Disorganized Dominicans

The extent to which these people are disorganized is going to stress me into an infarction by the time I leave. The most interesting part about their lack of organization is their pride that they are, in fact, organized.

For example, Professor Valdez, who teaches a class on community medicine (and by teaching I mean she gave us a huge packet that we are expected to learn on our own because she doesn't do anything in class but babble about nothing of relevance), requires that we work in a clinic in the city for 4 of our next five class periods. We will go at 3 and return at 6 and are expected to aid the doctors. THE DOCTORS GET OFF WORK AT 330!! We told her this and she said we were lying and/or mistaken. I know that my Spanish is not super, but I don't think that it was possible for my group AND 11 other groups to all misunderstand the same message. Essentially while she thinks we're taking blood pressure (not because of our lack of informing her, but because of her inability to admit she planned something poorly) we will really be paraded around the town on foot so all the Dominican nurses can show off their gringos. Fabulous.

And yes, I do mean paraded around town. There are not many Americans who visit the inner parts of the island and therefore, the people are not accustomed to seeing white skinned people in person. While I was expecting a certain amount of staring, I was not ready for the shouts and pointing that incessantly follows us around. And those Dominicans that are lucky enough to be walking around with us are celebrities. The upside to being white is that we get a certain amount of things free. Corner stores may comp us an item, people will give us snacks, and we can get to the front of the line faster. White privilege has a whole new meaning here.