Bad Dream or Bad Timing?: A Christmas Carol Nightmare

It´s 3:30am. I´ve been asleep for hours now. In my head I hear a faint rhythm, a distant beat thumpedy-thumping its way into my dreams. It is gradually getting louder, getting...closer? Am I dreaming? I am not sure. I feel it in my stomach now. And screaming? What is going on? Is there some sort of political uprising taking place? Or perhaps a tidal wave is heading our way to cover the town and drag us all out to sea? I pull my thin sheet tight against my chin and brace myself for imminent death. “Wake up Joan!” I try to snap out of it, though I find I already am awake. The rhythmic beats are real, actual little drummer boys drumming in the streets, and the people I heard were not so much screaming but CHANTING. I check my clock, still not fully believing that I am awake – 3:31am, confirmed. What on earth are these crazy people doing at this hour? Is this some kind of protest? Please shut up and go away! I roll my eyes and heave a deep, frustrated sigh. These noisy Dominicans, it never ends. I surrender my sleep, get out of bed and go to the bathroom.

It turns out I had discovered a Christmas tradition – a Dominican version of Christmas Caroling. Different church groups will go around throughout the month of December singing, drumming, and playing instruments in the middle of the night. Around the 3-4 o´clock hour are the groups wanting money. They will sing outside your house until you pay them to go away. Then there are the groups that just do it for fun. These groups usually come out at around 6 o´clock, early enough to wake you up but late enough so that you can´t fall back asleep afterwards. Luckily, there hasn´t been more than one group per night. To my dismay, I discovered that the youth group I´ve been meeting with is one of the culprits. When they asked me if I wanted to join them I replied (something like), “Are you kidding me? I´ll be lying in bed with my earplugs in.” I was clear that this was very annoying, but they assured me that this is a fun tradition practiced throughout the country. Yeah, real fun, thanks. Just call me Ms. Scrooge.

So that´s my little Christmas story/cultural tidbit for this holiday season. Other than that, the holiday celebrations here are much more subdued than I´d expected, given that there are so many devout Catholics and Christians living here. Many of the different neighborhoods are decorated, though it is not like what you and I are used to. Because so many people are living in poverty, they make decorations with whatever they can find. Different colored plastic bags are tied around wire and arranged into different shapes and patterns. They do quite a lot with this, I give them an A plus on creativity. Take a look (notice the big manger on the right side of the road):

The standard juicebox ornaments hanging from trees is actually maintained year-round: Also, they put a lot of work into their nativity scenes. They weave palm leaves and take siding off of the houses to make the manger, then collect whatever they can to represent those famous figures, such as Ken dolls, various kid toys, and those big deer lawn ornaments woven together from straw (scenes are rarely to scale). Here we have a nativity scene with baby Jesus in a bathtub, Mary and Joseph, as well as the fairy horse and of course the dinosaur (that was in the Bible, right?). Its too cute, really: In general, Christmas is celebrated with a few dinners – with family, friends, and any group you are associated with. There is not much gift-giving, but I hear there will be a lot of dancing (no surprise there!). It should be pretty low-key. I´ll leave you with this shot of me and Jose Miguel, I´m having a ton of fun with him lately:

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday, I miss you all terribly! Do me a favor and eat lots of pie on my behalf, thanks!
Love, Joan

Life Update and Obscene Video!

So I´m starting to settle in and I´m realizing that life here is not all that different from home. Once again I´m living in the Northeast, in a region where they don´t pronounce their “R”´s. When they say “Por favor” (please), it ends up sounding more like, “Poi favoi”. Ah, just like home. It almost brings a tear to my eye! They also drop their “S”´s and “L”´s, and parts of whole words (hey, we do that too!). Instead of para (for), you´ve got pa´, está (he/she/it is) is simplified to ´ta, and todo (all) becomes to´.

