Today was my first real day in the Dominican Republic. We woke up early and made some breakfast: eggs, bagels with pineapple jelly, and fruit juice. After breakfast, we headed down to the bank to change some US dollars into Dominican pesos. I changed $80 into a little over 3,000 Dominican pesos. Leaving the bank, we headed to the Cemetario Municipal. Dominican cemetaries are very interesting. Because of the proximity to sea level, many people are buried in cement casing above ground. After this, another cement casing is placed on top and again more on top of that. Generally, families are buried together with some stacks reaching seven or eight feet high. Many of the monuments were grandiose and looked extremely expensive. There is a day of the dead here, but I'll be gone by that time. After that, we walked down to La Sirena (The Mermaid) which is a large superstore akin to Wal-mart. Just like Wal-mart, this store combines low prices with high quantities and has everything from a GNC to a food court, to groceries, flat screen TVs and motorcycles, thus making it extremely difficult for the local small businesses to stay on their feet. Because of this, La Sirena is also the place to find the largest selection of American products. Fortunately, we only stayed for a bit to check out the place then headed over to a friend of the missionary's house.
Casilda greeted us warmly as her niece helped her cook lunch. Her 9-year-old twins also helped set the table and made us feel very much at home. We were told the kids were in English class and Casilda was practicing her English as well, however the kids became hilariously shy when asked anything in English. After chatting for a while and doing my best to get the kids to at least count the plates or name some household objects in English, lunch was served. We ate a meal that is commonly referred to as the Dominican Flag, due in part to its variety of colors including red and white (I didn't notice anything really blue) and because of its regularity at the typical Dominican table. First we started with rice which was topped with habichuelas, a type of red, runny bean. Then we added a green, sweet pea soupy dish. After this came potatoes cooked with a semi-spicy pepper, spiced chicken, bananas, and fried plantains. We drank water and fresh orange juice. Everything mixed together perfectly. The kids even added some Heinz ketchup to their platanos (something I didn't partake in, but it was nice to see a taste of Pittsburgh all the way down here in the Caribbean). After dinner, Cory and I went out to play catch with Oscar, one of the very energetic 9-year-old twins. After a while of throwing around a rubber ball in the street in front of Casilda's house, it seemed that Oscar was tiring down some. This would soon pass as the cry of "¡Cafe!" came from inside the house. Oscar went running and I wasn't too far behind. I had been told that Dominican coffee was very strong, and still very tasty. It is brewed with a lot of the beans still in the coffee and with nutmeg. When I said that I didn't take milk or sugar in my coffee, I was looked at with an air of suspicion. Casilda seemed surprised that anyone would want to drink Dominican coffee without diluting it somehow - she herself doesn't even touch the stuff. However, I downed it and complemented her on the wonderful taste. It definitely did have the kick that everyone was talking about. Full of energy, we headed out to the market in Santiago.
Home to over 2 million people, Santiago de los Caballeros is the second largest city in the Dominican Republic behind only the capital, Santo Domingo. The streets are narrow and colorful houses and shopfronts line every one, giving it a very Caribbean yet urban feel. The ubiquitous tooting of car horns was a constant reminder that Dominican traffic laws are some of the most lax in the world. Red lights are, essentially, suggestions. Especially at night, if you don't see anyone coming it is perfectly acceptable to go through a red light. Mopeds, mini-bikes, scooters, and motorcycles seemed to be the most popular mode of transportation in the narrow streets of the city. They weaved and sped through the rows of cars, some loaded with as many as four people. Once we got to the market, we traveled through a maze of fruit vendors, street salesman, and traffic. We walked through the streets looking at the various stalls where vendors had their wares, most of which was your basic tourist attraction type stuff. Each stall was another opportunity to practice Spanish, each vendor gave me a new opportunity to think of a creative Spanish way to say, "No, I don't want your Che Guevara wallet or an amber necklace for my girlfriend." After traveling through the streets of Santiago for an hour or so, we headed up to the main monument.
