Sshweaty Taxis

My arm stuck to the guy’s next to me as I pulled it away to re-adjust it, trying to get comfortable in the small public cab. However, the cramped conditions and heat were a small price to pay as I stared out the window at the lush green fields, palm trees, and tattered homes along the side of the road. I’ve found that it’s usually best to stare out the window and don’t watch the road. Next to India, it’s the craziest driving I have ever seen. Although, even in India they have the excuse of elephants and sacred cows that they have to dodge in the middle of the street, adding to the pandemonium, but here, there’s no excuse it’s just crazy. Motoconchos (motorcycles that serve as personal taxis) whiz by on either side of you, paying no attention to any sort of driving code or law except not getting hit by something bigger than them.

Five of us were packed into this little Toyota Corolla as we headed to a small Haitian community about twenty minutes outside of my new hometown, Puerto Plata. Ahead of us a guy waved his arm for the public cab to stop, “Sorry buddy, we’re a little full in here,” I silently chuckled to myself, but the driver slowed down nonetheless and came to a stop in front of the man. As the guy opened the back door I thought to myself, “you have got to be kidding me”. It didn’t seem to phase him nor the other two guys in back with me. After jostling around for about twenty seconds and several unsuccessful attempts to close the door, we did it. We were in, four grown men in the backseat of a Corolla. About 2 minutes later a hefty woman in her late forties waved on the side of the road. To my astonishment, he pulled over again. This was getting ridiculous, I thought. However, she headed towards the front unlike the first guy. The man in front slid up onto the center console, partly on top of the woman and partly on top of the driver. Oh good, not only are we driving like we were in a Talladega free for all, now we had immobilized our driver’s right arm. Well, I soon learned that I shouldn’t have had any doubt whatsoever. Our driver was so good, that he was able to take money from all 6 passengers, dig for coins on the floor, and give us all proper change with his one free arm while he easily maneuvered in between the truck in the right lane and the oncoming car in our (of course the left) lane. All in a days work. Anyways, we continued on like this for about twenty minutes before reaching the exit for Munoz where they dropped a couple of us off to make the half mile walk through abandoned sugar cane fields to the community.

Munoz is one of the poorest areas in the Dominican. While it lies only minutes away from expensive beach hotels, it is a community of nearly 6,000 Haitian immigrants, most of whom are illegals I would imagine. It was truly a beautiful place. Just before you get to the village, there is a small creek where you can always find children playing and often adults bathing. The houses are usually only 1 room that is about the size of our pantry room at home, or the average bathroom. The walls are made of whatever material can be found, usually scraps of wood and corrugated metal that are hastily hammered together and the roves are mostly made of sheets of tin.

I have already spent four days in this wonderful community, and I have many more to come. Jennifer, a volunteer who has been here for four months was been working on building a program for the women of Munoz. My arrival here couldn’t have been any better as I caught the tail end of the of first week. The program will be five weeks long. It is aimed at restoring the dignity and the lives of women who have been forced into prostitution. I will have much more to write about this, but it’s getting late and I’m going to sleep. I will make an effort to write a bit more about the actual work I’m beginning to do down here for those of you who might be wondering what that is exactly. But, I just wanted to share a couple of these new experiences while they were still fresh in my mind and hadn’t just become routine. Thanks for reading!