What a crazy few
days! I can’t believe I’m really and finally here. It’s also unbelievable that
I live closer to Boston here than I did in Idaho...and I’m a world apart. I am
writing this on Day Seven after scoring a wonderful host family – Erika (la
doña/mother), Tayhris (18-yr old sister), and Kiara (8-yr old sister). The
entire family is amazing and I love them all. Kiara (basically my Spanish
tutor) and I spend hours together chatting, drawing, making friendship
bracelets, and playing cards. The women I live with are awesome. Although they
probably wouldn’t say it, they’re total feminists. I have no idea who the man
in Erika’s life was/is, but she repeats over and over that she is an
independent woman and we are the strong ladies of Los Cocos (our neighborhood).
Even Kiara is a little feminist. We were playing cards with US presidents on
them and she asked me why there hasn’t been a female president in the US. When
I asked her if she thought a woman could be the president, she said, “Yes,
women are better leaders than men and I think you should have one and we should
have one too.”
My family is
super patient with me because Dominican Spanish is tough! When we are all
together for meals, I hardly understand a word of their chitter chatter.
Dominicans tend to drop the “s” off of every word and condense important words
to speed up their speaking. Not to mention the millions of words from Spain
that are unrecognizable here and vice versa. According to my host family, I can
manage the language well...but little by little I will pick up Dominican words,
and against my will, the accent. Everyone here knows I studied in Spain and I
keep asking, “Is it that obvious?”
Apparently my pronunciation of “gracias” as “grathias” is a dead give away.
Poco a poco.
In this first
blog post I want to take the time to point out interesting Dominican/Peace
Corps differences before they become all too normal and routine and don’t seem
worth writing about. It would be a shame to miss this time to post about the
most basic differences.
1) The bucket
shower.
Because very few homes in the DR have running water, each house is equipped with large tanks of water that are used to fill smaller buckets of water that are used for bathing, doing the dishes, cleaning the floors, washing clothes. Unfortunately, the water to fill the large tanks only comes every one to two months so water is scarce and I have had to learn to be very economical with my water usage. Each evening, I hop in the shower (tile pit), pour a cup full of freezing cold water on my body and head, lather up, and pour another cup my body and head. All done. Honestly, it’s not that bad. I laugh at the fact that I used to wait for water to heat up in the US. What a lujo (luxury)! Also, Dominicans shower (well, bucket shower) twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. And they rarely wash their hair and when they do it’s an all day ordeal. I learned that this weekend watching old women walk around with curlers in the streets and blow-drying their hair on their porches. What a loca sight.
Because very few homes in the DR have running water, each house is equipped with large tanks of water that are used to fill smaller buckets of water that are used for bathing, doing the dishes, cleaning the floors, washing clothes. Unfortunately, the water to fill the large tanks only comes every one to two months so water is scarce and I have had to learn to be very economical with my water usage. Each evening, I hop in the shower (tile pit), pour a cup full of freezing cold water on my body and head, lather up, and pour another cup my body and head. All done. Honestly, it’s not that bad. I laugh at the fact that I used to wait for water to heat up in the US. What a lujo (luxury)! Also, Dominicans shower (well, bucket shower) twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. And they rarely wash their hair and when they do it’s an all day ordeal. I learned that this weekend watching old women walk around with curlers in the streets and blow-drying their hair on their porches. What a loca sight.
2) The lack of
reliable electricity.
Dominican households in poorer neighborhoods (like mine) have unreliable access to electricity. Some days there are two hours, some days six hours. Never more than eight. Each evening around 5pm, I come home from training and there is a 90% chance that the electricity is still out. Today, we waited until 8pm, (practically bedtime), for the lights. When the light goes out in the early morning, you can hear the entire block scream “¡Se va la luz!” (There goes the light) and when it comes back on, you hear “¡Llega la luz!” and in my house we do a little dance and blow out the candles we’ve been using as light source for the past six hours. This weekend the electricity was on practically all day and around 6pm off it went – cueing a pretty early bedtime. No one here ever knows when the lights will go on and off, but it's an all too regular part of daily life and no one seems to mind all too much.
