The Teacher Man

If I had to make a list of my Top Ten favorite songs of all time, one of them would be Billy Joel's Piano Man. I like this song so much because when I close my eyes as I listen to the song, it feels like I'm transported to the scene. I can overhear Paul, the real-estate novelist talking with Davy who's still in the navy. I can hear the waitress practicing politics. I love the collection of characters this song has and how Billy Joel wrote it in such a way that you feel like you are there with them.

Here are some of the characters I have met so far in this scene called the Dominican Republic. Hopefully this gives you a better idea of what life is like for us.

Vicente - Every morning that I go to school, Vicente is working on the school grounds. He is an older man somewhere in his 60's. He is hunched over raking up leaves every morning at this time. He wears an old Pittsburgh Pirates hat that has been saturated with sweat. I walk to where he is so I can greet him. I shake his calloused hands. They are worn from years of hard work and many hours spent clutching his rake. We greet each other and wish each other a good day. I try to take my Spanish to a further level and ask him what he did over the weekend. I understand the first part but as his conversation picks up speed, he loses me as I take on the look of that deer in the headlights. There is one thing I will always remember about Vicente: his smile. No matter what job he is working at or how hot it is, he always smiles at me when he sees me. He always shifts the rake to one side and leans on it as he stops to talk to me. He never rushes our conversations to get back to his work. He takes his time as he says hello and smiles at me. I walk away from him feeling encouraged to do whatever work is before me.

Lorenzo - As I mentioned earlier, it is my job to take the trash out. Next to our dumpster is the entrance to a gated neighborhood. At the entrance is a security house where a man named Lorenzo works everyday from 7 in the morning to 7 at night. He is young, in his 30's, with dark, gelled hair. He greets me by saying "Hello, my friend." I reply to him in Spanish and then in English. He follows our greetings by telling me that I look very white today. "I know" I say, "I am very white everyday." He tells me this every time I see him so obviously 2 months here has not darkened my skin enough. He promises to teach me Spanish if I teach him English.

Simon - Simon is a 13 year old boy that lives in my apartment complex. He plays baseball in the apartment parking lot looking up to our window in an effort to catch my eye. If that doesn't work, he calls out my name. When he finally catches my attention, he asks in English if I want to play baseball. Of course, I can't turn that offer down. I quickly ask Becki for permission to go play, unlock the door, and hurry down the stairs to join him in a game of home run derby. He only speaks to me in English and I only speak to him in Spanish. We are both trying to practice the little we know of each other's language. We are unwilling to give in and speak the same language so we continue in our two-language conversations.

Manny - At the end of our street sit several taxi drivers waiting for their next customer to come by. They pass their time playing cards with the loser doing push-ups in the dirt. One of these drivers is a middle-aged man in his 40's named Manny. He always waves to us as we pass by him. He was born in Venezuela but moved to the DR after 6 months. He lived in New York City for 12 years working at a Mexican restaurant near Central Park. That experience has left him with a thick New York accent. He tries to teach us Spanish but I have no idea what he is saying. I just smile and nod because his Spanish is so rushed and slurred together. We ask him how he his doing and he replies with the same answer everyday "I can't complain." He always finds a way to work into the conversation the need for us to exercise. "You need to lift weights and walk around." We tell him that we will start soon. Then we walk off to the grocery store.

This is our life and these are the people who are here to share it with us. It is these people who make this foreign place feel more like home.