Week 12- Salida (Departure)

La Basilica 

Coral Surveys

Catching my first baby wave

I leave in 48 hours… Is this real life?

I have been waking up early to catch my last sunrises and thought I’d write my last post before everyone wakes up.

This week was similar to last- wrapping up final projects, learning Creole, practicing Spanish, teaching English, getting in as much sea, sand, and sun time as possible, and reminiscing with friends we’ve made at farewell celebrations. The highlights included spotting a nurse shark and family of sea turtles during a coral survey and knocking off the last two items on my DR bucket list- surf lessons at Playa Macao (paid for by my March Madness winnings, holla) and a day trip to Higuay to see the Basilica. Cultural rookie moves included me tripping over a bloody cow head in the street market and accidentally ordering “Penis with Pomodoro Sauce” in Spanish- you should have seen the waiter’s face, I guess I was so excited about non-Dominican food I forgot and said “penne” instead of “pasta”. More than anything, I have spent this week considering many questions in preparation for my return home from paradise. What has God been teaching me this semester? Have I taken advantage of my time here? What experiences am I most thankful for? What will be the hardest (and easiest) to leave?

Here are some of my answers:

What I will miss most

-The Community: I will never view a hotel in the same light again. The gardeners, cafeteria staff, security guards, maids, receptionists, maintenance workers, bee keepers, scuba instructors, tour guides- there are so many fabulous characters that make up this place and I have loved getting to know them personally. I am thankful for their Dominican hospitality and how warmly they welcomed us into the Punta Cana community. I don't want to say goodbye to my friends!

-La Fundacion Ecologica: I hope the white board covered in 3 months worth of quotes never gets erased and that the building always stays painted rainbow colors. I will miss living with teams of field scientists and popping in on Ben downstairs in his office, always keeping things running and me laughing. The labs, gardens, lagoons, zoo animals. This funny place was home.

-Disconnection: These were never big distractions at home and I was by no means roughing it, but I’ve noticed how much I like being (partially) unplugged rom the world of technological connections. I didn’t miss it at all. For 3 months, I got along great with no phone or TV and a spotty, slow Internet connection. It was refreshing.

-Spanish and Creole: I will miss speaking Spanish- being forced to speak Spanish. I loved learning and hearing both languages all the time.

-The Gang: The nine of us have put up with one another 24/7 for 3 months. We lived together, travelled together, and didn’t kill each other. I am so grateful for everyone and the quirky contributions each person made to our Hokie family. 

-Natural fruit juice, bueno bars, and empanadas. So good.

-Sharing a room: This one surprised me- I like my own space. But I never felt as though I had to live around Shannon. It was fate for us to be room(soul)mates. I will miss talking before bed, exchanging books and music, hiding notes, and hunting down our third roommate- the lizard. 

-Veron: I will miss the blaring horns and music, hole in the wall Colmados, after school baseball games, and colorful murals lining the streets. I loved teaching the beautiful children at Las Manantiales, volunteering with Nate and Sabine, and not being that surprised when I saw something like a loose donkey roaming around the gua-gua stop or an elderly woman driving a motorcycle, holding her Chihuahua in one hand and the handlebars in the other.

-The Beach: I saved the hardest one for last. I cannot imagine the reality of having to drive for hours to breathe in salt water. I think I am going to feel claustrophobic at home without it. Where will I go when I can’t sleep? No more scuba diving? No more ocean sunrises? Homework in an office chair instead of a beach chair? I will miss spending entire days perched at my favorite palm tree or dock with my books and music and sketchpad and thoughts.

Things I am looking forward to (least to greatest)

-The convenience of having a phone, TV, and dependable, fast Internet connection. Contradictory I know, but I’m pretty pumped about catching up on 30 Rock and not waiting 10 minutes for my email account to load. And I don't like skyping, way too much planning involved. 

-Air conditioning.

-Hot showers.

-Toilets that flush.

-Ability to drink tap water.

-Not getting harassed by men in every public setting. I’m sick of it, especially the hissing and grunting. Goodbye “Rubia” (blonde) and “Ti fi blan” (little white girl), my Spanish and Creole street-call names.

-Not sharing a room with uninvited creatures and crawlers.

-Not having at least 10 new mosquito bites when I wake up each morning and 10 more when I go to bed each night. My legs look like I have small pox.

-Vegetables. Green ones. Cooked myself with the magic of a working stove or oven!

-Scratch that^- literally any food other than fried chicken, beans, and white rice.

-Seeing my amazing friends and wonderful family!!! A little sad that it took a semester of being away from everyone I love for me to realize how much I appreciate them. 

Greatest Lessons

-Roosters and donkeys make noise all the time. I’ve learned to sleep through them, and am now fully confident I can sleep through anything. Great life skill.

-My good days were the ones I spent more time outside than I did inside. 

-My best days were the ones I spent more time doing things for other people than I did for myself. What keeps me from having those days everyday?

-All my money being stolen was a blessing in disguise. I’ve learned I want a lot more than I need.

