Saturday, July 6, 2013

The Arrival

Arrivals to new locations are all about first impressions; in some ways, though, I felt like today's arrival was as much about the start of the journey as it was about ruminating about the finish. With each step, I couldn't help thinking to myself, "But how different will this be, and how different will I be, when my time here is through?" Hopefully, there will be at least a lot less mumbling in broken Spanish.

We arrived right on time, with a flight full of Dominican families, clearly going home for the summer with new babies, a crying puppy, and children anxious to see their families at home. Overloaded suitcases and massive strollers were forced to be gate checked. In waiting for the flight, I couldn't help but notice that our flight crew seemed entirely unprepared for the overwhelming number of Spanish speakers on the flight. The flight attendants asked passengers to help translate important information. I was disappointed that no crew member seemed to speak Spanish, and emergency information would have had to been translated by passengers. Thankfully, emergency information wasn't necessary.

Our property manager picked us up at the airport, and we headed straight to the apartment. He gave us a quick tour of the neighborhood, showed us to our apartment, and took us to a local store to get a fair exchange rate on currency. Without Juan, we wouldn't have found this exchange place. It looked more like a house, with a group of old men sitting around playing dominos, who didn't even look up when we entered and asked to exchange money. I'm told that the more obvious exchange places charge high fees and take advantage of tourists who don't know of such places. I believe it. But without the kindness of Juan, how else would we have found this place? The DR seems immediately like a place where the kindness of generous, sincere strangers can be the difference between a fine vacation and a great adventure.

Over dinner, I asked Maggie and Alexis what they hope to accomplish by the end of this trip. Again, I was so focused on the end when I should be soaking up the beginning, but I'm also aware that for me, beginnings and endings work on each other, depend on each other, and I want to remember just how I felt now when I look back at the end.

Alexis: "I hope to have fun, and obviously to improve my Spanish."
Maggie: "I've already accomplished what I wanted. I've gotten away."
Kate: "I want to be more fearless with my Spanish, because it's the only way to learn."

So although my feelings about our arrival are somewhat caught up in my desires to know we'll accomplish our goals, I'm going to commit to tomorrow as a day to just be here. To just soak up the experience. Buenas noches.

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