During the holidays the hashtag #DominicanoAusente ("Absent Dominican") trended on Twitter. It was por y para (by and for) Dominicans living abroad who missed home. They posted pics of food they missed and links to songs that reminded them of home. There are about 1 million Dominican citizens (9% of the population!) that live outside of la República.
Famously, many Dominicans move to "Nueba Yol" (New York) - a term that has lately come to include the entire east coast of the United States from Boston to Miami. So-called "South-South" migration is also more and more common. Dominicans go to Panama, to Peru, to Chile; places where the language, culture and climate are more similar and the exchange rate is increasingly favorable.
For some reason our little mountain pueblo has attracted the attention of many European development organizations. For that reason when my neighbors think of a rich, cold place where they can work hard and send something back home they are more likely to dream of Berlin than Manhattan. They go to Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Finland.
They come home for the holidays in rented cars. They come bearing gifts: new cell phones, the latest fashions. But many can't afford the trip. Hence the hashtag.
Any of these emigrants could be considered global citizens but today I will write of only one.
Wooden Spoons
Cat and I are not the first Peace Corps volunteers to live in our house. Before the previous volunteer returned to the US she offered to put us in touch with her landlord. Being unfamiliar with the unique history of the town, I was surprised to learn that he lived in Sweden. When he and I got on the phone a short time later I was surprised to learn that he was an artist. His name is Rivera. His medium is wood.
As a child, Rivera was always fascinated by art but didn't have an outlet until he was a teenager, when he was introduced to his craft by one of the quirkier European aid organizations. He started carving spoons from pino. He carved snakes from orange trees. He wrought rings from avocado wood. He only worked with dead wood because he understands the problem of deforestation.
He began selling his obras at craft fairs in the capital. Piece by piece, he started making money. He was able to build a workshop in town. He was able to buy a house - ours. He began to travel.
He made his way not through hustling wooden spoons but through social connections. Talented and naturally gregarious, Rivera has been able to turn mere customers into lasting friendships. And these friendships have helped him see the world beyond Hispaniola. More than once a friend paid for his plane ticket and he paid them back in honest labor. He painted apartments. He worked in construction.
He went to California, Oregon, and Montana. Canada. Germany. He picked up the local language. He always had a place to stay. He stayed in places long enough to absorb not only what makes them beautiful but to pick up on their problems. When he first visited Washington, DC he toured the entire city, including its most disadvantaged areas. So when we discuss racial tensions between Dominicans and Haitians he is able to knowledgeably compare it to racism in the US.
Dominicano Presente
Rivera has settled in Sweden with his partner and their children but maintains a living connection with the pueblo. He does the due diligence of any local boy made good: part of our rent is paid directly en efectivo to his elderly parents, who live across the street from us. But in addition to taking care of the family he is also interested in doing his part to take care of his home town.
While most of the ex-patriated Dominicans that filled up the pueblo during the holidays have already headed back across the pond, Rivera plans to stay on for a few more months to work. He will be putting in lots of hours at his studio but also improving some of the other properties he owns in town.
He also hopes to put the finishing touches on a cabin that he hopes to rent to ecotourists who come to take in the natural beauty that surround the pueblo. Part of the vista that they will take in is land that he owns - and keeps as virgin forest.
This post is part of Blogging Abroad's 2017 New Years Blog Challenge, week one: Global Citizenship.
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