-I can do things all by myself. Before this, I’d never done anything where I didn’t know anybody. So lame right? I was terrified at the prospect of going to a foreign country for three months with eight strangers. But I did it! And had the time of my life!

-I’m my own best company. Like I said, I’ve had a friend by my side my whole life. But this semester taught me that I get along great with just Kathryn. I don’t feel lonely when I’m alone anymore. I needed this semester to finally do and choose Me. Time for self-discovery has been good and helped me figure out the person I am and the person God made and wants me to be. I think that liking yourself enough to be happy on your own is an important step in life and faith. I just took it a little late.

-“Viva la vida Dominicana”- Live the Dominican Life. This is a developing country and almost anything you do here is done inefficiently- so different from the culture of Northern VA. No matter how far in advance you make plans or how clearly you communicate something, things take a lot of time; details are left unmentioned and nothing runs on a schedule or goes how you think it will. It took me a little while to realize that’s why it’s so fun! Most of my favorite memories happened because Plan A didn’t work out. I think the Caribbean has molded me into a more easy-going person. Like the lifestyle, the rules are simple: Relax. Roll with the punches. Complaining about them doesn’t change anything. Stop to talk to people. Take risks, try new things. Time flies way too fast so enjoy the journey, don’t lose the now. It will be different than what you wanted. But chances are, everything will turn out even better. My semester certainly did. Cheesy but true. 

-I follow the God of the world. He lives in the most impoverished areas of Sierra Leone and the Dominican Republic, where the poor are struggling and fighting back. He is everywhere in everything good and beautiful. I am thankful for the opportunity to live in, learn from, and fall in love with another piece of His creation.

Todo se lo debo a Dios. Sin Fin, Republica Dominicana. 

 

Week 11- Semana Santa

Concert

Class Acts

 It is funny how I have two weeks left here and yet, this is the first week that felt “routine”. Almost like college. This is most likely due to the fact that like the good student I am, I put off four out of six final projects for the last 2 weeks of the semester and had to force myself to plan each day instead of thinking, “I’m tired of writing this paper, who wants to play volleyball.” So, this blog post is not that exciting. I woke up at 7 am to have an hour and a half of Creole/Spanish/English tutoring with Wisley, went on a run, had breakfast, class from 10-12, lunch lessons with Luckner and Daniel, hang out at the beach for 3 hours, class from 4-6, dinner, and homework until bed. Repeat.

This week did have a few special events, though. We discovered the lizard that made an appearance in my bed and last week’s post is living in our room. We. Cannot. Catch. Him. I like lizards and they’re everywhere here. I don’t mind them sometimes visiting our bathroom, chillin in the common area, or out on the balcony but come on now, my bed is a lizard-free zone. And this is a big, fast lizard. There have been two more sightings. Once when I was reading Mountains Beyond Mountains (great book about Haiti) and felt something staring at me- there he was, perched right above my shoulder on the bed frame. A few days later, I woke up to him staring at me, drinking the milk out of the cereal bowl I left out over night. Ok maybe that one was my fault for eating cereal around 2 am and being too gross and lazy to walk back to the kitchen with it.  Doesn’t excuse him taunting me- Shannon has similar experiences.

We got to be Fancy once more this week. Ben, our site director got us free tickets to a classical music concert and wine tasting on Playa Serena. The concert was amazing and sitting outside on the ocean, underneath palm trees and the full moon made the experience an unforgettable one. It also gave me a craving to play my violin. The night was so perfect I opted to walk home on the beach around 10, forgetting I hadn’t eaten dinner and that it would be over three miles back. Ben had food delivered for when we returned- I was so hungry I relived those faraway moments in my life where I was excited to see white rice.

Finally, this week is Semana Santa- Holy Week. Spanish Catholicism is not for me, but I have learned so much from the way this country treats Holy Week. The resort has been dead, as most employees have all or part of the week off. The market is closed (the Fundacion forgot this minor detail so the 9 of us rationed off a box of plain cheerios, a half gallon of yogurt, and a dozen eggs this week- I like to think of it as fasting).  People take intentional time to celebrate this week of hope. And wow, do they celebrate. The bars are the only places where the hours are extended and more empty bottles of rum litter the streets of Veron than usual. But the idea that time should be set aside for family and friends to enjoy each other in the spirit of this week is there. Wisley taught me my new favorite Spanish phrase in honor Semana Santa. “Todo se lo debo a Dios”- I owe it all to God. I have been thinking a lot about those beautiful words and observing the Dominican treatment of Holy Week by using my afternoons at the beach to listen to sermons, read the Bible, and most importantly, talk with God. Yesterday morning a large cross was placed in the ocean and I was still out when they lit it on fire after sundown. This morning, I woke up at 5:30 and finished my run at the beach to wait for the sunrise over the water. When it did, it was awe-inspiring. The charred cross was illuminated and the words “Christ has come, Christ is risen, Christ will come again” registered- truly registered for the first time. There is so much to be thankful and hopeful for, especially today.  

Happy Easter!