Halloween, Dominican Style

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween! Halloween here is not as it is in the states. Some people kind-of know what it is, and they might use the excuse to have a party, but they aren´t really sure what to do. My host brothers have heard of it but also didn´t know why we dress up, etc., so I tried to explain it to them as best I could, plugging Salem and Danvers references whenever possible.

However, we are Americans down here and we know damn well that Halloween is a fun time, and we weren´t going to be jipped of our special day! We decided to get together this past Saturday in honor of Halloween. I ended up being the only one in costume: what I did was hilarious (to us), though its pretty exclusive to Peace Corps Dominican Republic humor. I have to explain, and when you know you have to explain a joke it can´t be that funny. Anyway...

1. In this country a main form of public transportation is the ¨motoconcho¨, or a motorbike ride. As Peace Corps volunteers we are required to wear helmets any time we use a motoconcho, which for me is usually a couple of times per week.
2. Women in this country are always working on their hair, trying their darndest to keep it as straight as possible. To do this, they often put their hair in rollers, and are seen everywhere walking around in public with large rollers on their heads.

So, I wore my helmet with rollers and a hair net. That´s the joke. Doesn´t quite have the same effect when I write it out like this, but here are the pictures, see for yourself:

I walked around Nagua like it was nothing, like I often walk around wearing my helmet covered in rollers. People stared and laughed as I passed, and I tried my hardest not to crack a smile. I was the ONLY ONE dressed up in the entire city. I even danced in club with the helmet, my friends were mortified.

The thing is, here, I am always weird, because I´m american and hence different from the norm here in the DR. I stick out like a sore thumb with my glowing white skin and increasingly blonde hair. It doesn´t really matter what I do when I am in public, because all they really see is the skin and hair. I´ve gotten in the habit of walking around in socks and sandals, and even tight-rolled my pants the other day (to keep them from dragging on the dirty ground), but it doesn´t matter because I´m always different so no one cares. I feel FREE in a way, I can do any silly thing I want and I´ll still get catcalls in the street! More on that later...

We also had to do something for Halloween night itself, so we found a TV and DVD player, and with a little luck the lights stayed on and we watched Donnie Darko, an appropriate movie for the evening. Those that had seen it loved it and the others were just confused.

Coming soon: ¨Tigres, not just an animal in Asia¨; and, ¨My life with bugs¨