Project 365: 16/11/2010
Another beautiful fall day: 16/11/2010
Another beautiful fall day in the Dominican Republic. Around 80-85 degrees. Ahhhh.
So the grandmother of a coworker died so I went to the velorio with my neighbor Dominga and her family because it’s a party after all or rather there’s a lot of people gathered together to look at the dead body through the window in the coffin which is only slightly unsettling the first time but by now I kinda think of it as a display window at a department store, OH SO THAT’S WHAT’S SHE BEING BURIED IN, HMMMM, NICE COMBINATION, HOW DID THEY GET THE EYES AND MOUTH TO LOOK SO PEACEFUL?! And then of course there’s the endless competitive wailing from the family members which is strange for me because public displays of very severe sad emotions have never been my strong suit and I kinda felt like I was some sort of robot that came to observe funerary practices of humans (ANTHROBOT SAYS HELLO! …FROM THE FUTURE!). People seem to go to pay their respects, sure, but sometimes I wonder if it’s a bit of schadenfreud, that people go to see the other people in such extreme states of emotion.
So our little group mosies around and of course we end up near the outdoor kitchen where they are making tea and cafecitos which sounds like it might be like a shot of coffee, no?, except it’s mainly simple syrup with coffee flavor, and since you’re supposed to stay up all night at the velorio you end up drinking 5 of them in my case. While they were mourning the dead person inside we were busy giving ourselves diabetes out front and I vacillated between sugar coma and caffeine shock, how delirious I can get! Then of course my jokester of a neighbor starts talking loudly and her clan is funny but highly inappropriate in these situations and they start laughing pretty loudly, definitely a no-no at velorios so eventually they get wind that some of the other folks called them “ellos que son perros”, basically dogs, so they decided to leave and walk back. There we were, her and her clan (four women and her gay son) arm in arm down the dark street with me on the side, all of us laughing at the jokes they’re cracking. Sounds sort of familiar for me, no?
The puppy is doing good and I’m trying not to be one of those people who become self-absorbed with their pet and turn this into a Dog Blog, but goddamn are puppies cute and as my friend Lindsey so KINDLY pointed out to me a while back, “gosh aren’t you going to be sad when she’s too big to sit on your lap?” which immediately made me sad. Isn’t that like saying “isn’t it going to be sad when your kids grow up to ignore you or hate you?” Bah, PUPPY BLOG IT IS. I’ve started teaching her, and she’s learned to sit pretty well, except now she follows me around and sits and stares at me waiting for a treat with her big puppy eyes. Damn dogs being so smart.
I went to a vet the other day, English speaking, on the coast, and thank god my dog is a good traveller, she just sits on my lap and after a minute or two of exploring she falls asleep and sprawls out. Pretty soon she’s going to be too big to ride the guaguas, but she’ll be all vaccinated by then. Or maybe if she’s part horse as I suspect I’ll just buy a saddle and ride her to the vet. He said she’s actually quite a bit younger than what the first vet told me – 6 weeks at most – which means I got her at around 4 weeks, right when she was done weaning. Suddenly this explains why I thought she was part chihuahua when I first got her, it’s because she was PRACTICALLY A FETUS. Except 4-week old chihuahuas are about the size of my PINKY, she was already the size of an adult chihuahua, that should have tipped me off.
So basically when I get back to the states I’m going to be a homeless queer with a semi-large dog. I’ll be lining up the dates, let me tell you. “Would you like to come back to my place? It’s not much, but it has 4 doors and a trunk. Mind the dog.”
Next week the volunteers have a Thanksgiving celebration in la capital which will feature turkey and lots of traditional Thanksgiving food (well traditional for some of us) and also sports competitions and games and a TALENT SHOW!! that I am co-hosting with a fellow volunteer, Alanna. I can tell that it’s already going to be a total shitshow but that’s fine because I’m used to hosting shitshows that are far less planned and more impromptu than this will be. Sigh… and here I thought that my gigantic wig collection wouldn’t come in handy during my service with Peace Corps. Oh well – the more you know.
I miss and love y’all! I’m only here for 18 more months, so get your act together, save up some money, and come visit! Or in lieu of that deposit $100 into my account and I’ll send you some sand from the beach! It’s just like visiting only far cheaper and all proceeds go to the Keep Tanuki Alive Fund!
(^_^)
