Before you get excited that I’m going to tell you things that would fit that list, let me acknowledge that I haven’t yet lived a complete Peace Corps life and would be extremely unable to create such a list after only a month or so.
Having said that, the other day seemed to be a pretty good “Peace Corps-y” day. Our Technical Trainer, who I think is just incredible, loaded all 12 of us into a Peace Corps issued pickup truck and we headed into the mountains in search of a waterfall at the top of a river. The trip was pretty crazy. We rode on paved roads for about 1/10 of the trip. The rest ranged from flat dirt roads to rocky mountainous dirt roads. I’d never done a trip like that before in the back of a pickup. There were moments when it felt like we were falling down the hills because of the way our technical trainer switched gears. But since we could not see or hear what she was doing inside the truck, we were pretty freaked out a few times. I tried to calm everyone down by asking them, when was the last time 12 Peace Corps volunteers died in a truck accident? They didn’t seem to respond to that sort of encouragement the way I’d planned.
When we reached the river we could not have been more relieved. The water was somewhat clean and very cold and it felt great. The current was pretty strong but we found little pools to sit in and talk. Climbing on the boulders was also quite fun. A fellow volunteer and I walked up the river to spot the waterfall we’d kept hearing about. It was just beautiful, perhaps 1 ½ stories tall, plunging deep into the water below. He went for a swim under and around it and described the current as being super strong. My camera battery had died only moments before but he had his camera so when I get those pictures I’ll be sure to pass them along.
The day was such a wonderful, what I hope will turn out to be very “Peace Corps-y” set of experiences. We were able to explore the river at multiple spots and the rocks and paths along the side of it. The area was almost completely untouched by humans. It was so much fun to go exploring. On the way back from a mini-excursion me and 3 other volunteers sang “The Ants Go Marching,” as it felt like the right type of song for our adventure.
The day ended when a group of non-campo-looking Dominican men, with a gigantic bottle of rum with dead sea creatures and dried wood inside of it, showed up and wanted to have their picture taken with all of us and share the rum. As we walked away from them we heard some gunshots coming from that area and were glad we had left when we did.
A few days later we experienced another very Peace Corps-y experience. We went to one of the 3 communities we’re living in for a Patronales festival. (Patronales is a name for a festival that lasts 9-14 days generally that each town in the country has during some point in the year. They include concerts, free events, dancing, beauty competitions, and other things for the whole community.) Within a matter of seconds after having arrived we were hurried on stage, under the lights, and before a crowd of perhaps 300 people. We simply stood there for a long while, being looked at, and trying our best to smile, until the music stopped and we were introduced. We had no idea we’d be getting up on stage and were pretty scared. What didn’t help to calm our nerves was that there was some guy at the edge of the stage, perhaps a security guard, or perhaps a Patronales enthusiast, with a gun, which he was using as a pointer. At one point he took the ammo out of it and I felt calm. That only lasted a moment. Obviously no one got shot, but it was still a little nerve-wracking.
It dawned on me the other day that I am so blessed to have gone into this with the traveling experiences that I’ve had, or my adjustment might not have been nearly as smooth as it’s been. What I’m now trying to describe can best be done with an example. The example I’ve chosen is the showering situations. In high school, I went to Spain, a pretty developed Spanish speaking country for 1 month. I was told that I could shower every day, but that I should turn the water off when I didn’t need it in the shower to help conserve. I found that odd and struggled with it. In college I went to Chile, a slightly less well-off Spanish-speaking country, for 4 months. I was told I could shower every day, but that I likely wouldn’t have hot water and should still turn the water off to conserve. I found that annoying and struggled with it. And now I’m in the DR, which is much less well-off than the others, for over 2 years. I was told I could still shower every day, but that I shouldn’t expect to have clean, running water. And for some reason, now, I don’t find it annoying or odd, and I’m not struggling with it. And I’m so glad.
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2 comments:
ok- what's the difference between "campo looking" and "non-campo looking"? Explain with regard to men, women and anyone else that might apply to. Thank-you
Non-campo-looking is easier to describe, it's basically you. The men to whom I was referring in this particular instance who were very non-campo-looking would be your very-city-dweller-looking sorts of persons. I hope that helps.
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