The seeds are planted

The seeds are planted. February is coming to a close. All eyes are on the Spring that is soon to blossom into brilliance. And Jared is blessing God for gorgeous winter weather that feels much like late spring in California. I live here in a country that has filled me up with so much pleasant weather and good food. Those are two constants I think I could live with in life. Other such things as building solid relationships with others, environmental activism, being in good shape, understanding technology, etc. are all variables that we must work to understand and sustain. Living in a developing nation provides certain intangibles that can make life more difficult or easier depending on your perspective.

Here are a few examples of those intangibles:

- It can take me upwards of a day and a half to wash and dry my clothes, however, that day and a half can be rather relaxed as I will only dip my hands in and out of water, enjoy work outside in the fresh air, and best of all see street traffic as neighbors stop by and chat for a moment.

-I’m on foot or on my bicycle to arrive at any destination within 20 minutes of my home. I may have to give myself more time to get where I’m going, but it’s great exercise and you see the people in your community face to face. You can’t ignore them if you pass by walking. Also you tend to look for a ride more often from others if you need to carry something heavy or large. Those with means of automated transport do favors for those without and thus not every Dominican has need for a car…(nor would I wish to see all of them driving with the already current state of street chaos). By choosing to walk you’re making a conscious decision to throw less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the streets traffic flow actually flows, and are more pedestrian friendly (if you look oncoming drivers in the eye before crossing the street = mutual agreement that you may not be slowing down, but at least you’re not going to hit me).

-I eat food that is sold in town, fresh, local, and simple. Seafood isn’t found in the mountains, nor might I find specialty Ghirardelli chocolate at the local colmado (corner market), but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy what is on the plate. Rice, beans, and chicken and salad are not a bad diet unless you think it is. They say 3 billion people around the world depend on rice as a dietary staple. What’s to keep that from being 7 billion people? Proteins, carbohydrates, fats all come in different forms yet they get broken down into the same simple nutrients that run our body. When I leave this country I will miss eating rice every day, or maybe it will just become an adapted habit. At least I know it is cheap, fills my bottomless stomach up, can be eaten with almost any food, and is not hard to cook.

-Yeah it rains here a lot more than most places in the states. And yes rain can get you wet. But who is to say you don’t just stop what you are doing, take some cover, and enjoy a cup of coffee at a strangers house instead of trying to continue rushing through the day with bad weather.

As you can see this lifestyle is growing on me. The Dominican Republic is on the verge of becoming a developed nation. Great external influences from “Nueva Yol” and Europe have influenced its economy greatly, the greatest of which are remittances and tourism. I don’t know what life is better. All I know is that if Good Weather and Good Food are a constant in my life then I can work to excel in the rest.

Think about what you try and manipulate and then see if you can live without manipulating it!

Peace,
Jared