Dominican households in poorer neighborhoods (like mine) have unreliable access to electricity. Some days there are two hours, some days six hours. Never more than eight. Each evening around 5pm, I come home from training and there is a 90% chance that the electricity is still out. Today, we waited until 8pm, (practically bedtime), for the lights. When the light goes out in the early morning, you can hear the entire block scream “¡Se va la luz!” (There goes the light) and when it comes back on, you hear “¡Llega la luz!” and in my house we do a little dance and blow out the candles we’ve been using as light source for the past six hours. This weekend the electricity was on practically all day and around 6pm off it went – cueing a pretty early bedtime. No one here ever knows when the lights will go on and off, but it's an all too regular part of daily life and no one seems to mind all too much.
3) Getting
used to doing nothing.
I’m AWFUL at doing nothing. I am learning though to appreciate sitting alone for hours and reading, passing by Dominican men and women who sit on their porches all day and night, people-watching on my porch, talking about doing nothing, and simply doing nothing. It’ll take some getting used to and definitely practice. The lifestyle is slow here, but you wouldn’t predict that from the cars that rush by, the never-ending reggaetone music blasting in the streets, and the hundreds of people who seem to mill about or speed by on motorcycles. It’s definitely a loud culture!
I’m AWFUL at doing nothing. I am learning though to appreciate sitting alone for hours and reading, passing by Dominican men and women who sit on their porches all day and night, people-watching on my porch, talking about doing nothing, and simply doing nothing. It’ll take some getting used to and definitely practice. The lifestyle is slow here, but you wouldn’t predict that from the cars that rush by, the never-ending reggaetone music blasting in the streets, and the hundreds of people who seem to mill about or speed by on motorcycles. It’s definitely a loud culture!
4) Sleeping
under a mosquito net.
This difference is actually pretty awesome. I feel like a princess when I crawl into my bed (a queen size, yee-ha!) and tuck in my mosquito net. It makes me feel safe, secure, and like a queen. The only problem is that the nets were treated with a chemical and most people in the group felt a “burning sensation” when they woke up on Day One. Hence my entire group taking Benadryl. Lol.
This difference is actually pretty awesome. I feel like a princess when I crawl into my bed (a queen size, yee-ha!) and tuck in my mosquito net. It makes me feel safe, secure, and like a queen. The only problem is that the nets were treated with a chemical and most people in the group felt a “burning sensation” when they woke up on Day One. Hence my entire group taking Benadryl. Lol.
5) Throwing
toilet paper in the trashcan.
Needless to say, the septic systems here don’t function too well. Oh, and when you poop in a home without running water (aka mine), you have to flush it with a bucket of water. Step one, start by pouring water down the bowl and towards the hole. Step two, when it reaches the whole, throw the whole bucket into the bowl with serious force and flush it that way. Still haven’t mastered this one.
Needless to say, the septic systems here don’t function too well. Oh, and when you poop in a home without running water (aka mine), you have to flush it with a bucket of water. Step one, start by pouring water down the bowl and towards the hole. Step two, when it reaches the whole, throw the whole bucket into the bowl with serious force and flush it that way. Still haven’t mastered this one.
6) The food.
OMG it’s so good. Enough said. Rice and beans, get at me! Fresh mango, avocado, papaya, guava, platanos, tomatoes...everyday. Yumm. Dominicans don't like spicy so if anyone wants to send me a bottle of Siracha, I wouldn't be opposed.
OMG it’s so good. Enough said. Rice and beans, get at me! Fresh mango, avocado, papaya, guava, platanos, tomatoes...everyday. Yumm. Dominicans don't like spicy so if anyone wants to send me a bottle of Siracha, I wouldn't be opposed.
7) The
coffee.
Deserving of a bullet point of its own...this stuff is so good. Oh, and a cup of coffee in a café costs about 40 cents. Even on a Peace Corps salary, I can still indulge my coffee habit.
