Following a friends advice

A good friend recently told me I seldom write posts and when I do they are way too long to even read in one sitting. I agree. In my attempt to be a better blogger, I will forget about "updating" and just get right to it...

The DR is growing on me. It's been a bit more than a year since I first moved here (June 12 2009). The first few months were a disaster. I missed DC terribly. I went from having a lovely studio apartment in Dupont Circle, a bike, a rooftop BBQ, and a CVS in every corner to living in my parent's vacation home (a huge house with many rooms in Casa de Campo DR - or as I call it, the Fancy Prison), driving a golf cart, and having to pay a ridiculous amount of money in taxis to even leave the Fancy Prison and see other people. What was previously a walk to CVS now became a phone call, a $400 peso ($11.50US) cab ride and a quarrel with the entrance security guard cause I had forgotten my "Villa Owner" Id.

The DR is now my friend. Having Lilly (my tiny mutt, who is not so tiny anymore and certainly not well behaved), counting on so many great local friends, hosting family and friends that visit and getting to know the country has made my stay anything but boring.

Let's see what happens...October is coming around and that's when my volunteer contract with this project is up. If I get a good offer from my company (I'm definitely done being a volunteer!), I might have to stay and see what else this country has to offer.

A recap is in order...

Hello World!

So despite the fact that my last update was dated September and I have completely disregarded this blog... I have been hard at work and am happy to share.

Since the last post, the scope of what I'm up to has taken a bit of a twist... so here's the latest:

My Master in Tourism Administration from George Washington University made me quite the connoseiur and lover of Destination Management Organizations (DMO in tourism geek slang). I've been given the task of seeing one of these through - and pretty much making it successful. To be honest, I came in thinking it would be a piece of cake...ummm THINK AGAIN.

And because things get complicated by the second, the DMO isnt exactlly called that in this case - its a CLUSTER, the Cluster Turistico de La Romana-Bayahibe to be precise. Essentially an organization whose purpose is to group together all destination stakeholders (hotels, restaurants, dive shops, guide associations, etc) and make sure they are working together towards a common goal - in our case we want them to work towards SUSTAINABLE TOURISM (tourism that keeps in mind the environmental, community and economic wellbeing of the destination).

The destination spans a relatively large area along the southeast coast of the Dominican Republic. Here are some pictures that give you the gist of whats in it:

The Cluster (CTRB) has been in the process of getting its act together since 2003. Like it, there are 8 other Clusters in the DR...pretty much they are all trying to work towards the same thing within their own destinations. It wasn't till 2008 that the CTRB got legalized. And what I am trying to do is work with this one so that it serves as a model for the other 8...

I realized my task was going to be pretty daunting when I came on board last August and it had not a single member or money to get rolling.

Since then, I've developed a Membership Program that provides a structure for all destination stakeholders to formally be part of the CTRB, I've helped set up 2 Visitor Centers, organize events, supported small and medium sized tourism businesses (particularly artisans), supported the creation of a destination website, given courses and trainings, and a bunch of other things that I can't even keep up with. In summary, I've been all over the place.

Right now, I'm trying to keep focused on strengthening the CTRB, making sure it has a good membership base, a good strategy for financial sustainability, and that benefits that it offers (including the services at the Visitor Centers) are in place.

Of course, all of this being done because at the end of the day it would be great to see a destination whose stakeholders work together and are able to keep sustainable tourism at the forefront of the vision for the destination's future.

This may all sound idealistic... I realize that. But in the midst of negativism and repetedly listening to the words "It can't be done" , someone has to be a visionary and keep positive right?

Call me young, naive, unrealistic.... but is there a problem with setting ambitious goals and plowing through to make them happen???

Will keep you posted on progress...

Saludos from the DR!

