"So, what do people do in the DR for fun?", you may ask. So far, from my two short weeks of living in Santo Domingo, my answer to that question would be summed up in three words:
Socialize. Dance. Baseball.
Socializing--plenty of that will be done this year as we meet students, build relationships with them, and share the Gospel with them. Being social is basically our job.
Dancing--not something that's done so much within Christian circles, so our experience in this area will unfortunately be quite limited. But your average Dominican incorporates an abundance of dancing into his or her weekly schedule.
Baseball--our lack of experience in this area was promptly addressed on Saturday night when we attended one of the final series games in the Dominican professional baseball league.
Differences noted between Dominican baseball and Argentine soccer games:
1) People from opposite teams weren't trying to kill each other (NOT the case in Argentina) and even sat peacefully side-by-side. A rare sight even in Clemson's Death Valley when the Gamecocks come to town.
2) The home team had their own personal pep band, complete with trumpets, saxophones, and drums that played every time their team did anything exciting. And I mean anything.
3) No exploding devices were used to "cheer on" your team and freak out everyone around you. There were several points during the soccer game in Buenos Aires that I thought this experience would be my last.
4) The home team mascot was consistently entertaining the crowd with a mixture of merengue, Michael Jackson, and salsa dance moves. I'm pretty sure they don't have mascots in soccer, so not too shocking of a difference.
Similarities noted between Dominican baseball and Argentine soccer games:
1) Ear-piercing, unintelligible cheers in Spanish were yelled over the loudspeaker.
2) Yep, that pretty much covers it.
Overall, my DR baseball experience was much safer than my Argentina soccer experience back in 2008. Although both were equally enjoyable.
And my STINT team had a great time, too. :)
