BENTO Post

Note: This is an entry I had saved as a draft for about a month now :( I have not made a single Bento lunch since this post.... sad I know

I mostly talk about work-related stuff in this Blog...but I can't help it, I MADE MY FIRST BENTO lunch today so I must write about it. (Google es tu amigo! Si no sabes lo que es BENTO buscalo)
I've been researching lots about Bento lunches and I've been eager to actually do something with all the research (and PURCHASES - food container, cookie cutters, sushi kit, etc) I've een doing.

So last night I put aside everything and spent 3 hours in the kitchen cooking in the Dominican heat with the dogs bothering me for "treats" (dogS because I'm dogsitting a friend's dog who is keeping Lilly company).

I went ALL out and made lunches for a whole week. Let me just get right to it and show you pictures of my creations:

So I started out by cutting up all my veggies with cookie cutters to use in a bunch of recipes (I'm a vegetarian so the veggies are a must)

Then I cut up a couple of potatoes...let's just say I used the romantic cut rather than jullienne. (the photos are in reverse chronological order, but you get the idea... I cut up the shapes and placed them in these small oven containers. I also made a bechamel cheesy sauce and poured them over the potatoes to make "papas gratinadas") I froze these little suckers and I'll stick 1 the oven tomorrow morning for lunch :

I also made some Animal Shaped stove-top frittatas. I mixed up one egg with some small cut veggies a little bit of salt and pepper and some parm cheese. I placed the cookie cutters on the pan and poured the mix inside each of the cutters. This was a bit of a mess but I'll keep practicing.

I also made some brown rice and indian chickpea daal. All quite yummy. These are the pics of my Bento Lunch :) So proud

In need of energy? Chug some H20

I've always felt that I would be unstoppable if only I had a bit more energy. I have not been able to wrap my mind around how it's possible that someone in their 20's, vegetarian, leading a relatively healthy lifestyle (mind you I could be exercising a bit more), and that has a zest for life can spend the whole day being lethargic and tired.

I have so many ideas, and I want to do so much more than what I'm doing but for some reason being tired all the time doesn't help!

I've tried it all ....

• I've been to the holistic doctor who has put me on special vegan, unprocessed food diets which I'm just too lazy to keep up with


• I've done the yoga


• I've up'd my exercise routines


• and countless others that range from "setting my mind to it" to waking up at exactly 7:35 am so that the sun can inspire me in some special way

To be honest...ALL of the above have worked! So it's not that they don't work, it's just that I can't keep up with the routine for more than 3 days. Yes...this tired 20'some yr old is lazy but internally full of energy that I can't seem to exude correctly.

BUT not to worry my friends... today I have found the solution to my problem: WATER. Drinking more water is something I can do and THINK I will be able to keep up with....pretty simple right? (That's until I find out I'm too lazy to increase my bathroom trips throughout the day)

I can't take credit for coming up with the genius idea by myself. I read this Blog post today after someone Retweeted it: www.seanogle.com/headline.important-trait-for-entrepreneurs

So thank you Sean Ogle, thank you Twitter, thank you @YearAroundWorld (love your tweets btw) for RTing.

I'm off to fill up my bottle of water that has been sitting in the back of my kitchen cabinet for months now.

Hasta Luego :)

PS. Follow me on Twitter! @carlagiselle (I'm installing a TweetMe button soon...If I find the energy to do it)

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