Bola Race 2011

Bola Race

In April all of the volunteer in country hitchhiked from one part of the country to another, getting free rides called “bolas” along the way until reaching the destination.   In the Dominican Republic hitchhiking is not considered dangerous.  Because gas is so expensive and the necessities of everyday living are so scarce people don’t mind helping one another along the way.  I always wonder if the Dominican Republic changed into a much prosperous, income generating country, would all the people be so happy and filled with joy over the littlest things and be willing to give a stranger a ride down the road, not for money but for their conversation?  Well anyway, all the volunteer met in Santiago. the north western part of the county to meet in a centralized location.  All the teams dressed in costumes and had a story for why they were dressed like that and why they needed a “bola”.  Tina, our friend Libby, and I were dressed in our swim suits and our alibi was that we got robbed and needed to get back to our hotel.

We all met at a mutual place in the morning with costumes on.  We took photos and then were told by the event coordinators where we were going: Las Galeras Peninsula de Samana.  This is a peninsula on the north tip of the island to which we had never been.  As soon as we were told where to go we all ran around trying to figure out in what direction we would go. Our team decided to walk the way everyone else was. As we looked up there was a pickup truck filled with volunteers in the back with smiles screaming “adios”.  We flagged down an actual taxi to give us a free ride which he agreed to do.  Driving away, my ever so kind wife flagged down two other volunteers to get in as well.  Without even thinking about the actual competition of the race, she decided to share the fun experience with other volunteers, which is the real point and not the actual race.  We ended up doing the whole race together, the five of us. 

Their story was that they were representatives of the Dominican beer company “Presidente”.  They wore “Presidente” shirts and hats, which made them seem like presidents or gods in this country.    During our first bola we needed to open a bottle, but no one had a bottle opener.  Resourceful, like most people who don’t have many resources are, the “chofer” opened the bottle with his teeth, which I have only seen done once, by my friend Dale.  Cheers to starting the fun adventure.  He gave us a ride to the main “autopista” in the direction of our destination.  We then flagged down a Daihatsu pickup truck.  I will never forget the view standing up in the back of the truck looking out at all the agriculture in this beautiful country.  Even without the help of the strong wind, I would’ve still had a smile plastered on my face the entire ride.

After 11 different “bolas” (including 2 Mercedes), and 7 hours later, we reached the Samana Peninsula.  Fittingly, the last bola to drive up the mountain viewing the lush green mountains and crystal blue water was from the back of a pickup truck, just the five of us.  The bola let us off and we walked to our hotel with a warm greeting from the other volunteers who made it before us.  We then stripped down and jumped in the pool sharing what craziness happened along the way. 

Refection de Dominic:

Not all people can get someone to stop for them and receive a free ride.  It does help that you are female in this country and the biggest bonus of all is that you are “blanca tambien”.  There was a team of two, one African American girl who had dreadlocks and one Indian guy, (from India Indian) with dark skin.  They did not arrive till very late at night and had to end up paying normal public transport to reach the destination.  Why do you think they were the only ones that had a hard time?  What I think happened was that they thought the AA girl was Haitian which this county has a deep resentment to Haitians “ya tu sabes”, and the Indian guy was a random Dominican looking for a free ride.  This county has an infatuation with Americans.  In my opinion it’s because American are always bringing things such as tourists with money to spend or  volunteers giving a helping hand with building houses or churches.  And there is always the infatuation of getting out of the D.R. and moving to a place with more opportunity.  Has all this help made Dominicans too dependent on others?

Regardless I had fun at the Bola Race 2011 and here are some photos along the way…