Navidad and Gripe

I’ve been sick the last few weeks with gripe--a cough and most recently an ear infeccion, but have managed to continue working throughout for the most part. I seem to have the same susceptibility to upper-respiratory issues here, but am thankful for the absence of digestive-related problems thus far. 

The holidays are in full swing here in Boca Chica. Work has consisted primarily in attending and putting on holiday events.  In the office we’ve decorated a tree with the typical lights and balls and the not so typical limpiabotas painted yellow by the muchachos in honor of the sweeping campaign for raising educational spending (see photo below).  We’ve already done 5+ events for families and youth that my organization works with.  These generally consist of demasiado gente, loosely controlled chaos, a drum circle with Dominican Christmas carols, a few words of Christmas thanks and reflection and serving food assembly line style to all of the invitees (and then some).  In Dominican culture, “crashing parties” as we would call it in the US is a frequent occurrence so by not implementing a strict guest list there will always be extra people that show up.  I also had the opportunity to accompany 25 boys who are either living or working on the street to the National Palace for a Christmas dinner put on by the First Lady.  It was an exhausting afternoon/evening, busing them to the capital and then keeping track of them among the other 500 boys and girls as they got popcorn, treats, and dinner, but overall a great experience.

This month I’ve had the pleasure of attending some events put on by international organizations here in the DR.   One of these was Plan International’s Christmas party, which was much like an office Christmas event in the states…..eggnog, hors d'oeuvres and sweets, and soft music playing in the background of polite chitter chatter.  Last week, I represented my organization at a conference on smuggling and trafficking put on by the International Office of Migration.  The head of the mission in the DR described the current time as a “golden age” of responding to child trafficking issues in the DR, since post-earthquake in Haiti it has become impossible for the Dominican government to ignore the growing problem. Finally, last weekend I celebrated Christmas wtih the Peace Corps.  The Peace Corps director had an annual holiday party complete with Chinese food, rum punch and 25 different pies and cakes at his ritzy apartment building near the Embassy.  What a blast!

The usual buzz of the holidays has been joined by the energy behind the grassroots campaign to raise educational spending.  Everywhere you go, people are wearing yellow shirts with “4%” written across the front.  The last 3 Mondays in a row there have been hundreds of people camped out in front of the national congress (including most of the people from my organization) protesting.  Dominican law states that 4% of the budget is designated for educational spending but in reality this number has never surpassed 2%, making the Dominican Republic the country with the lowest investment in education in Latin America.  The movement has really taken hold in the pueblo and leads one to hope that the legislation may actually pass in Congress to raise the budget.  My hope is that with the increased spending the Ministry of Education will invest the money wisely in school infrastructure so that each school can meet the demand the number of children attending and doesn’t have to have 3 different school days of 3 hours each.

While I have enjoyed observing cultural elements of Christmas in this country I, of course, have been feeling pangs of longing for home….cold weather, hot chocolate, Christmas carols and time spent with family and friends.  Know that this holiday season, though I’m far away, I’ll be thinking about all of you! 

Merry Christmas!  

Translations:

Navidad- Christmas!

Gripe—the term most close to “cold” in the US, used to refer to any kind of sickenss that involves the upper-respiratory tract including cold, cough, sinus, etc.

Limpiabotas--  in this case refers to the boxes that the boys who clean shoes carry around, but the term also refers to the boys themselves.
muchachos-- boys
demasiado gente- too many people