http://www.pucmm.edu.do/STI/Paginas/PortadaRsti.aspx
I woke up and had a some whole wheat coco balls and a yogurt for breakfast followed by a mandarin... all the fruit here is muyyyy bueno! My goal is to try one exotic fruit per day, and although mandarins are not that exotic, they are still way different here than back at home. After breakfast my host mother drove me to the University where I had to take a Spanish placement test. Before the test, the teacher gave us a small lecture about the University and some logistical stuff which was completely en espanol. I tried to follow - I can understand bits and pieces here and there as most languages have similar components to them. After her speech we took a test which consisted of a listening comprehension section, multiple choice questions, fill in the blanks, an essay, and a verbal comprehension section. I'm pretty confident that I got close to nothing right hahaha. Although I did use to test to learn some new vocab words like "poco intelligente" and muy intelligente" and as a way to learn how to be more empathetic towards kids who may find themselves in similar situations where they can't comprehend anything. When I got to the essay I drew a "CooL elephant" and wrote "NO HABLO ESPANOL! =)" and when I went in for the speaking section I didn't realize that I had to fill in the blank after the moderator spoke so we just stared at each other for a while hahaha. It was a great experience and I discovered that I could actually understand a lot of what I read in the Spanish stories on the test.
The campus is super beautiful, but not well-kept at all. All the statues and artwork is rusting and a lot of the lawns are unmowed. However, anything that is warm and green is beautiful to me so these things did not bother me at all.
After class my host mom picked me up with Juan and I went home for lunch. Juan gets crazier every day. I wonder what is going through his head. There were 2 new maids at home when we came back. It's interesting to watch how the family treats the help - as if they were family. The maids and workers seem to feel incredibly at home in the house. They eat the same food that we do and they converse with us as if they were sons and daughters. It is refreshing to see hired help treated in such a humane, loving manner and I don't think of these people as help - more like brothers and sisters. For lunch we had french fries, white rice, beans, chicken, fried calimari, and salad. One thing that I didn't expect there to be a lot of in the DR were potatoes, but they seem to appear at every meal!
Meals are pretty informal in this family. No one waits for anyone else, although we all seem to someone manage to eat at the same time. And you can take as much as you want, although I only fill my plate once just to be polite. My Dominican manners are getting better. At lunch I told Caridad and Boliver to teach me more words because I am trying to learn how to be polite! They are so patient, yet not soft and fake like people are trying to be polite often come across in America. There are no fake smiles here - people say what they mean and are not overly polite - that is so refreshing, so real!
After lunch Robinson drove me back to the campus for my NYU class. It was nice being in the car with him as I have spent less quality time with him than I have with Boliver Jr or anyone else, even though he is my age. I laughed with him and when he played a reggae song on the radio that had the lyrics "aii papi" I poked him and said this out loud. It's funny how much I've learned about Dominicans from the media. On the radio, I learned some colloquial Dominican sayings. Later on, Juan gave me a Spanish magazine and I read it out loud to he and my host Mom in the car (I got a high five out of that). And Boliver Jr and Camilla are always watching Spanish TV so I've picked up some Dominicanisms from that as well. Back home, In the Heights on Broadway is the source that I find myself using when I try to reminisce about preconceived notions that I had about Dominicans.
Anyway, back on campus. I somehow did not have the location of my class written down, so I managed to get lost. At first, it was OK. I was on a beautiful campus and I had a phone and laptop in case I needed to communicate. But I was lost for a long time - about an hour - and it was frightening! There were very few people on campus because it is closed to regular students until next week and all I could say was "mi classe?" and "no hablo espanol!" I felt physically ill - like I couldn't walk - and I developed an instant headache. My chest hurt and it was hard to breath. I should have cried, but I held it in instead. Crying is always better, healthier! I don't know why I reacted this way? Probably because I had expectations - I was expecting to get to attend my NYU class and sit through the entire lecture and when the possibility that I might miss it arose I freaked out! Anyway, I am so thankful that I got to experience this sense of disorientation. I know it will be an important lesson to take with me into the future and I already feel that I have a better capacity to be empathetic towards others who feel a sense of disorientation in unfamiliar settings (these don't necessarily have to be cross-cultural). I've been doing a great job of saying things to myself like "hey, look at you now!" in moments such as this and stepping outside of myself in order to experience myself instead of saying things like "omg I am so ____ right now!" Exchanging "you" for "I" seems to be a great way of better understanding ourselves and our relationship to others.
I read today that culture shock is divided into 4 phases: 1. the honeymoon phase (everything about the foreign country is beautiful, blissful, positive), 2. the estrangement phase (everything about the foreign place begins to look grim and negative - you feel uncomfortable and long for familiarity) 3. the acceptance phase (you begin to accept that this is way the culture is - you begin to see the reality of things) 4. The assimiliation phase ( you begin to become assimilated into the culture and it becomes familiar). I'm sad that I won't be here long enough to experience these phases!
