like my favorite trail at Middlesex Fells. This wasn't a place you could go trail running. This was like pulling yourself up on vines and preying to god you didn't lose your balance or else you'd fall I don't even know how far down. It was truly wonderful and convinced me that I need to do the three day hike out to Pico Duarte, the highest mountain in the country and I think in the Caribbean. And when we got to the waterfall...WOW. It's the waterfall that part of Jurassic Park was filmed by and it was gorgeous. Abosutely and completely gorgeous. There were only a handful of people there and barely any trash. We went swimming under the waterfall and I wish I could bottle the fun we had. I really enjoyed floating and looking up at the rock around the waterfall - it was covered in moss and crazy textures and it was simply exquisite. And then when you walked into the spray, it was so powerful that it almost knocked you backward. We were saying that we were getting a really cheap microderm abrasion treatment. And when you were in the spray you could see an almost complete rainbow. (I haven't recorded this anywhere - I saw a rainbow the first day I came to the DR. I knew it was going to be a special place for me.) We went to a third waterfall as well, but the second one beat out the others because of the work we had to do to get there.
Today, we didn't do much. We went out for a nice breakfast (more lechoza juice!) and then chilled and watched Michael Jackson videos and documentaries, wandered around for a bit, ate more, drank frappachinos, sat in a different parque Duarte, etc. It was truly an awesome awesome trip and I love my girl roommates. Pictures in the next post!
We decided to go up to Jarabacoa for the weekend. It's in the Cordillera Central, i.e. the "Dominican Alps"...um...yeah. I don't know about that description, but it was sooo amazingly beautiful in so many ways. The town itself didn't have much to offer, besides amazing papaya juice and frappchinos. But we found a good, cheap hotel and the people there helped us find a cheap (and hot) guide to take us around to the waterfalls.
It was sooo nice to be out of the city. I mean it was still polluted and whatnot up there, but there was so much green lushness. It was wonderful. Our guide took us to the first waterfall and it was beautiful (pictures are in the next post since I'm retarded). Then he led us up a path. I didn't think we were going to be doing any hiking which I was a bit bummed about, but then...we HIKED! It was intense! This wasn't like my favorite trail at Middlesex Fells. This wasn't a place you could go trail running. This was like pulling yourself up on vines and preying to god you didn't lose your balance or else you'd fall I don't even know how far down. It was truly wonderful and convinced me that I need to do the three day hike out to Pico Duarte, the highest mountain in the country and I think in the Caribbean. And when we got to the waterfall...WOW. It's the waterfall that part of Jurassic Park was filmed by and it was gorgeous. Abosutely and completely gorgeous. There were only a handful of people there and barely any trash. We went swimming under the waterfall and I wish I could bottle the fun we had. I really enjoyed floating and looking up at the rock around the waterfall - it was covered in moss and crazy textures and it was simply exquisite. And then when you walked into the spray, it was so powerful that it almost knocked you backward. We were saying that we were getting a really cheap microderm abrasion treatment. And when you were in the spray you could see an almost complete rainbow. (I haven't recorded this anywhere - I saw a rainbow the first day I came to the DR. I knew it was going to be a special place for me.) We went to a third waterfall as well, but the second one beat out the others because of the work we had to do to get there.
Today, we didn't do much. We went out for a nice breakfast (more lechoza juice!) and then chilled and watched Michael Jackson videos and documentaries, wandered around for a bit, ate more, drank frappachinos, sat in a different parque Duarte, etc. It was truly an awesome awesome trip and I love my girl roommates. Pictures in the next post!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
It's hot
People don't wear shorts down here. I've seen a few, but generally, not so much. Not many people wear sunglasses and sometimes sandals are looked down upon. For awhile there, I couldn't figure out why people were looking at my feet all the time (no, parents, I haven't wearing my really really crappy birks...they literally disintegrated off of my feet my first week here). My kind, gentlemanly roommate told me that it was because I have manly feet (!!!!), but I think it's actually just a more general not liking of the sandals. So sad! That's one of the best parts of summer!
