It’s Hot

It's hot, and I'm not talking about my house while the oven was on for 7 hours making Oven Cooked Barbecue Brisket for tonight's all-team dinner. 

I mean that the DR is a hot-climate culture. I'll get there, though. 

Tirzah and I went garage sale-ing and thrifting on Saturday. Sadly, no, garage sales are not a "thing" here unless you're a member of the Santiago, DR Missions Community Garage Sale Facebook group. Both of us are, so we hit four before heading to the mall for lunch and dress-hunting at a favorite secondhand clothing store. 

Things I got for free:

Scrabble Scramble

A map of the West Indies (yes, I like maps, OK?)

Things I bought: 

Rummikub

A 2nd (and smaller) cookie sheet

One of those pouches that keeps your phone waterproof but still lets you take pictures

A completely impractical summer party dress for a wedding a week from Saturday

Neutral sandals (to go with the dress, but I was going to buy some anyway)

AND

Foreign to Familiar!

Foreign to Familiar is a book that has been on my to-read list (anybody else use Goodreads???) for quite some time, but none of my libraries have the Kindle version and I hadn't sprung for the exorbitantly priced $2.99 Amazon version. In chapter 1, author Sarah A. Lanier sets forth a distinction between hot- (relationship-based) and cold-climate (task-oriented) cultures. The DR, and most if not all of LAC, falls into the former category. 

For the remainder of the short book (I read just about the entire thing while walking around the garden yesterday morning), Lanier unpacks the hot/cold distinction and how it applies to other cultural dualities: 

Chapter 2: Relationship Versus Task Orientation

Chapter 3: Direct Versus Indirect Communication

Chapter 4: Individualism Versus Group Identity

Chapter 5: Inclusion Versus Privacy

Chapter 6: Different Concepts of Hospitality

Chapter 7: High-Context Versus Low-Context Cultures

Chapter 8: Different Concepts of Time and Planning

Having done a fair amount of reading on research such as this, not much was surprising to me. Instead, the book reinforced things I've witnessed and experienced. Foreign to Familiar is already on the recommended reading list for future short-term team participants, but add a testimonial from yours truly - especially since it's so bite-sized! It'd also be a quick but insightful read for anyone planning to travel abroad for pleasure or who simply wishes to better understand my host culture's context.

Until next time, blessings!

P.S. When an Argentinian compliments you on your beef, you did something right!