things are different here!

living here in the DR has given me some perspective on some of the US laws, customs, and behaviors. here are just a few that come to mind.

• car inspections - so in the DR, i don't think there is any kind of inspection for cars. if there is, i'm not sure what would result in an inspection failure. many cars here look like they somehow missed the turnoff to the junkyard. on several occassions i have seen cars driving without entire windshields. i have seen cars that look like they are driving sideways as opposed to straight, as clearly the car was in an accident. i have seen trucks without doors driving around. most used cars here have been in an accident. this is no surprise given how the dominicans drive. but i also believe that many cars get shipped here from places like the US where they were one step away from the junkyard. it's like the pile of t-shirts that are never sold at the salvation army. they pack 'em up and ship 'em here!
• driver's education - NO dominican has taken anything close to a driver's ed class. here's my favorite move of the typical dominican driver: when you go to take a left turn (and indicator is on), they actually go and PASS you on the left!!! SCARY.
• lying/sitting on the road - didn't everyone's mother teach you to not sit on the road - like a highway type of road. you will often see people sitting on the road here where cars are driving by at like 60 miles an hour. in one spot near las canas, there is this one guy who i always get amusement out of (or am freaked out by) because he is always in this one same spot, lying on the side of the road! i think he is actually sleeping there, i'm not kidding. what the #$%^&*!!! besides how insane that is, what up with wanting to lie on a HOT road? it's like 90 degrees out, i think i'll go and lie down on the asphalt! DOH!
• fire codes - there is a reason why you build a road that is at least wide enough to accommodate fire trucks. the haitian village near to where we live nearly burned down about a month ago when they had a fire in one of the homes. the dirt road to the village was not wide enough to accommodate a fire truck getting to it. bordered on 2 sides by concrete walls, this road was a potential hazard to the hundreds who live in that village. after this experience, the haitians took it upon themselves to solve this problem. solution: 50 haitians decide to knock down one of the walls, starting after 4am when the fire was still smouldering. that made for an interesting night as this wall is close to our apartment.
• taxes - ok, so like all those taxes we pay in the US do result in a few benefits. namely - paved and lighted roads, trash pickup, active police, safe(ish) drinking water, etc. the picture in this blog is of burning trash because well, what else do you do with the trash if no one comes to pick it up and cart it off to the dump.
• vending permits/licenses - in the US, you can't legally just set up a fruit stand on the street corner and start selling without a permit. nor can you walk around and try to sell things without a permit. (of course this does happen in the US, i know, it's just not very prevalent. mainly you see this in places like the subway or outside the ballpark with people selling illegal t-shirts etc.) well here in the DR, people sell everything and anything EVERYWHERE and certainly do not have permits. if you are a gringo, these vendors see you as a prime target for purchasing something. this gets VERY annoying, as many times throughout the day, you are offered items to buy - CDs, jewelry, fruit, motoconcho rides, shoeshines, etc.
• men cat calling, whistling, air kissing - ahhh, this topic deserves its whole own entry. the latin machismo thing is BEYOND annoying. in the US, it seems that unless you are on a construction site (and maybe that is not even the case anymore), you just don't get this kind of unwanted attention anymre. or maybe latin men find me more attractive than americans... ;-) could be the deep, dark, tropical tan. maybe not.