So yesterday was valentines day, but it was not the happiest day in my community. A man in my community who has been very sick died in the middle of the night. This means that all day yesterday there was a valorio (funeral) for him. Funerals here are a much bigger production than funerals in the US (at least the ones I have been to). They last pretty much all day, and they usually include a lot of singing, crying, yelling, food and refreshments, a church service, a march to the cemetary, and a small service at the cemetary.
Well yesterdays funeral was just like all of the others except for a few awkward things that happened to me. I was at my house at lunch time, and I had a REALLY bad headache. I told my host dad that I wanted to rest because my head was killing me... and that is where it all started to go down hill. At first he wanted to take me to Luperon to go to the clinic to get an "injection" (of what? I really dont know but injections and pills seem to be the answer to any problem here). When I insisted that I was fine and I just wanted to rest he wasnt having it. He sent over his sister who was visiting for the funeral and she tried to exorcize the headache away. She prayed and yelled and asked god to get the demon out of me. When she finished and asked if I felt better I said "yes, a little" because I didn't want to be rude and she told me that I obviously didn't believe in God because it would be gone if I did. I told her I would work on my faith and thanked her but before I could get back to my house my host dad stopped me. He straight up asked me if I was on my period. I asked him to repeat the question because I thought I definitely miss heard... but I didnt. I was so shocked that I just straight up said "yes" and walked quickly back to my house before anyone else tried to help with my headache because I dont want to know what the cure is for a headache due to the crimson wave. At this time my host mom was leaving to stop by the funeral on her way back to work, and I told her I was just going to rest for a second because my head was killing me. Well I hadn't slept at all the night before because there was someone outside of my house (don't worry mom and dad... im fine) and it freaked me out. Anyways, the point is that my "rest" turned into full on REM sleep. I awoke to the sound of the community singing as they walked past my house. I assumed they were on the way to the cemetary and I felt horrible that I had fallen asleep. My host mom came home and told me that they had actually gone to the church first and they were going to head to the cemetary after. This made me feel a lot better because I thought "Great! a chance to pay my respects and redeem myself for falling asleep earlier". Well I asked my host mom if I could go with her to the cemetary and she said no. I was speechless because I was not expecting that answer AT ALL. When I asked her why not my host dad came out saying "you cant go into the cemetary when you are on your period! That will cause you pain! Its not allowed". I was confused but I believed it because they have a lot of rules about what women can and cannot do when they are mestruating here. So I turned around to walk back to my house and I noticed that half of the community was in front of my house and now knew that it was that ole aunt flow was visiting.
Needless to say I will not be telling ANYONE the next time I have a headache!
Oh on a different note... I moved into my new house! It may have holes in the roof and floor, and the walls may have spaces between all of the planks of wood so that all the creepy crawlies from outside can live with me... but its my new home! Here are some pics!
 |
| Closet |
 |
| Light source for approx. 20 hours a day |
 |
| My bed... it looks more comfortable than it actually is... |
 |
| My beauty corner |
 |
| Kitchen |
 |
| Living Room |
 |
| Front of house |
 |
| Bathing area |
 |
| Roof with my ONE lightbulb |
 |
| Neighbor girls chillin in my pad |
 |
| My dancing partner merengued me right out of my shoe and then "fixed" it for me. Dominican men are so crafty and amazing dancers! |
 |
| 50th Anniversary celebration at the ambassadors house! |
