Things It's Been Weird to Find Weird

He eats mosquitoes, though, so I like him.

Overall, being in the DR is still very new.  While I'm getting better at understanding Spanish and slightly more fluent at speaking it, I still have to ask "¿Cómo?" (Come again?) or "¿Qué significa ____?" (What does ______ mean?) every 3.2 minutes on average.  I still have to ask for detailed directions if I go anywhere besides the university or the main street downtown.  I'm still surprised every time I see a little gecko streaking across a floor or wall (especially when, instead of being outside where it belongs, it is inside a classroom or behind the mirror in my living room, such as this guy).

However, I have had a few bizarre experiences in the past week.  In each of them, I saw/felt/heard something that seemed...well, weird.  And then, a split second later, I realized it was something I would have found completely and utterly normal two weeks ago.  Here they are:

Bachata class during orientation

1. Lady Gaga.  (Her music, I mean.  I don't think I would ever be surprised to find the woman herself weird.)  There is a strong US influence on some aspects of Dominican pop culture.  I believe, for example, that all but one movie currently playing in Santiago's movie theaters is a dubbed/subtitled Hollywood blockbuster (and it might just be that I don't recognize the translated title of that last movie).  The musical impact, however, is less dramatic, and it's pretty rare to hear songs in English when out and about in Santiago.  People my age know a lot of bands from the US, and muzak in stores often mixes some English soft rock hits with some Spanish ones, but almost all of the music I encounter on a daily basis blaring from bars, car radios, cd players, and the tv is in Spanish.  A decent portion of that music, moreover, is pretty traditional-sounding, uniquely Dominican stuff - music you can merengue to.  Even in clubs, about half of the music is like the music in clubs in the States (as in, you can only really grind or rhythmically bop around to it), but about half of it is merengue and bachata with a little bit of salsa thrown in (so people can actually dance).  As a result, it seemed really odd when, a few days ago, I walked past a series of conchos with bachata music drifting out of their open windows and found myself next to a foodstand that was playing "Poker Face."

[Although, as I'm typing this, my host dad is playing the radio in the next room and a Spanish version of "Twist and Shout" just came on.  Go figure.]

Other people were doing this, too!

2. Other Americans.  Santiago is not a very touristy city at all.  My guidebook, for example, describes it as a city in which it might be "worthwhile to spend a few days, certainly no more," and very few tourists spend even that much time here.  In fact, the only other North Americans I have met here have been students on the other study abroad program at my university, an ex-pat who now lives here and runs a non-profit organization, and a Canadian who saw a group of us in a restaurant once and came over to introduce himself.  This means that, unless I am with another person from my program, I am almost without fail the only non-Dominican/Haitian within sight.  Personally, I think this makes for a better study abroad experience (no getting stuck in a touristy bubble), but it was a bit startling when, in Santo Domingo, my group passed a cluster of white people in shorts and Hawaiian t-shirts.  It was even more surreal when, later on, I walked into a restaurant and overheard people at multiple tables speaking English.  That's just never happened in Santiago.

3. Hot Water.  So, Santiago's infrastructure isn't terrible.  It's certainly much different than the US's, but overall, it's decent enough.  They're not the most spacious rides, but conchos get people where they need to go reliably and quickly; the roads are a bit bumpy but they're passable; you can't drink the tap water but it's filtered enough to prevent diseases from spreading (and you can generally even rinse out your toothbrush in it).  And there is, in fact, hot water in the Dominican Republic - sometimes.  Utilities are really expensive in the DR, and electricity costs are higher here than in any other country in Latin America, so most houses are designed to heat only small amounts of hot water at a time, when you need it.  So, in my apartment, when you want to take a shower, you head into the kitchen, flip what looks like a big, industrial light switch on a big, industrial metal box hanging from the wall.  Then, when you go into the bathroom, you flip another switch and have lukewarm water with which to bathe.  Most of the time, however, you don't leave the switch on, so you use cold water (and antibacterial soap) to wash your face, hands, dishes, and clothes.  This is pretty much how it is throughout the city.

There is a gorgeous pool behind us.

One day during orientation, however, one of the estudiantes de apoyo invited us all over to his house to watch a movie.  It was a really nice house - huge and beautiful and tastefully decorated, with a spacious patio and pool in the back (it would have looked right at home on the shores of Lake Minnetonka).  Perhaps the most luxurious thing about it, however, was that when I turned on the faucet to wash my hands, really hot water gushed out.  Not lukewarm in the shower after flipping a series of switches, but really hot water, instantly.  I believe my first reaction was something along the lines of "Oh my gosh!  This family is living it up!  Hot water all the time???"  Then I realized I was being wowed by hot water coming out of a tap, something it is weird not to have in the US, no matter how poor of an area you are in. 

Palm trees and sun glasses!  Sorry!

4. Snow.  I know this will make everyone in Minnesota hate me, so I apologize in advance.  But the background of my email account is still set to show the weather in St. Paul.  Once or twice, I have come home feeling sweaty and greasy from walking back from the university in 85-degree-and-humid weather, turned on my fan, checked my email, and seen snow flakes.  And my first thought was, "What is that?  Snow?"  Weird, weird experience.  Honestly, it's hard to even imagine how cold it is in Minnesota given how hot it is here!  (If I was in front of any of you right now, I would smile in an embarrassed yet gleeful manner and then sprint off in the opposite direction so you couldn't smack me.)

But you will have the last laugh.  The weather here is just below "unbearably hot" for me right now...in January...when Dominicans keep remarking how chilly it is...  Come March, I will be melting and complaining constantly, and you will be laughing at me, and I will be super jealous of you.  I guarantee it.