Hey Hey! Que Lo Que!

As interesting as it was, the daily lives of immigrants weren’t what we expected. Today was Day 10, Immigration Day. We visited the busy Haiti/Dominican Republic border in the village of Elias Piña in order to take a glimpse and learn more about the lives and border culture of those on both sides and how it affects the lives of Haitians, specifically Haitian youth. We met up with a group of tour guides from a tourism company called Duan Ecotours. This company focuses on discovering and highlighting places around the border that deserve more recognition. From visiting the Elias Piña village, the Border and the Marketplace, we all slowly started to recognize and distinguish the differences and the relationship between the Dominican and Haitian culture.

Our dark morning started off at 5:00a and many grumpy Glimpsers, including one who injured their toe! Due to unforeseen circumstances, Ale had to stay back at the accommodation because it did not look like her toe could withstand the long day we had ahead of us. While being a few minutes behind schedule, the other lider del dia (Leader of the Day) managed to get the group of Glimpsers going. We started our journey, driving west from our lovely home in San Juan de la Maguana. During the 2-hour drive to Elias Piña village, many of us slept in order to make up for the sleep that we lost the previous night. When we finally arrived in Elias Piña, Nano, the driver of our guagua (bus), made several stops and we able to get information on the demographics of who was crossing the border, how the marketplace is  facilitated. As the border opened at 8:00a, we got out the guagua, walked to the border and watched so many Haitians crossed into the Dominican Republic to prepare to set up shop to trade and sell the goods. Some of us stuck our hands over the gate thinking that it was Haiti but we were later corrected and told that we were actually sitting our hands in No Man’s Land. No Man’s Land is an area of land between Haiti and the Dominican Republic that is not under the jurisdiction of either country.

We then visited the Binational/Immigration museum that focused on customs and traditions that exist on both the border. While roaming through the museum, our lovely tour guide, Eidy Adames, dissected the history of how the border culture on each side of this island has evolved and adapted through years. Before ending the tour of the museum, we admired a mural of the marketplace and the tour guides pointed out the major components of the market that made it what it is. Wanting to know more, we played a game called Que Lo Que, where we would point out those important aspects and yell, “Que Lo Que!”.

Next we walked through the marketplace and observed the transactions, while making sure there were no gaps in the group. Eidy emphasized the language barrier that Haitians and Dominicans face while trying to sell and trade their goods. Admittedly, many of us felt overwhelmed at the market because of the concentration of people crowded in the market but also of because of we had a feeling guiltiness. We saw many children working in the marketplace and these children had to miss school, work and sell items in the market in order to support their families. Many of us have never have had to work to support ourselves let alone our entire families. This definitely made us all aware of the magnitude of our immigrant parents’ accomplishments and how life as a child in the US is vastly different from being a child in Haiti or the Dominican Republic.

We gained a new perspective after talking and listening to the stories of two Haitian youth, Ricardo and Junior, who have immigrated to the Dominican Republic in hopes of a better education and overall life. Junior and his family came to the Dominican Republic when he was 10 years old and Ricardo immigrated when he was 11 months old. Both of these boys “pass” as Dominican but faced discrimination when Dominicans realized or found out that they are Haitian. But both gentlemen empathized how great their lives despite the discrimination.

We then ate an amazing lunch at Hotel Margaret where we continued our conversations with the Haitian youth. We were able to gain a deeper understanding from the Haitian boys in a less formal setting. After we finished our meals, we said our goodbyes to the Junior and Ricardo and the Duan Ecotours tour guides and headed home back to Onaney to prepare for our 3^rdsession of English tutoring. As our trip approaches the end, we continue to build a stronger bond to our students. Many Glimpsers have gotten close to their students and were quite sad when they realized we only have two more English tutoring sessions before heading back home to California.

Ultimately, we learned the meaning behind immigrants’ intrinsic values by dissecting the history and culture of both Haitian and Dominican Republic people. We also learned to not hurt our toes before being LDD.

Peace out, girl scout. We will be back soon!