This was written up in our volunteer quarterly magazine and I enjoyed it so I thought I would share. It might be one of those things that you have to be there....but I thought I would give it a try. Of course with some additions I made to personalize it.
1. It rains in my bathroom (well since my letrine isn't actually done yet...I wouldn't know. But I do have two tiny leaks in the tin roof of my house)
2. I spent an hour cleaning ants out of my cereal and then thoroughly enjoyed a bowl. (How about crackers and peanut butter? Who knew that ants could get into a tightly closed peanut butter jar?)
3. Beer isnt considered alcohol-it's more like expensive juice (and you have more of a chance finding cold beer anywhere than you would of finding water. These Dominican's sure know their priorities).
4. The only time all year round I need my jacket is on the super air conditioned bus.
5. People don't know how to draw-not even a stick figure, or a star, or a heart.
6. A mail system is just a convenient system for thiefs to hand select their goods. (There most have been some good stuff in some of those packages, but I wouldnt know since I never got them).
7. Roots are considered "yummy"-and there are lots of types.
8. Elementary school kids go on strike for more desks.
9. The schools are have barbed wire, chain link fences, if you arrive late you have to bribe the gatekeeper to let you in.
10. Traffic laws are more like vague guidelines.
11. Traffic signals are unfortunate in a country with unreliable electricity.
12. Even the poorest of the poor are obsessively hospitable.
13. 7 -year old boys run all my errands for me (and 10 year old girls mop my floors and help me hand wash all my clothes).
14. It only cost 75 bucks to completly rewire my house.
15. I get in trouble when visiting people for not having visited more often.
16. They hang the head of the animal slaughtered at the butcher as a guarentee (hopefully this explains to you all why I don't ever eat meat here-I can't stand to look at the head of the pig that I am going to eat. Or even worse have them ask me which chicken it is that I want to eat for dinner as they run around the yard-yuck).
17. If a kid is only wearing a shirt, beware: they are not potty trained (and if they are visiting your house with parents or siblings make sure that the mop and fabuloso are handy for any accidents).
18. Music can never be too loud.
19. Nobody pays electric bills because they dont recieve good service and they dont recieve good service because nobody pays.
20. Their is nothing wierd about a stranger resting their hand on your knee or shoulder.
21. The United States is referred to as "Nueva Yol" (and in my experience that is only if they have actually put together that New York is part of the US and not its own country).
Saturday, September 15, 2007
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