Rocks Out of Water

The past couple of evenings the nighttime temperature has dropped down around 70ºF, which is low enough for everyone here to comment on how cold it is. Tonight, I went next door to visit our Haitians neighbors and found them dressed in long pants and coats huddled around a large speaker–as if it were emitting heat–listening to Haitian Kompa (music). It was a bit amusing since I was wearing a short sleeve t-shirt. So, if you happen to be reading this in Canada, or another place with snow on the ground, know that winter does exist in the Caribbean.

We decided to take a break today from our usual language learning routine to go mingle with the tourists. All in all it was a pleasant experience, which included a ride to and from downtown in a “guagua”, an old 1980’s Toyota mini van–boxy with virtually no hood space. Most guaguas have been modified to seat fifteen people; Dominican style they sit 18. We also got duped into paying way too much for a tour of the old colonial area, which in retrospect we should have seen coming.

Even on a weekday in January the Colonial zone is filled with a mix of American and European tourists busy snapping photos of religious and military relics from the early 16th century. Two of the main attractions in the colonial area are Basilica Cathedral Santa Maria de el Encarnation–built around 1521, it boasts of being the first Cathedral of the “New World”–and Alcazer de Colon, the fortress home of Diego Colon, son of Christopher Columbus, who lived and ruled the town while his father was away exploring.

Just outside the Cathedral, in the Colonial Park, stands a huge bronze statue of Christopher Columbus pointing fearlessly westward toward unknown and unexplored lands. Today however, he looked a little less fearless with a pigeon perched upon his head. The statue is just one of the handful of shrines dedicated to those early Europeans who came in search of fame and wealth. I began to wonder, as I have for sometime now, if colonial zones and statutes of the likes of Mr. Columbus would still be standing if it were not for the tourists who come with fond accounts of that 1492 voyage. I guess what I mean to ask is, does tourism ask those here to tell and recount, with passion, a history which they would rather forget, or better yet, retell in a different light? Answers to such questions will have to wait until a later date, Spanish permitting.

The past week has been a good one. We have begun to settle in nicely to our new home, and have come to terms with being OK not understanding everything said to us. We are living with a family in an apartment on the east side of Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. Yonnie, our host father, is from Cuba and his wife Bethania is a native Dominican. They have two children, Beatriz (4) and Kevin (9 months). They have welcomed us into their home, and have made our first week in the country very peasant. Both Yonnie and Bethania speak a little English, so communication with our family hasn’t been as awkward as we had prepared ourselves for. While it was nice to speak English during our first few days here, our goal is to keep the English at a minimum to focus on learning Spanish.

Santo Domingo, at first impression, is quite a place. As in most major capital cities contrasts abound. Multi-lane highways, numerous supermarkets, malls, air-conditioned buses, and people going to and from work in suites and ties are common. At the same there can be found places of extreme poverty, which next to the above amenities draw a sharp contract.

The highlight of our week has been beginning to learn Spanish with our language helper, Edwin. He is a Dominican, 25 years of age, who learned most of his English by watching TV, listening to American music, reading, and talking with American & Canadian missionary groups. His pronunciation of English, as well as his vocabulary, is quite impressive. It’s unfathomable to me to think about teaching myself to speak Spanish fluently with out the constant aide of a Spanish speaker, especially after struggling to learn a few words this week with multiple people helping me.

On Friday took the plunge into the neighborhood, walking around and introducing ourselves to people. The phrase we spoke (in our best Spanish) went like this:

Hello. Our names our Tim & Leah. We are living here to learn Spanish. This is all we can say in Spanish. See you another day. Goodbye.

Surprisingly, most people didn’t laugh, too loud, and were receptive. Part of our language learning involves speaking with the community daily. We’ll keep you updated on how these sessions go. We are bound to have some stories to tell!

We arrived safely in Ft. Lauderdale this evening completing–distance wise–the longest leg of our journey. Tomorrow we are off to the Dominican Republic. We have a family to live with in the capital city, Santo Domingo, and are feeling very excited about the arrangement.

After a wonderful and busy holiday season we are filled with anticipation, knowing that untold joys and trials await us in the coming months. We thank you for all of your thoughts, messages, and prayers. As always, we thank you too for your support, which enables us this time to listen and learn from our Dominican and Haitian friends.