Mio

This site is so innactive it's unbelievable. Blame it on me having a full time job and playing of being a responsible adult. So, lately I've been finally inspired to write some of my inner thoughts. The source of this sudden inspiration is this special friend I met. He makes me paint, he makes me write, he makes me sing. That's when I know I am truly in love and that's a feeling I didn't experience since I was way younger. So here I'll leave you with the first composition of a bunch yet to come.
Disclaimer: it's all written in spanish. Pardon, anglo friends.

                                                                        

                                                                         "Mio"

Suelo callarme los pensamientos pero mi mirada grita la verdad. Él la escucha. No llego a comprender su arte de navegar en mis entrañas como si fuesen mares ya explorados y tierras conocidas. Me pregunto si lo aprendió de esos grandes exploradores que encuentras en libros de historia.

Después de un rato de charlar él me miró fijamente, tan fijo como si analizara cada centímetro de mi piel, como si viese cada hebra de mi pelo por separado o como si sus ojos se encrustaran en los míos. El tiempo se congeló por unos instantes y oí su voz decir: "me encantas". ¡Oh, dulce melodía! En ese momento supe que yo le pertenecía a él y él a mi y que no importaba lo que fuese ser del mañana, el era mi presente y no iba a desaprovecharlo por miedo al desconcertante futuro.

Tengo la teoría de que tal vez nuestros átomos alguna vez fueron lo mismo. Mi piel desesperadamente se arrastra hacia el brote de agua que es su amor, para apaciguar el ardor que provoca el no estar cerca de él. Lo necesito. Es todo lo que resuena en mi mente. Necesito de su calor y del tibio refugio que me brinda su sonrisa.

Para S.P.R.R.

Dominican Police and their discrimination against homosexuals

Dominican Law Enforcement police officers.

After all the time living in the Dominican Republic, the outrageous cases of discrimination against homosexuals haven't been a big surprise to me. The anti-LGBT culture is something we as Dominicans witness in our everyday lives, affecting friends and acquaintances that happen to be part of that community, either it happens because of the country's religious background (Catholicism being the main religion with a 68.9% of the population professing to be Roman Catholic) or simply because of any other cultural aspects. But in spite of that, knowing the state in which my country currently is (some kind of shameful, pitiful condition which reflects contempt for human rights and takes possession of underdeveloped minds) and me seeing it as not acceptable, I tried hard to accept and understand that it was just part of the culture. As much as I wanted it to change, one can't simply wash the whole country's mind and make them have a different perspective or point of view on a subject. This state of acknowledging what my culture was in took a complete twist when while watching the local news this afternoon my ears caught the words in spanish: '' La Policía Nacional indicó que la instuición tiene una ley interna que prohibe el ingreso de homosexuales en sus filas" (read whole story here), which, summed up means ''The Dominican National Police says their internal laws prohibit homosexuals and lesbians to be part of the police ranks''. This implies that as soon as they discover or you publicly declare your sexuality that isn't what they'd call "conventional" then you should pack your bags and just leave. Did I say "should"? It's a must; it's a law that according to them, MUST be fulfilled. 

I don't know if I had ever felt any more incensed about anything in my whole life. The words stroked me and echoed for a while in my head while my mouth dropped and my lips formed a perfect ''o''. I knew the people of my country (the majority) thought of gays as people who were in this sort of ''deviant'', "unholy"condition, but I never ever thought we'd go to the extreme of making laws to not accept them into public institutions such as our National Police corp (equivalent of Law enforcement in the United States). Where did the equality go? How about the people whose desire is to do their duty and work in our Nation's favor? How about forgetting whichever sexuality an individual has and just accept him/her as the PERSON he/she is? Will they ever start to see homosexuals as people that have the traits, skills and the will to serve our country regardless their sexual orientation? I want to encourage, not just Dominicans but everyone who see this as a MAJOR human rights violation, to try to let people know that the individual (along with their capacity, knowledge...) is all that matters and that we should respect the decisions they've taken about how to live their lives, as well as their inborn orientation. Maybe this will make this country, and our world, change for the better. And whoever you are out there, struggling with discrimination against LGBTs in an underdeveloped country (where is more likely to happen than in major countries due to cultural lag) hang in there, and know that there's people that still value individuals for what they are and not their sexual, racial, religious and economical condition. And as the Pope Francis has recently stated "Who am I to judge?".

