Blog #2 of the day...

Que suerte. You get two blogs today.

I realized something on my trip to La Romana. And it’s been something that’s been on my mind a bit since I got here, but now I’m pretty certain. I realized that, while I am enjoying my time here, the Dominican Republic is not the country for me.

That sounds a lot more negative than I mean it to sound. Let me backtrack.

After I was here for 10 days in 2009, I was so head-over-heels in love with this country and even thought about maybe moving here for a bit after graduation. You know, take some time off before starting Real Life. Like move to the DR and open an empanada stand or something.

However, I don’t think that’s in the cards for me. For multiple reasons. Firstly, the sun. There are some people in this world who are just not supposed to spend extended periods of time in tropical locations. I am one of these people. My ancestors are from Ireland, England, Belgium, and Germany… and none of those countries could ever be characterized as “tropical”.

Example: During the five hours spent between the boat and the island on Saturday, I put on sunscreen (good sunscreen) five times. And seven times on my face. I felt that this was enough for me to be able to, you know, not hide in the shade on the boat and actually lie out. However. I fried. Badly. Pretty much everywhere. Some other kids did too- some because they thought they were immune to the sun and didn’t bother with sunscreen, as well as other students who are in the same boat (ha. boat.) as me, skin-wise. I am sure that I’ll return from these months with considerably more skin damage than I had when I got here, and if I were to live here I think I’d have an 80-year-old person’s skin by the time I reach 30.

Also, Dominican time. Yes, I have gotten to be more lax about my love for plans and schedules etc etc since I’ve been here, but it hasn’t completely gone away. Meetings, classes, meals, should start when they’re supposed to start, at least how I see it. However, I don’t think there are too many Dominicans who feel the same.

And I know this makes me look bad and sound like a brat, but I’m not used to living in a third world country. I like having electricity and hot water and internet and, honestly, just being privileged. And I know, I was born into this nice life and there are millions and millions of people out there who have significantly less than I do… but that’s just not what I’m used to living in. I like it when my food is clean, everything is sanitary, everything works, and you don’t have to worry about being pick-pocketed.

That all being said, now that I sound like a whiny foreigner who misses her unlimited texting and Honda CRV and huge shopping malls… I am enjoying my time here. And if I could go back in time, I would definitely definitely still make the same choice to come to the DR. I have been making the most of my past month here, and I know that I will continue to learn about and enjoy the [completely backwards from the US] culture during my next three months.

And, as we learned about in all of our discussions about Culture Shock (so. many. discussions.), I do expect to feel reverse culture shock and really miss the DR once I get back the states. And while I have no idea what I’m doing with my life post-graduation, I would really like to come back to the DR to visit. For a good amount of time. Just… not to set up a permanent residence.