Motos and Santeria

I want a motorcycle.  I have never had this desire before, but #1. They are fun!  #2.  Everyone has one.   And #3.  Women look really cool driving around town on their motos.  They are also generally wearing 5 inch heels and skinny jeans, which I don’t really own.   At least my hair blows in the wind…

Alas, I am not allowed to drive any vehicle the entire time I am here as a volunteer, so I’ll have to settle for riding on the back of motoconchos to get around town.   (And, of course, always wear my Peace Corps-issued helmet.)   It is kind of funny to walk into the high school here and see the entire front lawn full of motorcycles.   You know, normal.   And at night people just drive around in circles on their motos looking for something interesting to happen.   Literally. 

We’ve been in this town for about a week, and nothing too crazy has happened yet. Last Friday we were sent on a scavenger hunt around town to take pictures of things such as:  an entire family on a moto, someone carrying something on their head, a farmer with a machete,  a Santeria shop, a woman in rollers, etc.etc.  Normal DR stuff.  Anyway, my group ended up with a tour guide – some joven who took a liking to me and another volunteer.  This seemed harmless, until we found ourselves led to a smoky building down by the river where a bunch of people were sitting around a fire.   (Note: fires generally aren’t lit in 88 degree weather.)   It appeared that our new buddy just wanted to show us Americanas off to his friends, though he told us he was taking us to see the baseball field.   The people around the fire were very hospitable… and invited us to the fiesta de palo they were having the next night.

Fiesta de Palo:  Satanic ritual that calls the dead?  Something along those lines.   Dominicans give very mixed reviews of the whole thing.  Some are like, “Only Satan worshipers go to those!”  Others are like, “Nah, they’re good people, they just like to dance and drink, no biggy.  Oh, they do call on spirits too, but whatever.”   Tu sabes.

No, I did not go to the fiesta.   Though it would be cool to go to one with a group of Dominicanos that I have confianza with at some point.  I’ve got two years to go in a non-sketchy manner.

Conclusion:  I got back to my house and told my “cousin” and her boyfriend about this guy who was leading us around, and the fiesta de palo and the Santeria shop.   Her boyfriend was like, “Ay, Dios.  Conociste Richard.”  Um?  “Yeah, he’s a thief.  He was in jail for a little while for robbery.”  Awesome.   This is the kind of person who will offer to take a picture for you and then run off with your camera.  Good thing we didn’t let Richard use the camera… 

Woman in her Santeria shop. 

Fire by the river... location of the Fiesta de Palo.