I have been running more at the track at PUCMM and earlier this week met some other runners who told me about a race in Santiago this morning. I was SUPER excited to hear this because there does not appear to be a huge interest in running, at least within the gates of PUMM, so I was all over this. This morning I arrived at the start line embarrassingly early to sign myself up. The race was supposed to start at 9:00 but it became clear this would be running on Dominican time when I asked the man who signed me up he told me, “Si, 9, más o menos…tu sabes.” So, at 9:45, sun blazing (that was my real complaint with the time delay--it was hot today), we left the starting line. The race itself was well organized; I don’t think there are too many races that occur so the ones that do are bigger deals. That’s also a complete guess. Anyway, this race took us 7.5 miles through the busiest streets of downtown Santiago (I’m pretty sure we were running on the side of a 4 lane highway for a bit) and it was 88 degrees on the forecast, so at street level and with 50% humidity it easily felt above 95. Luckily they had volunteers driving motorcycles who sprayed water on the runners and other volunteers who passed out plastic bags (VERY eco-friendly...) of water that you could bite open and pour on yourself or drink. By the end I felt like I was just getting wetter but not cooler because the water was tepid.
It was a tough going there are the end and my time was nothing to write home about (although that’s what I’m doing now…) but I had a good time and ran the last 3 miles with a really encouraging Dominican woman who helped me navigate traffic. One of the runners I met at PUCMM got second place today (40:48) and I found out he runs for the national team. Apparently he is caca caliente around here!
I am pretty wiped out now though--my face is a delightful red and my water consumption-to-pee ratio is pathetic. Part of the problem was that last night was the birthday party of a friend from my program and I was up later than I meant to be. We went to some discotecas, which is something I have mixed feelings about here because there’s a lot of racism on the part of the club owners/bouncers. *I just caught and killed a mosquito with my right hand while typing with my left, just saying.* As a white American, I have never had a problem getting in anywhere, but Dominicans with darker skin and Haitians routinely get turned away because “they’re not dressed appropriately,” when in reality, they’re wearing the same clothes as everyone else. One of my friends was out one night with a few other people and they went to a discoteca that was virtually deserted when they got there. The staff wouldn’t let one of the darker-skinned members of the group in even though there were only 6 people in the club and 4 of them were with the guy who wasn’t allowed in and were going to leave because of it. I have never witnessed racism to this degree, and it definitely transcends the “discoteca” scene. I’ve seen people brush their arms off when they’re walking down the street and bump into a Haitian. My little sisters have told me about their old dog who used to only bark when he saw “bad Haitians” and one of my neighbors blames the city’s rat problem on the “dirty Haitians” who leave their trash around. Dominican-Haitian relations have a pretty interesting past and there are still a lot of political issues, especially now that the Dominican Republic has changed documentation laws, which has left many Haitians nationless. http://www.coha.org/stateless-in-the-dominican-republic/
The drama surrounding my independent study continues because my trip to Santo Domingo to use the library of the biggest reproductive health NGO closed down over a year ago, a fact they apparently only make known once you go to the building itself. At first I was annoyed at the inconvenience, but now I’m more annoyed that the government doesn’t prioritize issues of women’s physical and emotional health, and non-profits can’t do it all.
In other news, I’m feeling pretty good because I finally made the connection between my inability to sleep and my nightly vitamin, which apparently contains “about as much caffeine as a cup of coffee.” Woot woot!
Word of the Day:
Mangú=boiled plantains mashed up and served plain or with a variety of toppings. It’s a traditional Domincan food and might just be the ultimate pre-race food.
No comments:
Post a Comment