Movin' on up!

Developing country my butt. I would like to inform all of my loved ones back home that El Yayal is moving up in the world. That’s right, my days of carrying five-gallon buckets of water to my house from the river are over, my friends. Because now I’ve got gutters. I know, I know, don’t get too excited. Let me take you through it. I was in Nagua the other day talking to one of my English students (who is also a truck driver). We were just running through the usual; how hot it is, how rutted and dusty the roads are, etc., when I mentioned that I was thinking about installing a “water-collection system” in my house. Now, the first things I need are buckets, obviously. And not your sissy plastic 5-gallon jobs either. I am talking the metal 50 gallon drums that Jimmy Hoffa sank to the bottom of the river in. And what do you know? Juan is the man who can get them for me. And not just any drum, he is going to find me some good ones. So, two days later Juan and his son Gabby show up at my house with these lovely tanks in their truck, and I am ready to get started. I have already bought 20 feet of PVC pipe, a bag of cement, a pound of nails and 20 feet of “barilla” (I am sorry, my English is no good these days. It is a kind of metal rod that you use to secure cement block when you are building a house). Now with these tanks I am ready to roll. But first we have to clean them out. Oh yes, did I forget to mention that the reason that these tanks only cost $10 a piece is because they were once used to transport blue pen ink and shoe adhesive? That was what Juan meant when he said that he was going to get me some good ones. Because the not-so-good ones are the ones that used to hold toxic chemicals. But I think that you can get those for free, if you want. Since at the moment I don’t remember anyone dying from exploding pens in their mouth or chewing on tennis shoe soles, I think I am in the clear. Plus, my muchachos are all about helping me clean them out. And where is the best place to do that? The River, of course! So, the Environmental Peace Corps volunteer helped her neighbors roll these two tanks down to the river, and with a brillo pad, a stick and some sand, Joel hopped into those tanks and scrubbed ‘em shiny clean. Don’t worry, all of the paint chips and glue bits floated down the river to the next community, so it won’t affect us. Jeez. Not proud of it, but what are you going to do? Anyway, Joel and I borrowed some tools and cut the barilla into 14 pieces (by the way, Joel is 13, weighs 50 pounds, and is repeating the 5th grade for the 3rd time), and convinced Rosita’s brother to help us install the gutters and cement the tanks. Yes, everyone can relax now. In order to prevent rusting, we mixed cement with a lot of sand and lined the insides of the tanks, so I don’t think that I am going to die of disease any time soon. Plus, I am only going to use this water for cooking, bathing, and cleaning. I have bottled water for drinking. Ingenio then cut the PVC into two pieces and bent the metal into hooks and nailed them to either side of my house. And what do you know?!? The next day, it rained buckets, and now both of my tanks are full and I don’t plan on going to the river for a really long time. I am so excited.

So don’t you guys worry about me, I am doing just fine here. My dog, Geronimo, got hit by a motorcycle though, which had me worried for awhile, but he is fine now. Just some scratches. I just did my first long bike ride since I have been here too, which was only about an hour and a half, but I still have to go back. It is good to know that I can get to the town on bike in just twice the amount of time that it takes to take the truck. I am feeling good these days. If anyone has any interest in a bike trip across the DR, let me know, because I think that my bike can handle it. Could be fun. Can’t go into Haiti because I will get kicked out of the Peace Corps if I do, but think about it.