Back in the DR

I’m back in my town and I must say the transition back has been pretty smooth. I spent a few days in Santiago and came back here on Monday. As I drove in I felt good, looking at the window and again reminding myself of how beautiful it is here. It’s sunny (perhaps too sunny) and warm (perhaps too warm-never thought the day would come when I’d complain about the warmth-admit it, you’ve never heard/read me say it’s too hot) but very green, and green is good. I don’t want to say that I miss the clouds in Chicago, but I sorta do. But still, green is good.

So, the drive in was good, and when I got here, the first thing I did was sweep. The dust was unbelievable. I had to sweep everything after dusting all of the furniture. I also had to cut a vine down that had grown in through my window. I must say, that was a first. I was glad to see hardly any evidence of rats (perhaps they’ve moved on?) and no evidence of pigeons having entered. After cleaning I could unpack. That all took awhile and then I was very sweaty so I bathed in really old water (and tried not to think about it too much, I reasoned that it was probably cleaner than the rivers or lakes I’ve bathed in before) and then I went to get Lina. I took a video of our reunion which you can see on the photo website. It was a lovely reunion. She is usually so excited to see me that she can’t stop barking but this time she seemed so relieved to see me that she couldn’t bark. She is as cute as I remembered and getting to see her again was one of the things that helped me the most to stay positive about coming back.

I also tried to stay positive about seeing the people again and it was great to see them. After I got Lina I went to a Three King’s Day party and just about everyone was there. Everyone was very happy to see me and asked me about my trip, and my family. They wished me a happy new year and I did the same. It dawned on me that one year ago I was at this same party and I took a lot of the same pictures I took this time, of a lot of the same kids, just one year younger. It struck me because that means I’m so much closer to the end of my service than I am to the start. Sure it’s dawned on all of you already I’m sure, but this was really the first memory I have of something that I did the year prior. (That’s probably because a lot of the things I did when I first got to my site were forgettable and I missed all of the December-Christmas celebrations this time.) It’s an incredible thing to consider because after being home I realize just how great a place it is (as if I’d really forgotten) and how much I want to be there again, while also realizing that I don’t have that much time left to get a ton done. As much as I want to be home among friends and family again, I know these 10 months or so are going to go much too quickly for my work.

After the party I checked in with the new president of Escojo who filled me in on all of the wonderful, productive things she has been up to. They managed to get the land we want to put the library on down to 2/3 of the original price and she’s started to solicit donations from town residents and family as well as from the mayor and important people. I was so impressed with all that she had done, despite some obstacles, and feel confident that when I leave, Escojo will continue to be active and do a lot of great work in the community. This was like my test run for when I actually leave, and I feel pretty confident that it’ll be okay when that day comes.

But my biggest concern about coming back was that everyone would pull the very Dominican thing and ask me, “What did you bring me?” So far it’s been okay, only one person asked me it seriously and I think she’s got to realize on some level that I didn’t owe her anything, so maybe she was kidding. (I doubt it, but still.) My answers were well rehearsed. For someone who I thought was kidding I said, “What did you save me?” and for women who I thought meant it I said, “I brought back lots of things to raffle in my new health class.” That didn’t seem to appease the one woman, but I don’t care. I really don’t have as much money as they think I do, and even more relevant is the lack of space I had to bring things back. Even with 2 checked bags (both weighing in at 50lbs) and 2 carry-on bags I wasn’t able to bring as much back as I would have liked. I got some candy and other small gifts for people as well as things for 2 raffles and lots of books for the library. (I did bring back an outfit for the granddaughter of the woman who watches Lina because she asked me to bring back some old clothes if we had any, and because I felt like I should bring something back for watching Lina for almost 4 weeks.) But otherwise all of what I have is communal, so people should be okay with that. I still haven’t seen everyone so we’ll see.

That night I hung out at the fritura with Lina and some people I hadn’t yet seen. I ate fried pork and fried plantains and felt good again. I really hope that feeling lasts. It’s nice to feel appreciated and missed.