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How can
I contact Dave?
Email: krypto@backpacker.com
Dave's
new mailing address for cards and letters:
Daniel Hotstream
Restauracion
Provincia Dajabon
Republica Dominicana
His new
landlady works at the post office so she'll make sure the mail
gets to him.
Anything bigger than a manilla envelope should go to the PC office
in the capital:
PCV Dave Hotstream
Cuerpo de Paz
451 Avenida Bolivar
Santo Domingo
Dominican Republic
(809) 685-4102
Do the
Dominican people respect your "personal space"?
Personal
space is an alien concept to Dominicans. I attended a meeting
at the office of the Dominican Secretary of Education and the
woman sitting next to me, who I had not even been introduced to,
spent the entire time using my leg as an armrest. I've reached
the point where I barely even notice things like this any more.
Will
you get your own horse?
Don't know yet.
So what
will you be issued?
Peace Corps dog tags (who knew?), a motorcycle helmet, a really
hard-core medical kit that includes instructions for emergency
self-surgery and a list of all the excrutiatingly painful diseases
I can catch just by walking around barefoot here, and, uh, a Peace
Corps keychain. But did I mention that the keychain glows in the
dark? I think that's so when I'm assigned to my post I can trick
the natives into worshipping me as their god or something.
Are you
worried about diseases?
I've been vaccinated for rabies, typhoid, meningitis, polio, tetanus,
and about ten other tropical diseases. They also make us take
Aralen once a week, which is supposed to keep us from getting
malaria. It also causes you to have really vivid, crazy dreams
the night you take it. I've started to look forward to my Aralen
nights.
What about
insects and other pests?
Screen doors and windows (and glass) are luxuries for obscenely
wealthy capitalists like yourself. So whatever's crawling around
outside is going to come in. Which is why the deluxe mosquito
net is the best thing Peace Corps issued me. Even better than
the dog tags. As hardcore as I like to imagine myself, I don't
think I would sleep too well with roaches, mice, spiders and lizards
crawling over me all the time. When I'm awake I don't mind so
much.
Do you
have to bathe in a ditch?
I myself do not bathe in a drainage ditch as a rule. There's a
drain in the floor of our bathroom and I just dump cold water
over myself from a bucket. It's better than coffee to wake you
up in the morning.
How do
you get around?
Usually it's pretty easy for gringos to catch a bola (free ride)
out in the campo, especially if one of the female volunteers is
with us. It's not a bad way to travel, as long as you don't mind
sharing the back of a flatbed truck with a few dozen Dominicans,
a ton or so of produce, or whatever livestock is being carried
into town to end up on your dinner plate that night.
Are there
ever chickens on the bus?
Yes. Sometimes there are chickens on the bus.
What kind
of foods have you been eating?
harina (it looks and tastes like sweetened kindergarten paste;
don't ask); fried salami; Pizza hut (blew one weeks pay but it
was worth it!); Grape Fanta; rice and beans; oj con sugar...
I dont'
want to miss a single exciting moment or photo. Is there a way
I can know when something new has been added to the site?
Sure!
Just send an email to creativefatcat@yahoo.com.
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