This week Pegman takes us to Haiti’s neighbor, the Dominican Republic, in the central Caribbean. Feel free to use the crazy capture I posted, or find your own photo sphere anywhere within the country’s borders.
Your assignment is to produce 150 words (or less) inspired by this week’s location. Will it be fiction? Essay? Poetry? The only limit is your imagination. After you’ve polished your piece, you can share it with other participants at the link up:
I’m back after being MIA last week and probably will be a few more times. However, when I saw Dominican Republic in my inbox I was hooked.
Genre: Memoir
Word Count: 150
HOMEWORK
There’s a special place in my heart for the Dominican Republic. However, not in the way one might think. I’ve never played on the sandy beaches of Santo Domingo nor lounged under its palm trees beside the Caribbean Sea.
From 1964-65 I was in 6th grade. Our teacher, Mrs. Humo, assigned each student a country to study for the entire school year. This included keeping track of current events.
Those lucky ducks given Laos and Vietnam, as you might imagine, had much to report and clipped tons of newspaper articles. Not so for the hapless girl assigned the República Dominicana.
I diligently studied, drew detailed maps and combed the Kansas City Star for any news of my tiny tropical island. Nada.
The following spring, after I’d moved on to the trials of junior high, revolution broke out. The Dominican Republic headlined the news. What? They couldn’t have revolted last year?
Oh my word, this cracks me up! What an amusing connection to this location. I can relate. For me, it was native peoples of Bolivia.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear Karen,
It’s funny how those things stick with you. All those years ago and I still feel somehow connected to the Dominican Republic. 😀 Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s funny. We had an international pot luck as part of our world studies. I had England (lucky duck) and my brother had Ecuador. For the pot luck, dad insisted on helping me make steak and kidney pie and my brother make blue corn gruel. The pie smelled like a skid row alley because the kidneys were still full of urine. Also, there wasn’t blue corn available, so they used food coloring in yellow corn meal and came up with leprechaun green mush. So much for world cuisine!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Dear Josh,
Your powers of description make me never want to try kidney pie. What can I say? The DR and I will forever be oddly connected. 😉 Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLike
Euwww…
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh dear, a steak and kidney pie gone wrong is a foul-smelling thing. Perhaps you needed to swap that chef’s hat for a bowler hat, Josh, and if still not joy rustled up some fried fish and chips. 🤣
LikeLiked by 1 person
Rats! Revolution once a century and you had to miss it! 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Right, Christine? Very inconsiderate if you ask me. 😉 Thank you for coming by.
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLiked by 1 person
It brings to mind a The Wizard of Id cartoon I saw years ago where someone yells, “The peasants are revolting.” and he replies, “You can say that again!” It’s unfair sometimes, isn’t it. you do an assignment or project and struggle. A week later what you needed just pops up and you’re like, “Aaaargh!!!”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear Lyn,
Exactly! That said, I loved the Wizard of Id! Thank you so much for reading and relating. 😀
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLiked by 1 person
Obviously, they didn’t get news of your assignment for a year. Slow communications I guess. Lol. Nicely written piece. Love the humor.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Dear Jan
There was definitely a failure to communicate. 😉 Thanks m’luv.
LikeLike
Dear Rochelle,
That was hilarious. It is the most inane things that stick in our memory files, isn’t it?
Lotsa love,
Dale
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear Dale,
It is weird what sticks. Forever after that I’ve felt somehow linked to the Dominican Republic. A sense of ownership. Craziness. Happy to humor. 😀
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love It!
LikeLike
How dare they disappoint a sixth-grader! The nerve! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear James,
Yes they did have a lot of nerve. 😉
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLiked by 1 person
What were they thinking? In the future, schoolkids will be consulted first before holding a revolution. Funny stuff, Rochelle! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear Eric,
It really was inconsiderate of the revolutionaries to wait a year. Harumph! 😉 Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sweet memoir.
LikeLike
I was graduating college that year.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow Ted. You are a couple of year older than me. 😉 And still going strong! Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLike
Haha. Crazy stuff. I have this high school flash backs all of a sudden as well when a word or a random phrase takes me back. I am glad they revolted a year later, which is how we got this funny story😂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear Lavanya,
Do we ever really leave those years behind? 😉 Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am glad we don’t. Nostalgia serves its purpose on many a boring work day and often brings a smile.
LikeLiked by 1 person
When I was in about 4th to 6th grades at my school we weren’t encouraged to read newspapers but just read what was in the textbooks. The newspapers were probably full of the Korean War. I remember reading about and seeing a picture of terraced rice paddies in China. It was so different from anything I had known it impressed me. I also remember in the early 40’s the National Geographic copies my parents possessed had a lot of pictures of the islands as it was during WWII. I couldn’t read yet but the pictures were pretty with all the palm trees and beaches. Good writing as always, Rochelle 🙂 — Suzanne
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear Suzanne,
About all I remember of the newspapers as a small child are the Sunday Funnies…Brenda Starr, Steve Canyon and Peanuts were among my favorites.;) Thank you for reading and saying something nice as always. 😀
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLike
I remember the Funnies of the time and the strips you mentioned. At one time the Strip Brenda Starr used to have a paper doll of Brenda and clothes for it. 🙂 — Suzanne
LikeLiked by 1 person
Loved the glimpse of the child you in school, doing her best with her assigned country. And the wonderfully wry ending ! At least you must have learnt a lot about the Dominican Republic.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear Francine,
It’s true. I did learn a lot about the Dominican Republic. .To this day I retain a sense of ownership. 😉 Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLike
That was really funny Rochelle and something that one can instantly relate to 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear Dahlia,
It seems world-wide we were all children and students. 😉 Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLike
That was a great take on the prompt! You told the story with charm and a lovely tongue-in-cheek twist!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear Penny,
What a lovely thing to say. 😀 Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s true. It’s not true. Is it true? Or is it fiction? Whatever this piece is, it is most entertaining. Shalom, Rochelle.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear Kelvin,
This one is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. 😀 One of those things I can look back on. 😉 Glad it entertained. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love the thought you were scanning the headlines for a year, only for revolution to break out the year after – you must have been so miffed! Can you still remember any facts and figures about the DR? Crops, population, GDP? As you say, funny how these things stay with us.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear Lynn,
I can’t say that I remember a lot about the DR, only all the work put into the project and feeling panic-stricken that when it came time to report on current events I had basically nothing. I do remember making maps and feeling satisfied with the details. At least I could draw. 😉 Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes, you must have had one of the best illustrated projects handed in that year! 🙂
LikeLike
Damned inconsiderate of them 🙂 I hope she/you got a good mark for the work anyway. Fun!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear Ali
I don’t really remember what my grade was for the project. At any rate there will always be that little connection for me for the DR. Yes, the story’s completely true. 😉 Thank you for coming by.
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love your sense of humour. 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you, Magarisa. 😀
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLiked by 1 person
I remember doing homework like that, though I don’t remember it being very interesting. I think part of it (as you hint at) was being to young to properly understand things like politics. When I was in the later years of middle school I started reading about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict which was breaking out again at the time, and I felt I had a better grasp of the topic than the stuff I read when I was younger.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear JM
By the time I was in junior high, everything was about Vietnam. I learned more about politics then than I ever wanted to know. 😉 Thanks for coming by and taking the time to comment. This is why I love these blog challenges.
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLiked by 1 person
It helps to have an assignment that coincides with current events. At least the better~late~than~never connection provoked an interest in what was happening
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear Larry,
My lament was that there weren’t any current events interesting enough to make the news. By the time the DR made the news I’d moved on. Thanks for coming by, stranger.
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes current events can be inconvenient that way.
LikeLike