Week 7

Carnival

The Queen

In the parade

Teaching with Nate

I am all birded out. We continued on our early morning bird hikes, the highlight of which was a field trip to Bavaro to an ecological resort. We bird watched from 7-11:00 that day. Four. Hours. Of. Bird. Watching. We also had night walks this week, where we would go out into the lagoon forests in search of the Ashy Faced Owl. Here’s to doing things you never thought you’d do. All we saw was a frog and a duck. It was hilarious, we went out with our flashlights and would stop every couple hundred yards, turn off all our lamps and stand there getting eaten alive by mosquitoes while Bill played the owl call, which sounds like a bird getting killed- it is terrifying. I am real scared of the dark and would clutch whoever was in front of me. One time, Jenna and I were in the back of the line and we kept swearing there was something behind us. We finally saw this huge rustle and both of us almost started crying it scared us so bad. It was Christian, the guard of the little park who I wrote about earlier (he can speak the 14 languages), coming to see who was walking around at 10:30. He told us to watch out for Dominican Boas. So comforting. Something very strange has happened to me. Since birds have been such a big part of my life the past 2 weeks, I can’t escape them. Until now, I never realized how many birds they are. They’re everywhere. Always singing. I cannot tune them out. As I am reading this, I see a black bird fly by and am thinking “Greater Antillean Grackle” (also known as a Cheenchaleen and not to be confused with the Shiny Cowbird). And there’s a Hispaniolan Lizard Cuckoo chirping outside. What has happened to me? Make it stop. While I love Jerry and Bill, I only like birds. And by like I mean kind of like.

I continued with Sex Ed with Nate on Wednesday and Thursday, this time talking about pregnancy and fetal development. I have absolutely loved doing this and cannot think of a better, more effective way to volunteer my time here. In the DR, 1 out of 4 girls becomes pregnant between the ages of 14-19. This is largely due to being uneducated about family planning and contraception. The statistics and myths these children are taught are mind blowing and Sex Ed is non-existent in school curriculums. And people wonder how teen pregnancy rates, the number one perpetuator of world poverty, are so high?  I feel like Sex Ed in the US is not taken seriously, but here, it is real and it is relevant. There were pregnant girls in the classes I was teaching. While it is overwhelming at times, this experience has reaffirmed my desire to pursue international service work- ignorance is not bliss. Teaching has also helped my Spanish tremendously. It’s funny how I am much more comfortable talking about fetal development in the first trimester in Spanish than I am talking about my day.

The Dominican Republic LOVES national holidays. I think this has more to do with their love of partying. Wednesday was Women's Day, and I received many congratulatory hugs for being a woman. We bought our three maids orchids as holiday present. They were so touched they cried! Friday and Saturday was Carnival! Carnival lasts an entire month. The Catholic celebration supposedly symbolizes an “upside-down world”. It reminded me a lot of Mardi Gras. Each town is represented in a parade in the different cities Carnival is celebrated. Basically, the entire town shuts down and a parade of groups in colorful, elaborate costumes march through the streets, many of them carry Vejigas to hit or whip pretty girls with. There were concerts all day and thousands of people crowding the streets, drinking, dancing and watching all day and night. It was one of the craziest experiences of my life. I had the best time.