Snapshots

Hello again friends. This is my second full day here, but third night in the country (it feels like it’s been 2 weeks). It would be impossible to describe everything I have already experienced and learned about the language and culture-my mind never slows down! But I’d like to describe some of the humble observations I have been making about the city and the culture and myself, or those which others have made for me.
The city is loud and beautiful and COLORFUL and crazy and beautiful. The rules of the road seem very…dynamic. There’s a lot of honking and yelling and it’s totally legit to go the wrong way down the road to chat with an amigo on the sidewalk or park or something. Also, they have motoconchos, which are kind of like motorcycle taxis except they cram as many people as they possibly can on them and weave in and out of the cars. Unfortunately, there is a rising number of occurrences of petty theft in the city, which has changed drastically in the past couple of decades from what my professors have told me. I think being in a big city is one of the hardest things for me to adjust to. The thing I most looked forward to was being able to go out exploring into the city but we usually get back close to dark so it wouldn’t exactly be the best life choice. It will be a little bit before I know where I can go and where I shouldn’t and when, which kind of takes some of the fun out of exploring but there’s definitely still enough going on in the city for my ADD to flourish! Thinking and speaking in Spanish most of the time has its challenges, but since passing through the initial self-consciousness it’s been kind of fun. It’s like a game-every time I’m unsure of a word and look it up I use it with my host mom to see if it actually makes sense. Sometimes she laughs at me but she’s super patient and teaches me everything. She loves to talk :). We walk to school together and she points things out along the way and teaches me everything she knows. It’s beautiful and she’s a saint. She does everything to make me feel comfortable and is super understanding when I’m tired or overwhelmed. Plus she makes the best food. She always watches me closely for my reaction, which is super intimidating but really sweet of her. My favorite part is the fruit juice-she puts in pineapples and passion fruit and watermelon and all sorts of wonderful things. My host dad is really nice too, although I don’t talk to him or see him as much. But he did drive us (by us I mean Stephen-the other CIEE student in my barrio-and I) to and from school today, which was really sweet since it was raining.
Another interesting little tidbit of the country is the piropos. A Dominican would translate this to mean compliments. Americans would call it harassment. Nonetheless, it’s when a guy catcalls to a woman passing by and tries to get her attention by saying things like “If I were your man, your husband…” or “I would always be loyal and stay by your side and take care of you and…” etc. Many of us have heard of these, but the interesting thing is that the men don’t do it to be disrespectful, but quite the contrary. It would be considered a terrible rudeness to let a beautiful woman pass by without complimenting her or letting her know in some way that she is beautiful. In some ways, I think this is very poetic. These men are confident and they don’t care what she thinks, they simply want her to know that she’s beautiful and only get her attention. These men aren’t passive. (Please read the book Captivating, by John and Stasi Eldredge. It will explain the importance of this better than I ever could.) Of course, there are bad sides to this as well and for me personally, it's rather frustrating on most days. Many Dominican men are tigueres-they are very good at saying whatever they have to, convincingly, to get what they want. Very few of them are loyal to their spouses and they lie about whether or not they have a spouse. Also I'm considered beautiful here because I am white and blonde. Value is immediately given to those who have blonde hair and white skin over those of darker skin, only because of what they look like and not because of whom they are or even anything they’ve done, which is really sad and it’s difficult to know how to handle. Lots of times it would be much easier to just not be noticed all the time while walking down the street. I am not one to enjoy that kind of attention.
On another note, last night it hit me that I can be WHOEVER I want to be here (don’t worry Mom, Anna wouldn’t actually let me be just anybody, but bear with me :o) ). Well, I mean, I knew that in my head the whole time but I think it hit my heart. It was so freeing to realize that I don’t have to pretend to be anyone or anything. Other than rubia or americana, I left all of my labels behind. I don’t have to let anyone inform my decision making or my desires. I can choose what I want to do and when to do it based on what I want, not on who else is doing it or what anyone wants me to do. I can be my own person. And last night, I think I got a feeling of who that person is. And I don’t know how to explain her other than her one and true love interest is her Maker. I know I have felt this before, and I’m not really one to give in to peer pressure anyway, but it’s so much more real and true here, where nobody really knows me (besides Anna and Rachel) and nobody is here to inform who I am. It is such a wonderful, freeing feeling and I strongly advise anyone who is able to go somewhere away from everybody they know for a few hours or a few months or a few years to just spend time with God doing something that they really, truly, actually want to do from the heart.