Happy Easter! Feliz Pascua de Resurrecion!

As Easter approached in a largely Catholic country (approximately 95%), so did Semana Santa –literally translated as Saint’s Week. Along with the rest of the DR we had a long weekend to relax and celebrate with our families. From what I understand most Dominican families either go to church or to the beach, a huge majority the latter, as it is also the time when it’s starting to get really hot in the city…as if it weren’t already above 80 degrees at mid day everyday. Semana Santa is also characterized by the consumption of habichuelas con dulce – literally beans with sweet – a drink about the consistency of hot cocoa, made of kidney beans, sugar, vanilla, raisins and probably some other things, but you get the general idea. It’s pretty delicious, but like most everything in this country would be better with about one tenth the amount of sugar, or less! They even put sugar in their fresh fruit juices and I can’t even buy cheerios without sugar in them!

Aside from drinking more than an appropriate amount of this mystery drink, I reflected on the reason for the season by watching the hour long crucifixion scene in The Passion of Christ, which was not only appropriate for the holiday but also the Spanish subtitles were good practice. Needless to say the crucifixion is extremely intense but it is touching and I highly recommend it, regardless of religion.

For Easter Sunday, Cecelia and I scoured the supermarket for something with which to pintar nuestros huevos -paint our eggs. Deciding that they sell neither egg dye nor food coloring in this country, as neither dying eggs nor having a giant bunny leave treats in your house are customs here, I remembered how well Kool-Aid stained my finger tips when we ate it out of the package with sugar as kids. Just as expected the eggs came out fantastic, there were no weird chemicals involved, the eggs didn’t smell like vinegar and some of them even tasted a bit fruity! Eat your heart out Martha! After dying eggs with our hermanitas – little sisters – Cecelia, our friend Amanda and I created an egg hunt for them. All parties involved in the first ever Dominican Easter-Egg Hunt had an awesome time, our sisters, my host mom and grandma ran around the house giggling and afterwards we feasted on the 17 eggs! And you thought I wasn’t going to get enough protein in the DR!

A weekend in and around La Capital - Santo Domingo

On a Saturday a couple weeks ago the Peace Corps arranged a tour for us of la Zona Colonial -the Colonial Zone- of the city. A really interesting woman and historian – originally from Sterling Heights, Michigan! – led us around the areas of Santo Domingo that were occupied by Columbus and the Spanish when they arrived here in the Western Hemisphere. The first European city in this hemisphere is called La Isabela and is on the Northern coast of the Dominican Republic, but when that colony failed they came Southeast to a place they eventually called Santo Domingo – which was fine with the Columbus brothers as Domingo was their father’s name. In two hours we walked the first “paved” street in the city, Calle de Damas -Women’s street- paved so that the elite women in their heels could stroll out on a walk every once in while. We also passed through the Puerto del Conde, the gate to the city from the port where Christopher and Diego Columbus, Cortez, Pizaro and so many others came. Below is a picture of La Casa de Colon –the Columbus House- where Diego Columbus lived when he came to Santo Domingo to be governor many years after his brother was gone. He didn’t get the job because his brother was Christopher, but because he married a woman from a prominent Spanish family. He and his wife raised 12 children and ran the government from this house! It was completely restored and filled with antique Spanish furniture before it was almost completely destroyed during one of the American occupations of this country (1916 and 1965). It has obviously been restored once again and is a museum filled with beautiful things. This part of the city has amazing buildings and ruins from every part of Santo Domingo’s history but some beautiful ones are below.

One of the first European Cathedrals in this hemisphere. The building behind this hat stand is now the French Embassy, the building where Hernan Cortez rented a flat when he lived here! My best friends and training group, 36 of us in all!

After the tour, a group of friends and I went to the botanical gardens, a gorgeous serene oasis in this crowded, bustling city! The plant below is an agave, most popularly known as the pant used to make tequila.

We do love Santo Domingo and have a great time here but most of us also could not wait to get out into the campo (countryside) and see the rest of the country when we get our permanent placements.

Sunday took a number of us to Boca Chica for some fun in the sun! This was my view as I sat in the white sand cutting my first fresh mango that I bought for 15 pesos (roughly 50 cents)! …And of course had a cold Dominican brewed El Presidente to wash it down. Unfortunately, El Presidente (and every other beer on this island) is a Budweiser-type beer, and if you want anything darker there’s either Ron Brugal rum, or this interesting malted barley soda that almost tastes a good beer…almost. It’s all part of the experience, I guess I can suffer through! Seriously though, life is not all roses here...right now I'm living in the middle of nowhere in the mountains with no phone or internet - I'll write more as soon as I can!