Caribe Christmas

 

The past few weeks since Thanksgiving I think have been a good representation of what Peace Corps is supposed to be like in the best and ‘worst’ of ways.  During this Advent season, my mission in life has consisted of three goals:

 

1-Make friends with more people and perhaps remember their names

2-While making friends, try to maneuver so as to avoid having to eat three breakfasts, three lunches, and three dinners each day.

3-Accomplish something – when possible  (for example, when it’s not raining) – related to our water project

 

All three goals can be amazingly difficult to accomplish – or on other days, things will work out better than anyone could plan.  As a week passes – and they are passing very quickly – I usually think about what has happened and laugh at myself for having been sad, frustrated, or lonely one day, since the next day inevitably is perfect.  In the past I haven’t much believed in culture shock or simply the clash of cultures.  Whatever the case, I’m definitely pretty arrogant about being a pro at understanding how Latinos think/act. Now the more I learn and get used to how things work here, the less I understand them.  For instance, I mentioned about the rain.  It rained most of last week, which turns everything you walk on into mud.  Not unreasonably, Dominicans don’t like to go out to work / meet/ etc in the rain.  We had planned a water committee meeting for Monday, then switched to Tuesday.  Then it rained.  Not wanting to risk being irresponsible I went to visit some of the committee members to check if we would have the meeting.They told me that of course we would not. There was no need to tell anyone else, they simply would know not to go.  This is really all fine with me, however we then needed to reschedule the meeting.  So, in three days of rain, we rescheduled twice and never had a meeting – we’ll just wait till the new year.  Still, this is all fine.  What’s funny about it is that during the days we COULDN’T have a meeting because of the rain, we probably spent the same amount of time walking around in the mud cancelling and rescheduling as it would have taken to simply have the meeting.

 

Hospitality is also challenging.  The day before, friends from the neighboring community invited me to spend the day of Christmas Eve with them.  This was great because they always want me to eat lunch, dinner, or whatever there and I always try to decline since there is food waiting at home.  I told them to invite me in advance and they finally did. So when I arrived a bit late at midday, I was ready to eat.  However, a dilemma immediately presented itself.  The women who had invited me together had both cooked lunch.  The solution of course was for me to eat a ‘chin’ (cheen – little bit) at one house and the same at the other. So I ate two full meals.  Upon returning to the first house, the grandparents informed me that they had prepared dinner for me as well ‘when I got hungry’.  After losing about ten games of dominoes, I wasn’t really hungry but ate dinner anyways.  Fortunately, there was some super delicious rotisserie pork followed by rum with honey on ice. I went home to find more people who were concerned about whether or not I had eaten.  Late that night I visited a neighbor’s house where there were lots of kids and their aunts and uncles who had been drinking some really disgusting wine and were a bit tipsy. Sitting around in a cramped living room with loud children and tipsy aunts and uncles really reminded me of home!  I’m all out of order here, but the other most Christmas-like thing here was there celebration of Las Mañanitas (Early mornings).  As early as 4 in the morning every day in the week leading up to Christmas, kids get up and start banging a drum, singing/screaming christmas carols.  They walk from one community to the next, and when people hear the drum they get out of bed and throw on jackets and hats that would make you think it snows here and join the procession. The procession ends around six at sort of a community center where they then had a Mass every day at dawn. The whole thing feels sort of like an odd combination of church and mardi gras.  When mass ends, everyone drinks a plastic cup of homemade tea which is way too sweet, but still good.  The celebration ends with everyone throwing their plastic cups on the ground (since that’s where trash belongs, of course).

 

It is definitely a bit tough being away from home for Christmas for the first time, but I’ve been making up for it by taking advantage of Dominican Christmas traditions.  For instance – on Christmas day, the big event is cock fighting and live music in the afternoon.  I paid about three dollars – slightly more than the cost of a liter of beer to watch six chickens beat each other up. It’s really more interesting than it sounds.  At least the first half of a match is sort of beautiful, and the spectators/gamblers are equally entertaining.  After this, I walked up and down the highway for a couple hours with various teenage boys who are probably my best friends here, until we finally headed back up the street to the dance club – it’s name is ‘King Kong’, where I spent the night dancing and sipping weak Dominican beer.  So, however much I miss home and everyone there, at least I can be content to have watched cock fighting and danced on Christmas night for the first time (could be the last too, If I visit home next year, so I might as well enjoy it).

 

Sorry there are no pictures this time – my camera recently broke, but I’ll have a new one in a couple days.  Feel like I’ve written a lot and said nothing, but it’s hot inside and you’re probably tired of reading anyways.  As anyone would say who’s learning English:  “Happy Christmas”