Go with the Flow

Ahorita in most Latin American countries means, right now, as in you want something done immediately. In the D.R., however, ahortia can refer to something that will occur or already occurred but it never ever refers to the present. So when you ask someone, “Have you bought cement?” and they respond with “Si, ahorita” it may mean that they have bought the cement, or that they are planning on buying cement in the future. For Dominicans, ahorita is a sufficient response. However, I always end up asking a bunch of follow-up questions because as an American, I need to know an exact time.

Dominicans have picked-up on Americans’ fixation with time. Tiempo americano means “American time” and it is what Dominicans say when they want you to arrive on time to a meeting. Otherwise, it is completely acceptable to arrive whenever you want. An hour or two hours late, it’s totally acceptable. I have even known Dominicans to lie about a meeting start time in an attempt to prevent lateness.

Dominicans are much more laid back about time. Nobody stresses about arriving on time or complain when a meeting begins two hours late. Being a typical time obsessed American I have struggled with accepting this “go with the flow” attitude. However, after the teachers’ training I presented at last week, I realized I have adjusted more than I thought. Not once did I complain or stress-out about the time and/or people’s tardiness. Here’s the run-down of what happened:

8:00am - I arrive on time to the bus stop where 40 teachers and I are supposed to meet so we can travel together to the training. There is one other teacher waiting. I start reading.

8:30am - We learn that no one reserved a bus, even though we hold the training every third Wednesday of the month. No one is too concerned. I keep reading.

Singing School Children

 9:00am - My co-presenters arrive. I say hello, and do not mention that they arrived an hour late. There still is no bus available so some teachers go off to run errands.

9:30am - A bus has been found and we set off for the training.

10:30am - We arrive, and everyone enjoys some snacks, slowly settling into their seats. The school hosting the conference then has several presenters talk about the history of the school and community.

11:30am - 2.5 hours after the planned start time, we begin the teacher presentations. No one mentions possibly shortening presentations or speeding things along.

12:30pm – Lunch!

A Great Presentation, Sadly Cut Short

1:30pm - I am invited to go for a walk with some teachers to a friend’s house. We visit for nearly an hour, but I am not concerned about time as I know that the head trainer is also still out visiting friends too.

2:15pm – We arrive back to find that the presentations have resumed, teachers continue to trickle in after us, including the lead presenter.

3:00pm – The conference ends. Since there was only two hours of presentation time, less than half on the intended material was covered. The other presentations have been pushed to the next month’s conference. I consider the day a win because I was able to present 50% of what I wanted to cover that day.

There were multiple times during the day when I silently laughed thinking of how people back home would have freaked-out about the delays. I’ve learned that worrying about the time won’t make anything happen faster. Instead I bring a book and, more and more often, I also arrive late.