Si Dios Quiere
Perceptions of time and religiosity represented by Dominican language
Disclaimer: these are just my thought and observations, these are not definitive claims or facts about all people in the Dominican Republic.
Can I do my laundry today? Si Dios quiere. When are we leaving? Ahorita. Are we going to the supermarket today? Vamos a ver. What do these phrases mean? Solo Dios sabe.
I wanted to figure out where these quintessential Dominican-isms came from and how are they used in daily speech. Also, why have I found myself using them every day? At first, I said I was only doing it ironically, but now… I’m not so sure that it is always ironic anymore. Technically, I knew the literal meaning of these phrases from the get go, but after living in the Dominican Republic for about 6 months, I am just now beginning to understand how they are truly used and how they reflect the culture of the island.
Perceptions of Time
First of all, these Dominican-isms demonstrate the differences in perceptions of time between the Dominican Republic and the United States. Whereas we are more accustomed to monochronic time back home, volunteers generally must adjust to the sense of polychronic time when serving here. Pause, those were some big words. Let’s break it down.
- American monochronic time: only doing one thing at a time, with value placed on orderliness, punctuality, and schedules. Operating with deadlines, ensuring you arrive to meetings on time, and maintaining professional boundaries are the norm.
- Dominican polychronic time: doing multiple things at the same time, with value placed on relationships, flexibility, and a natural sense of flow. Things just happen when they happen — and that is ok. It leads to a more spontaneous sense of life, as things are often not scheduled in advance.
In the Dominican Republic, you can show up at your neighbor’s house for a cafecito and some chisme without warning, whereas that would require a reservation 3–5 business days in advance in the United States. Without the obsession over the color-coded Google calendar (iykyk), the focus is on letting things happen more naturally and at a slower pace. I also believe the heat influences these trends in human behavior; when you feel like you might melt into a puddle of sweat, the last thing you want to do is run around and be productive.
There is not a pressure placed on productivity, so you are allowed to prioritize relationships and the things that are most important to you. Like sitting in the shade of your tia’s galeria, or taking a post-lunch nap with your fan on full speed because of the food coma you are in after consuming a week’s worth of rice. If you have a few things on the to-do list but you are spending time with family, you might just say you will get to the tasks soon, ahorita, or just push the responsibility off yourself, by saying “I will do it si Dios quiere.” Because family generally comes first.
I think every volunteer has been in a situation where he or she is waiting for someone to run an errand or get something done, and they say they will help or they can leave ahorita. But what does that mean? In my life, it typically means that I get ready, then sit around waiting for an undetermined amount of time until suddenly everything is happening at once.
So, in an attempt to gain some clarity, I asked some Dominicans, “¿qué significa ahorita? (What does ahorita mean?)”
Here are the various responses:
- Ahora mismo, inmediatamente (right now, immediately)
- Un poco más tarde (a little bit later)
- En media hora (in half an hour)
- Más tarde, en una hora o dos (later, in an hour or two)
- En algún momento hoy (at some point today)
- Nunca (never)
A summary of the results? It can mean anything you want or nothing at all, and nobody can agree. Or in other words, solo Dios sabe.
Religion
Religion is also extremely ingrained in the Dominican language. As Catholicism is the official religion of the Dominican Republic, it is not surprising that religion is seen and heard on a daily basis; however, the use of God’s name is common even for those who are not strict churchgoers. About 50% of Dominicans are Catholic, whereas the other 50% of Dominicans represent a variety of other religious beliefs, including a host of Protestant denominations, Afro-Caribbean religions, Islam, Judaism, and atheism/agnosticism. Religious freedom is constitutionally protected, but there is still a preference for and more protections for Catholicism within the Dominican government.
Christian belief systems, especially amongst Dominicans, say that control of the world lies in the hands of God, rather than the individual. It is a religious culture that holds an external locus of control, rather than the more American internal locus of control. Locus of control is a concept based on who/what has the decision making power over your life. Having an internal locus of control means that you have the power to make your own decisions and change your own path as an individual. Having an external locus of control means outside factors dictate how your life changes and progresses. The use of si Dios quiere and solo Dios sabe shows respect to the uncertainty of life, the limitations of our knowledge, and the finite control over the day to day interactions in our life.
Religion is ubiquitous in this country: the school schedule starts with prayer every day, the majority of holidays are based in religion, and you can hear the church music around every corner. I have talked about religion with my school counterparts and members of my community, and a common theme is that people are religious almost by default. They believe in God, and truly care about their religion, but the reason that they are religious in the first place is because that is just what people do here. You believe in God and you are Christian because everyone around you also is. That does not take away from their faith or dedication to their religion, but rather emphasizes its inescapable nature that is ingrained into the culture. When you are raised being surrounded by something, it is natural to adopt it into your own life. While Christianity is also extremely prevalent in the United States, it is not quite as ubiquitous as it is here in the Dominican Republic.
As an agnostic perfectionist (who has a deeply ingrained fear of being late), the subtle addition of religion in my life and the lack of punctuality has definitely been an adjustment. But I love the process of learning more about the culture here in the Dominican Republic and I would not change a thing about it.
So that leaves me with just one more question: how will all these changes continue to influence me after two more years of service? I might have previously said “who knows,” but for now I’ll respond with “solo Dios sabe.”
