Tricky Tricky

So Day 3 in the DR we had an amazing leadership seminar from Ray Smith who will be visiting me at some point in the future and I hope will always continue to teach and challenge me.
We went to a very nice oceanside restaurant and experienced our first taxi ride. Having said nothing about the DR and Haiti traffic I feel the need to comment a little here. There is no order. No rules, no lines, no traffic signs that are obeyed. You turn when you want to turn and traffic has to stop for you. I would never survive in an aggressive driving environment like that. City Mouse might. . . hmmm.
Then we had an afternoon at the beach. Andres wanted to send us off happy and we did have a really nice relaxing afternoon. He sent a bodyguard and his son with us . . . Some went shopping but I had a foot massage and got braids put in my hair. I would never have done this on my own but was forced and by golly, 3 days later I still have my little bead braids. Ray loves Haiti and the woman on the beach in the DR was Haitian so he bought a couple of us the braids and the massage and through his example I see the importance of investing in these people- not giving them money when they beg but supporting them in their work. Because no matter how little money I think I make, it will always be so much more than they can imagine.
I also stood in the ocean for awhile and it was super nice, even though the beach was just down from an oil refinery. So here's my lesson for the day.
We had several little boys with shoe shining equipment leave their tools under our table, the asked us to watch them for them. They did some gymnastics on the beach and played around and we took photos and they looked at them and they were so sweet. So after an hour or two they came back. And I can't understand the language but they are talking amongst themselves- it seems almost like an argument. They begin counting their money and still talking. I'm not paying too much attention but then they start using my sandal to dig in the sand so we try asking them what they've lost. And they are missing 25 pesos which is a small amount but they are digging frantically in the sand for it. So we give them some money to make up for their lost amount. They sincerely say thank you and go on their way. Later it comes up and many in our group comment about how they have a nice little scheme going on and Cheryl and I say what? Noooo. They were sincere, we believe them etc. And so we ask the bodyguard who only speaks spanish and he said no, they tricked us! And that about made me cry. I can handle the sights I've seen here. The poverty and the filth. But when it comes to deception, I can't handle that.
Ray says that if you give a Haitian women 1000 pesos to go buy you sandals, which he did, she will go do it and bring you back the change. Because you have honored her by trusting her. They are different cultures so I'm not sure the same applies for the Dominicans but I have felt less threatened about someone taking my stuff in Haiti than in the Dominican.
We went to a nice farewell barbecue at the beach with music and dancing. We all joined in and I'm sure the Dominicans were like, these crazy white people!
That night before we left for Haiti we were all so fearful. Ray told us not to open our eyes in the shower! And then there's Baby Doc (Duvalier) and all the "scary" things in Haiti. I just think back to all that fear and shake my head.