I've gotten used to not paying attention to anyone when I walk down the street. It's very New England/New York of me. (Speaking of New England, and going back to the Moby interview, one of the things he said which I thought was hilarious was "I think there's something about New England that breeds some sort of contemplativeness and negative self-involvement." Hahahahahhaa!! Hence this blog...?) But when you walk down the street here the pssttinngg is constant. It's really obnoxious. I've gotten more used to it, but it still sometimes gets under my skin. This morning a guy did a more rhythmic pssting at me. Instead of the long psssstttt it was like pst psstt pst pst. Very creative, dude! Still not going to convince me that you're the man for me. Another unique one this morning was some kid grabbing his nostril and saying something I didn't understand - some sort of commentary on the nose ring, I presume. Is it time to let it go? Not just because of the kid...(Ryan is going "yes! take it out!") My first week here, I was walking around randomly and this guy pulled up and asked me if I knew where a hostel was. He was Dominican, but had lived in Chicago for a number of years, so his English was good. He asked me if I was a surfer because I had a nose ring. I love these associations people make with piercings. He then proceeded to tell me that he could take me surfing and be my tour guide and that we should exchange numbers and oh did I want a ride somewhere? Too much. (I didn't get his car, Mom. Don't worry.)
I'm in the process of redrafting a part for the first section of our best practices report on Resolution 1325. The publication will be building off of INSTRAW's "Securing Equality, Engendering Peace" report. The part I'm writing is a general piece about "Understanding Women, Peace and Security" including the legal framework and what Resolution 1325 and 1820 (on sexual violence) mean. It's a whole different style - writing a policy document versus an academic document. I have to keep shortening my sentences, taking out verbosity, not using words like verbosity, etc. I have kept in mind Professor Sommer's contradictory feedback on memo writing. Super helpful. I hadn't realized it, but it turns out there was quite the civil society movement prior to the passing of 1325, mainly through the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security. I mean, makes sense - I just didn't know. How cool are transnational civil society networks?
Ok, I should get to it...
I've gotten used to not paying attention to anyone when I walk down the street. It's very New England/New York of me. (Speaking of New England, and going back to the Moby interview, one of the things he said which I thought was hilarious was "I think there's something about New England that breeds some sort of contemplativeness and negative self-involvement." Hahahahahhaa!! Hence this blog...?) But when you walk down the street here the pssttinngg is constant. It's really obnoxious. I've gotten more used to it, but it still sometimes gets under my skin. This morning a guy did a more rhythmic pssting at me. Instead of the long psssstttt it was like pst psstt pst pst. Very creative, dude! Still not going to convince me that you're the man for me. Another unique one this morning was some kid grabbing his nostril and saying something I didn't understand - some sort of commentary on the nose ring, I presume. Is it time to let it go? Not just because of the kid...(Ryan is going "yes! take it out!") My first week here, I was walking around randomly and this guy pulled up and asked me if I knew where a hostel was. He was Dominican, but had lived in Chicago for a number of years, so his English was good. He asked me if I was a surfer because I had a nose ring. I love these associations people make with piercings. He then proceeded to tell me that he could take me surfing and be my tour guide and that we should exchange numbers and oh did I want a ride somewhere? Too much. (I didn't get his car, Mom. Don't worry.)
I'm in the process of redrafting a part for the first section of our best practices report on Resolution 1325. The publication will be building off of INSTRAW's "Securing Equality, Engendering Peace" report. The part I'm writing is a general piece about "Understanding Women, Peace and Security" including the legal framework and what Resolution 1325 and 1820 (on sexual violence) mean. It's a whole different style - writing a policy document versus an academic document. I have to keep shortening my sentences, taking out verbosity, not using words like verbosity, etc. I have kept in mind Professor Sommer's contradictory feedback on memo writing. Super helpful. I hadn't realized it, but it turns out there was quite the civil society movement prior to the passing of 1325, mainly through the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security. I mean, makes sense - I just didn't know. How cool are transnational civil society networks?
Ok, I should get to it...
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