Sorry for the typo's...spell check isnt working :)

Recovering Mode

Summary of the past few weeks:
New workplan
New objectives
Friends visiting

So work has been going well. I'm excited about having some new things to focus on but I've really just been organizing myself and wrapping up some loose strings from the past project "attempt".
What I've really been excited about has been having a full house for the past few weekends.
Two weekends ago Eric and Lucia (friends/colleagues) came to visit. We had a few other people over and had a grand ol' time BBQ'ing, playing dominoes, drinking beers, bitching about life, watching football and tennis, and not thinking too much about work.
This past weekend one of my favorite peeps, Aaron, visited from Philly/Nashville and brought over a few other cool friends as well. We had been planning the trip for a while, and apparently I planned well cause its been a few days and my voice is still not fully recovered and my body is in shut down mode. We partied, tanned, partied, hiked, hung out, swam in caves, hung out, hit a few golf balls, chilled, went to a shooting range, chilled, had a few drinks - just a few, danced, went to a turtle hatchery, and others which I am likely not to remember. OH…there was cigar smoking as well. I tried but given that I really don’t look too hot doing so - Aaron just smoked all the tobacco in the DR. My Peace Corps friend Dilana was also over with puppy and boyfriend and all - so fun! So yeah…it was a great weekend.
Although….. I am a bit sad cause my friend Marisabel got married in PR this weekend and I could not go! I felt really bad about it but there was not much I could do… but I am super happy for her and need to remember to get her a wedding gift (nice little reminder to myself).
This weekend I'm going to Santo Domingo to hang out with Lucia and maybe Ashley if she is around (another friend/colleague) and talk work as always.

So next entry I promise to be a bit more thoughtful… but I think my brain cells are still coming back from the weekend so this is the best I could do this time around. Hopefully the Spanish will come back to me by then as well...

El "coro" de visita este ultimo wiken
O como le decian las dominicanas, "el grandulon"

La balsa de flores la paso de show este fin de semana...

Al final del wiken el carrito de golf quedo hecho trozitos...

Cuidao que ando con un rifle. En una de esas me emocione pq le di a un disco yo solita sin la ayuda de Don Antonio (el coach) y empeze a brincar como loca con la pistola...sin el "safety" (que no se ni donde esta, pero eso fue lo que me dijeron). De mas esta decir que al corillo por poco le da un ataque de corazon.

En Espanish Please...

Me parece que poco a poco se me ha ido perdiendo algo de la "poesía" al hablar castellano que solía comunicar con facilidad. Tanto García Márquez, Borges, Luis Rafael Sánchez, Lorca, Cervantes… tantos ensayos y monólogos… tanto defender mi idioma a toda costa, ¿y quien diría que llegaría el momento en que me encontraría pensando en Ingles en vez de mi lengua materna? Creo que un poco de mi siempre temía que eso llegara a suceder. Del tingo al tango entre los EEUU, Australia, PR, estaba propenso a suceder. Y acá me encuentro (¡al fin!) en un país donde se supone que me de el gustazo de hablar día y noche en Español… y me paso el día tratando de traducir palabras básicas del idioma menos deseado al materno.

A veces lo justifico diciendo que en temas de negocio se me hace un poco mas fácil expresarme en Ingles. Puede que sea cierto…pero que sucede cuando quiero expresarme y que me salgan palabras "del alma"… ¿pues que creen? ¡Me sale el JODIO' Ingles!

Me preguntan por la conjugación de un verbo…tan sencillo como "satisfacer" y me encuentro incapaz de hacerlo correctamente. ¡Que frustrante coño!

Por ende le voy a poner fin a estas malas costumbres: fin a escribir por placer en Ingles; fin al Espanglish entre amigas (OH OH); fin a pensar en voz alta en Ingles. Y para contrarrestar: a la dieta y los ejercicios se sumaran nuevamente los libros clásicos en castellano y se descartará cualquier muchacho que no sea latino.

He dicho.

Survived- barely

Just a note to say I survived the day. I did not get eaten alive by communities or Cluster people. Things are not looking horrible - they can be worst.

I'm so tired that this is about all I can contribute today.
Ciao

The Day When It All Imploded

Emmm.. I need to write. No doubt about it. But to be honest, I don't know where to begin. So maybe long story short: No go on the community product development. I'm super confused and frustrated. Not happy - or maybe partially happy. Augh... ok...I'll just go on and explain.

Turns out that the products suck (the trails and artisan workshops) because there is really no clear market demand for it, and the boss people dont want to take the risk to embark on this now given this. Especially given that it would involve a lot of time that honestly we dont have...
Also because we would like to embark on another thing... helping the Cluster become a steady and productive organization - which is really where my interest and expertise lie.

So from my part... this is something I should be thrilled about. Don't get me wrong... I am. BUT (and this is a big BUT). The situation I am in right now is kind of sucky.