Class was cool. We watched a scene out of Lost in Translation (hilarious), discussed our readings, and talked about culture shock. I brought up the question of what moral/ethical preperation one should do when coming to a foreign country. How far should we be willing to immerses ourselves in a different culture, step outside of our own shows, let go of our beliefs and values in the name of cultural competence/empathy/understanding? I had a discussion about spirituality with our grad TA, as we are both Christian. We both agreed that Christianity = less culture shock because it gives you, among other things, stability; an unchanging way of life to fall back upon when times get crazy and uncertain. I wonder if this hypothesis is true? I wonder how culture shock is experienced by religious vs nonreligious cultural ambassadors? Might be something cool to look in to.
Class was also very informal (everything here is like that.. i love that about the DR... no one appears to be acting at all - Boliver told me that there isn't even any theater and when I asked him about youth and drugs he told me that there is virtually no drug usage - that all anyone ever does is drink, and since they've grown up drinking, they know how to do it. So everyone is here, in the same reality, and there is an odd sense of unity that I don't feel back home where you never know where someone else's head is.
After class we took a tour around campus guided by some PUCMM students. I got to chat some more with some of the kids in our NYU program - I like inquiring about people's lives and the plans that they have for their futures and I gathered some interesting ideas from them. As for the guides, they were 2 girls and a guy - all very laid back. So far almost every young guy I'd met has looked at me with that "hey baby" look. I just laugh and I am happy that I can hold my own. It's a Dominican thing I guess.
at 430 we all boarded a bus bound for the streets of Santiago guided by the nicest tour guide. I saw some true poverty today. One street in particular stuck out. It was an outdoor farmer's market, except there was trash everywhere, people in the streets, stray dogs, deteriorating houses, and scattered food everywhere. There were no windows on our bus, but our guide told us that cars literally drive down the street and pay the vendors while they drive by, like a fast food farmarket. I saw a lady on her hands and knees, barefoot, collecting carbon. There were men selling all sorts of fruits and it felt a bit like New York City peddling, except way, way, dirtier and poorer. It was pretty sad. The weird thing about the DR is that there are extremes of life living virtually right next to each other. I, for instance, am staying in what would be the equivalent of a mansion back home. I can't believe that there are servants here! a hot tub! a BBQ! A big screen TV! I feel so comfortable! And at the end of this tour I felt a bit guilty that I had such a grandoise house to return to, while the street vendors probably had virtually nothing. All the poor people leave their doors open here. That makes me happy - the openness, but I know it is a sign of poverty.
I bought an orange on the street. It was 10 pesos and so delicious! We also saw some beautiful architecture - it was situated right down the road from all the trash and dirt and stray dogs. There were children playing shirtless in the street. Our guide told us that the authorities had no interest in making any sort of laws or establishing any sense of order in places like the farmers market. Maybe someday.
When I got hoe there were people over as usual. My host mom made me a grill cheese and I painted a bracelet with Camilla. She made me one that says "LEILA." She is so cute! Sassy, but cute! One of the ladies who came over has a fashion talk show on TV. She told me this after I told her that she looked fashionable and asked her if she had any tips for me. She had on tight jeans, a flashy blouse, and high heels that were about 7 inches high. She was cool. There were also two girls my age who came over. We sat outside and chatted about life in the DR -among other things, I learned that the beach is part of every Dominican's life and countless weekends are spent on drinking and hanging out there. One of the girls was studying to be a lawyer and one was studying to be a dentist. Interestingly, no one I've met so far has any desire to do anything with the arts. Everything about the Dominicans is practical. I did find so Spanish theater while we were on our Santiago tour so I'll hopefully get to experience that! I also get to talk to Boliver Sr. (papa). We talked about working out and dancing and he told me that he was a good dancer. I asked if he married Caridad because she was a good cook ad if he liked to dance with her. He also taught me more about the exotic fruits that they always have on their table. I feel like I've seen many of them in my Brooklyn supermarket back home -I'll have to try them now!! Speaking of Brooklyn, I already feel like I have a new appreciation for it - like it is not just some poor, cheap neighborhood and that I don't merely live amongst people with whom I have nothing in common! I'm almost excited to go back!! But I'll save that for the end of the trip =)
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
I assume that the Dominican's desire to become a lawyer or dentist, rather than pursue "the arts" is due in part to the lifelong living conditions they are experiencing in this poverty stricken country. You are lucky to have food, clothes, a home, and people around you always willing to help....I don't think pursuing a dancing career, pianist or poetry writer in college is going to get them out of poverty, which I assume is one of their goals/reasons for attending college in the first place.
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