International Beach Clean Up Day! September 20th, 2008

This morning I woke up as usual around 8am, made a big breakfast of french toast, a fruit smoothie and coffee, and then headed out with Alissa and Peter to clean up a beach.  I was expecting a beach, with some trash around on it.  What we found was very shocking and very overwhelming.  

Santo Domingo a sea front city boasts the malecon which is basically an area that follows the sea front like a board walk.  This area is popular with young people who like to go out; there are some sea side restaurants, a casino, a mall and some high rise apartment buildings along the stretch.  I have driven along the malecon a few times and noticed the beautiful expanse of sea waters and tall palms reaching out for more sun.  The beaches are not really noticeable from the road because the coast line is rocky and well from the road it just sort of drops off to the sea. 

Today when we showed up for the beach cleanup I was absolutely stunned.  The expanse of "beach" to me looked like an expanse of landfill.  From the waters edge to about 20ft inland was continuous trash.  Take a wild guess what the most prevalent substance was........ STYROFOAM.  Millions of pieces of shredded styrofoam absolutely covered the sand, were tangled in the sticks and natural debris.  I don't even know exactly what words to use to describe this... hypodermic needles, sandals, shoes, dolls, tooth brushes, pens, bottles, combs, plastic utensils, wax coated juice/milk containers .... were piled up by the thousands.  

The Ocean Conservancy sponsored this international volunteer effort for cleanup and here in Santo Domingo there was an excellent turnout.  Many people walked along the beach collecting bags of trash while more inventoried the findings for the conservancy.  This trash lies on the coast of a country, yet its origin is entirely unknown.  It is so easy to shrug off any responsibility to a problem like this, one so far from our own "home".  But the reality is that trash and other pollution does not know political boundaries.  There are some beaches here in the south west that have literally Mountains of trash on them because of the way that the water currents work.  

I pictured the ocean like a pool or a hot tub and these little islands are acting like the floating filter that moves around collecting debris.  More disturbing is something called the "trash vortex" which is a collection of plastic debris twice the size of Texas located in the Pacific Ocean.  Winds have caused all debris to collect in one are and the "trash island" is said to be about 30ft deep with all types of debris.  Go ahead and look it up online there are many resources confirming this problem.  It is safe to say that each and every one of us is responsible in some way for this and many other global problems.  

It is hard to imagine such a tangible problem and even more difficult is wondering how to ever reverse the impact of our actions.  What a day. 

Wifi Begins

Yay! We have wireless now at the apartment and I can check the weather!  For the last month here I have not been able to check the weather and have been relying on friends here and at home to update me on the storms that have been bombarding the area.  Luckily! We have been to the south of the storms and have only experienced some rains.  The weather is so unpredictable here.  It will down pour on the sunniest day without warning!  Alissa my roommate (the one in red with curly hair) turned 28 on Tuesday so we went out for Mexican food dinner.  This country does not believe in spicy food.  Anyway, things are going well.  No big adventures due to the weather but meeting some friends and getting out and active running and doing Yoga! 

Coming Along!

So the school is still under construction but it is coming along well.  Here are some updated pictures.  The weeks are starting to move a little faster.  I have ventured out and taken taxi's by myself.  The city is pretty safe in that sense and I only go to places that I have been to before.  The weather has been very hot over 100F everyday.  When we get out of school it is hard to be productive because of the humidity .   I met a girl named Alejandra through my friend Cristabel.  Ale is from Madrid and is an international journalist here for a few months.  Cristabel, Ale and I run at a place called the Mirador, it is an avenue that is closed for recreation in the evenings.  I have been once before about five years ago and it is really cool.  Check out videos on Youtube, as I probably wont be bringing a camera.  adios! 

My ClassroomMy Books
The Pool! YAY
Water from the storm...blowing pretty hard!

Hey!  I am including more photos of the school.  It is still under construction BUT things are coming along more quickly than I had expected.  Today I went up the three flights of stairs to find the teacher editions of my school books, Success!  That is great because now I can make my year plan and write out my syllabus.  Yay.  

The school is overall pretty nice. There is a pool which is great, the kids have swimming once a week.  There is also an outdoor playing court and an indoor one.  The classrooms are located on three levels starting with the little ones on the first level and me... well I am going to have some really nice leg muscles by the end!  Ha!  I do have a nice view!  

There is a guard on duty at the gate all the time and there are security cameras in place.  A lot of things get stolen around here... like care

Michelle, Alissa, Sara and Lourdes hard at work!

Jose Sosa and his oragami class at a great bookstore called Thesaurus.  That is Cristabel's dad!
View of the city from the apartment roof that we are currently living in.  See the tall buildings in the distance?  That is where the school is and where we are hoping to move... SOON!

First Weeks

Things are beautiful here but of course it is a city and a dirty one.  Looking past that things are ok.  Alissa and Michelle also US teachers here at the school.  We flew in on the same plane and are sharing the same temporary apartment right now.  School planning is going on but it is a bit makeshift right now as parts/all of the school is under construction.  I am impressed with the progress so far though, and think that by the time students are coming everything will be settled.  Shopping, taxi's and all other interactions have been aided by Alissa who speaks fluent Spanish. I am working on my vocab and trying to pick up the language everywhere I can. 

I have spent time with my friend Cristabel.  I met her in January through Habitat for Humanity and she helped connect me with the school.  So far other activities include: a day at the beach, a few evenings out, a baby shower (Cristabel's friends), oragami lessons and a massage.  I have found a Yoga studio and will hopefully start soon!  

The teachers and staff at school are really nice and have helped us out so much already.  We are currently trying to find an apartment near the school, right now we are about 10 blocks or more which is WAY too far to walk in this city. 

Students come on the 28th and then things will get really exciting.  As for now we are trying to fit in some weekend trips.