At 4 months in our site of service we have the option to move out into our own place in the PCDR program. I have been living alone in my own apartment happily for the last week now. However housing in this country is no easy feat and the process was very long getting myself into my apartment, and I am even still facing some issues. Regardless, I feel libre (free) and finally with some control in my life here. This process moving into my new house has taught me a little about the Dominican culture along the way that I find very interesting, although not too surprising.
Since the summer, I have told my friends in town that I was looking for a place to move into after the summer and they were all happy to help me find something. News spreads like wildfire here; there have been many people that vacate a house and that same day someone else moves in to rent it. Because of the connections amongst the people in my pueblito the news gets around at the blink of an eye, even though we have about 15,000 people in the pueblito. But even though they were willing to help me look for a house, the one question I was asked frequently after telling someone I would be moving would be: “Una casa para tu y la otra?” (A house for you and the other [volunteer]?) or “Vas a mudarte sola?” (You are going to live alone?). Since most people know there are two volunteers in our one site they assumed we would live together in a house. However, there is a Peace Corps rule against living with another volunteer, and anyways, we don’t want to live together. We see each other frequently as is and we would rather keep ourselves more involved in our service and the language. The other question is more related to the culture because women very rarely live alone in this country. That is largely because they view it as dangerous and also because typically women do not move out until they can move in with their new husband. Because they value familial relationships here very highly there is no rush to move out of their parents house too early. There are very few people here that understand my need for space, privacy and control.
Now the apartment is pretty great. It is a small loft but with just enough space for all of the necessities. It is actually where the previous health volunteer lived, so the owner is familiar with Peace Corps and so are the neighbors. The neighbors are one of the reasons I feel safe in my apartment because they look out for me and will take action if anyone is to ever walk up my stairs without me around. I am still a close walk to my school and surrounded by some of my students, so I really cannot complain about the location. I also have two colmados, small stores, where I do the majority of my shopping 20 steps away from my front door.
I have had a few bumps in the road in my first week living here, but nothing I can’t really work out. I finally have electricity after the first two days without. It was refreshing to live without it since there are so many communities here, and PCVs, who live on a luz (electricity) schedule. My pueblito is lucky enough to have gained 24-hour luz right before I arrived to my site so that is usually not a worry of mine. Water is my biggest issue. I have a tinaco, which is widely used here to store water outside of the house to then provide running water inside the house. Since my apartment has been vacant for two years now there was no maintenance of the amenities. I have water stored inside my house in one of my tanques, tanks, so it is readily available when I wash dishes, shower, flush the toilet, wash the floors or do laundry.
Despite the few little amenities issues, I am still happy to have a space I can call my own here in the country. I have already decorated it with my own photos and words of encouragement from friends and families back at home and fellow volunteers. I see it as a great place for my own happiness and maybe eventually a space to have a club with some of my kids from school.
So who is ready to visit me!