When I went to the Dominican Republic, my boyfriend and I jumped into the back of a wagon attached to a motorcycle. The driver spoke no English, so I spoke to him in rusty Spanish and we were able to communicate well. Manuel took us to the jungle and introduced us to a man named Miguel, who took us deep into the jungle, to a waterfall. Miguel pointed out all of the wild fruit and veggies that grew naturally in the jungle, mango, papaya, banana, pineapple, coconut, yam, coffee, tea, avocado. He also showed us this cool leaf that folded when you touched it and came back out in five minutes. I was blown away, hitherto I have only seen fruit on stands and never growing in its natural habitat. Growing up in New Jers and living in New York, I only have access to the worst produce as it is always sprayed with poison, then shipped off before it is even ready to come off of the tree. Nature is magnificent and self sustaining, somehow we have manipulated it for five thousand years, hoarding and reaping. I realized that in the Dominican Republic, no one will ever starve, nature would take care of them. All of the fat tourists got off the ship and said, "Look at these poor people."
Manuel drove with a flat tire, while all of the other motorcyclists drove by and pointed it out, Miguel would turn to us and say, "No problem, No problem". We drove a few miles on a flat tire and pulled up to a shack on the side of the road. There were people sitting in plastic chairs staring us down, which made me question, if my fanny pack were so obvious? We walked over closer to them and they stood up, and offered us their seats, these people were beautiful to offer us their own chairs.
Soon the flat tire was fixed and Manuel took us to a beach where the locals tried to sell us things one by one, every time they tried to sell me something, I tried to sell them a coconut. They would confusingly laugh as I creepily said, "Tu necessitates, you need!" I made them laugh, just like I make everyone laugh, the royal guards in London, children on top of a mountain in Poland (who didn't speak the same language), mayor Bloomberg, the mentally ill, all the cashiers at the supermarket because I feel that I can make them happy for just a moment and this is my gift to the world.
We met this really cute girl who was so persistent and wanted to braid my hair. I did not want to get my hair braided but I finally agreed because I liked her and I appreciated that she was trying to hustle. As soon as I agreed, she whistled and another girl came over to braid my hair. I hated it, it was so tight and I looked like Stevie Wonder, my boyfriend laughed and pointed, "Its beautiful", the Dominican girls said.
Manuel took us to two other beaches including the one where the rich Europeans go to seclude themselves from the locals. I told Manuel, "Vamos a la casa de Manuel", I didn't actually expect Manuel to take us to his house but he did, we saw his wife and his kids, their giant pig and his other motorcycle. I asked him what they do with this massive pig and gestured a kill motion, of slicing a throat, "No, No!", he said.
La Casa de Manuel was a one room shack that lacked a few walls on the exterior, there was no electricity and no running water. Miguel pointed to a drum, I asked him what he did with that he gestured with his hands, washing his body. I loved the idea, to me it seemed like camping. I didn't get the feeling that their lives were any less fulfilled because they didn't have television programs like, Desperate Housewives. Instead, they talked to their neighbors and enjoyed the outdoors. Miguel waved to his neighbors, he told me, "Este es Rosa tambien!" "I'm Rose!" I waved and yelled, "Mucho gusto, Rosa, me llamo Rosa tambien!"
Manuel had the most beautiful children, I tried to talk to them but they were shy or maybe I scared them, one of them wasn't wearing pants. Some of us never left the garden of eden, I thought. We left la casa de Manuel, I wanted to go more places but I had a feeling that Miguel had to get home before the sun went down, so he would be able to see the giant potholes in the road. Manuel wanted to know when we would come back, "Nunca", I told him, "we have to see the whole world!" We gave Manuel a hug and a huge tip so he could buy his son some pants. I loved the Dominican Republic, it would go down in history as one of the best days of my life.
