Día de Independencia y Carnaval en la Vega!

El Diablo!

Cross dresser?




defense mechanisms!

This past Saturday was Independence Day in the DR, and I went to the parade along the Malecon, which was a lot of fun. Their version of 4th of July!! Street vendors and entertainers were everywhere, so I spent more time waiting for the parade to start (obviously no one knew what time it would begin) than actually watching it. Thousands of military men and women lined the streets and it seemed as if the entire military was there...I was pretty sure no one was even defending the country. Oops.

The next day, I went to Carnaval in la Vega, the biggest Carnaval celebration in the DR that really celebrates Lent the right way. We had no idea what time the festivities would start, so we were the first ones to arrive around 12:30 and spent time running around meeting people and taking pictures with the bizarre characters who were walking around. I was a little nervous about coming to la Vega; I had been warned by multiple people multiple times to TEN CUIDADO because la Vega was supposed to be so dangerous. One Dominican friend of mine advised me to bring a mask so that I would "fit in" more with all the costumed people and attract less attention. People in the streets carry inflated cow bladders around with them on strings to use as whips to hit others with when they least expect it! I got hit a few times by people before making the wise decision to buy an inflated cow bladder of my own to defend myself! The parade finally started around 4:30 and it was so much fun. The costumes were beautiful and some were really scary! In addition to the parade, a lot of random little boys were nearly naked, walking through the streets covered completely in mud or tar and dancing for money. I also got a fake tattoo of the Dominican flag, and the guy gave it to me for free because I spoke Spanish to him! I took tons of photos, so I will post some of them here! Something funny was that while I was constantly asking characters if I could take pictures with them, a lot of Dominicans were asking to take pictures with ME, a gringa. Of course I said yes!

The Fateful Story of My Art History Class

When I signed up for Dominican Art History Class at la UASD (the huuuuge public university here that looks exactly like University of Hawaii or a Cali State School), I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I registered for the class in January, and was told that the class would start January 18th. Stoked. Soon after, I received a cryptic email that said that classes at la UASD would be postponed until the following week with no explanation. Okay, sounds good. Soon, I received a similar email: Classes postponed until the following week. So, the first week of February, a few friends of mine who are also in the class and I went to la UASD to find the classroom (a near impossible experience) and were told after a significant amount of confusion that our teacher was sick, class was cancelled, and we were to come back the next week. So the next week, we came back...guess what? Teacher still sick! Lucky for us, she had left us a reading to do. Great. Next Thursday, we returned to la UASD with no idea what to expect. There was a teacher in the classroom who informed us that he had just found out he was now teaching our Art History Class the hour before. He asked us if we had read anything for the class and when one student showed him our reading packet, he goes, "Ahh. Yes..this looks good. Keep reading this. Come back next week to discuss." With that, class was over. Yesterday, we returned to la UASD for class and...guess who wasn't there? The teacher. We waited around for about 30 minutes before someone informed us that apparently the teacher was at a graduation ceremony. Ohhhh. Okay. So we are two months into study abroad, and I have not even started one of my classes. But no worries! Instead of class, I can just go to the beach. :)

Cliff diving and watching kite surfing in Cabarete!

Caño Hondo y El Parque Nacional de los Haitises

I spent this past weekend in Caño Hondo/El Parque Nacional de los Haitises in the east of the DR with my study abroad group. Our hotel was an incredible ecotourism hotel ~ the pools were real rivers with waterfalls in them! We went on hikes through caves and saw old Dominican cave paintings and got to eat bananas straight off the tree and also cacao – the stuff that chocolate is made of! On Saturday we went whale watching in Sabana de la Mar and saw so many whales flopping their fins against the water. Some actually jumped all the way out of the water and made the LOUDEST noise and a huge splash when they landed. Then we went to a beach in Samana, a town that is internationally famous for its beautiful beaches. My roommates’ parents are from Sabana de la Mar and came to visit me for a couple of hours on Saturday afternoon, which was fun. They knew the co-owners of the hotel so I got to meet them and we all sat around talking/they laughed at my English accent. Our group spent some of Sunday planting mangrove trees in the mud which was…interesting, before taking the 3 hour bus ride back to Santo Domingo. There has been a cold front the past couple of days, which means the highs are about 75 degrees – definitely cold. J It’s been a nice break from the blistering WINTER heat in this city! I don’t know how I’m going to survive in April or May… stay tuned.

