A Very Dominican Christmas - Part 1

Ever since four days after my wedding, I have been very aware that I was not going to be going back to the states for Christmas.  It has been a journey for me accepting that fact, which was somewhat more difficult than I thought it would be.  A couple days ago, God opened my eyes and reminded me that yes, this will be my first Christmas without my family, but it is also my first Christmas that I would be celebrating with Eddy.  I have 29 years of Christmas memories with my family and this year I will be creating my first set of Christmas memories with my husband.  I decided to embrace and enjoy my first Dominican Christmas and be prepared for anything.

Yesterday was December 23.  All of the family parties here are celebrated on Christmas Eve night, and the most prevalent tradition is that everyone eats roasted pork on Christmas.  Yesterday was an eye-opening day of learning about pig roasts.  First, in the afternoon, I heard the pigs screaming on their way to slaughter.  Apparently, they somehow know that they are on their way to slaughter and scream all the way to the slaughter house.  It is a very unpleasant sound.

Later in the evening, we walked over to Eddy's mom's house to talk for a while and then stopped by his aunt's house to visit them as well.  It was after 10, so I was already thinking about going to bed.  However, they invited us to come back, because they wanted me to go with them to go visit the pigs roasts that were happening in the area.  They wanted us to come back in two hours, but we convinced them to go in one hour.  They told me that I needed to learn that on the 23rd and 24th, you don't sleep.  So at 11, we went out walking, Eddy and I with his aunt and uncle and about 7 other cousins.  Usually, we don't go out at all at night, let alone walking far distances, but since it was the 23rd of December, everyone is still up and out, plus we had a big group, so it was safe.  The first place we stopped was right down the street and they had about 10 pigs roasting, however it was close to a colmado, so there were a lot of people around and I (as an American) was drawing a lot of attention, so we kept on walking.

We walked for almost a half an hour, in the rain, on a dirt road full of holes, rocks and mud to get to the next pig roast.  It was very dark and there were no lights, so the walking was difficult.  This pig roast was at the house of one of Eddy's cousins so it was safer and more relaxed.  They had between 20 and 30 pigs roasting.  There were a group of men working there, that would be staying up all night to continue turning and roasting the pigs.  When we arrived, the first thing we heard was the snorting of a very large, live pig in a pen nearby.  Then I saw the pig-roasting hut with two levels of pigs being roasted.  Nearby there were two boys between the ages of 7 and 10 plucking the feathers out of two chickens.  In the time that we were there they plucked all the feathers, cut the heads off and then put them on a wooden stick to roast them.

Most of the time, I tried my best to stay pretty far away from the action. Everyone kept saying to me, "son bonito no Carolina?"  Which translates to "they are beautiful, aren't they Carrie?"  Umm.... beautiful is not the word I would have used.   Also, Eddy's family does not really take no for an answer so at one point they did make me go over to take a couple pictures.  In order to do that I had to pass by where the chickens had been.  My goals was to not step on one of the chicken heads laying on the ground, not look completely freaked out, and not hit my head.  I did succeed in not stepping on the heads, but I think I failed in my other two goals.

the first stop

hanging out after a long walk

a few of the pigs

the pig roasting shack

They were very proud of their chickens.

right after the chicken head incident

Eventually we did head out on our 30 minute walk back home.  Luckily it had stopped raining by then.  On the way home I asked Eddy if they only did that for me.  But he explained that it is a tradition of theirs to go out late at night on the 23rd to visit and see the pigs being roasted.  So, my first Dominican Christmas tradition completed.  Eddy commented that I am probably the only American ever to see a Dominican pig roast in that way.  It does make me feel good that Eddy's family doesn't really think of me as "american" anymore.  I'm just Carolina to them.  And I am thankful that I have the opportunity to be a part of a Dominican family and that I get to witness things that are very "Dominican" and that many Americans that live here do not ever get to be a part of.

I do not know what today will bring.  I do know that I will be expected to eat a lot of pork, so hopefully I am able to find a way to do that.  I also know that tomorrow I will have plenty of things to write about.