Beginnings of my life here
My new home is a small village in the
Southwest of the Dominican Republic called La Hoya. The nearest town is the
small city of Barahona, the regional capital. La Hoya is about twenty minutes
away from Barahona by car and ten away from the nearest village, Habinero.
La Hoya has a population of just under 500,
several churches, a handful of colmados (local corner stores that sell anything
from paper to groceries) and a central ‘parque’ that is more just an open area
with some pavement and a few trees. COPA has built both a health clinic and an
elementary school in La Hoya. Primary education in the DR is from pre-school
(pre-escolar) to eighth grade (octavo), so there are ten different grades in
attendance at COPA’s school in La Hoya. School runs in two shifts: a morning
shift from 8 until 12 and an afternoon shift, from 2 to 5. Only grades four
through eight have English classes and I see each grade twice a week for 45
minute lessons. However, I haven’t seen any of my classes yet! School started
on Wednesday the 22nd but English and Art classes don’t start until
next week, so my partner and I have been keeping busy planning our lessons and
helping the other teachers. We’ve also been exploring La Hoya and getting to
know the people here.
Part of our exploring has involved trying
Dominican food! From what I’ve experienced so far, Dominican food is filling,
tasty and there’s a lot of it. Dominican portions are larger than any I’ve
experienced, even in the US, and Dominicans love their food!
My favourite so far is a totally new food
to me, tostones. I had difficulty explaining that in English, there is only one
word for banana and we only eat one type! Here there are at least six different
types of plaintain or banana, all of which can be made into tostones. Banana or
plaintain is cut into sections, fried, flattened into a small pattie and fried
again. The result is a savoury dish, sort of like potato chips, only hot and
slightly chewier.
Dominican spaghetti is incredibly filling;
I’ve rarely been able to get through a whole portion but it’s very delicious.
Made with tomato sauce, condensed milk, vegetables and copious garlic, it’s a
staple food here. Another staple is rice and beans, usually mixed in what
Dominicans call “morro”. COPA took us out for a Dominican meal at La Hoya’s
only restaurant, Daisy’s, where I had my first taste of morro. Like all
Dominican food, it fills you up quickly!
I only have internet once a week, but I
will try and keep this blog as updated as possible. If you wish to contact by
email, I can be reached at bethanyg93@hotmail.com.
If you’d like to write to me here in La Hoya, my address is:
Escuela de COPA c/o
Bethany Garry
La Hoya
Apartado 42
Barahona
The Dominican Republic
Look forward to my next blog post, which
will be about my first experiences as a teacher here!
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