Today

Today I realized that the kids I'm teaching to read may have a hard time retaining information because they're not getting the majority of the vitamins and minerals that they need for mental and physical development. Anyone wanna send some Flinstone vitamins?

Today I laughed at the sight of two motorcyclists with used rice sacks mounted on their bikes as if they were saddlebags, each stuffed with live, medium size, fuzzy pigs.

Today I said no to a ride on a motorcycle (with my bag) in which I was expected to ride squished in between a preteen boy and snaggle-tooth the motorcycle driver. Sometimes, you just have to be a little bit picky. And when I did get on a different motorcycle, I was distracted by the weird but common stickers: one yellow sick-face, and one angry black skull with a third red eye. Strange.

Today I realized that taking these motorcycle rides is like watching a movie of the DR. All the bits and pieces of the view that I see, like someone carrying buckets to a water source or a doña sweeping her dirt yard, seem much less like a part of my life when I'm zooming by and headed to the city.

Today I did NOT smack the man sitting next to me on a bus, as he noisily rearranged his mucus, sucked his teeth, and readjusted his crotch, all the way to the capital. But I really wanted to.

Today, on this same bus, I recognized a sweets-seller who had ridden with me the last time I made this journey to the capital. This really is a small country.