Hasta Luego D.R.

Saying goodbye to my community was a tearful, stressful, and fun affair. My departure from the Dominican Republic had been built up by my neighbors for months. I was constantly asked why I was leaving and if I would please stay just one more year. Luckily, once they realized they couldn't convince me to stay, my neighbors decided to channel their energy into throwing two big good-bye parties.

There is no such thing as a full vehicle in the D.R.

The first party was a trip to the beach. My neighbors rented un safari (a flatbed truck with benches and a roof typically used to shuttle tourists on excursion tours) and we jammed out to dembow and bachata all the way to the beach. Once at the beach I was treated to all the spaghetti and fried chicken I could eat - Dominican beach staples. The highlight of the trip was watching a pair of pre-teen boys from my community play in the ocean for the first time in their lives. Their faces expressed so much joy.

My house cleaning saviors

The second good-bye party was held the following week - the night before I left the D.R. In the interim week I did some serious house cleaning, giving away and selling everything that couldn't fit in my backpack and two suitcases. Luckily some of my younger neighbors pitched in to help me organize everything I had collected over the past two years. Still, my house was a chaotic scene the last few days as up to twenty neighbors at a time perused my things. At one point one of my neighbors even took a swig out of a bottle of rum I had in my kitchen. When I called her out on it she asked, "Well, there is only a little bit left, so can I finish it?" Seeing little point in arguing I let her finish off the bottle. Most of my neighbors were not so egregious, many picked out items they could give to family members rather than for themselves. The only other fighting that occurred was over my collection of photos. Everyone wanted a picture of me, and if not me a member of my family, and if not a member of my family an American. So to all my American friends, it is possible that a picture of you is now displayed proudly in a Dominican home.

Receiving an award from the community

My good-bye party was held at the library and just like at the inauguration, so many people showed up to see me off that the crowd spilled outside. The tears started almost as soon as the event with my project partner, Clariza, begging that someone else continue with the introductions because she was about to cry. I managed to hold myself together until my host-mom sang. Words cannot express the love I hold for her, and that became very apparent as I could barley speak through my tears when I thanked her for everything she and the rest of the community did to make me feel welcomed and loved.

The following morning my host mom stopped by to say goodbye one last time. She even brought me a cup of hot chocolate. I then traveled three hours to the capital where I boarded a plane to the U.S. with both Romeo and Pato, yep, I brought my dog and cat back to America.

Enjoying couches and air conditioning in America

We have now been in America over a month and all of us have been readjusting well. Romeo loves going on walks free of the fear of street dogs attacking us, Pato enjoys lying on carpets, and I finally got my first smart phone. I keep in touch with my neighbors via social media and phone calls. Still I can't help but feel like I am missing out on so much. I miss chatting away with neighbors over coffee and reading books with the kids. However, I am confident that my community's prospects are only going to continue to grow. Just as I was leaving a new volunteer arrived to continue work in the community. I am excited to see what she and the community accomplish over the next two years. I plan on visiting within the next year so if anyone has any Spanish books they would like to donate please send them my way ;).

The Long Goodbye

Goodbyes can be awkward and emotional. Which is why I am not enjoying my current long and strung-out goodbye with the Dominican Republic. 

Leaving the U.S. for the D.R. was relatively easy. I was excited for a new adventure and I knew I would only be gone two years. Leaving the D.R. has been completely different. While I am excited to start the next chapter in my life, I am leaving behind not just a job, but a community. I have no idea when I will have the chance to visit the D.R., and since my community doesn’t have cell phone service (let alone internet), keeping in touch with my host family and friends is going to be a challenge. My neighbors have also realized that our relationship is about to change, and they can’t help but remind me constantly that I will be leaving them soon.

The goodbye started in November when my neighbors started to ask how much longer I would be living in the D.R. “Don’t worry,” I said, “I still have seven months left.” But worry they did. In December my host mom cried as I said goodbye before I headed home for a two week vacation. Kids have written me letters asking me not to leave and have also threatened to steal my suitcases. My project partners have asked me on several occasions to stay another year. To everyone who asks me to stay, I politely explain that while I love them all, I miss my family and my country, and that I want to live in a modern city. 

Some of the kids have gotten possessive of my stuff.

Yet, while I have tried to make the decision to leave seem like an easy one, the decision to leave was a hard choice to make. I seriously considered staying on the island for another year, but in the end America won. There is still a small part of me that wants to stay, so every time a student asks me to stay it is like a little knife it pricking my heart. In my dreams I take all my neighbors to America with me and spend all my time watching them experience luxuries we take for granted, like movie theaters, hot running water, dish washers, elevators, amusement parks, etc.

Something I am still trying to figure-out is what am I going to do with all the stuff I have accumulated over the past two years? My neighbors would like me to give everything I have to them. Even before people began to ask when I was leaving, they would tell me things like, “Susi, I like your shirt. Give it to me when you leave.” Now that my departure is only a few months away these requests have become more frequent. My 10 year-old BFF has threatened to kill me if I don’t give her my plastic storage container. I don’t mind giving my things away, but I am concerned that there will be hurt feelings if people don’t get what they want. As of now, my plan is to wait until the day before I leave to give things out that way I only have to deal with angry neighbors for one day.

My neighbors want my cat too - but he is coming with me!

As for what is next for me after Peace Corps, well I don’t have that figured out either. However, if I have learned one thing from Peace Corps it is not to stress. I know everything will work out for me, I just have to be patient. While I wait for my life to sort it self out my siblings and I are planning a trip across Europe to coincide with the end of my service and my sister’s graduation from college. Our tentative route is: Barcelona, Nice, Milan, Munich, Prague, Vienna, Athens, and Istanbul. If you have any recommendations or tips for our grand european sojourn be sure to let one of us know!