Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Dominican Food




LETS TALK ABOUT THE FOOD


Dominican Food is SO good. My first trip to the Dominican I was volunteering for an English teaching organization. Which means that for the most part all of our food was taken care of. We had a fantastic lady that would cook for us (mainly our dinners) and it was to die for. Something that quickly became a crowd favourite was something that we ended up called "gorditas" or "little fatties" because we would eat so many of them. Although I don't remember the technical name for them,  I believe they are called "Arepitas de Maiz". They are almost like a corn fry bread. All of us volunteers loving sweet things would put honey butter on them to make them that much better. Typically for dinner we would have something called "La Bandera" which mostly consists of eating a plate full of rice, beans, veggies, and some type of meat. Although other times we would have chicken salad, or spaghetti. 

LA BANDERA


COOKING ON OUR STOVE





There is no shortage on the fruit situation either. It's so refreshing to be able to eat any citrus or tropical fruit you want at basically anytime. From mangos, pineapple, papaya, and Oranges. I was also able to try some new fruits such as Chinola (passionfruit), guava, guanabana and one other called Zapote. You are able to buy fresh juice at almost every colmado, and if you are lucky some of the locals will even teach you how to make it! 

Here you will also find the biggest and best avacados as well as guineo. Guineo is basically eating boiled green bananas. They are used quite frequently because they are cheaper than plantains and are easy to cook. A few new vegetables that I tried here are Batata, Tayota, and Aji Gustoso.



FRUIT MARKET

GUANABANA

AVAVADOS
PASSION FRUIT
GUINEO 





Now I'm not going to lie to you, the food here is very different than what you are probably used to. I admit that I love chicken, rice and beans but there were a few times that I had some food that I wasn't a fan of. These experiences came when I was not a volunteer but a tourist. I was staying at my friends house and not in a hotel/resort, but I got the full experience of what locals ate. Mostly it was the same rice, beans, and meat but on special occasions they would make something different. Some new items better than others. 



First Up: BBQ's :

BBQ ON THE BEACH
HOME BBQ 
CHULETA (PORK)
             
BBQ COMPANY 

I've been to a few BBQ's in the Dominican and while they do taste different than Canadian or American BBQ's they are still delicious. Mostly Chicken, Pork, Hotdogs and Coca Cola. 
Definitely a good choice! 


Second: BOFE :



Bofe in English is cow lung, and let me tell you that it tastes exactly like I would imagine a cow lung to taste. Not my favourite, but definitely worth a shot. Every single dominican I asked if they liked eating bofe would tell me not only that the liked to eat it,  but that they LOVE to eat it. 


Third: CHICKEN FEET :




At first when my neighbour brought me a plate of food for lunch I was so excited to have a giant plate of macaroni, until I realized that there were chicken feet added. Luckily this time I was able to pawn it to someone else who liked them. After that I prayed that when ever we ate chicken I wouldn't get the feet. It's not uncommon to see/eat them here.  


Fourth: TRIPE : 




In all seriousness this one was the worst for me. If you like eating cow stomach I'll pass it over and you can eat mine too! 





Now back to the good stuff. While some of the food can be interesting and different, the Dominican has some of the best options. You just have to go out and explore! I know some people are leery about eating street food which is understandable, but for me I never had any problems and that is where I have found some of my new favourite foods. I could go on and on about the tostadas, empanadas or pica pollo...




At the Colmados (convenience stores) you can get any type of snack. Pop, chocolate, gummy worms, and chips.

 






At Playa Sosua you can get all types of food from the restaurants or street vendors such as fruit, fish, tacos, palito de coco, or cookies. 




Or Just walk past a food truck and pick up some yaroa, tacos, or quesadillas. 




If I could recommend ANYTHING it would be to stop by a heladeria and try out some bizcocho icecream!









Once my roommates and I went on a vacation, but didn't realize that in this specific tiny village there was no restaurants or grocery stores to buy food. While we were walking around the town looking for something to eat the sweetest lady and her husband invited us in and cooked dinner for all of us. I don't know if it was because I was so hungry or what, but that was the best dang chicken I have ever eaten. 





Another time a few of us were walking home from school and noticed that our neighbour was cooking something in a big pot on the side of the road. We asked her what she was making, and she replied: "habichuela con dulce". Before we knew it we were all standing in the street eating sweet beans (a holiday food) and having a good time. We even learned how to make it later on. 




All I can say is that food brings people together, and there are some different dishes that you don't even know about yet that could very well become your new favourites. So get out there and try something new!! 












Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Dominican Slang

Dominican Slang 


 I like to consider myself a person who knows quite a bit of Spanish. I am not fluent by any means but I know enough to get around and have some conversations with others. But when I first got to the Dominican I was really thrown through a loop. I felt (and still sometimes feel) as if I couldn't understand even the simplest phrase. But just as every other country, they have their own way of speaking. So I thought I would share a  list of Dominican words and slang that I have picked up, and hopefully help you guys out: 


  1. "Chin" - A little bit
  2. "Colmado" - A small convenience store
  3. "GuaGua" - A bus
  4. "Miso" -What to say to call a cat
  5. "Chivi" -What to say to call a dog
  6. "Tato" -Everything's good
  7. "Ven Pa'ca"- Come here
  8. "Heavy"- Cool/Awesome
  9. "En Olla"- I'm broke
  10. "Broma" -Joke
  11. "Jablador" - Liar/Person that talks a lot 
  12. "Dios Le Bendiga" -God bless you
  13. "Manso" -Calm/Quiet 
  14. "Ahorita"-Later
  15. "Varon" -Nickname for a (Typically religious) man
  16. "Como Le He Ido" -How is it going? 
  17. "Tigre" - Someone with street smarts (so be careful) 
  18. "Poloché" -Poloshirt
  19. "Titirimundati" -Everybody 
  20. "Chercha" - Group of friends
  21. "Chivo" -Acting strange
  22. "TĂș Ta Pasao" -You're crazy/You've crossed the line
  23. "Motoconchos" -Motorcycle taxi
  24. "Dame Una Bola" - Give me a ride
  25.  "Dime Que Hay" -Tell me what's new



Thursday, January 28, 2016

And So It Begins!

Wow, I don't know where to start. It's crazy being in the DR, and I still can't seem wrap my head around the fact that I live here. I've already been here for over 2 weeks!

We arrived at the airport where we met our wonderful native coordinator, and she took us to our apartment. We all got situated, and ate some delicious food that was already prepared for us. I already love rice and beans, so this is a good fit for me.
 The first night that we got here was great! We met a bunch of our neighbour kids and we played with them for hours, giving them piggy back rides, racing, and dancing with them. They are all SO cute.

                             
                        » Flying into the DR, and hanging out with our neighbours «

The first week was mostly just training meetings, getting lesson plans prepared, getting to know our neighbourhood a little bit, and visiting our schools.  ..With a couple of trips to the beach ;) But the second week was harder. We started teaching.
The kids are adorable and love you outside of class, but they can be a nightmare during school. An absolute nightmare. Each day has been getting better though, so I'm excited for the day when It's all just a routine.

              
                                 »  Lesson planing, and our little beach   «


It was actually a holiday here this weekend, so we all got to take our first vacation! We all chose to go to SamanĂĄ. There is a lot of tourists there, so naturally we checked out the markets and had some fun bartering. It poured cats and dogs the first day we were there. And of course I forgot to bring my rain jacket.
             
              
 
                                 » Paintings at the market, walking on SamanĂĄ’s Bridge to Nowhere «


The next day we tried to find a guagua to take us to the beach, but instead had somebody drive the 16 of us in his little pick-up truck. We had 5 in the truck and 11 of us in the box. It was a little scary because we were afraid that we weren't going to make it up the hills. The exhaust turned black and we went about 10 km/hr. Our driver also stopped on the side of the road to buy us all mangos from a lady that was selling them in front of her house ..I've never eaten a mango until I got here, and I don't know what took me so long! Maybe my new favourite fruit? All in all it was a good taxi ride!

          

       » These are pictures of our ride in our “guagua” and the black smoke that kept coming every time we went up a hill. «


La Playita was the beach we went to, and I have never seen white sand, or such blue water. It was the stereotypical postcard picture. I tried snorkelling for the first time, saw some sand dollars, and caught a conch! After, there was a little boy who caught a pufferfish and let us take turns holding it!

 

                      

                                                
                                                    » Panorama of La Playita beach,  and the puffer fish!!  «


We spent most of the next day whale watching. Most everyone got sea sick, but I feel like I could have stayed out there all day!  We saw a couple whales or "ballenas", and they were massive! It was hard to get a picture of them though. When we were finished, we stopped on "El Cayo Levantado" for lunch. There was a little band that played music for us while we were eating. So I have to admit that It was nice to see the touristy side of the island. But for now I'm glad to be back in my bunk bed in my little village.

                              

                                           » whale beside the other boat  «


We had such a fun time on this adventure I am excited to see what comes next!