I´ve hardly even mentioned some of the differences from Dominican Spanish to, well, almost all other Spanish. Some of the most simple words have been changed, anyone who has studied Spanish will find this atrocious:

English; Spanish (normal); Spanish (Dominican):
Banana; Banana; Guineo (huh???)
Papaya; Papaya; Lechoza
Tree; Árbol; Mata
Orange(color); Anaranjado; Mamey
Orange(fruit); Naranja; China (I can´t make this stuff up)

Anyway, I´m here and doing pretty well so far. It turned out that the anticipation of coming here and getting started was worse than the action itself. I´m meeting people and attending events, etc., and everyone has been very friendly and welcoming. I generally spend my days getting a good night sleep, eating CEREAL for breakfast (!!! I made a deal with my host family, I buy my breakfast and pay less rent), then either studying spanish or for my upcoming project, taking walks around the neighborhood, meeting more people and socializing, or if I´m in an anti-social mood, hiding however possible (which is hard to do here, privacy is close to impossible to get). The beach has been a good place for solitud, believe it or not, though typical me, I go in pants and sit in the shade and read. I try to study but often find myself staring off into the sky or at the waves making lines in the sand. Also, I bought a guitar. FINALLY! I´ve been planning on it since I arrived here, now I can shut up about it. Here it is, its pretty, huh?: Its a little hard trying to figure out just how to manage my time with work, though. I felt I was off to a good start my first few days, going to meetings of local clubs and starting to assemble some information, but then things stalled and I procrastinated for the rest of the weekend. I´m only now starting to get back into the swing of things, trying to focus on assembling the questions I want to ask when I start interviewing people in the community. I feel some pressure from people involved to see some tangible work already, I think those few down days I had showed and they´re trying to keep me on my toes. Its hard though, I started off with one plan and now I think another would be better, so I´m still just trying to figure out how I´m going to go about my project. It will all fall into place soon, once I get my strategy in place.

I´ve got a video to show you. I´m not sure if I mentioned, but people here are very much into Reggaeton music, which is all about sex and dancing dirty. The kids are not sheilded from this and learn at a very young age how to dance like the people they see on TV (or better yet their parents!). I was shocked to see my host sister in Santo Domingo, 6-years-old, dancing in the kitchen, bumping and grinding like a bad rap video. It alternates between hilarious and extremely disturbing. I feel like an old lady sometimes complaining about this.... “In my day, kids were at LEAST 14 before they were dancing like that!”.... though I can´t help but still feel shocked by it when I see it.

My new host brother, José Miguel, 5 yrs, knows all of the words to the most inappropriate songs, and has all of the hand movements to go along with it. I taped him singing along one day, check it out (it ends with a nice butt scratch):



Also, I want to show you more views of my town. There are some really nice houses and many not-so-nice homes. This is one of the main roads: Here is a view from in front of my house:

At the end of this road where the Palm trees are is the beach:

While my family has a bathroom with running water and even a shower (hello!!!), the people next door use this latrine and get their water from a well (my house is behind, there had been a lot of rain the day before this picture):

Here is the park and to the right the café/bar/nightclub, where last night was karaoke night and I sang Bob Marley´s "Is this love". I felt sorry for those that had to listen but my host family and their friends really wanted to hear me sing in English!:

That´s all for now, until next time!

And so it is...

The range and intensity of emotion this past week has been extreme, preparing for an entirely new life while clinging desperately onto that which is comfortable and familiar. We got back from our site visits a little shaken and overwhelmed. Reality was hitting us and it was a little hard to take it all in at once. It was refreshing to know that most of the other trainees were having the same feelings that I was, uncertain of everything, not being able to comprehend the two full years that lay before us.

The first few days back in the capital were a venting session for all of us, letting out our fears and frustrations and talking it through to mentally prepare ourselves for the day we would leave to begin our service. After a few more nuts-and-bolts sessions with training, we were finished. We made it through three months of training. My spanish is at about an intermediate-advanced level now, and I know a whole lot more about working with youth and groups.

