La Cienega is the poor neighborhood in Cabarete. It is the home to many of the staff and students of Tres Mariposas. The area is made up of mostly Dominicans and Haitians. homes and infrastructure is made on top of the swampy land that sits on top of. People who live in this area are much happier than people in America. There is also alot friendlier, they smile and speak to you when you pass by them. Altough the are is made up of "good neighbors" It is also very dangerous. People often steal by grabbing purses or electronic devices. They also walk around carelessly with weapons. While on our first tour of LaCienaga we saw a man riding around on a moto with a machete in his hand. This immediately frightened me and scared me for the future timwsa we had to walk through that area to get to where our host families stayed. This area actually reminds me of poor parts of Buffalo. The climate of the two areas are different which makes the Dominican's living situation seem much worse. I believe that if Buffalo had a much warmer climate a;; year around and there were a few less resources, houses of impoverished people would probably look like this. The climate is a huge reason why houses have insulation and proper closures and fixtures around the house. In the Dominican Republic the size of an average families living room and kitchen is most likely the size of a families house. My host mother is a mother of 9 and she lives in a hpuse that had a very small kitchen, dining area and a section closed off that counted for the rest of her two bedroom house. Some people in America have two bedrooms for themselves and they had to split it among 9. |