Sabrina's Countdown of the Top 10 reasons to LOVE the Dominican Republic…
10. The craziness of it all! The crazy carro drivers with a beer in their lap, motoconcho drivers with gashes and burns from accidents (still working), people putting dangerous wires together just to steal the luz, cobradores from guaguas hanging out the bus holding on for dear life, little girls as old as 4 dancing scandalously to reggaeton with their mothers cheering them on, getting drunk and passing out in the public streets where everyone is peeing (so gross), the list goes on and on… (My best Dr moments include sitting in a guagua with 12 other hefty doña's sweating profusely with a huge backpack on my lap. The radio is blasting some type of bachata that I'm singing, the driver is flirting with me asking for his visa and all I really want to do is grab a pineapple and sit and read in my hammock or go to the rio and drink some rum.)
9. The ríos! The rivers here aren't always clean nor are they always safe, but they are always fun. Dominicans definitely know how to party at the rio. They bring out the fogon (grill) pop open those Presidentes and blast the music. The rio is always cold and refreshing with the heat of the island. Best rios? Definitely Jamao and the rio emptying into the beautiful beach at Los Patos. Ya tu sabes.
8. The delicious fruit and veggies grown here: pineapples, guineos, lechosa and yucca. Never tasted sweeter.
7. Dominican honesty. You know dominicans will always tell you the truth even if it is really rude. They'll definitely tell you if you have gained weight (hear that one everyday) and they'll definitely tell you if you look bad or stink (Dominican: "Yeah let's go to the rio, but first you go shower and change and I'll come pick you up" Me: "But what's wrong with what I am wearing now?"
6. Bolas! Aka Free rides! Now that I am living without any means of my own transportation I feel so dependent on unsecured and unsafe transportation which makes me feel nuts. If there is anything I miss from the states is being able to drive my own car and doing so whenever I want. You get a "bola" basically by either hitchhiking or knowing someone that will gladly give u a lift to the place you need to be. Yes I know this is highly dangerous but compared to the US it is harmless. Since I live in a campo I pretty much know the people in my town and they know me so they know where I need to go without me telling them and they're always glad to help. Ladies always get bolas because it is considered very gentlemenlike to give women lifts to not make them walk. As for the guys, psssh they can walk. Or they hide in the bushes while the ladies get the bola then they come out and take advantage. Haha. Works every time.
5. The gorgeous beaches and all inclusive hotels. Haven't been scuba diving or snorkeling but I bet there are some really pretty fishes and coral reefs to check out too.
4. The loud thumping music and dances. Bachata, merengue, reggaeton whatever, it's loud and the dominicans are some of the smoothest dancers I have ever seen. I never see them sweat meanwhile I am always dripping!
3. The "cogelo suave" mentality. Yeah you have a meeting at 1pm but the guagua is running late, you just ate a mountain of rice for almuerzo so you don't feel like moving, you don't even know what the meeting is about (something about setting rules and planning projects, like thats important) and you don't have minutes to call anyone to tell anyone you will be late. Ah… you will get there sometime.
2. Campo life. There are some days when I come home from a long day and theres no luz and I just feel so annoyed that I can't watch my 30 Rock or movies but it's days like these that I will also appreciate once I am back home to have peace and quiet and time to think. I feel like I have learned a lot about taking care of myself and also on how to be a more economical person. When you live i the campo, you don't get much water so you save up as much as you can, you don't eat luxury foods so you invent recipes with what you have and you may not have electricity at hand so you are forced to read or interact with other people. Bugs don't scare me half as much anymore, I am comfortable doing everything for myself and I appreciate alone time and a good book while laying on my hammock. Peace. Tranquilo.
1. The dominican people period. Life is measured here not by the amount of money you have (nor do I measure it by the successful projects that I have implemented) but by the relationships you acquire and strong friendships and bonds you make. Nowhere else will you be greeted by everyone you see during the day. Nowhere else will you be helped and given free rides (bolas) to get to the places you need to go. Nowhere else will you find people so happy and so humble with their small wooden houses, concrete floors and tin roofs. They know the country has many reasons to be angry or sad but the dominican people celebrate anything worth celebrating. They always make sure your beer cup is always full (Seriously they never let it even get half full they're already pouring drops to the rim). They never hesitate to share anything they own (Everything is "A tus ordenes"). And they all are, quite frankly, very good looking.