all the above

As of today, it’s definitely time for an update.

Let’s work backwards.

Last Thursday was a holiday here – Día de Mercedes (it’s a Catholic thing). I was annoyed with myself for once again staying up late and failing to get up before noon. The whole lack of a structured schedule is the most challenging “culture shock” I’ve encountered yet. So my plans for the morning were foiled and we spent the afternoon watching people carry a huge statue of the Virgin Mary out of a church and down the street, singing and throwing flowers. (I was reminded of the semana santa festivities that I saw in Cusco last year.) Below are some of the pictures. From the top, you're looking at the incredible traffic that resulted from the mob following the Virgin Mary, the statue as the procession left the church, and part of the crowd.

On Saturday I went to Paraíso, Villa Mella, the community where SOMOS works. It was so great to be among, well, family, once again. People kept telling me how they had asked about me all summer; I lamented that I had to spend May-August on MCAT lockdown in the library. “But we’re so proud that you graduated, mi’ija!” they replied. Paraíso truly feels like home; it feels like returning to my community. While of course I’ve never actually lived there, the connections with community members are at a familial level. There are certain people that are my brothers, sisters, grandparents there. And of course they all inquired about the rest of the SOMOS familia. It’s crazy because being in Paraíso feels so much like home, but then there are moments that drive home the geographic and economic gap. When these moments involve close friends whom I address as “mi hermano” (“my brother”), I am particularly heartbroken by the global system that both depends on and perpetuates such disparities.

Slowly I have been expanding my circle here in Santo Domingo. I’ve got my family in Paraíso, but there are also the other Fulbrighters to whom I alluded in previous posts. Through friends of friends, I’ve been meeting more people (mostly North Americans) who are here doing other work. Consequently, I have met some really great people so far. Last Saturday I went to a hip-hop event with some of them, and it was really neat to see the underground, alternative/youth resistance scene of Sto. Domingo. This Saturday I am going to what might possibly be the most ballin’ concert of my life: Daddy Yankee, Don Omar, Victor Manuelle, Frank Reyes, y Los Ilegales. Got the good tickets, too. :)

Then there are the people who are far away – those few who know me better than I know myself, who have been by my side through everything and anything…and I miss you all so much. You are all in my heart and I think about you every day, but nothing replaces “dil-to-dil” chats in the dorms, at the docks, in Colonial Williamsburg, on the first floor of Bettye’s bouch hostel, on the streets of la Zona Colonial, and many other random places. I just got my MCAT score (I’m happy with it!), and all of those people who have been holding me down through thick and thin, especially this past year, come to mind. THANKS to all of you…you know who you are.

As for my research, that’s also picking up speed. Today I did my first interview with some people at USAID. The security there is intense! It was like trying to board an airplane. But I felt right at home when I saw a picture of my President on the wall. :) Love you, Obama, boo! I was reminded yet again what a small world it is when the Deputy Director I was interviewing told me he went to UVA. I took the opportunity to remind him of the first football game of this season, in which W&M – ahem! – OWNED UVA. He was reluctant to discuss this, but he was more than helpful on issues related to USAID’s programming, gender policy, etc. I was also able to meet several other people at the office, all of whom were equally warm, welcoming, and helpful. The information I gained in my first hour-and-a-half visit is an excellent start to the data collection portion of my research. I’ve also been spending time at the library of ProFamilia, which works with health and family issues in the DR and is one of the country’s largest NGOs. The people who work there have also been extremely welcoming and helpful as I pore over their publications (which are rather haphazardly arranged among several stacks in the tiny library; you tell this guy what you want to learn about and he goes around pulling out things that may be relevant and brings them to you). I’m getting more and more pumped about my research the more I learn and the more contacts I make. Furthermore, USAID is in a transition in terms of their gender policy, and they see my research as a potential resource for updating their policies and programming. Which is SUPER exciting, because it means that maybe my work will actually have an impact on the operation of development programs in the DR!

Anyway, I’m extremely over-excited right now for all the above reasons, which means that I will probably spend the next hour blasting my favorite music and jumping up and down while I cook dinner.