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When I was younger, I sometimes went off the beaten path. This wasn’t always a smart thing to do. Listen to learn why.
During one of my many trips to the Dominican Republic, I once traveled from the Capitol to a place called La Vega. That’s not a big deal itself, but the story is that I didn’t take a plane or a fancy bus, etc. I took this trip using unofficial local public transportation. Let me put it this way, I remember being on a bus with a live chicken. I can’t remember all that much from these days, but I’ve never forgotten the chicken when I think of this trip. When I think back to this now and some of the events that occurred, I realize that I took some highly unnecessary risks during this trip.
For one, I had no real idea what I was doing or where I was going. I had only received some verbal directions on where to go and connect to the next leg of the trip. It wasn’t like taking the MTA, but like an unofficial civilian run kind of route. If I remember correctly (I might not) it’s kind of like the “underground” Flushing bus you can take back and forth from Chinatown. It’s known, scheduled, but not a government or official route. So the whole time I was uneasy and hoping I did not end up getting lost out there.
Second, I’m not a local and the people I encountered know that. I had a few encounters with some individuals who were testing to determine if I had my wits about me. “You lost friend, come here and talk to us, we’ll help you out.” Fortunately, I speak Spanish and had visited Santo Domingo often enough to sound knowledgeable despite my appearance and mannerisms. Mind you, the same thing happened to me when visiting Puerto Rico. I’m Puerto Rican, but they know I’m not local and will also try to take advantage of an outsider.
After meeting up with my ex-wife on a different leg of the trip, we encountered a situation that could have gone really bad. Some guys were trying to hit on my ex-wife, thinking that I didn’t speak Spanish and that I was probably an easy target.
“What are you doing with that white boy, you need to be with us.”
They were sitting behind us so I rose up from my seat, stood my ground, and made it very clear in Spanish that this was my wife and I wasn’t some tourist they were going to take advantage of. They pushed back further, testing whether I was serious, and I made it known that I was not backing down. “So what’s up bro?”
This is where I draw the line and I won’t be backing down. They then calmed down and backed off, but I know that could have gone really badly for me. That said, sitting there and doing nothing could have also escalated the situation, so I opted for the more assertive option. Sometimes people want to see whether you will stand your ground or not.
I can’t remember all of the details of this trip, but I’d strongly encourage that tourists or those not familiar with a country stick to the beaten path. When visiting a foreign country the risks of going off the established route are far too great. I’m not sure what possessed me to do this, but all things considered I think I was very lucky during this trip.
By the way, I did eventually make it to La Vega and had a wonderful time with my ex-wife’s family. The country is beautiful and don’t let my story discourage you from visiting. This is not meant to be disparaging to the country where my son was born. I just happened to take a long full day trip whilst completely unaware of what I was doing. That’s never smart and a risky thing in any country.
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