What can I say - the people here are great. When our family originally started planning this trip months ago, the main goal was for us as parents to allow our children to experience another culture, even living as a local. We also wanted to continue to keep our daughters hearts and minds open to the idea of serving in a foreign country as full-time pioneers once they are old enough. If you ask both of our girls what part they have enjoyed the most here - they both have answered - THE PEOPLE. I have traveled to several Central American countries and Mexico many times, but the people here are very different. Most people here have never left this island, and most never will have that opportunity. Many here do not have television, so they are not influenced as much by the outside world. There is no traveling from one country to another, like some in the Central American countries have the opportunity to do. They are here and they aren't leaving. I spoke with one brother in Puerto Plata that has had the same job for 34 years. I asked if he had ever left the island and he said no. He said that he recently was considered "stable" by the governement, so he thought he might try going to the states. The government here doesn't want to issue visas to persons, knowing that if they taste what the world has to offer, they will not return.
I think that one thing I will take away from this trip is a better understanding of the people that live around me in the Houston area. The area we live in was 100% white 30 years ago, and now is 85% Hispanic (from many different Hispanic countries - Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Dominican Republic and El Salvador), 10% African-American and 5% white. You may ask why I am mentioning this. I have to admit that prior to my coming here that there were some "customs" or "ways of life" that would irritate me, maybe just from my lack of understanding of why they did things the way they do. Please don't think that I am going to be fully accepting to some of the things, maybe just having a better understanding. Here are some things I will understand better:
1. The guy driving around my neighborhood on a bicycle with a ice cart attached. I have to say I really benefited from that the day we preached all day in La Vega and it felt like 100 degrees.
2. Why some parents don't see the need to put their children in car seats or seat belts. Yesterday we say a family of 5, dad, mom, two small children (probably 4 and 6) and a 10 month old or so baby on mom's hip. They were all on one moped. It is simply a way of life here.
3. That you can carry just about anything on a motorcycle. In Puerto Plata we saw a guy as a passenger on a moped and he was carrying a 20 foot extension ladder. We have seen just about anything delivered on a moped or motorcycle from washing machines to propane tanks (now how safe is that?).
4. I won't think much about a mismatched outfit being worn by the lady at the Fiesta grocery store up the street from my house. Here not much matches.
5. The corner store in people's houses. Here because most do not have cars, they have to walk to the store or take public transportation. Because public transportation would add an additional cost, people here use the local colmados (little stores within people's houses). The typical scene on a street is for there to be a larger colmado on the main corners and maybe one of two somewhere within the block. The lady downstairs has one, which she has sodas, cookies and candy. This provides them with a little extra income and provides the locals with the convenience of not having to walk to the bigger stores.
6. People here are not lazy. I have walked many a mile since we have been here. If they want to get most anywhere and not pay, they have to use the two things Jehovah blessed them with at the bottom of their legs. We were talking at dinner tonight, how here you find VERY few overweight people, because they are always moving.
7. The day we hiked to the waterfalls I got to talk to the guide for some time and I asked him what his perception was of the Americans that came here to visit. He said he really felt sorry for most. I asked him why. He said that, of course most of what they knew about Americans was from TV, but that we work too hard. He mentioned how here in the DR a person knows how to enjoy life. Of course, they are not wealthy persons, but don't kill themselves making money. He told me how so many Americans have 2 or 3 jobs, or are slaves to their one job, but are not able to enjoy the life they have. Here it is still the custom to take a siesta each day, from about noon to 2 o'clock. People will come home from work during this time period. So even though they may have less materially, do they have a lesson to teach us about having more?
8. The one thing about the people here that took me a little to get used to is the volume of their voice. Are they mad or angry people? No. They are just loud. Even in regular conversation, it is loud. I have to admit that I have become accustomed to it, but maybe not totally used to it. Since no one has A/C, everyone is outside and it can get loud, music or voices. Right now, there is something going on outside two blocks over at the museum. There is some kind of festival or party. The music is so loud that I feel like I have the radio on here in my house. And of course, if it is time to go to sleep, of well, there isn't away to block out the noise. I have worn earplugs for years, so that has helped me. I have to say if someone at home was playing their music that loud I would be calling the police. But here, it is the normal.
9. Permanent garage sale in people's front yards. In our area where we live there are quite a few who have their garage sale items out for viewing everyday. Here that is normal, as it is their income.
10. Sitting on the front porch - I have to say that the idea of sitting out on the front porch it something that it from the "old" days, as most today don't do it anymore. Having lived like the locals I can see why they do it. First, it you have an apartment on the bottom floor and have no AC, then there isn't much of an air flow. Everyone here knows everyone in their neighborhoods, so everyone being outside is a good theft prevention. So the next time I drive by a family outside on the porch, it will make sense.
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