Lessons from Life in the DR

We are approaching the end of our fourth week in the Dominican Republic and, needless to say, we have been learning a lot. These early days have been full of new experiences, new sights, new sounds, new food and new relationships.

Here are a few of the most significant lessons we’ve learned:

SLOW DOWN

We are no longer living in an instant culture like we were in the United States. Supplies, materials, tools, certain foods and resources aren’t as readily available here. It probably sounds worse than it is because the people here are used to it. They don’t get stressed or angry when they can’t have what they want right now. I’m sure there are exceptions, but for the most part it is just accepted that some things are going to take some time to get accomplished.

REDUCE/REUSE/RECYCLE

This is not something most visitors to the DR will probably notice, but establishing a home here makes you realize the importance of reducing your waste, reusing what you can and recycling/repurposing as much as possible. Pastor Quina is a master at using things most people would consider trash to create beautiful crafts. We have been using empty plastic containers (like pop bottles) to store water or juice. During our short-term visits here we thought nothing of using disposable plastic cups whenever we got thirsty, but now we see how much plastic gets tossed in the trash so we try to use real cups when we’re home. Another reason to be conservative is because some things are very expensive here and so it just makes good sense to make those things last as long as possible!

REST

Most of you are probably aware of the term “siesta” and understand that it refers to a time of rest in the afternoon. In the DR the term “mediodia” refers to a two-hour period of time in the early afternoon when most businesses close and most people retreat to a shady spot to eat lunch and rest during the hottest part of the day. With our American culture lenses this can look kind of lazy at first. But when we realized that those businesses make up for the two hours of rest by staying open later, our minds were changed. Also, experiencing the midday heat here makes it easy to understand why this culture appreciates the time of rest, shade and refreshment.

WORSHIP

“Si Dios quiere.” (If God desires it.)

“Gracias a Dios.” (Thanks to God.)

“Gloria a Dios.” (Glory to God.)

“Dios te bendiga.” (God bless you.)

Those are a few of the phrases we hear every day in the course of normal conversations. The commonality of those phrases illustrates how deeply the worship of God is ingrained in every part of Dominican life. Sure, we use some of these phrases too, but they aren’t nearly as common in the US as they are here. Oftentimes we use the word worship only when we’re referring to singing songs of praise, but seeing and hearing people worship in every part of life here has been an eye opener to us!

THE VALUE OF QUIET & THE VALUE OF LOUD

Urban/suburban life in the Dominican Republic is LOUD! Whether it’s noisy motorcycles buzzing past, extremely loud music coming out of cars and homes or loud animals, this place is rarely quiet. Living in a building with an open-air front room and a metal roof doesn’t help insulate us from the noise. We have come to appreciate the quiet times we get – sometimes early in the morning or late at night we get a reprieve from the noise. But we’ve also come to appreciate some loud things here. For example, we go to church services four times a week and there is always LOUD times of singing praise to God. If there’s a band the music is really loud. If there’s no band, then everyone sings really loud. Especially during the services with no band, we enjoy the sound of people lifting their voices to their Heavenly Father.