In my last blog entry I wrote about my first Dominican Christmas so I think it's only fitting that I write about my first Dominican New Years Eve in this one. During the day on the 31st we were out all day in the country or 'campo' as the Dominicans say. I took my laptop with me and was able to capture some of my thoughts while we were there.
Thoughts while at campo
Right now I am sitting outside in the middle of the country in a gazebo like structure. I am surrounded by cows, chickens, turkeys and ducks. There are bugs everywhere. There is poop everywhere. This is so not my thing. I just witnessed several ducks being chased down, killed and they are now in the pot that is resting upon wood that I saw the men chop and prepare into a fire. Ok so I am not going to eat duck, at least I don’t think I will but my husband loves this and I have grown to enjoy some of this like he does. It’s like everyday here with him is an excellent adventure. Because of the language barrier I rarely know what’s going on, what we are doing or where we are going but I follow him because I trust that he will take care of me and make sure that I am okay. He usually does. I say usually because there was this one time that he took me to what he calls ‘campo’ which is just a fancy way to say way out in the country with no civilization. So it was not a good day because there was no bathroom. There was an out house and me standing over a hole in the ground to pee is NOT my thing at all. That entire day was a mess from start to finish and to this point in our relationship I think it was the angriest I have ever been at him, but it really only lasted about an hour. After that hour I was over it. Yes, I was inconvenienced and way outside of my area of comfort but in the end, I didn’t die, although I wanted to when I peed all over myself trying to squat over the hole and I was wearing light colored shorts so everyone could see what I had done. I survived it and I expressed to him very calmly that any future trips to campo where there is no bathroom leave me at home.
So today here we are again at ‘campo’ but a different
location and I see a house like structure nearby so I’m praying that there is a
bathroom in there that I can use when it’s time. I’m learning how to hold it longer and how to
pace myself with my food and drink on these unknown adventures with him because
I never know how long it will be before I can get to a bathroom again.
I sometimes wonder how it will be for him and how he will
handle the major cultural differences when he comes to the United States. Will he be able to adapt as I have? Maybe he will be a lot better at it than me. I’m doing it because I have no choice most of
the time. And the other times I guess
maybe I’m feeling a little adventurous and want to step outside of my comfort
zone a little bit. I do believe that the
biggest issue for him is going to be the cold in the winter. Second to that might be the food, he used to
the way they prepare food here and it’s different at home. I will prepare him some of his favorite
dishes but it’s not going to be an everyday thing so he’s going to have to get
used to some American food also. The
third thing is probably going to be the social aspect of life in the US. He’s going to miss his family and his close-knit
group of friends that he has here but I’m hopeful that he will make new friends
quickly there.
So, it’s the end of the year and as the new years starts
there will be new experiences, challenges and yes of course some
disappointments as well. I threw away my
rose-colored glasses and I realize there will be storms to weather, but I am
absolutely committed to working through it all with him. He is absolutely the man I’ve been searching
for all my life. Which is funny because
he doesn’t have many of the things I thought I wanted or needed in a man. I’ve learned through this experience and a
few others that what we think we want or need is not necessarily what we want
or need. This man is so proud of me. I just realized that he brought my books with
us on this trip to show everyone. Wow
I’m in awe of his love, adoration and again he’s proud of me and my
accomplishments which I swear I don’t think I’ve ever had in a man before. He truly supports me and is proud of what
I’ve accomplished. I told him this
morning that I needed to finish my blog entry before the end of the year so that’s
today. He encouraged me to bring my laptop
with me so I could write while we were here and I am so glad that he did. This environment although it’s outside of my
comfort zone is very conducive to my creative juices. It’s the simplicity of the life that touches
me. Although I was turned off by them
hunting the ducks down and killing them it’s a part of the circle of life. Cooking this food outside on this pile of
wood that I saw them chop and put together is amazing to me. It’s like no grill, no problem lol.
Bathroom update - I was wrong about the house like structure. It only has three walls and no door. There's a non functioning toilet, no paper and a whole in the cement. So the bathroom saga at campo continues.
*******
The ducks were eaten, not by me and we cleaned up and headed home to relax for a couple of hours before heading out to the New Years party which was at his grandmothers house. She lives right around the corner but I've never met her before which I thought was odd. We both shower and change and head to the party. It was just about what I expected. Everyone was hanging around outside talking, drinking and eventually eating sancocho. It was nice to meet his grandmother although I don't think she understood that I couldn't understand her LOL. I met many other cousins, uncles and aunts and saw a lot of familiar faces from the wedding celebration. According to my husband they stay up all night partying and he already knew I wasn't staying up all night so before we came to the party we decided when I was ready he would bring me back home and he could go back out. I made it until about 2 am and then I was ready for bed. I came back to the house and he went back out. He and his cousin were planning to go back out to the campo to meet up with some other family to party until the sun rose. I have no idea what time he got in but when I woke up in the morning he was lying beside me. I found out later that they didn't go anywhere because it started to rain.
Today I'm preparing for my parents to arrive for a visit and to meet my husband. I'm a little nervous. I feel like I've been living two lives for the past year. There's my life back home in the United States that my close friends and family know and then there is this new life here in the Dominican Republic. It would be very hard to many to believe that I live here in the Dominican Republic the way I do because of how I live when I am at home. Let me be clear I have a modest home and life in the states but there are still major differences. For example there is no hot water here. We are fortunate to have running water where we live but there is no hot water. All bathing, dish and clothes washing is done with cold water. It is possible on a very hot summer day to get a warm shower if you are the first one to shower and the water has been sitting in the collection tank for awhile. Which is pretty funny because in the summer when it's 100 degrees here you look forward to those cold showers to cool you off. I remember the first time I experienced the almost warm water in the summer I was mad because I wanted cold water LOL. The water pressure isn't very good either.
We have electricity most of the time but not always. The electricity shuts itself off at certain times during the day. This means that I cannot use the air conditioning that I had installed in the bedroom. I also cannot use the microwave or any other outlets in the kitchen. The fridge shuts off also. My bright idea of sending over a crock pot to use to cook was not such a good idea based on this issue. My first pot roast was ruined because midway through the slow cooking process the electricity shut off for several hours. I'm figuring out when the electricity down times are and doing my best to work around them.
It's only the fifth day of this new year but at this point not much has changed nor do I expect it to. I think most people start off with good intentions but you have to be realistic. If you really want to do something you just do it no matter what the date is on the calendar. Well there's 360 days left in this year to make those resolutions happen so get to cracking ya'll.
I'm going to work on my next book now I will talk to you all again next week after the parents visit.
I'm working backwards, I read your blog out of order. I to am a writer and enjoy reading your work. It's like reading a book but it's live, the action takes place and is built upon daily. Keep up the good work. Everybody has a story!
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