Casilda greeted us warmly as her niece helped her cook lunch. Her 9-year-old twins also helped set the table and made us feel very much at home. We were told the kids were in English class and Casilda was practicing her English as well, however the kids became hilariously shy when asked anything in English. After chatting for a while and doing my best to get the kids to at least count the plates or name some household objects in English, lunch was served. We ate a meal that is commonly referred to as the Dominican Flag, due in part to its variety of colors including red and white (I didn't notice anything really blue) and because of its regularity at the typical Dominican table. First we started with rice which was topped with habichuelas, a type of red, runny bean. Then we added a green, sweet pea soupy dish. After this came potatoes cooked with a semi-spicy pepper, spiced chicken, bananas, and fried plantains. We drank water and fresh orange juice. Everything mixed together perfectly. The kids even added some Heinz ketchup to their platanos (something I didn't partake in, but it was nice to see a taste of Pittsburgh all the way down here in the Caribbean). After dinner, Cory and I went out to play catch with Oscar, one of the very energetic 9-year-old twins. After a while of throwing around a rubber ball in the street in front of Casilda's house, it seemed that Oscar was tiring down some. This would soon pass as the cry of "¡Cafe!" came from inside the house. Oscar went running and I wasn't too far behind. I had been told that Dominican coffee was very strong, and still very tasty. It is brewed with a lot of the beans still in the coffee and with nutmeg. When I said that I didn't take milk or sugar in my coffee, I was looked at with an air of suspicion. Casilda seemed surprised that anyone would want to drink Dominican coffee without diluting it somehow - she herself doesn't even touch the stuff. However, I downed it and complemented her on the wonderful taste. It definitely did have the kick that everyone was talking about. Full of energy, we headed out to the market in Santiago.
Home to over 2 million people, Santiago de los Caballeros is the second largest city in the Dominican Republic behind only the capital, Santo Domingo. The streets are narrow and colorful houses and shopfronts line every one, giving it a very Caribbean yet urban feel. The ubiquitous tooting of car horns was a constant reminder that Dominican traffic laws are some of the most lax in the world. Red lights are, essentially, suggestions. Especially at night, if you don't see anyone coming it is perfectly acceptable to go through a red light. Mopeds, mini-bikes, scooters, and motorcycles seemed to be the most popular mode of transportation in the narrow streets of the city. They weaved and sped through the rows of cars, some loaded with as many as four people. Once we got to the market, we traveled through a maze of fruit vendors, street salesman, and traffic. We walked through the streets looking at the various stalls where vendors had their wares, most of which was your basic tourist attraction type stuff. Each stall was another opportunity to practice Spanish, each vendor gave me a new opportunity to think of a creative Spanish way to say, "No, I don't want your Che Guevara wallet or an amber necklace for my girlfriend." After traveling through the streets of Santiago for an hour or so, we headed up to the main monument.
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| Monumento de los Heroes |
The monument is a giant lighthouse looking structure in the middle of the city. It is the main point of interest so it attracts many visitors and also acts as a point for which to give directions, "Va al sur del monumento." The monument was originally built by the self-indulgent dictator Rafael Trujillo. Trujillo, or El Jefe as he was known during his 31 year reign, was responsible for the death of over 50,000 of his own people as well as vast oppression and the creation of a personality cult. It is therefore somewhat surprising (considering the mass murdering) that he would built a massive monument to peace in Santiago, but also predictable that he would dedicate it to himself (just another part of the personality cult). The monument was later rededicated to the war that restored Dominican independence. After it gained its independence for the first time from Spain, it was taken over by Haiti, became independent from Haiti but fell back under Spanish control, then again won its independence from its original colonial ruler. The story of the revolution and war was told through paintings, sculptures, and scenes on the 5 stories leading up to the observation platform before the tower of the monument rose. We couldn't go any further up the monument do to a lack of access, so we stopped and took some panoramic views of the city of Santiago. Those pictures are available on my flickr page that you can view by clicking on the flickr link below the thumbnail photos to the right, or by clicking on any of the thumbnail photos that appear to be Caribbean and not European.
After this, we came back to the house and took a quick rest before heading down once again to La Sirena for some pasta. You chose meat, vegetables, and sauce and they sauteed them with your choice of noodles. It was actually a really good Dominican twist on Italian food. I had tomato sauce and rotini with sweet corn, peppers, onions, and bacon. This was followed by a quick stop at the mechanic to check out an issue with the car and then attempt to go bowling. Unfortunately, the bowling alley was closed so we came back home through the usual maze of Toyotas, Daihatsus, Skodas, Peugots, and a huge number of SUVs. We played some Wii for a while and then I began to pack up, getting ready for the hour and a half drive to San Francisco de Macoris at about 8:00 tomorrow morning. Tomorrow I'll find out where I'll be living and what I'll be doing for the next month or so. More information and photos coming then.
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