Life in the Campo

Written: September 27, 2010

Where has September gone? Training has flown by and I feel like I have been here in the campo for a long time now. I haven’t written much of anything a) no internet b) I just haven’t felt very motivated to write lately. I have just been taking in all the experiences.

My experience of campo life in a nutshell: Saturday, I was walking back home after visiting a neighbor and my mom shouted to me to hurry up and run over to hop in the back of her cousin’s truck. My motto is “go wherever I am invited” so I didn’t hesitate at all and jumped into the bed of the truck. My cousin told me that we were going up to the neighboring village to go kill la culebra, the snake, that had already killed a puppy, four chickens and a duck on their grandma’s property. So here I am thinking sure, why not, the snake could hurt someone so it is important to fix the problem. So we drove up the dirt road with four people in the bed of the truck. As we passed neighboring homes my cousin announced to everyone that we had come in search of the snake. Next thing I know, the truck is piling up with people to come help us find the snake. Even a man with his machete trekked behind us on his horse. We arrived at the house and were told the snake was hiding in the latrine. Minutes later, the latrine was in pieces and men were hammering away at the cement foundation to get underneath to find the snake. All I kept thinking was, how the heck do they really know that this is where the snake is. Well, apparently they knew because an eight food red snake appeared. Within seconds, its head was chopped off with a stick and a dull shovel (a little confused because the man with the machete was right there) and la culebra was being carried into the road. People gathered around and messed around with the snake for about an hour. It was quite a sight to see-the whole body was still squirming around without a head. Then, beer was poured on it and set on fire. Cooked snake is not the most pleasant smell. Now, trash is a big problem in the DR. Most places don’t have a place to put their trash, so I wondered what they were going to do with this huge snake lying in the middle of the road. Obviously, make a leash for it out of rubber wire and carry it through town. From there, I don’t know what happened to the poor snake, but it was quite a spectacle.

Do I kill snakes everyday, no. But, I have become part of this community. Everyone knows who I am and I am always stopping in the streets and at people’s homes to say hello, play dominoes, eat, drink some fresh juice or have a little coffee (yes, I am drinking just a litttttle bit, it’s a must if I want to pass time with my neighbors). My domino skills are getting better and I am starting to understand campo Spanish a lot more.

On training days, Monday through Friday, I have somewhat of a ‘schedule’- at least set times where I have Spanish and Technical Training. I start my days at 6 am. I go for a beautiful run through on a road through the lush hillsides. Although the hills are a killer, getting to the top is breathtaking. The landscape never ceases to amaze me. I come back home to shower, if there is water, and get ready for class. We have classes all day long every day basically. Sometimes we have community interactive projects that take up part of the day, but most days are long. Between the humidity and long hours in class, taking a nap is never difficult.

Despite the fact that it is almost October, it is still extremely hot here. It really messes with your mind- I feel like its still summer and with training it almost feels like I am at summer camp. I am definitely ready to gain some freedom, training can be very restrictive. I have no control over a lot of things in my life right now-my schedule, what and when I eat, where I spend a lot of my time, etc. It is hard when you come from being so independent. After six months of living with other people, freedom is going to be very sweet. Until then, I am trying to appreciate the cultural differences, lack of privacy, and the mountains of platanos (I don’t think I will ever appreciate these).