12. Colmados: from a corner store, to a liquor store, to a place to hang out during the day, to a place to hang out at night and play dominos. Colmados literally encompass everything, and the blasting music and lively bunches of people are more than welcome after a day of class.
11. Las Ruinas de San Francisco: The old monestary ruins are so far the best hangout spot that I have found in the DR. Located in the Zona Colonial, the best way to start your week is spending your Sunday night listening to Bachata, Merengue and Salsa with your friends.
10. Drawing class: The kids at La UASD are very entertaining, the atmosphere relaxed…the only issue is im not sure how I am being graded…
9. The Weather: after hearing all of the stories about all the kids trapped in the snowstorms on the east coast, the weather here must make the top 10…even if it does randomly start raining in the middle of the day.
8. Fruit! The fruit from the fruit stands is one of the best parts of my day. For just over 1 dollar you can get a whole fresh fruit salad, great for a pre-class snack.
7. The people. CIEE managed to find a good crop of very entertaining americans with whom I often pass time generally trying to figure out what a Dominican text message is saying and deciphering slang.
6. Dominican Slang. There is literally a word for anything, words that change meaning depending on your tone. The general lack of pronunciation of the letter s. For example:
- Where are you?=Donde estas but when spoken= Donde ‘ta?
- Buenos Dias/ Buenas tardes/ Buenas noches= Buena
- A little bit=chin, littler bit= chinchin, even smaller= chininin, then its niñga etc.
- Ahorita= literally either means just before or just after, or right now…
- Vaina= stuff, but changes meaning depending on tone and can replace any noun and is often used with a tone of disdain (think shit/crap…)
4. Presidente and Brugal. Essentially the only things to drink in the DR (the national beer and rum), you have to get used to it and like them fast, especially in the form of Santo or Cuba Libre.
3. Hector. The best person on the CIEE staff, literally helps you with anything. Two weeks ago we spent 3.5 hours at the airport trying to get UPS to give me my package (they didn’t). He is very entertaining and always around to lighten the mood.
2. The gym/pool/stolen internet from the Melia Hotel on the Malecon. With a $35 US dollar-a-month membership you get to use their gym, hang out by their pool and (I don’t think this was their intention) steal their internet to do your homework, skype etc. What a deal!!
1. The beach. Even though you have to hop on a couple guaguas to get there, going to the beach once a weekend is a definite plus. The clear blue waters of Juan Dolio, Boca Chica, Playa Palenque, etc. are a great escape from bustling city life.
Worst
10. Dominican traffic: cars do whatever they want whenever they want. Speed limit? No thank you. Lane lines? No thank you. Stop lights? Rarely observed. To stay safe cars honk as they approach an intersection…fool proof. Although sometimes they just honk to say “hey look at that pretty girl”.
9. Cross the streets: along the same lines. Life in the DR is a permanent game of Frogger. There are no crosswalks and few pedestrian signals. You cross two-wayed four laned streets on lane at a time, and sometimes you have to just step out and stare down an approaching car.
8. Piropos. No matter how many times you hear them you never get used to it. Walking down the street is a daily inundation of: “Hey Gringa” “Americana” “Hello preciosa” “Oh good bye, hello, how are you doing, good thanks” “SSssssst Rubia”. The SsSsssSt sound (like psssst without the p) is the way Dominicans get each others attention, whether it be inside my house or on the street. Walking around here you get it all the time from everywhere even construction workers four stories up will stop to hiss at a passing girl, and you just learn to ignore it, which is funny when your friends are doing it to get your attention. Needless to say, Dominican men are less than subtle in their attempts to get the American girls to pay attention to them, and you can totally tell how your mood is that day by your reaction to their attempts. Sometimes the butchered English is funny, other times you can ignore it and then others you just want to get in their face and tell them how insulting they are. But hey, its all part of the abroad experience.
7. Dominican racism. There is a clear light to dark hierarchy in the DR, Dominicans hate haitians because they are “African”, all of the Dominicans on TV have dyed their hair lighter colors. There is no subtlety about it, even the Dominican dictator Trujillo bleached his skin during his tenure.
6. Animal cruelty. The amount of malnutritioned and homeless animals I see on a daily basis breaks my heart. I am continuously considering the repercussions of adopting a baby kitten or a little hungry puppy. Worse than that is the fact that I have seen Dominican kick stray cats. Kick them, like a football. Its horrible. And sad. The kitten that “works” (eats the bugs) at the colmado across the street is just not well taken care of, I finally managed to shame them about it enough to give it a bath…but it still looks sad.
5. The fact that everyone thinks that all American girls are related. Monday in drawing class I was told that my friend Aly and I must be related because we both are white, with similar colored hair and pretty eyes. Who knew that was all it took to be a sibling. If there is more than one American in a group we have to be related, obviously.
4. Jeans. You know that sticky gross feeling you get when its too hot on and you are wearing jeans. That is how every day feels here. You have to wear long pants and sleeved shirts to class. So after walking to class in the sun you are sweating like you just ran a marathon (at least I am…Dominicans don’t seem to perspire). Then your jeans stick to your skin. And repeat. Every day. Never wearing jeans in hot weather ever again.
3. Tigueraje. Hard to explain but exemplified by the guys who stole Aly’s camera right off of her wrist at the Carnaval parade on Sunday, or the people that stole Hali’s backpack on the beach. Related to the extreme poverty that exists in the DR and those who just generally take advantage of other people, like the Carro Publico drivers who attempt to not give me change bc they think that I don’t know the cost bc I am American.
2. The trash. Everywhere, there are no trash cans, and if they are they are always overflowing. Trash just sits on the side of the road, and must eventually get picked up but its just gross. And it smells. Similarly there is a lot of pollution here too.
1. The coffee. You would think it would be good, its not. If you can find some it comes in cups smaller than Dixie cups. And isn’t strong, just has a bad aftertaste. The coffee in CIEE is just bad, but it’s free and gives you the caffeine boost to get through the three hour classes. All I am saying is that people better be saving me coffee in San Francisco because I’m going to need a couple good cups.
There is a short summary of the good and the bad here. I would like to take this time to point out that JD has disappeared of the face of the earth and has not blogged in quite a while. Also I would like to send a shout out to one Robert E. Duffala who yesterday won his first game as head coach of El Cerrito Varsity Men's VB team. WOO undefeated.
