Santo Domingo Weekend y el tigueraje dominicano

I visited Santo Domingo this weekend…the capital of the Dominican Republic….I left Santiago on Saturday afternoon and got there around 6 ish. Because my ties to the Dominican Republic have taken a turn, I am deeply engrained in the culture, the people and the everyday life of the DR. An advantage to this is that I get an insider view of the life in this part of the island (yes foo I live in a mothafucking ISLAND!!)  I also get to experience this that as an outsider would be complicated. I am amazed sometimes of the fucken great things that I have learned and experienced during my study abroad semester. I believe that I have done a good job taking advantage of the opportunities presented to me.

Anywho. I am not paying for a hotel. I am staying in a barrio in an apartment in a second floor. There is AC in the apartment, no water, electricity, comfy bed. In order to get to the apartment I have to go up a spiral stairway (like DNA). Its so cute!! I have always wanted to climb these kind of stairways. Hehe

I am in very good company….like the insurance…I am in good hands….jaja

We went to the Mega Centro….aka mega mall….we ate pizza visited the stores and got a concho to the club….

Here I danced bachata, merengue salsa all night till my feet were numb. We caught an interesting video of a couple who killed it in the dance floor with the salsa dancing…I was pretty amazed

On Sunday we decided to plan a trip around the city…

I rode a moto concho (motor taxi) to get to mega centro and then board the guagua (bus) on a tour of 3 very important cites in the capital.

I visited the national aquarium, the 3 ojos (caves and lakes inside the caves), and the rio Cachon de la Rubia (a river). I walked a lot this day. Oh my gosh I feel my feet hurt sooo much. Did I mentioned I also went to the beach this day? Which is like an hour away from where I was at? Fuckkk

I have traveled!

Each of the places we visited was very interesting. I got asked like twice where I was from because “my accent is different”. Lol never fails

On our way back from Boca Chica beach we shared the guagua with a couple of youngins….i kept observing them talk their tigueraje, laugh and joke while they pass a huge ass Brugal (rum) bottle around like nothing. We started talking to them and taking pics….foos were faded!! It was hilarious

I got a very interesting video of them. The one that appears in most of the video is a guy who apparently owned the bottle, was FADED, and was talking to one of his hundredth girlfirend…..(ill put in on FB)

What I refer to tigueraje of dominicanos is that when dominicans talk they 

dont say directly what they want to communicate. Instead they use double 

meaning to words, make references, use their body and or facial expressions. 

It has been a great test to me. I am a native Spanish speaker and even then

I can’t understand what is going on sometimes. Dominicans also talk super

duper fast and extra loud! There were numerous times that I woke up from a

deep sleep by my host mom and housekeeper who talk as if they were yelling.

A tiguere is also a person (usually refers to a man) who is smart, takes advantage of the situation and always looks out for himself and himself only. In Shakira’s Loca song she says “yo soy loca con mi tiguere, loca, loca loca” she refers to her man….

Today Jonmely started playing Vicente Fernandez (ranchera Mexican singer) because I am Mexican…hes like…”I like Mexican music I have it look”…n he started playing….Im like “we mexicans when we drink (cuz u already know we were drinking) we like to listen to Vicente Fernandez and then eventually because the music is so emotional we cry”. Jeje 

he is like “oh no we are going to stop playing it then” jajaja

It was a good night.

On Monday it started raining in the middle of the day. The water started going inside the house so the Rock started sweeping the water and eventually found a solution so the water didn’t go inside the house….when he was outside (already wet from the rain) he told me “ven” (come) I looked at him like uhhmm me? He insisted “ven andale” (c’mon come) I told him I didn’t want to wet the black pumas I was wearing…he said it doesn’t matter come…..by this time mad kids starting running past the house towards the end of the street to play in the rain.

I turned around..... took off my jewelry, pumas, got some sandals and stepped outside. I laughed at myself for hesitating in the beginning. I looked around the street and more and more kids started running from inside their houses to the street in their underwear smiling and excited to play with their homies in the rain. They liked to congregate at the end of the street where the water ran at a high speed on a slope so they used it to slide down like in a water park. I even saw one boy pull another by his pants in the water. They both laughed and enjoyed the rain. Some small girls ran and glided on the marble floor on their stomach.

The Rock invited me on a walk around the barrio. Everywhere we looked on every street there were kids on the street. I thought about all the kids who just looked to enjoy their life. Never thought about problems and just laughed and jumped in the rain.

I was proud that I was able to let go and let myself enjoy nature.. jeje

I wasn’t able to take pics of the kids in the street but I hope you use your imagination and see all the beautiful dark and brown faces smiling and enjoying the rain.

Here are some pics....

Also the video will be posted on FB 

my favorite animals! DOLPHINS!

3 Ojos

doing a back flip into the water

enjoying the river

Riding a boat in Cachon de la Rubia river

drinking the huge Brugal bottle in the bus

this kid was hilarious!!

I still have yet to upload all my photos onto FB.....but here is a preview.

I also have many more Dominican stories to share....

As I said I am planing to do one on my braids asap...

shout outs to all the homies who are finishing up with classes forever! I wish I could celebrate with you all.