It was time to swear in, to take the official oath to serve my country, the same oath that all government employees take, military, etc. I have agreed to defend my country against all enemies, so watch out Michael Moore! (Just kidding, you know I love you ; ) Here we are taking the oath:

The rest of the week was our last chance to have fun and spend time with friends before we were off on our own to go to our sites. It was really hard to go from having friends around every day and always someone to turn to if you needed to talk, to think about being on your own, with friends spread out across the country in remote places far away, most without easy access to communication, not knowing if you'd even see them again. Of course, we won't be "alone" in our sites, there will be locals around, but its not the same. They don't understand us or know what we're going through, and I'm just not advanced enough to talk about my feelings in Spanish. The first month will probably be the hardest as we figure things out, then it should start picking up from there.

Meanwhile, it really started to hit us after swearing in that we were seeing our friends for the last time in a long time. I just wanted to hold on to them and not let go, I really was afraid to be by myself! We kept our schedules packed to avoid thinking about leaving, and doing as much as we could together. There was a fun party at our trainer Laura's house after swearing in, and events each day and night until we were scheduled to leave on Sunday.

Of course, this past Thursday was Thanksgiving Day. Luckily it was not a sad day for me, as its hard to accept the fact that its Thanksgiving when the weather still feels like summer and there are no cardboard Turkey's or gourds decorating front doors. If I didn't have a calendar I would have had no idea what day it was. The Peace Corps organized a party for all of the volunteers, a full day filled with sports, food, and lots of dancing. I made it to second or third rounds of the Merengue and Bachata dancing contests, but didn't win. (Its hard to compete against those who have had a year or two more of practice!) However, our youth training group choreographed a dance for the talent show that evening, and I must say we tore the roof off. I was one of the organizers of the dance group, entitled "Sparkle Motion", which we arranged to the 80's classic "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood ("Frankie says RELAX!"). It was a huge hit, here we are in action:

Yes, John Travolta floor and all. The cheesier the better. A visit to the Hard Rock Cafe that night was a welcome relief from typical Dominican fare and scenery. Friday was an all volunteer conference, meeting more volunteers, including those that live in my region. That night I went to a local baseball game, a Santo Domingo team vs. my team in the north, or Cibao region, called the Aguilas, or eagles. My team won, of course. It was a lot of fun, cheap seats and crazy fans the whole time. Remember, this is where the US teams get some of their best players!

That night was a club night, too packed and loud but got to see many people for the last time. Saturday a bunch of us were paniced at being on our own so we met up in the city, went to a Middle eastern restaurant and stayed at a hotel. The anticipation was worse than the event itself, Sunday came and I came to my site, and though still a bit nervous I'm getting to work and settling in. Plus, we have things to look forward to, like Christmas and New Years parties, so it is not solitary confinement by any means.

So, here I am! Its nice to actually get started working. Wish me luck, I wish you all the best.
Joan

My first days not speaking English

This is it - the beginning of the end of my good English. Even after only speaking Spanish for part of each day over the last three months, it has already become so much worse. And as of yesterday, I have yet to speak English! (except to the dog.) This is the week we are making our official visits to our sites. We are assigned project partners, who came to meet us in Santo Domingo this past Tuesday and brought us to our new homes. Its been a stressful time, making first impressions with the people I will be working and living with for the next two years. I've got a lot of pressure, as my site has hosted trainees over the past three years, which introduced them to a lot of great volunteers, so I've got a lot to live up to. There is a big long list of things they want me to do throughout my service, its a bit daunting to see it all there written out like that, but I'll do what I can. The first three months will be spent doing a diagnostic of the community, to get to know more about it and its people, and to help determine which projects are the top priorities. During that time I'll be living with a host family. I'm staying with them now and have already decorated my room! Its nice to have pictures of home up on the walls. Here is my new family, I can't call them host "parents" because I'm six months older than the "mom", so I'll say my host brother and sister Julio and Jenny, with their new dog Toby:

Here is Jenny with her adorable son, Jose Miguel:
...and their home (my room is at the front, behind the white windows):

The living room - a couch!

Its a nice quiet neighborhood and comfortable town. It is small enough to walk around the main area in 20 minutes, but big enough to have around 15,000 people! (many of whom live in small communities outside the main center.) Its hard to believe there are so many people here because it really has that small-town feel. Though, if I need anything like Internet, a grocery store, etc, I can just come here to Nagua, a short ten-minute ride on a moto.

