There and Back Again

I find the American-Dominican intersection to be quite fascinating. For example, a common business for Esperanza associates, or Dominicans in general, is to sell clothes. Often these clothes are purchased for cheap in Santo Domingo in large packs from the United States. I don’t know if these clothes are goodwill discards or department store overstocks. Nevertheless, it’s easy to recognize these clothes. In church on Sunday, Rebecca’s very friendly, incredibly sweet yet rather goofy aunt was wearing a t-shirt with a playboy bunny logo. A few days later, another person was wearing a shirt that said “Keeping it Real: Silicone Free” across the chest and a loan associate came to the office wearing a shirt that read “If you think I’m a b#$@% you should meet my mom” (though it was not censored). Part of me thinks it’s sad and the other part kind of wants that shirt…as a joke Mom, as a joke! It became evident that the woman wearing the silicone shirt did not know about its meaning when she purchased it but did learn what it meant at a time prior to my seeing it. In fact, she joked about it saying it was true! First of all, I liked this encounter because I saw that she wasn’t supremely clueless. Rather, she liked the shirt and recognized that, to most people in the DR, it’s just a cute shirt.

Another interesting culture crossover: I was in an office at a church and spotted a ceramic figurine of Jesus playing with several children on one shelf. And, on another shelf, there was a boxer clad Justin Timberlake marionette! I didn’t have the opportunity to ask about his origin, but I did get a kick out of the juxtaposition.

This past weekend I enjoyed in the northern coast at a beach town called Las Terrenas. One of the loan officer’s husbands had business in Santo Domingo, so I was able to tag along Friday morning and get dropped off at Esperanaza’s central office where I joined up with two other summer interns. From there, we three took a 2.5 hour bus to the Samana (accent on the last syllable) province/peninsula, which is famed for having some of the best Dominican beaches. I had intended to do some concentrated reading on this trip; however, the landscape was too impressive to focus on my book. We spent pretty much the entire bus ride passing through tropical mountains and farms. The lush green is truly astounding and, throughout the entire trip, I kept taking in deep breaths, letting my soul just soak up the surroundings (Anne of Green Gables style; or I guess Anne of Green Cherniss style as one of my friends coined).

At the end of the bus ride, we met up with four other Esperanza volunteers/employee/compensated volunteer and traveled via rickety truck through a steep yet breathtaking passage to the Las Terrenas beaches. In appreciation of transportation everywhere, we sang I’m on a Boat, which, thanks to Autumn’s (college roommate) and my dedicated practice sessions, I can sing all the way through complete with attitude.

The weekend was very relaxing and was basically filled with beach (both night and day swims), food, and conversation. I tried conch for the first time and, sitting 15 feet from the ocean I couldn’t help but feel a tad like Lord of the Flies, though with more girls and less war paint and violence. I found the weekend to be centering as well because I was able to learn in person about the first week experiences of the other interns. It’s quite an impressive group (in terms of travel and Spanish experience and universities of origin) and I have a lot to learn from these folks. Basically I came away with a new confidence in how to approach my office work, which has paid off in significant ways during the past few days.

Returning from this weekend adventure was much more difficult than the outbound venture. Arriving in Santo Domingo was easy, but from there I had to help one of my friends find her homestay…she’d only been in the DR four days and did not yet know how to find it. Then, I was to take a cab from Santo Domingo to my homestay in Los Alcarrizos. My friend’s host helped me call a cab and I climbed in. Now, the cab driver didn’t actually know where in Los Alcarrizos my street was. While this was a bit disconcerting, I was more eager to get back than anything else so I just went along with it. Besides, I knew the name of the barrio (small community subdivision), street name and number, and major landmarks. However, when we got to Los Alcarrizos the cab driver just started yelling out the window asking people for directions. We received several sets of bad directions and got lost for a bit. I live on a dirt road and there is an easy way (the only way I’d traveled in the past) to enter and a hard way (the way the cab driver chose). He was getting really frustrated with the road ruining his car and with me because I didn’t know where we were or how to really get to my house and didn’t speak perfect Spanish. I was stressed, a bit panicked, and feeling stupid and self-conscious. I was on the verge of breaking when we found my house and parted ways.

Upon reflection, I had no right to feel that way with respect to the driver. I had given him all the information that a local would have given and it was reasonable that I did know that there were two barrios with the same name and streets right next to each other. In general, people here give drivers a lot of grief; it’s expected. However, I did not feel justified to do so due to my lack of perfect Spanish. But you know what? My Spanish might not be perfect, but it’s good enough for these situations. I now know that I will be more direct and forceful in these situations in the future. Ah, travel learning is so interesting and so much easier in retrospect…I believe the expression is twenty-twenty hindsight.

While that taxi ride made me feel completely like and outsider, those feelings quickly faded as I reentered the community (and after a centering phone conversation with my older brother). I have only lived with Rebecca for a week, and yet I am friends with the neighbors and the members of her church. I can ask them specific, informed questions and verbally banter and tease. Likewise, I feel I’m becoming less of a burden and more of an asset at work. The learning curve has been steep, but I’m finding I can travel the route rapidly.

Additionally, I’ve noticed I learn Spanish words much more swiftly. To say I’m desperate for new words would be an overstatement, but my vocabulary is not incredibly well stocked. During the first week, I would ask for a word, use it, and promptly forget it. However, my retention is quickly improving. I have more and more hooks upon which to hang my Spanish words. Also, I’m adjusting to the new environment so that familiarity might be aiding my learning process as well. That is, I don’t have to worry about breakfast or motoconcho routines and so I have more mental space for words and names.