he doorway, you’ll enter our small living room that also serves as the dining room. If you continue walking through the living room (an entire expanse of 5 normal size steps), you’ll come to the kitchen. The kitchen has enough space for a single person to maneuver between the stove and the refrigerator. Taking two steps backwards away from the kitchen, a hallway leads to two bedrooms with a bathroom in the middle. Our tell more about the bathroom in a moment… Noah and I have a decent size bedroom with a decent size bed. What’s also nice, or maybe not-so-nice, is there are two mirrors for us to see what we look like at the end of a hot, sweaty, and dirty day. Ok, so getting back to the bathroom… We have a toilet – can I get a hallelujah?! It doesn’t flush, but with the help of a bucket full of water you can make things go away. The shower consists of a huge blue barrel full of water, well, sometimes full of water and an empty smaller size bucket. Here’s how the process works: Breakfast can vary from a package of soda crackers with margarine served with a bit of coffee to a sweet porridge-type concoction that is incredibly filling. Lunch is always a hot meal served on a hot day, which happens to be everyday here in Azua. It’s usually a rice-based meal with a mixture of vegetables and fish or lentils. For dinner, it’s all the fried food you could ever desire! Thus far, we’ve been served fried pork, chicken, plantains, and eggs. It’s quite apparent that their cholestorol level is not top priority for the Dominicans. Another common food here is the Yukah, which is a root that has a similar texture and taste to potatoes. Yucca is served with almost everything in the DR.
The Neighborhood
Children run free throughout our neighborhood and I should note that clothes is sometimes optional. You are never quite sure who’s kid is who’s. For the most part, the kids are extremely outgoing and love to hold onto your hand, waste,neck or whatever limb they can get their hands on. The children in our community love all the attention that you can give them. The adults are friendly and will either initiate or reply with an “Hola!”. Throughout the day and into the cool of the evening, you will see clusters of people sitting outside together, just hanging out or playing a game of Dominoes. There was one instance in which I was waiting for someone at the curb and a group sitting nearby inviting me to sit with them as I waited. Hospitality is just commonplace here. Also worth mentioning is the love for music in the Dominican Republic. The motto seems to be “the louder the better”. Dominicans love to share, and their music is no exception!
Modes of Transportation
In the community of Azua where we are staying, there are really three means to get you from point A to point B: motorbike, donkey, or your own two feet. The motorbikes are extremely popular, even for families. It’s not uncommon to see a family of four whizzing by on a single motorbike. There is also a population of donkeys that cart around the local folk. This mode of transportation makes life more interesting for those that select the last form of transportation of simply walking. Our community is small enough that you can walk virtually everywhere, just keep your left eye out for the oncoming motorbikes and your right eye out for the donkeys piles. Your eyes get a little sore afer awhile! There are a few cars in the neighborhood, but given that the roads are mostly of dirt and rocks, it is a lot of wear and tear. The motorbikes and donkey rides are preferred.
Concept of Time
In the States, when a meeting is scheduled to begin at 9 AM, generally people understand that their presence is needed at the meeting place at the appointed time. Well, a Dominicano would just begin to think about heading to the meeting at 9 AM. It is then that they start getting ready to go. The Dominicano won’t arrive at the meeting place until approximately a half hour later than the scheduled time (sometimes even later).
Religion
Most people here profess to be Catholic, but their lives don’t always demonstrate it. I think that if we’re to reach the Dominican Republic for Jesus Christ, we need to focus on the children as they are not yet “set in their ways” by claiming to be something that they don’t even understand in the first place. The children make up the generation that could really make a difference huge here. It’s not that they are easily impressionable, but the children can be shown a different way to live, a better way to live in Christ. From there, there’s no limit to what this “generation of rebels” can do in this country with Christ at its head.
Well, I hope this satisfied your ponderings on what life is like in the Dominican Republic. Be sure to check out the blogs of my teammates to take a glimpse of the DR through others’ eyes…
