SALLY MORRIS: WINTER MERENGUE
One miserable, sub-zero night last year I got to thinking, “why are we here?” No - not in the philosophical sense. Anyone who knows me knows I don’t think in that place. I mean HERE - where it can be this cold and bleak and miserable. (Well, this is one way to kick off a happy-go-lucky “People, Places and Things” post.) So I got to thinking, where would I rather be tonight? I eliminated most of the usual suspects - Memphis, where I have family (Memphis is too violent), Minneapolis (still too cold), Winnipeg (same), Mexico (lovely but again - crime and corruption ruin it), Cuba (crime, corruption and communism ruin it), Florida (getting closer) . . . Thus began my obsession with the Caribbean. I think about it intensely this time of year. Aqua seas, pale sand, palm trees, maybe an occasional horse. Lots of baseball, lots of music and dancing. Destination weddings to play for. The Dominican Republic! I love baseball, right? (I must admit here that my first introduction to things Dominican was when I taught Latin dance. The Merengue, with its peculiar percussive and jaunty flavor was always fun. It is the dance of the Dominican Republic, supposedly invented by a one-legged sea captain whose love of dancing was not to be put off by his wooden leg. Thus the syncopated, off-kilter motion.) What’s not to like? Well, as soon as I began thinking about selling my house there was this spate of Americans plotzing there with suspicious "heart attacks". Sort of off-putting. But nevertheless it has stayed in the back of my mind. (I really think my seriousness about the idea is what brought on the mysterious deaths of Americans there, because as soon as I switched gears and thought about Puerto Rico they had this earthquake. The gods will not find out from me what I am thinking next.) So - back the Dominican Republic. It has a bad crime rate, but then, so do many cities in the US. It could be great if corruption were stopped - it has amazing coastlines, is well-situated to be the tourist haven it was becoming. Personally, I was liking Puerto Plata - the Silver Port. Called that because of the silvery look of the sea there. Poetic, right? It has a lovely climate if you like being warm and comfortable. Some nice breezes, a bit of mountains inland. Great views. It has an interesting history as well. Columbus, when he landed there in 1492, found the native Taino people. They, in turn, had come there from what would be the coast of Venrezuela or thereabouts, found they liked it and made it their home. They were a peaceful, constructive people but they were relentlessly attacked by the vicious Caribs. Unfortunately, despite Christopher Columbus’s best efforts, corruption get a foothold early on and the Spanish began exploiting the native peoples also. This nearly but not quite wiped them out. Many aspects of Taino culture remain and are vibrant, and Taino blood is still in the people who live there. The Dominican Republic has had a tumultuous, complex and interesting history since then. You will have noticed that the DR shares the large island of Hispañoa with Haiti. At one time the Spanish ceded the island to France. At this point some Dominicans sided with the British against the French. In 1801 Hatians took Santo Domingo. The French took it back in 1802 and the Spanish got it back in 1809. It bounced around among France, Spain and Britain in bloody chaos during this time. Eventually a Dominican, José Núñez de Cáceres got up the chutzpah to declare independence from then-owner, Spain. It was good for two months. Then the dictator of Haiti, Jean-Pierre Boyer, took over again. His punitive policies against landholders and other productive elements resulted in his eventual overthrow. From here on it was indepenent, a Spanish colony once again, independent again, in chaos again, occupied by the U.S. from 1916 to 1922 and has been independent under various governments since. It has a border with Haiti, occupying a little more than half of the island. To help you get your bearings, Hispañola is between Cuba and Puerto Rico. The History Channel provides this documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpAUlGocK4Y Some things to do and see if you ever go there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWWS_wUn3NI&t=16s Some Dominican music and dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fautemcgU48 Now we’ve seen some of the ups and downs of the DR. What do you think? Shall we pack up and go or just think about it? Comments: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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