Discovering the Dominican

Where I come from Sundays are still considered “a day of rest”. Local businesses tend to be closed, or at least closed early, and there are definitely no parties. Sundays in the Dominican Republic are quite a bit livelier. They are a day to be seen, to stroll along the malecon or spend the day at the local beach with loud music echoing off into the distance. In essence Sundays are still a day to spend with family members, in addition to some drinking and dancing.

It was very fitting that I should experience my first Dominican Sunday in the capital of Santo Domingo. It all started off innocently enough. A young employee at my hotel asked my uncle and I if we would be interested in seeing some dancing that evening. I imagined beautiful women in colourful costumes with their hair slicked back and lips painted red, dancing gracefully in a large plaza underneath the dying sun. The dancing, as it turned out, was one and the same as a concert that I had already made note of. "Sundays with Bonye” it was called. “Bachata, merengue and surprise presentations of leading Dominican artists and foreign guests happens all the time on Sundays, as the sun sets on the Ruins of San Francisco in the Colonial City of Santo Domingo.”

My imagination wasn’t too far off either. There were women in costume dancing upon our arrival, but the surroundings were a bit different than I had pictured. We ascended a cobblestone street up a hill to the aforementioned ruins. The band was playing underneath the towering walls and people were draped all over the long stone steps. Plastic chairs and tables had been set up wherever there was open space. Many onlookers, myself included, simply stood with a cerveza in hand from one of the nearby ‘hole in the wall’ bars.

At some point the costumed dancers were replaced with everyone and anyone. Young and old, couples and strangers all intermingled on the “dance floor.” Many more stood and danced at their seats. The music had hold of anyone who dared to listen, its spell broken only for 5 to 10 minutes of light rainfall.

As the evening wound its way to a close, we found ourselves in the shelter of an adjacent burger joint. I ate one of the most delicious burgers I’ve ever had while Christmas lights twinkled behind me, and the dancing and music continued on into the night. In the satisfaction of that moment, I remember thinking that if every city had something similar to this, the world would truly be a better place.