Graduation day

LOTS of chairs! 

Saturday was graduation day at the PUCMM for all those who finished up before Christmas.  From our balcony, I could see our neighbors primping and beautifying starting before noon.  I heard from friends that the salon had been packed- nails, hair, the works. 

The school had been preparing for graduation all week.  Location: a giant parking lot.  Number of white plastic chair set up: thousands.  Speakers: check.  Food stands: check.  Stage: check.  Scheduled to start at 5pm, I felt like we were doing pretty good when the first speaker got up at 5:20. 

A note on graduation ceremonies in general: no matter what language, they’re basically all the same.  Here’s the formula: graduates walk in to triumphant, nostalgic music, emcee introduces speaker (in this case the Bishop who gave a prayer), another speaker is introduced (class representative), another speaker (president of the university), yet another speak (key note this time), and the presentation of degrees begins.  Now I’m not hating on this general formula, but I can tell you from my own experience (having been to my fair share of graduations) that really the only people who care are the graduates and their parents.  The rest of us are just there to be supportive, and could usually do with one or two less inspirational speeches.  But anyway…

This graduation happened to be ideal for people watching.  I went to support a friend, but was on my own, so I hung toward the back in case I needed/wanted to make a get away.  I’ve come to realize- similar to weddings- graduations are completely happy events.  Everyone is thrilled for the graduate.  And it’s an excuse to dress up.  I saw everything from slacks to clubbing clothes.  I am still impressed by women’s abilities to walk over loose gravel in platform stilettos. 

This is the best shot I could get of the stage from where I
was sitting...

After about an hour though, my attention began to wander and I thought I’d slip out at the next break in speakers.  No such luck.  No sooner had that thought crossed my mind, than two Dominican acquaintances- and mutual friends with the graduate- plopped down beside me.  Dang.  So I ended up hanging out for almost 3 hours!  Holey shmoley! 

By the time all was said and done, the sun had set, streetlights had come on and I was very ready for supper. 

On a final note: ¡Felicidades Geraldine!  

More class drama

And I thought the second time around it was going to be easy.  Silly me.  I signed up for classes 3 weeks ago with high hopes for the coming semester.  However, there have been a few mix-ups. 

The first happened when I signed up for a sociology class with Dominicans that it turns out you can only take with certain prerequisites.  So I was automatically dropped from the course.  The second mix-up was a little more time consuming.

I wanted to take a religious studies class but, because they are only worth 2 credits each here, I decided to take two.  The second one I signed up for is called Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church, and this would also be with all Dominicans.  Because I missed the first week, I was hoping to show up early and just sort of blend into the background of the class unnoticed.  Yeah, right.  In my dreams. 

So I dutifully get there early and see that there is a class in the room I’m going to be in so I chill in the hall.  The bell rings and I wait around some more as other Dominicans pour out of other classrooms nearby.  Waiting, waiting.  Pretty soon I realize that the classroom I’m supposed to be in is going to stay full of a different class for the next hour.  Crap.  But this is not an insurmountable problem.  It has happened before that they switch classrooms the first week or so of the semester.  So I call our program office to see if someone there can look up where I am actually supposed to be. 

By this time it is about 9:58am and the class is scheduled to start at 10.  Here is the conversation I had: ‘Hi Dinelis, it’s Rose.  I’m supposed to have a class right now, but there is a different class in that room.  What should I do?’  Dinelis: ‘Hi Rose.  What time is your class supposed to start?’  Me: ’10.  But I got here early and the class has been in there for more than 15 minutes and I they’re not moving.’  Dinelis: ‘Don’t worry.  You still have a little time before the hour.  They will probably move.  And if they don’t, just call me back.’  Me: ‘But, there’s only like 2 minutes…’  Dinelis: ‘Don’t worry about it.  They will probably move.’  Me: ‘Okay.  Bye.’  Hang up.

So I am still standing there.  And then I get the brilliant idea to ask next door.  A bunch of students have been filing in and if they moved my class, why not move it to an empty room close by?  So I step tentatively into the door, 30 heads turn my way and I quietly ask if this is Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church.  One of the women in the class responds, but she’s whispering, so I have to ask her to repeat it.  Nope, turns out this is an economics class.  Crap.

