First of all, I am writing this from THE UNITED STATES: a glorious place full of family, friends, working bathrooms (and lots of other things that work as they are supposed to), coldness, cars, and a lot of excess food and things in general. I’m home for Christmas and New Years!
Obviously it's really wonderful to see my American friends and family (and plan their visits to the Dominican Republic...), but it's gone by very quickly. I'll be back to my community soon!
The last weeks before I came home were pleasantly busy, between finishing out the literacy program and going to a lot of shindigs… December in the DR is not really a productive time for work. Weekends become more festive; relatives who live and work in the capital or in the eastern tourist towns come home; people put lights on their houses and break out the rum early in the day… I wouldn’t say it feels like Christmas (at least not to me), but the air is cooler and people are in good spirits.
Some events:
* My friend got married, which is almost unheard of in the campo. Weddings cost money, and people just generally don’t have them. When it comes time for communion in church, most of the takers are children. The wedding was sweet, and the party was really fun. Lots of dancing, food, the usual.
* There were a lot of funerals too… I don’t know what it is about December. Funerals here are nine days long, involve tons of people, coffee, and sitting around and playing dominos and hanging out, while inside the house of the deceased the closest family members receive well-wishers and mourn their loved one. At this point, the only major life event that I haven’t participated in is a birth. Though I did meet my friend’s newborn baby a week after she was born…
* My yoga/pilates class (yes, I teach a yoga/pilates class... they love it) planned a going-away spaghetti party for one of our members, who’s leaving Tabara to join the rest of her family in Spain and find work. (And also for me, because right now I am here instead of there!) So we made a giant thing of cheesy spaghetti and then sat on the street and ate our spaghetti… Good times.
* A famous Dominican bachatero, Zacarias Ferreira, came to my town to give a concert. Apparently he’s friends with some people here, and has come before… I guess it’s not that crazy, considering how small the Dominican Republic is, that one of the most famous singers in the country would come here to my campo to sing. So that was even more dancing… if there’s one thing that Tabareros are united in, it’s their love of a party. Can we raise money for schoolbooks? Do kids even receive class in school? Negative. But we can raise thousands (millions?) of pesos for a party. Priorities.
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| Nikki and I at the concert... |
So what comes next? More literacy and youth programs! I'll keep you posted...
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