Gascue

It is my 7^th week in the DR and lots has been going on! I am now living with 2 other students in an apartment in Gascue, a fun part of the city (still right on the ocean!). All of my classes have officially started, although little setbacks often prevent class from being held…which is fine with me. I am taking 5 classes in Spanish at 4 different universities—Literatura Latinoamericana at El Bonó, Desarollo Económico at INTEC, Historia del Arte Dominicana at la UASD (a HUGE university that looks like a California state school), a Spanish Language class at FLACSO, as well as a Pasantía (internship) class where we work for a non-profit organization. I have been interviewing for internships, so hopefully I will hear back soon and get to get started! Not much other news for now, so I will leave you with a few fun facts about the DR:

1) Pedestrians do not have the right of way.

2) Bare feet are considered inappropriate, and even disgusting.

3) The DR is the #2 happiest country in the world.

Cabarete

A national holiday, El Día de Juan Pablo Duarte, was originially scheduled for Tuesday, February 26th. But the Dominican Republic loves to celebrate holidays so much that the government moved the holiday back to Monday so that the entire nation could really celebrate...with a 3 day weekend! Some friends and I had Thursday and Friday off as well so we decided to travel to Cabarete, a world famous kite surfing town to the north of the Dominican Republic. We surfed, swam, and worked on our tans. On Saturday, we went through Puerto Plata to the famous 27 waterfalls, where guides literally throw you up waterfalls and then you jump or slide down them. It was definitely one of the coolest things I've ever done, and it only cost $9. Everyone in Cabarete is really friendly and eager to get to know you. People from all over the world come there to surf and most of them have amazing stories. My Spanish is getting better and I'm having a lot of fun talking to people. Over breakfast one morning, I became friends with a guy who turned out to be the most recent world champion kite surfer. He introduced us to his friends and they showed us the nightlife in Cabarete.

Now I am back in Santo Domingo, where the Haitian students in my university aren't coming to class anymore because they are in Haiti either visiting or searching for their families. I hope they will be back safe soon.

Earthquake

I was videochatting with my mom on Tuesday around 5 pm when I felt the chair that I was sitting in start to move. I suddenly felt very dizzy and thought I must have been going crazy, but the sensation continued for about 2 minutes. I didn't think anything of it until I went back inside and students from my program informed me that there had been an earthquake. Fortunately, Santo Domingo did not experience any physical damage from the shock, and some of my friends said they didn't even feel anything at all. Haiti is about 8 hours away from Santo Domingo, however, and by now everyone has heard about the earthquake's effect on Port-au-Prince.

It is so sad to think of all the lives lost. Several Haitians in my classes at Bonó still have not heard from their families, and many are leaving for Haiti to search for their loved ones themselves. I cannot even imagine. On Thursday, classes at Bonó ended early in order to have a university-wide meeting regarding the situation in Haiti and what students can do to help. Jesuit Refugee Services has taken over the entire bottom floor of Bonó to organize a drive for food, water, and medicines. I spent Thursday afternoon helping pack boxes to send to Port-au-Prince. It was incredible to see my classmates and teachers who are normally so easygoing working as quickly as possible, passing giant containers of bottled water, rice, and antibiotics down long lines of people to board buses that then drove straight to Haiti.

I am writing this post to let you all know that I am okay and also to ask that you donate to earthquake relief. Disasters like this typically stay on front page headlines for an average of 6 days before being forgotten, but I have met so many people down here who are directly affected by the earthquake that it's going to be impossible to forget about it. Here are some links for relief if you haven't already donated:

Partners in Health (Starting with donations of $10)
http://www.facebook.com/l/2e4ae;https://pih.org

Clinton Foundation (Starting with donations of $25)http://www.facebook.com/l/2e4ae;https://re.clintonfoundation.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=3869

Georgetown Center for Social Justice http://socialjustice.georgetown.edu/86785.html for direct donations to Save the Children, Jesuit Refugee Services and the Partners in Health.