Back out in the hall.  This time I run into someone from my program.  She has also been here for 5 months and she tells me I should just go in and ask in the classroom I supposed to be in.  This would be a good idea except I KNOW that that is not my class.  They’ve been in there an hour already.  But, as I am a little desperate at this point, I do it anyway.  Nope, this class is an ethics class.  Crap.

Back in the hall.  I call the office again and this time she tells me to hang on, she’ll check where it’s been moved to, and she’ll call me back.  Thank you.  She does and it turns out it was moved to the third floor.  Okay.  This is good.  Now at least I know I am headed to the right place.  Although now my stellar plan of slipping in unnoticed has been completely shot out of the water because it’s 10:10.  Whatever, I really want to take this class.

I head up to the third floor and peek in the door.  Well, I figure I’ve just got to bite the bullet.  So I walk in.  I have about a half-second thought ‘Hey, there’s only men in here,’ before the Professor turns to me and I ask- for the third time in 20 minutes- if this is Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church.  He answers: ‘Yes, it is in fact that class…”  Yes!  Yes!  Double yes and thank goodness I’ve found it!  ‘…but this is a special section, only offered to men who want to become priests.’  Crap!  Double crap!  Uggghhhhh!  Me: ‘Um, oops.  Never mind.’

Back peddle out the door and down the steps.  Well, that was a sequence of unnecessary and embarrassing events.  You’d think the whole thing could have been avoided had there simply been a prerequisite for the class- must be male with religious vocation.  Is that too much to ask? 

And here is a reflection I made to a friend about accidentally going to the wrong classroom here: You kinda just slink out and hope no one notices you (yeah, a little late for me) and hope that they will just blame it on you being foreign and not on your general intelligence. 

Whatever.  I am foreign after all.  Just water under the bridge. 

I'm baaaccckkkkk!

In case you were all wondering over the break- no I did not disappear.  I was simply taking a hiatus.  But- lots of cool adventures did happen so here’s a brief sample:

El campo.

A couple of days after Christmas I headed out to the campo- for real this time.  A taxi, bus and moto concho (motorcycle concho) ride later found me on top of one of the mountains standing on the north side of the city.  Let just say we went up so far and so fast my ears popped more than once.  I stayed with friends of a friend who were very gracious.  The only real complaint I have is the COLD.  You can tell me all you want about how much colder it is back in MN or CO, but when was the last time you kept your house at 50 degrees and turned fans on (there was a wind and the rooms were not sealed!)?  And all you had to wear were chacos?  Probably not too often.  Needless to say I was glad to get back to the city, even just for some warmer footwear. 

New Years eve was spent with extended family.  As a dress up event (of course), my suspicions about dress-length protocol were confirmed: if the fabric covers your rear end while standing, you’re good to go.  Needless to say, my LBD that reached past my fingertips was far from scandalous.  Neither were my flats when placed next to platform heels. 

Here’s a Dominican New Years tradition: take a piece of luggage to wherever you’re going to be celebrating the new year, and when the clock strikes midnight, run into the new year pulling your suitcase behind you.  This will ensure you travel far in the year to come.  Also- HUGS ALL AROUND!

The new students arrived January 2, so Nea and I (bored as we were over break) went with the program leaders to pick them up.  After a few delayed flights, we finally met 4 of our new peers.  Exciting!  The only catch- some of their luggage had been ‘misplaced’ in transit and the airline was looking for it.  Bummer!  Not one person fall semester had problems with lost suitcases, and at least 4 of the new people had to wait a few days for their stuff to arrive.  Talk about an added layer of stress: new country, new language, new people, and none of the comforts of home.  Luckily, by this point, all possessions have been returned to their proper owner. 

A view of our hotel!

Los Hermanos!  January fourth brought a bus trip down to the capital, a ride out to the airport by a friend of the host family, some waiting around, and a joyous reunion between family.  Hooray!  Jim, Robert and Piere came to visit me for nine days.  Some highlights of our time together include: seeing David Ortiz randomly in Santo Domingo, traversing 27 charcos (‘It felt like I was in a dream’ – Robert), spending 3 glorious days at the ocean with my aunt and uncle (also vacationing from the US), eating lots of delicious food, visiting a cigar factory, playing Jin/Rummy, eating more delicious food- provided by both my host mom and this amazing restaurant, AND just a general good time hanging out.  Phew- it was a lot!  They are now back in the US and I am into my semester here. 

