Life, Stateside

My first week back from the Dominican has been a strange experience. I was not doing "mission work" there as some people might put it, because I was simply taking courses. Additionally, nothing we did felt remotely close to my past experiences abroad building houses, caring for orphans, or teaching in schools.

Adapting back to a world that speaks only English has been strange because I'm learning that things like "platanos" actually means plantains. Explaining some typical Dominican meals to my mom, she asked me what platanos were and I described to her a thicker, stronger type of banana. "Oh, is that like a plantain?" ... "I'm not sure, what's a plantain?"
#nativetalk

Immediately upon arriving home I have made it my life's mission to teach everyone I know Bachata. My mom has picked up quickly, and so have some of my friends. Bachata will soon dominate the world, but don't worry, I don't need the credit. We can give the credit to the rhythmically dynamite music that is created in el caribe, and makes you want to wiggle your butt. We can call it "island music."

Since being home I have made traditional Dominican food for my family as well. Yummy carne asada (steak) con cebollas (onion), ajo (garlic), champignones (mushrooms), and of course ARROZ! (rice) Next mission is to teach myself how to properly cook platanos in different ways.

I have been feeling quite a bit of nostalgia. I feel like everyone around me is a little bit ignorant when I want to speak in Spanish and they don't understand me. I know, of course, that does not make them ignorant, I am just impatient. I miss speaking Spanish all of the time. I went to prowl the mall today and upon hearing a mother and daughter discuss clothing styles in Spanish, when I walked by I sad "pardon me" (in Spanish) and the girl gave me a look of expression as if to say "what the hell?"

Excuse me miss, but I would like to tell you that I love your language and I wish I could speak it better and that I was Latina and we could all live in a big ol'Spanish speaking world, happily ever after. The end.
No, I did not actually say that, I just wanted to walk by and she was in my way.

Later, in the ever so elegant J.C. Penny, I was scoping out my surroundings when suddenly a man speaking rapidly in Spanish asked me if I could understand. I said yes, but please speak slower cause nigga you talk fast. Since I could hardly understand him, I sort of guessed that he was Dominican. Apparently no one in his family speaks English and all he wanted to do was return some clothes. I did my translating job asking him what he wanted and trying to understand. I asked him "de donde eres?" and he told me LA REPUBLICA DOMINICANA! I brightened up immediately and we got in a conversation about where I was living, and he was familiar with Puerto Plata, which was near where I lived. We basically hit it off, and after he got what he needed I left in my own direction. That was probably the happiest moment of my day.

I may not feel angry, or guilty, or dramatically changed as I did upon returning from my last trips, but I certainly feel sadness for leaving the country that I love and that welcomed me so warmly.
Not being able to speak Spanish is definitely the hardest, and explaining what it is I was doing in the DR is probably the most annoying part. Just read my blog! I'm tired of explaining about putas and institutos sociales y trabaja social! I would just like a day on the beach in the sun with all of my Dominican friends, drinking Cuba Libres (rum and coke) and talking about how lovely life can be when you don't have to work while in a setting similar to some peoples' paradises.
The Dominican Republic was not a paradise for me. I don't think that any place in el Caribe would be a paradise for me. My paradise is in my mind, where my friends and family are, where love is and where I can be comfortable without any reservations; my paradise doesn't need sand, a hot sun, or a suave tan. I explained this to a waitress that I befriended at the restaurant nearby where we were living in Sosua, and she agreed. This is not paradise. Paradise is where you make it, love is where you use it, and home is where you have it.
The thing that I will miss most about the Dominican Republic are all of the connections with people that I've made, that despite email and facebook, a person can only have those connections when you passby every day and converse every morning, or even just smile. I miss being able to pass the same people every afternoon and know that we developed an understanding of one another even without much of a verbal connection.

I just want to go back some days, even if just for one day. I just want to be around friendly Latinos all the time, or at least a lot more than I am currently.

Thanks for all the loyal readers while I was abroad, and stay tuned in August for when I leave for Spain!