After a long night of packing that last night in Santo Domingo, I got up early the next day to move my luggage and meet my new partners in the capital's center. We had some meetings and information sessions, then took a long, uncomfortable ride in a pick up truck back to where I will be living. The trip from the capital to my site took about 5 hours, and by the time we arrived I just wanted to go to bed. But no! Not only was I meeting my new host family, but they had a big welcoming party there waiting for me. Everyone was really excited to meet me, it was really sweet, but it took a lot out of me to keep the energy up for that long! I've been catching up from it since then and now I'm worried that my family thinks I'm lazy because I sleep too much. Oh well, what can you do. They'll get to know me eventually.

So, this is it, I head back to the capital Sunday for my last week of training! We have three more days of information, then our "swearing-in" ceremony on Wednesday night, where we are officially welcomed as volunteers for the Peace Corps. After that its Thanksgiving (my first away from home : ( They do a special dinner and party for all of the volunteers in country), and an all-volunteer conference that Friday. On that weekend we move in officially! Its life as a Dominican now, no more American friends to run to, we're on our own from here on out. Scary! Wish me luck.

Joan

The Eye of the Tiger

I'd like to share with you a part of dominican culture which I experience throughout every day - TIGRES. "Tigers" in english, pronounced "TEE-ge-rays" in spanish, are the bain of my exsistence. As an american I stand out as being an outsider as soon as I leave my house. A walk down the street creates stares and reactions from most whom I pass. However, it is the official responsibility of these tigres to comment, whistle, or hiss at you as you pass.

A tigre is any man who makes it a point to know that he notices you. They give you that look like they are picturing you naked, which sends uncomfortable chills up your spine. Many of these tigres hang out on street corners such as these men pictured here, just waiting for an innocent victim to walk by.

Hissing is a common way to try to get someone's attention here. Sometimes the hissing sounds like the common, "PSSSSSSST", when other times it is more like the way my parent´s described kids in their Catholic school upbringing, trying to get the teacher´s attention – "SSSSSST! SSSSSST!" Either way its irritating and I try to ignore it, though they actually think that I want their attention. If you were walking with a Dominican woman and a guy was hissing at you, she´d give you a nudge-nudge and a wink-wink and say, "Wow, you are one lucky girl!" In reality the guys are the lucky ones, lucky that I don´t bash them over the head with my water bottle!

Alas, we´re in a pretty busy area right now, so the tigre attention is much more than in smaller areas. From what I hear about my site, it is very small and everyone knows you, so they will not cat call or hiss at you in the street. Until then, here are some common calls I get from tigres in the streets:

"Hey Rubia!" = Hey Blondie
"Hola Americana!" = American girl
"I love jew!" = lame attempt at "I love you"
"Mi Amor!" = My love

I've even had a marriage proposal. Usually I just ignore it and it rolls off my back, but sometimes I'm just not in the mood and it really gets on my nerves. When I can control my reaction I might come back with something like, "But I don't love you!". You'd think this was mainly the young 20-somethings doing the calling, but it is all men, young and old. Sometimes a little boy will say something and all I can respond with is, "you're 12!" There are also dads with their young daughters who will stop to comment, so you can see how the girls learn that this behavior is OK. The creme of the crop was when I was walking by a group of guys, one of them sitting with a girl in his lap. This guy actually called to me while I passed, and I just pointed to the girl and said, "You can't be serious, you already have a girl in your lap!" They just laughed. (I didn't actually know the word for "lap", but it was close enough.)

Do what you can to avoid them, it doesn't matter. They'll still call, and they'll still whistle, whether you ignore them, smile politely, or try to come back with a clever remark. Nothing will stop them from doing it the next time. For example, Dominican men think that American women are cold, and by ignoring them in the street we are just proving to them that we are cold and we need their dominican lovin' to warm us back up. There's no escape.

Alas, we can laugh at it. They are truly harmless, they just want your attention.