Which brings me to… the line up.  Here are the classes I am taking:

Survey of Latin American Lit (for my Spanish major)

Latin American Culture and Society (also for my Spanish major)

Teaching English as a second language (even though, let’s be honest, it might be someone’s 4^th or 5^th.)

Jesus, the Person (for a potential Religious studies minor)

Social doctrine of the Catholic Church (also for a potential Religious studies minor)

So there you have it.  That’s what I’ll be doing with my time for the next 3 ½ months.  

Christmas time

Merry Christmas everyone!  ¡Feliz Navidad a todos!

Here’s a little bit about the Christmas traditions of the Dominican Republic.  I know I’ve mentioned the decorations before, and here are some pictures from my house.  Almost all available surfaces are decked on in one way or another.  Our tree is gorgeous, although you will note the peacock feathers on top in place of a star or angel.  This is true of the trees in every house I have been in (I think it’s the style this year…). 

We also have lots of Santa’s scattered around our house.  This is one display of three: skier Santa, Noel Santa and accordion Santa.  There are also some small stuffed ones hanging between our Christmas lights and orchid plants on our balcony.

Our coffee table is covered in Christmas treasures.  We have our advent wreath, a snowman that plays music, candles and ornaments, sparkly green flowers and a wrapped up orchid.  The last one is my gift to my host mom- her favorite flower.

Yesterday (Christmas eve) went something like this: my friend and I spent an hour trying to even out the worst haircut I’ve probably ever gotten (seriously, I don’t know how I left with it looking like that).  My host family and I went to mass at 6pm on Campus, then over to my brother-in-law’s parent’s house to have supper.  It was low key for the most part (with the exception of a Santa sighting by my 6 year old host nephew) and the food was really good!  There was turkey and ham (part of a pig that was roasted over a pit- soooo good), pasta salad, green salad, an eggplant dish, lasagna, bread and casabe (sort of like a rice cake but made out of yucca).  And fruit for dessert.  Yum, yum!

From what I gather, yesterday was the big day.  Eduardo opened his presents from Santa this morning, but other than that it’s been pretty low key.  Alba reported to me earlier that our neighbor, my host uncle’s sister-in-law (just in case you were wondering), got in from her family party at 5am.  So maybe, for most people, Christmas is the recovery day. 

I hope you all had/are having a wonderful day!  

Dominoes

So I think I’ve mentioned this before but- my host uncle owns a weekend home outside the city.  This is a super sweet spot- big kitchen (especially by Dominican standards), pool, pool table and sleep area for about 12.

Every weekend my host grandma spends Saturday to Sunday night there.  She has confessed to me that she doesn’t really like it (she’s quite the home body) but, she says, she does it for her only son.  I’ve been out there several times over the semester, but yesterday was special: I finally learn to play dominoes.  Sort of.

Your basic domino table, via google.

If baseball is the Dominican sport of choice, dominoes is the game of choice.  Once or twice a week my neighbors (about 15 feet from my bedroom window) will hold domino parties until 10-11 at night.  Many families and businesses have special tables build just for playing- they are square with a groove cut into each side to prop up you pieces and holes cut into the corners for your drink. 

Dominoes here is a four player game.  I tried looking up the rules, but there are dozens of varieties.  For what I’ve gathered from watching and my time playing yesterday this is how people play it here:

You are partners with the person sitting across from you.  You want to go out first and if you do, your team gets points.  Points are scored by the value of the dominoes left in everyone’s hand when you have gone out.  To start, the person with the double sixes plays- after this, who ever went out in the last round starts.  You can only play off the two ends of the starter piece.  If you can’t play, you pass to the next person. 

And there are TON of score points.  For instance- if you go out and the last number on the piece you played is the same number on the other end, you get a bonus 20 points.  If you play a piece and no one else at the table can play, you get a bonus 50 points.  There are also some rules with 25 (like if the end piece add up to 25 or something) that I don’t know well enough to explain…

In any case, yesterday I got to play.  My three playing mates were all over 60 and veterans at the game.  About an hour into it we broke for lunch and afterwards my brain was a bit fried for trying to figure out the rules/a good strategy.  So I took a break.  But the veterans- right back to it.  They pretty much played straight for another 2+ hours.  Like I said, Dominican game of choice.  

