Holy Week in the Dominican Republic

From the earliest times, in Christianity, Holy week starts with Palm Sunday, with the celebration of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The Holy week is the last week of the 40 days season of Lent and the week preceding Easter, it is the last week of Christ’s life, remembering especially His passion and resurrection. Easter is the celebration of Christ’s resurrection, the victory over sin, death and the devil, as well as, the promise of our justification and everlasting life….

In the New World, Christianity started in the Dominican Republic, introduced by the Spanish conquerors, however with the mixture of Spaniards and African slaves, some changes in costumes and beliefs occurred. Most of our ancestors were Catholics, lead by the Roman Catholic Church.

Still in the sixties in the Dominican Republic, every catholic family would stay true to the religious traditions of that time to be observed during the Holy week!

In that time for our catholic families, going to the beach or to the rivers during the Holy week was unthinkable, inconceivable. Nobody dared going to swim on Holy Friday, for you would turn into a mermaid or something unpredictable!!

On Holy Friday, the children were ordered to stay in their bedrooms, without making any noise; food (no meat permitted) would be served in the room! The special treat would be the traditional sweet red beans! No cleaning or household job was allowed, no music could be heard but the religious or classic music! All the stores, restaurants, supermarkets, etc. were closed, everybody stayed home, watching a movie of the bible, it was like a national curfew!!

But this tradition started to change with the new generations, growing population, foreign influences and the Dominicans slowly started going to the beach, to the rivers, spending the whole Holy week at a resort or just visiting families of the countryside, the main purpose is to have a good time!

Nowadays, the supermarkets have special offers for the Holy Week, they make huge sales, and since schools are closed during the whole Holy Week, many families start leaving the city, traffic jams start slowing down and by Holy Thursday afternoon, it’s a completely different ambience! Those who stay in the city of Santo Domingo take it easy, with no traffic jam, they have the streets for themselves and driving becomes enjoyable.

But at the end one can start thinking: Was the Holy Week established as an excuse for us to have vacation or was it to meditate on the suffering and sacrifice for humanity of the man called Jesus Christ, as appearing in the bible?  

“To be or not to be, that’s the question” (Williams Shakespeare’s play Hamlet)

It's all time coffee time in the Dominican Republic!

Coffee plants have their origin in Africa, and our first coffee plant is originally from Ethiopia.

In the time of the colonization of the Americas, the Dutch are said to have introduced the coffee plant (Coffea Arabica L) between 1726 and 1735 to Surinam and from the French island of Martinique to the island of Saint Domingue (the island of Hispaniola), specifically to the west side of the island, that is Haiti and from there it was introduced in the eastern side of the island, that is now Dominican Republic.

 It is believed that the first seeds were planted by the Spaniards in the provinces of Barahona, the region of our unique national stone Larimar, and Neyba. The first coffee company with industrial production and internal commerce was registered in the Dominican Republic in December 12, 1917! The coffee export business started in 1935 with the largest coffee plantations located in Barahona!

Since the native Indians didn’t know coffee and by the time it arrived in the eastern side of the Hispaniola, few of them were still alive, we assume our coffee habits started with our Spanish heritage and followed by our African heritage!

Coffee became part of our Dominican tradition; every day we start with the first cup of coffee when we wake up, before breakfast, than we have a cup of coffee when we arrive at work, then we have another cup of coffee when we take a break, another cup of coffee after we had our midday meal, then we have a cup of coffee later on in the afternoon and there are those who still have another cup of coffee in the evening.

The first thing you will be asked when visiting a Dominican family is “would you like a cup of coffee?” If you are in the city or in a town, the cup of coffee will be served pure and you will add the white or brown sugar as per your taste, but if you are in a rural area, most probably you will be served the coffee already sweetened!. The Dominican coffee is really dark black, more like a turkish coffee!

With the cup of coffee, depending where the cup of coffee has been offered to you, comes a conversation that will have to do with business, a job application, a family update, an interesting gossip, politics, sports, etc. If the Dominican coffee drinker is superstitious, specially she would love to have somebody read her empty cup of coffee turned upside down so that the drops left in the cup will form “figures” after being dried on the burner. The specialist in this “art” will foretell future and the future of the future!!!

Coffee will be the used to keep us awake, you’ll find it in the funeral house as a treat, on the street, oh yes; we have hot coffee vendors on the street!    

Within the eco tourism programs in the Dominican Republic you’ll find the Coffee Routes, which will bring you in contact with coffee agriculturists of the area, enjoy their folklore in their natural environment. This will encourage them to reforestation, to identify themselves with their habitat and activate their cultural traditions.

Consider including in your forthcoming visit to the Dominican Republic an eco tour, private or in group, and have the experience of drinking a cup of authentic Dominican coffee of the rural area, prepared either in an espresso coffee pot or made the original way, that is, coffee beans are dried in the sun, roasted and grinded, this ground coffee is placed in a homemade cloth filter, resembling a small butterfly net, “colador”, evoking nostalgia for those good old times and boiling water is then poured in the “colador”, strained or sieved and served in a typical metal or ceramic cup! This ground coffee is called “cafe de pilón”, very, very tasty!

Be Dominican, Be Happy!

We always find a way to make it fun!

Dominican Republic occupies the estern side of the Hispaniola Island while Haiti is on the western side of the Island.

When Christopher Columbus discovered this island, he felt in love with its exuberant tropical beauty, sea waters, rivers, mountains!!! What the poor, innocent Taino indians who lived happily on the Hispaniola island, didn’t know was that the arrival of these Spanish conquerors would mark their destiny, no matter how they resisted, only a few of them would survive the mistreatment, diseases and heavy work they had to do. So the Spaniards realized these Indians were not strong enough and decided to bring Africans to the Hispaniola to help the Indians and do heavy jobs.

Playing Dominoes, that's always a must!

The Spaniards brought their culture, the Taino Indian and the African had their own cultures and so the Spaniards first mixed with Taino women and then they were attracted by the dark colored skin of the African women and also mixed with them and for sure some Africans must have mixed with Taino women!  All these mixture of races, cultures and beliefs gave birth to the Dominican people and their folklore!

We Dominicans love to dance, to make jokes of every situation, to get together and have a good time, to play dominoes, speak loud, we also love baseball and follow the Dominican baseball players in every game abroad, we like to put nicknames and this is so common, that when somebody dies, we'll have to mention the nickname to identify the death person! Beer and rum will always be part of every activity and the soft drinks for the children and oldies! There is always a reason for getting together and celebrate, everybody will gladly cooperate with their share, this can be at home, at the beach, on the countryside, at the river, etc!

On the river with drinks in hands!

Xmas is the time of the year when families get together, those who are living abroad come to join their loved ones and it is a non-stop celebration, joined by friends and neighbors!!

If the Dominican government wants to avoid a national hysteria, eggs, salami, chicken, plantain, rice, coffee and red beans must be always available!

Did we mention that we love dancing?!

 The Dominican Republic was occupied from 1822 to 1844 by Haiti and had thirty years of dictatorship from 1930 to 1961 lead by Trujillo, followed by a revolution in 1965 as well as some other difficult experiences, through which the Dominican people learned to cope with every situation and make the best of the worst, to keep smiling and carry on, not to worry be happy no matter what! 

Come and visit the Dominican Republic, you will be enchanted with its breathtaking, secluded beaches, awesome tropical scenery and warm, friendly people, always ready to assist you!  Dominican Republic has it all!!