Sundays are lazy days in the Dominican Republic.

Dominicans spend much of the day sitting outside in their plastic lawn chairs (every family has them) and chatting with neighbors who drop by. Every Sunday we have a record number of visitors ranging from people selling treats and shoes to the life insurance bill collector. There is no schedule to the day, and we often eat lunch whenever we feel like it, whether it be 11:30 or 2:30. Today was an especially lazy Sunday as the volunteers decided to visit the beach again! However, unlike last beach day, we did not have a free ride from our health coordinator (she was in the capital for the weekend). To remedy this, we hired a small bus (that a neighbor conveniently had) and got transportation to and from the beach for a mere 4 dollars a person. We awoke early and were at the beach by 9:30am. The day was spent frolicking in the ocean and baking in the sun. Success!

We came back early by 2:30 pm. I scarfed down some rice, beans and avocado and spent the rest of the afternoon sitting outside with the family, journaling and writing letters. The Matrix (in spanish called “The Darkness”) was on TV, but my host mother couldn’t understand what was happening (and I don’t blame her).

While Sundays may be lazy days, Saturday nights are hopping in Las Tablas! This past Saturday night I learned that dancing is good for the soul. Specifically this past Saturday night was the “Pri Pri” which is held a few times a year and is a town-wide meringue dance night. A live band comes and everyone turns out to drink and dance meringue! Everyone. I danced with 13 year old boys, 75 year old men and everyone in between. The dance floor was packed with people and it didn’t matter how good or bad a dancer you were. It was great practice! For those unfamiliar with meringue, it basically consists of very quick steps to songs that are 10 minutes long. So basically, we were drenched in sweat by the time midnight rolled around.

Other Updates:
• Tonight for dinner I had cornmeal mush and water (think: a bowl of cornbread in batter form). As is true for many low-income families in the US, money has dwindled by the end of the month. Food has gotten progressively simpler, which is also demonstrated by the 3 pieces of bread I have eaten for breakfast recently. Experiencing this lifestyle is crucial for understanding the underlying problems plaguing rural communities; actually, the cornmeal mush was pretty good!
• I discovered yesterday that I am unable to play any DVDs on my computer (after receiving those 4 DVDs via mail). Being the computer genius I am, I tried to speed my computer up by uninstalling “useless” computer applications this past summer. Somehow, as I deleted about 10 programs, I also uninstalled the ability to read my DVD player (on all 3 media applications I have). I will try to troubleshoot next time I’m at the internet café, but it would be so helpful to have my brother/B-Strat/B-Wile around to fix this…