The humidity flushed over my new hair cut, the drums thumped loud, and the comforting sound of children singing greeted me as the airport doors slid open. People with signs and smiling faces jumped up and down as they saw their brother, or cousins, or parents arriving fresh off the plane. I scanned the energetic audience behind the large metal barricades and found Francisco, a Peace Corps driver, winking at me. I knew who he was and I knew I was returning home to the Dominincan Republic in good hands.
The atmosphere at the airport well descibres what this country is about. Celebration! Every moment is to be enjoyed together. Unity can certainly be found in family, and though my family is not here I feel as though the Dominicans have welcomed me a son. This morning I took off on a run in Santo Domingo's historic downtown... one of the oldest downtowns in the Americas dating back to when Christopher Columbus landed on the island (he call it Hispanola). On the streets I saw faces that I hadn't seen in 8 months, I saw the sun rising from the east over the blue Caribbean water, and I splashed my face into the sea "baptising" my own arrival to Peace Corps PART II. As my aunt used to recommend when traveling, "Get up early and see a city wake up and you'll get a good idea of where you are and who the people are." It was a beautiful experience and easy to get excited about waking up my first morning here. Now I've promised myself to keep it up for the remainder of my stay here in the DR. Jared's saying it right now for all you doubters... he's going to commit himself to the rural farmer motto: "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy wealthy and wise." I've got plenty of examples in my community of Ojo de Aguas, so why not do it.
So the brother is healthy, he's back, and he's going to love the heck out of playing with Dominincan kids again. If you have any fun games to recommend that aren't too complex and don't require many resources let me know, I'd be interested.
Brotha's Back!
Get up early and take some time alone.
Peace de Santo Domingo,
Jared
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
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