Independence Day Part 1

On the morning of the third after a typically epic Dominican breakfast, I set out for the bus stop. After nearly two months immersed in the culture of the suburbs of Moca, I was ready for a dose of America. The next couple of days had been planned in Samana as a celebration of Independence Day and a time for volunteers to get together, to party, and to relax at the beach. Although I had heard conflicting reports, Flor was adamant that I had best catch a big capital bus and get off in El Pino.

Unfortunately, I left my camera at home. Here's a pic of the cat right before
giving birth. She was laying in the funniest position.

I did as he said and El Pino, it turned out, was little more than a colmado and a gas station alongside the highway. Luckily, there happened to be a friendly stranger with a stack of inter-city bus business cards about two inches thick. He had me charge up my phone and proceeded to call three different drivers. Sadly it seemed I would be there until late afternoon according to what he was told. I bought some junk food and settled in for the wait, making idle conversation with some curious bystanders.

Here's a pic from a little while back during my mini-VAC (Volunteer
Advisory Council) regional meeting

Unfortunately, it wasn't long before the conversation took the same unsettling turn I've noticed it relatively often does in this country. I don't know what it is about me that invites this kind of talk, perhaps it's my visible discomfort at being invited to regard a woman in the same fashion as one regards a well-bred horse, or the fact that I'm well into my baby-making years and still mysteriously without a wife or at least a child. Maybe it's just normal conversation between men here, but I find the topic of homosexuality, particularly where it's supposed immorality is concerned, comes up startlingly often.