Today I saw a chicken fly. Like, he really FLEW. I don’t believe I had ever witnessed that in my life until today. Chicken roam free here, they’re kind of like stray cats… they don’t appear to have any real owners, they just walk the streets like Tomas O’Malley. I sometimes wonder if I could catch one, they sure aren’t afraid of humans, they’re very domesticated. However, like the Luther squirrels, these gusys scatter as soon as you get close enough to touch. Anyway, so on my way home from school today I was kind of following this one naked neck chicken. I’m pretty sure that’s what it’s called… I remember Sam Klimas had one in 4th grade when we all got chickens in Mrs. Landis’s class. It’s a pretty ugly breed. So yeah, this naked neck (I’m just gonna go with it) was weaving in and out of the sidewalk and swiveling that little bald neck of his back at me. He was watching me, I swear! Then that paranoid little guy started half running (as much as chickens can run) and I kinda played with him and started speeding up my walk. Then the incredible thing happened… he flew about 10 feet in the air over this super tall fence! I seriously stopped dead in my tracks I was so blown away! I tell ya, the things you seen while abroad!
Besides the chicken’s miraculous fence hop, I also had an interesting day in class yesterday. In my Afro-Caribe Culture class we talked about the history of social structure in the Caribbean. Now from what I got out of class, which is only probably half correct due to the language thing, the people in the Dominican do not want to stay here. I suppose I could have gotten that from all of the “mi visa”s I’ve had shouted at me since I’ve been here, but I was very shocked when my professor told us that young children were routinely asked what their future plans were regarding residency. He said that over 50% of Dominicans under 15 plan to leave the Dominican after they are old enough to be on their own. This means that the corrupt nature of the country will never change because everyone that has potential to change it is leaving. The future of the country is stuck in the hands of those who already control it; the saying the rich get richer seems to be very true here. This was very unsettling to me as growing up in the U.S. we rarely think about living somewhere else for a period of time (even a different state is often a stretch for many!) let alone permanently leaving the country. We would never be asked in school whether we plan to stay in the U.S. as adults because it is something that is assumed. I asked my host dad over lunch yesterday what his point of view was on this subject and he had a lot to say. He started off telling me that my professor was wrong; in his point of view at least 85% of today’s generation wants to/will leave the DR for a richer nation. My dad also said that he hopes all of his children leave because there is no future in this country. This really surprised me because my family seems to have a lot of national pride. I asked my dad if he thought things would ever change and his answer was interesting. He said “Even though I’d love to say that about my country, I know it’s not true. There is so much corruption here and no one here is rich enough to try to run for office and if they did someone else would buy them out in order to get them to do what they want.” It is really crazy for me to think about things like this… I guess I never really follow the U.S. news all that well, but I’m beginning to become interested in it. World affairs seem much more interesting now that I’m seeing them from a point of view that is outside of the states. Ever since I’ve been out of the “Luther bubble” I feel as though I am more aware and am getting a better understanding of the world around me. Wow look at me all philosophical, this is crazy!
Today I have been here for a month; that is so strange to say! Good luck to everyone back home starting second semester today… I’m not jealous of you. I don’t know how I’m ever going to be able to go back to being a Bio major… I’m really enjoying the little to no homework life of only Spanish classes. I’m in for a rough awakening come September.
Anyway, just wanted to share some thoughts… sorry this isn’t quite as interesting as the beautiful beaches of Isla Saona, but I still think the chicken story is pretty crazy! Haha! Hope all is well back home, I’ve heard about the crazy snow storm that’s raging through the Midwest… bundle up and be safe everyone! I’ll catch some sun for you (:
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