Deserving of a bullet point of its own...this stuff is so good. Oh, and a cup of coffee in a café costs about 40 cents. Even on a Peace Corps salary, I can still indulge my coffee habit.
8) Bedtime.
I go to bed at 9pm most nights. And I love it.
I go to bed at 9pm most nights. And I love it.
9) Being in
hurricane season.
Predictably, each afternoon, it pours with rain. Intense flood-like rain that last ten to fifteen minutes, or sometimes upwards of two hours. As they keep reminding us, we are in the tropics, and it’s the rainy season. And not to freak my parents out, but 18 named storms are predicted to hit the DR this year (by November 30). Good thing I can swim.
Predictably, each afternoon, it pours with rain. Intense flood-like rain that last ten to fifteen minutes, or sometimes upwards of two hours. As they keep reminding us, we are in the tropics, and it’s the rainy season. And not to freak my parents out, but 18 named storms are predicted to hit the DR this year (by November 30). Good thing I can swim.
10) The machismo culture.
Here, I am called "La Rubia" or "The Blonde" even though neither my hair nor my body is particularly yellow. The men here call out "piropos" or "compliments" including hissing, cat calls, and verbal harassment. I walk to school everyday and can hear everything from "Mira la Rubia" (look at the blonde), "Americana" (American), "Ay mamí damé algo" (Ay mamma, give me some of that). I asked my host mother how these boys can do that and she says, "It's in their genes." It's often hard to ignore, but definitely best practice to let it slide and not address the offender. The Peace Corps has done a great job about educating us on this issue and giving us appropriate responses and ideas for ignoring these men and the all too pervasive machismo culture.
Here, I am called "La Rubia" or "The Blonde" even though neither my hair nor my body is particularly yellow. The men here call out "piropos" or "compliments" including hissing, cat calls, and verbal harassment. I walk to school everyday and can hear everything from "Mira la Rubia" (look at the blonde), "Americana" (American), "Ay mamí damé algo" (Ay mamma, give me some of that). I asked my host mother how these boys can do that and she says, "It's in their genes." It's often hard to ignore, but definitely best practice to let it slide and not address the offender. The Peace Corps has done a great job about educating us on this issue and giving us appropriate responses and ideas for ignoring these men and the all too pervasive machismo culture.
11) The
support and dedication of the Peace Corps staff in the DR.
I have never felt more cared for, thought about, or respected in my entire life. There are over 30 staff members who make up the core training staff and are completely dedicated to our well-being and security. This includes numerous trainings on safety and security, public transportation, water and sanitation, Spanish language (25 hours a week!), medical attention, cross-cultural competencies, technical health training, and so much more. I have already seen the doctors five times (not surprising to the many who know how many doctors visits I have on a yearly basis) and resolved a housing issue with the coordinator (my house originally had two cats living here, and I’m allergic so my host family offered to send their cats away for the duration of the time I'm here). I feel so welcome and at ease here, hopefully this feeling lasts!
I have never felt more cared for, thought about, or respected in my entire life. There are over 30 staff members who make up the core training staff and are completely dedicated to our well-being and security. This includes numerous trainings on safety and security, public transportation, water and sanitation, Spanish language (25 hours a week!), medical attention, cross-cultural competencies, technical health training, and so much more. I have already seen the doctors five times (not surprising to the many who know how many doctors visits I have on a yearly basis) and resolved a housing issue with the coordinator (my house originally had two cats living here, and I’m allergic so my host family offered to send their cats away for the duration of the time I'm here). I feel so welcome and at ease here, hopefully this feeling lasts!
While I’ve only
been here for a few days so far, I can already tell that this place is for me.
The people are friendly, loud, outgoing and caring. And I know I haven’t
started work or been placed in a site yet, but the Peace Corps’ approach to
development and aid is on par with my ideas and values. I am proud to be a
member of Peace Corps Dominican Republic or DR 13-02 and can’t wait to see
what’s in store for me next week. Until then, hasta luego.