As for myself I have been done! oh yup! My last final was on the 21st of April. So technically I am already done with undergraduate. It is hard to believe I am graduating because I am not at school so it hasnt sunk in yet.....I dont look forward to it because I am not a morning person never have been so....But I am looking forward to getting that diploma and be recognized for all of my hard work.....

Anywho...thank you for reading I leave you with the latest bachata hit 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af_T3YJU7F0

everywhere you go in the DR  you will hear it...personally i already know it and have danced to it at the club and at a house party....

Bachateame!

Factory Visit and Timberland Shoes

As part of the curriculum for my Processos Politicos de la Cultura Dominicana (Political Processes of Dominican Culture) the professor wanted to take us to a Zona Franca. A Zona Franca is a private sector formed by several factories owned by Dominican business people to export to the U.S. A Factory in a Zona Franca doesn’t pay taxes to the Dominican government. Whatever product is made in the country cannot be sold in the DR. This product is for export only. So if Dominicans want to purchase this product, even if they made it themselves, they have to wait until this product is shipped back to the DR and purchase it at a ridiculous higher price! The salaries at these factories are minimum wage. Work is intensive because employees are encouraged to work at a fast space. The expected number of shoes produced a day is written in a big chart for everyone to see.

We visited a factory that is currently working with Timberland Shoes. The factory is fairly big and divided into different sectors that each makes a different part of the shoe. 

Our guides introduced themselves and made sure to answer all our questions.The shoes are made from real cow skin. Before they are shipped to the factory, the skin is pigmented with different colors. Then they are expected to check that the quality of the skin is in perfect conditions for shoe making. Then they are cut into different parts by a machine using specific molds.

After this they are expected by two women who check that the skin is smooth and ready. 

These pieces are then sowed together by the workers. Slowly the shoe starts taking its final form.

It was interesting to see both men and women working in the factory. The workers were of different ages-from young to old. The environment felt friendly, but pressured. I was surprised to hear music playing in the background.

it says "guaranteed waterproof"

I was very impressed to see these shoes be sowed by hand!

Workers had to wrap their fingers in tape and band aids so that their fingers are not poked by the needle. They worked at an incredible speed. It was obvious they had years experience.

the workers that sowed the shoe did it while they were standing up

Visiting this factory brought many emotions to my heart. My hard working mother is a machine operator as well. Since she immigrated to the United States she has worked sowing clothes and recently parts of a sofa (where u put ur butt in). I am not ashamed to share this part of me because I have been raised in a home where money is earned with dignity and a lot of work!

When I was a little girl I always heard my mom talking about the names of the machines, so when I was in the factory I asked the workers what were the machines they were using. I felt attached to the environment. I also learned to appreciate everything I have that much more, because I imagined my mom working hard at these same machines back in Los Angeles.

I thought about my mom and my family back home as we continued walking through the factory…..

After the shoe is sowed and finally put together, they are inserted into an oven where they are heated so that the color and the texture improve in quality. Then they are taken out and put into a machine to dry. Next they are inspected one final time before they are placed in their respective shoe box before being shipped to the U.S.

This visit was very interesting because I was able to see one way that many Dominicans earn their money. Zonas francas play important roles in this country. For countless families it’s the only medium to earn income. As I said it also brought many thoughts to my head as I thought about my mommy working hard every day for 8 hours.  This visit made me want to work harder and be determined to achieve all of my goals-because I know my mom has made so much sacrifice to raise me.

Visiting the factory also made me ponder on all the products sold in the U.S. at ridiculous high prices because they are "brand names" but little do the consumers know where and in what conditions those products were created. I have an Aeropostale shirt that says made in Haiti. Im pretty sure the working conditions and the pay of the workers who make the shirt is not nearly as much as the price of that shirt in the U.S.

*Just things to think about*

*I want to thank Ms. Biondo for taking amazing pics

which I used in this posting 

"El Tubing"

I am so excited because last night I was able to do my own “tubing”!

In the Dominican Republic tubing is what the women do to their hair to keep it from frizzing up at night. Because Dominican women highly value straight hair, they straighten their own hair by going to the hair salon and getting a “blow” (from “blower”) or straitening their hair with the hair blower.

 At night, to keep it from getting messed up they wrap their hair up and use a net. Growing up in the States I thought that this was only done by African American women. So when I commented to my Dominican family they asked why I didn’t wrap my hair before. I said I didn’t know I could and I didn’t know how.

The first time I got my tubing done was by Luisana, after she straightened my hair. It felt weird and I was anxious to see my hair in the morning. She commented how my hair was so long and it was so hard to wrap it. In the morning when I unwrapped it I was surprise to see how perfect looking my hair was, just as if I had gotten it done.

This is how I looked the next day! Slash this is in a Tobacco field

The second time I got it done by Hector Luis and he did a really really good job, even though it was his first time doing it.

So this weekend I got my hair done by Luisana again and unfortunately I wasn’t near her before going to bed to get my tubing done by her. SOOO I had to try doing it on my own!

As I parted my hair I remembered what Luisana had told me to do and did what I membered.

I was happy with my results!

In the morning the net thing was not in my head and I was worried. I looked in the mirror and my hair looked on point! I told my family and my friends and they were surprise that I had never done it before but proud I was able to learn!

Im planning on having a workshop on “tubing” so everyone can make use of it,  no matter your hair texture.

If anyone is interested! Holla at a scholar!!!