Hasta nunca

It's my last day in Santo Domingo and I really don't know how to sum it up. It's been a bit of a ride in terms of seeing things, meeting people and thinking about what I want to do when I get back to London. It's been tiring, uplifting, challenging, beautiful and thought provoking. The reality of getting back into the swing of things in London is yet to hit and I doubt it will until early next week. I feel a real affinity for the Dominican people, and yet a certain incompleteness at not being able to fully communicate with them.

The country has so much going for it, but at the same time they aren't helping themselves deal with the biggest problems they face. One chat with a taxi driver turned political and we discussed the idea that Dominican governments want to be remembered for doing something big: big projects, hospitals, the Columbus lighthouse, and now - the current President wants to bring a metro to Santo Domingo. So many buildings and towns around the country look as if they were built on higher hopes and overhyped expectations. The economy simply cannot sustain modernisation in one very niche area while the rest of the more important problems go unsolved. Education, health, poverty and simply keeping the city clean are all much bigger priorities right now than the metro - a symbol of a modern country in an environment that tells a very different story. Who knows when the project will be finished, or if the next goverment will give it the same attention as the current one?

I doubt this will be my last visit to the country, but I'm having trouble pinning down what's making me want to return.