I have to go to the communities and tell them that this isnt going to happen right now (community expectations get so high so quick, that just after 1 meeting I am going to have to do major damage control). This is the reason why I really didnt want to hold a community meeting last week - but the Cluster person I am working with (who is awesome by the way) organized it and sucked me into it. She was really pushing the project real quick when I was trying to be cautious and wait for full approval from "boss people". I should have been stronger at that point - and rationalized it more.

Well, and the other thing is that I have been asking for a response from "boss peoples" for such a long time now... and while we have had conversations about the subject (a couple) I was never told not to move forward. So I kept trying to figure things out and do whatever was in my power so that when we needed to get working on setting this up in a short time- at least we would have some backing and some stuff done. And now- 3/4 into the game -I am told no -go.

Additionally, this requires facing the Cluster - OOF. Well it essentially means telling them that their idea sucks, that we cant help them with what they asked us to help with and that we have another way to help them which we think is better. Mind you, there is background story to this all, as the Cluster is not too thrilled about some things.

And who is the face to this all? ME.

So I am definitely feeling good that some awesome opportunities are in front of me, and that the confidence has been given to me to address this appropriately... but at the same time... this all sucks. Once we pass this stage of facing up to a big boo-boo (don't get me wrong - I'm taking responsibility for a lot of it!), it will be good. But...I am wanting to hide in a cave right now. (OOO... I have a cave! It's one of the sucky products!!! Isnt that convenient?). And I dont even know if it is a boo-boo or it is jus a better approach to things. I think a little of both.

In summary, I feel like I wasnt given some support I needed at crutial times when I asked for it, I also feel I was pressured by the Cluster to take some steps I should not have taken, and finally, I am more than anything dissapointed at myself for letting all this happen. I should not have let the community expectations run high, I should not have moved forward as confidently as I did, and I should have thought things a little more carefully. I feel like a rookie. And this is definitely a rookie move I just pulled here. I hope to learn from this. I think I already did. I hope tomorrow goes well and I can present all this coherently both to the Cluster and community. I think the latter will be a longer process.

Hasta Luego... me despido con Presidente en mano (cerveza). Hopefully I can get some sleep tonight and be ready for what is ahead of me tomorrow.

Entre la espada y la pared

So the projects are going ok but not great. It seems like everything has stood still for about a week when I feel I've been working non-stop. I'm trying to move the concept of the community tour operator forward and find myself needing a bit of guidance at times that is not completely accessible all the time. My collegues are super busy working on their own projects (their deadlines are tougher than mine right now), so I'm putting together budgets and concepts kind of ad-hoc. Hopefully it will all come together shortly.

But, I did have a good day today as I hiked the Sendero Padre Nuestro again today and visited pretty much all of the project sites in one day! I went with this tour operator that wants to commercialize a route packaging several of the projects together, and while I'm skeptical for the well being of the communities (because he is a tour operator who is looking for his own interest after all, and he is also asking for exclusivity rights of the route - which can potentially jeopardize some things), I felt good today because these people have been promised for years that they would be getting tourists and they are yet to see a good amount to sustain themselves - so this is an opportunity for them. I just have to look after the communities to make sure they play their cards right.

SO yes, today was a good day even though I am smelly, tired and got stung by a wasp on my face.

Tomorrow should be a good day too... I am meeting with community leaders for the first time. I am definitely scared because I have not been able to discuss this with higher up people - but I had no option as everyone is busy or unavailable and the meeting was put together by the own communities! I am pretty confident meeting with communities, but in the DR I have no clue what to expect ... I'll just expect the worst (that they rebel against me which has happened before in Honduras!). if anything better happens it will be a good thing.

Oh.. here are some cool pictures from today... (if you don't see them now I'll try re-posting them later)

Over and out

Barco de pesca artesanal de Bayahibe

Ella es una de las guias del Parque Padre Nuestro, y ensena un diseno taino...ven la carita?

Las chicas del taller artesano CUSECO de Villas Padre Nuestro
Mi amigo el lagarto. Aparentemente la especie se llama Lucia.

No es chiste... se filmo una pelicula porno en este arbol. Le dicen el arbol del amor.

Esto es dentro de la Cueva del Chicho...
Cueva...

Ella es una de las candidatas a Gerente de la empresa