Virgen de Altagracia

So yesterday, Monday the 21st of January, while you were celebrating the death of Martin Luther King Jr. I was celebrating the feast day of the Virgen de Altagracia. It is a big holiday here, with tons of people making a pilgrimage to the Cathedral in the eastern part of the country honoring her. On a previous trip to Punta Cana we passed by the Cathedral and here is a picture of it.


As usual, I was kind of left in the dark as to what we were doing to celebrate it. On Sunday my project partner asked me if I was going to go to church at around 3:30. For once I was actually happy that they told me the plans before hand. So, Monday comes around, and I figured I had the whole morning to relax, but it turns out that at around 11 my project partner comes to get me and tells me there is a vela, which is the word they use for what we call a wake, but it also means just a vigil as well. As always, I was not bathed at this point, but I told just to wait a few minutes for me to get ready, because I thought I would end the streak of always showing up to places all dirty. He ended up going without me, but my host brother waited for me. I've become pretty fast at taking bucket baths. In the beginning they would take forever, but now just a few strategic pours and I'm out of there. I actually find the cold water quite refreshing, but that first pour is always a little shocking.

We went up to where they were holding the vigil, and there were probably at least 75 people there, probably more, but my crowd estimating skills are a little shabby. It was just sort of a big family/neighborhood party where everyone makes their appearance, says hi to everyone, does a little small talk and then leaves. My project partner introduced me to one of the people who used to live in our town, moved to the U.S. for about 15 years, and now lives in Santiago. He spoke English pretty well and he is a pretty good contact to have, as he told us he would definitely help us out with the project.

As usual, Dominicans love to feed people, so I ended up having two lunches that day, along with a snack of crackers and juice. As 3:30 was coming around I was wondering if we were going to go to church, but it never happened. So now, people are starting to tell me what the plans are, but they're incorrect. At least we're making a small step forward. So I got out of having to go to church, which I was relieved, although I know it's probably inevitable.