The comeback (not) of the year

Hey! This is an introductory post since I never actually had the chance to do it myself. I've posted some stuff before (which now I read and make completely no sense) and I've decided it's a good time to come and post some actually interesting stuff [I was 17 by then, don't blame me (not that being 19 will make any big difference neither)].

I won't label this site, I'll just make it as random as possible, and I'll try to make of my ideas and thoughts actual understandable statements!

I'll try to write either songs or poems as well as my opinion on music, current events, films, random things!

-Abby

The beach: more than sun and fun.

I live in La Romana, Dominican Republic, which is a city located off the Caribbean coast, that means, of course, we are surrounded by beautiful beaches of the Caribbean Sea. It's a normal thing for people go to the beach on weekends, holidays and stuff. So it is for my family. We normally enjoy going out, that's what we do the most as a family. Just a few days ago we were around the Bayahibe-Dominicus area, which is just 20 minutes away from our place, and we spent 3 days at the beach house. Everything was perfect: salty breeze blowing, the smell of the just-caught lobsters, the sun shining bright (maybe a little too bright since I got severe sunburns) until the clouds went grey and it started raining, just like that. I know, raining in paradise, but yes, it happens. It wasn't raining only, but storming, thundering and lightening. I never saw water falling from the sky this much. The average person would think their vacation was just ruined, in the other hand, that was not what I was thinking. We dominicans are dark skinned, not brown, not black, but ''morenos'', so the sun and getting tanned issue is not that relevant for us (especially me) as for others, actually we use sunblock instead of tanning lotion, we don't need to get any darker (at least we want to brag about how fabulous our weekend was). The thing is, I was actually happy for the overcast and raining stuff. That meant just one thing: I can finally enjoy the beach with no worries, I can finally lay there without thinking about the sun burning my skin. The beach, for me, is one of the greatest places I can go to. I feel like I'm connected to another random world. Have you ever felt like you're right in the place you have to be? or like if the moment was meant to be? That's how I feel about going to the beach. I see the ocean, I think about how small our planet is, and so big at the same time. The water I'm seeing in front of me is the same as in India, Russia, Argentina, France, Singapore... There's something connecting us. 

Other of the greatest things I've experienced is the feeling of walking barefoot on the white and warm sandy beaches, while the cold wind is blowing, as the cold raindrops are falling. Cold is a great feeling, it's like if you were depending on something, seeking desperately for a warm touch. Heat, is like if you don't need anything more, because what you need is close to you. When you have both sensations then you realize how surreal the world is, how mystic can any moment be. I don't see the beach as just a place where you find girls showing their bikinis, hot boys playing beach volleyball, loud music and just lay on a beach ''chaise longue''. I see the beach as a place where I can think about how great and wonderful our planet is, how perfectly is everything made and how lucky I am for living in paradise.

Who is the most important intellectual alive today . Latinos Ideals.

When the idea of an ‘’intellectual’’ passes through my mind I don’t think of somebody that just has an outstanding mind or a brilliant form of intelligence. I think of an ‘’intellectual’’ as a person who actually uses his mind to create things which can help in the creation of the world as a better place.

Based on this concept, the most important intellectual alive today is Ernesto Nieto, the National Hispanic Institute founder and president.  Why? Because he has been a leader for the Latino youth, creating a second generation of leaders, teaching them the steps that we need to know in order to fully discover who we are, and how we can change the place where we live. 

Ernesto has taught us how to create new beliefs and concepts of who we are, and how to change those main-stream beliefs about who everybody is and what everybody is capable of doing or reaching.  He has taught us that with faith, imagination and strong will, we can make a difference in our communities, or even the whole world. I can integrate the ideas of studying international business and political science with my goals to change my Latino community, and use my identity and my education to make transformations in my country’s political system.

According to his book ‘’The Third Reality Reveled’’, there are more than 85,000 students worldwide. That number is not the whole world, but is better than no one, and that little number of people may change their respective communities and become leaders in some way.  For that reason and more I think this man is a small grain of sand in this big ocean world.