Tigueres, Time, & Thanksgiving

  Barahona, Dominican Republic
Monday, December 1, 2008

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MACHISMO:  One thing about the Dominican culture is that gender roles are heavily defined - the man will *work and the woman will stay home and take care of the family.  Of course this has been progressing in recent years, but nonetheless, the men take it upon themselves to act this role of "the man" as much as possible.  This includes, but is not limited to, cat-calling the women, doing wheelies on their motorcycles, and seeing who can out-drink the other. I met one man in my community the other day and the first thing he asked me was, "how many girls do you have?"  And then he proceeded to tell me that it is okay here in the Dominican Republic to have more than one girlfriend, and that the girls like it because of the competition.  Well, that sounds great and all, I thought, other than the whole multiple girlfriend part, imagine that!  Plus, this man has 6 kids with 5 women, and was very proud of that!  In my culture, that is called a deadbeat, here, I guess it's productive.
 
(*Note: The term "work" in the Dominican Republic is loosely defined, such as drinking rum, playing dominoes, or sitting in the same spot for hours on end.)

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TRUE LIFE: I'M A NEW PC VOLUNTEER:
9:00am - Wake up to the blasting music and/or roosters then eat breakfast consisting of platanos, meat, and avocado
10am - Check schedule to see if I have a meeting, I usually do not.
10:30am - Read
11:30am - Walk around the community to talk to whoever will listen and vice versa
1pm - Lunch consisting of a huge plate of rice, beans, and meat
2pm - Hang out with some of the muchachos, sitting, trying to understand or see the other volunteer, Jackie
4pm - More walking around the community, maybe attend a meeting if there is one
6:30pm - Hang out at my project partner's house
7:30pm - Dinner consisting of more platanos, fried eggs, and hopefully salami
8pm - Watch telenovelas if there is power, if not, listen to iPod or talk with family
10pm - Try to figure out tomorrow even though it will most likely be the same; Bedtime
 
I have meetings to go do concerning projects in their beginning or transition stages (such as the committee I'm on for the construction of a new high school), youth group activities, general community meetings, or my diagnostic to work on, but these first few months are definitely a test to try and fill my time, which is very new to me.
 

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DIA DE FIESTA (AKA THANKSGIVING): I can honestly say that I have never had a bigger Thanksgiving dinner in terms of food, people, and fun.  About 190 volunteers (and friends) showed up to the country club in the capital where the Thanksgiving festivities were held, which consisted of the biggest Thanksgiving meal known to man, swimming in the pool, a talent show, dance contest, and dominoes and soccer tournaments.  I also keep forgetting that it is odd to most of the volunteers to have it be sunny all of the time here.  Being from Southern California I'm accustomed to outdoor swimming pools and sports all year round, yet other volunteers are still getting used to wearing sandals and sunscreen in November.  The day was wonderful until my food baby that I created from eating an absurd amount of food turned into something painful and ultimately instead of singing in the talent show as I planned, I was singing my new porcelain friend in the bathroom.  I was especially sad to have missed the talent show, but hey, now I have a year to practice for next year's event!
 

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TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME:  I finally attended my first baseball game!  After being in country for over 3 months (and the season started a month ago), I was long overdue to go to a game.  There are only 6 teams in the Dominican baseball league, but the games are always entertaining; music blasting, flags waving with pride, and of course, vendors selling all sorts of weird food (pork rinds, empanadas, and tea at baseball games?).  Nonetheless, the experience was something to be remembered especially since we paid RD$50 (USD$1.75) to enter and were able to watch the rambunctious crowd that had a drumline, meringue dancing cheerleaders, and rapping mascots!

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