A morning well spent

Yesterday I called a friend of a friend who lives in a campo about an hour outside of Santiago.  My friend has encouraged me to visit and stay in this small town and get to know the people almost since I got here, and winter break is the time to do it. 

So with hopeful feelings and positive thoughts I called the number.  But here’s the thing about me and talking on the phone in Spanish: I’m very intimidated by it.  I usually can’t hear people when they’re talking, so communicating becomes very difficult.  I usually don’t even answer my phone if I don’t recognize the number (it is almost never for me, and more than once when it’s a guy on the other end, he’s asked me if I was married/had a boyfriend before I hung up.  Sigh.)

But all went well.  Nestor, the guy who lives in the campo, told me he’d be in a closer town the next day, if I wanted to meet him.  Well, of course!  The conversation only lasted about 4 minutes, but from what I got, I was totally welcome to come and he would meet me.

So this morning I got up, packed my backpack and headed out.  I had to take a bus out of town I never had before, so I was a little nervous.  I think it is a testament to my growing comfort level here that I was willing to do this alone, without almost any idea of where I was going or who I was meeting.  Taking it on faith. 

Yes I did find a map of the Caribbean with Tamboril
picked out.

I lucked out and sat next to a really nice woman on the bus who told me where to get off.  “You want us to drop you at the police station?  Why?”  I had a little trouble getting across that I was only meeting someone there, not that I needed the police. 

It took Nestor about 60 seconds to find me.  As pretty much the only gringa around I stood out.  We walked down the street a ways and sat in a park across from the church.  We chatted about his family, my family, the whether, our mutual friend.  Then he asked me when I thought I’d be able to come and stay at his house. 

“Well,” I responded, “I guess I thought, I mean, I can do it any time.  Today, if that works for you.”  I was a bit thrown.  Perhaps we had gotten our wires crossed somewhere. 

Yep, we had.

“Ah, well,” he said, “It’s just that I have a lot of work in the next week.  It being Christmas and all.”

“Yes!  Yes, of course.  We can totally do it another time.  I have so much free time in the next 2 weeks.  Any time that will work for you!”  This had the potential to be pretty awkward, but only if we’d let it.  Which we didn’t.

So we made plans for after Christmas (a better time), he walked me across the street where I caught another bus and that was that.  Three hours of my morning and less than US$2 and I now know a little bit more of the area around Santiago and one more person’s name.  I call that a success.

On saying goodbye

Well the last week and a half has been tough in a lot of ways.  The vast majority of our group is returning to the US, some for good, other just for Christmas.

I have certainly had lots of mixed feelings.  On the one hand, I'm really and truly happy for those returning to the US.  They are so genuinely excited to see their families/have the comforts of home it's hard not to feel a little thrilled, just by osmosis.  On the other, I'm bummed I wont be packing up and going home too.

Don't get me wrong, I love my host family here and I am happy (most days) that I will be spending another semester in the DR.  Honestly it took me the better part of the last four months to get relatively comfortable with the language, the transportation system, the culture.  I feel like I'll better be able to enjoy myself in the next 5 months because I wont be constantly adjusting and readjusting to life here.

That being said- it's Christmas!  It was tough for many people to spend Thanksgiving away from home for the first time (something that doesn't bother me having done it twice already), but Christmas will be new.  Sigh.  I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

Back to the goodbyes though... I helped a friend pack up last night.  She actually only lives about 30 minutes from me in the US, so we'll almost certainly be seeing each other again, but not so for the rest of us.  Our group this semester consisted of people from Washington to New York to Florida.  We were all thrown together four months ago, friends by necessity, and now over half that group is leaving.  I really miss/am going to miss most of those people.  I did move to the DR to meet new people and experience something different, and I guess this is just another step in that process- saying goodbye.

So with that- goodbye and good luck to everyone returning to the States!  ¡Ojala que tengan un navidad fantastico y que vayan bien!  ¡Cuidate!