We stayed in a hostel for a night and took tours around the historical part of the city and local museums. The historical district is very different from Santiago. The streets are quieter and smaller and there are so many tourists. The first moment we stepped out of the hotel and walked into a little store, there were Americans. That was the first time we had seen Americans other then ourselves since we left the United States. There are very few tourists here in Santiago, if any. As gorgeous as Santiago is, there is not much to see or do other than a few museums or monuments.
We arrived on Friday and left on Saturday. The first couple of hours on Friday and the last couple of hours on Saturday were for shopping and just hanging out around the tourist area. So many of us walked around the plaza (many restaurants and old buildings) and also up and down Conde Street which has many shops and eateries. A lot of the stores are aimed towards tourists and sell a lot of knick knacks and typical touristy items. There were also the more traditional and unique items such as larimar and amber jewelry and Haitian art. All of the shop owners assumed that we were tourists and Americans so we were welcome with "hello" and "sale!". I am not used to being spoken to in English outside of ILAC because very few people in Santiago can speak English. I just wanted to let everyone know that I could speak Spanish and that there was no need to speak English.
On Friday and Saturday we toured the streets with our tour guide who attempted to speak English to us. We were able to connect what we were seeing to what we had been learning in our EDP class. Many of the original buildings remain (some are currently being restored) including Christopher Columbus’ home, the famous Cathedral, and several court and governor buildings. The old original entrance to the city is still standing and the wall is still standing around the city as well.
On Saturday before leaving Santo Domingo, we visited Columbus' Lighthouse (ZAFA!). This lighthouse was built for Columbus (ZAFA!) in dedication to his "achievements". The thing is, it does not look like your typical lighthouse. It looks more like a jail. The lighthouse used to use so much electricity emitting a light, that it would cause blackouts across the city. Since it did cause so many blackouts, they have decided to stop emitting the lights. Also, the lighthouse is considered cursed. Every time someone says Christopher Columbus (ZAFA!), you must say ZAFA to reverse the curse. The idea that the lighthouse is cursed comes from many experiences of bad luck. Many bad experiences have occurred such as the amount of money that the city spent on the lighthouse (millions, maybe even billions) and the fact that the Pope got extremely sick right before he was scheduled to bless the lighthouse.
On Friday night, we had dinner at a nice and delicious Italian restaurant and I had my first pizza in weeks and it was delicious. Surprisingly enough, the salad I had was basically the same salads I had all three years in Europe and it brought back such good memories! I did notice though while eating, is that everyone was dressed very nicely and very classy. It was a completely different atmosphere from Santiago and it was obvious that many of these people were tourists or businessmen.
After dinner, we watched a live meringue and bachata show in the plaza. There was a band playing and dancers would come out in their bright and gorgeous costumes and take part in the traditional and widely accepted dancing. Afterwards, we all just walked around and enjoyed the plaza and breezy Caribbean Sea air.
Today (actually in about 1.5 hours), we will be on the road for Gajo de Yuca and live there for 10 days. Gajo de Yuca is a campo in the mountains NE of Santiago about 2 hours away. We will each be living with a family and during the day building an aqueduct. The campo has no running water and the electricity goes in and out. This immersion will be an experience that will take me out of my comfort zone and put me into a place where I will be speaking Spanish 24/7 and taking part in a culture where I will be considered part of a family.
No comments:
Post a Comment