The Butterflies

Patria, Minerva and Mate Mirabal

Today we watched the movie In the Time of the Butterflies, based on the book by Julia Alvarez by the same name.  I read the book before I left and so had a good idea about the lives of these four women, three of whom were murdered by the dictator Trujillo in 1960.  For those of you who have never heard of them, here is a brief overview:

The four Mirabal sisters grew up in the Ojo de Agua region of the Dominican Republic.  Patria, Minerva, Dede and Mate.  They were just children when Trujillo took power in 1930, and so grew up under his reign of fear and intimidation.  None were involved in the underground in their younger years.  I get the feeling that, along with the general fear of being murdered if they spoke up, the sisters and their family had not ever been directly affected by Trujillo’s system of domination and so it was easier to ignore it. 

Trujillo, for his part, was not only a mass murdering, racist dictator; he was also a serial rapist.  He essentially thought himself a Don Juan and many a pretty girl that crossed his path ended up in his bed. 

Now Trujillo had heard about the sisters Mirabal, especially of Minerva, the most beautiful.  Long story short, he invites them to a dinner/dance, tries to feel Minerva up, she slaps him (a very dangerous thing to do), their father is arrested, tortured and later dies at home from heart failure. 

As a result, Minerva joined the underground movement to topple Trujillo and was later joined by her sisters Patria and Mate.  Everyone in the underground had code names and the sisters were known as Las Mariposas (the Butterflies).  Minerva and Mate, their husbands and Patria’s husband were all arrested, put into prison and tortured.  The sisters were eventually released and returned home. 

Returning from a visit to see their jailed husbands, Minerva, Patria, Mate and their driver were stopped by the military on the side of a mountain road.  There, they were all beaten to death.  Their bodies were then put back in the car and driven off a cliff to make it look like an accident. 

The anniversary of their death, November 25, is celebrated in many Latin American Countries as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.  This year will mark the 60^th anniversary of their assassinations. 

I highly recommend both the book and the movie.  The Mirabal sisters are an extremely important part of Dominican history.  I also recommend the movie Tropica de Sangre.  This is also the story of the sisters, in Spanish, and more graphic about the reality of Trujillo’s reign.

A Day in Santiago

We left early this morning to take a tour of the city.  Our first stop: the Monument- a symbol for Santiago like the Statue of Liberty is for New York- stands on a hill in the center of the valley, over looking the whole city.  Since we've been here we've been told it is an important place to visit and a great tourist spot.  The building itself is white and about three stories tall.  On top of this is a cylinder with an angle statue over looking the people of Santiago.  The staircase inside the building is a cylinder, very narrow and a bit claustrophobic.  Each level has displays telling part of the history of the country and murals of important events.  There was also a person on each level to explain the history to us.

Built by the dictator Trujillo, the monument has been reclaimed to honor the heroes of the Dominican War for Independence.  One Dominican woman told us during one of our orientations that she doesn't like to visit this symbol of the city because Trujillo was like Hitler for her parents and grandparents and she sees it as a phallic symbol of the dictatorship.  So there you go.

Coconut tree!

Next we visited a very cool art museum with an anthropological display of Dominican history.  No cameras allowed.

We finished the day off at a pool.  Turns out we were at the home of my host mom's brother.  She told me just now that I can consider that my second home here and if I ever want to swim I can feel free to ask.  Sweet.  We went to the pool with a group of Dominican students who are volunteering their time to help show us around and practice our Spanish.  They are all super nice and some are really good dancers.