Only in the Dominican Republic

I went to a birthday party last night for my 30-year-old lawyer buddy. It was a neighborhood party and he works with my youth group, so there was a mixture of youth and adults there. And the adults gave the youth alcohol, so much so that every single person was drunk except for me…and I’m including the 8 and 9-year olds. Only in the Dominican Republic, is it totally acceptable to give children shots of rum to “liven up the party.”

People here have been bugging me to form a Mother’s Club to discuss topics relevant to the development of their children. So I visited all of the churches in Baoba and announced that we were going to have an interest meeting and start the club. When it was time for the meeting, not one single person showed up. Only in the Dominican Republic, will no one show up to a meeting because it “looks” like it might rain.

I went shopping for things for my house because I am going to move soon, and I found it all to be so expensive. Only in the Dominican Republic, will I complain about spending $186 on a bed, $6 on a pillow, $44 on a 50-lb gas tank, $37 on a stove top (no oven because no one here cooks with an oven), $20 on plates/cups/utensils/coffeemaker, and $34 on monthly rent for a brand new 3-bedroom/1-bathroom house. (*prices are converted into US dollars*)

All of the youth volunteers are meeting up for a conference where we will present our community diagnostic (analysis of the resources and opportunities for development in our communities) and tell each other about what we have been doing during the past three months. I made three visuals and prepared a 10-minute speech for this presentation. And I just noticed that the corners of my posterboard have been chewed up. Only in the Dominican Republic, will I be totally content to give a presentation using visuals that have been gnawed at by the mice living in my bedroom.

Everyone here uses homemade remedies to cure various ailments. Only in the Dominican Republic, will people eat aloe to cure the flu, squeeze cherry juice into an eye to cure conjunctivitis, and hang clear bags of water inside houses to get rid of flies.