Being Haitian born and having lived in Haiti until the age of 12, I was taught in school about Haitian history as well as the violence Haitians suffered at the hands of its neighbors. Haitians and Dominicans have had this deep rooted hate for each other for as long as I can remember. Some reasoning behind this distaste for each other is found in history. From 1822-1842 a Haitian President Jean Pierre Boyer ruled over the island of Hispaniola. Many Dominican historians have portrayed this period as cruel and barbarous, however during this time Boyer freed Santo Domingo’s slaves.

In October 1937, Dominican President Rafael Trujillo ( who’s mother was half Haitian) ordered the execution of the Haitian population living within the borderlands of DR,  killing approximately 30,000 within 5 days.  The reason behind the Parsley Massacre was that Trujillo wanted to “purify” his nation from any negro or black blood.

Although Trujillo is long dead and gone, his beliefs that Dominicans are superior to Haitians because of their “Spanish blood” is very much alive  in DR today. I have met many who claim that be direct descendants of Spaniards or who will go as far as saying that they are white because of their fairer complexion, the latter gets a major side eye from me every time.

I came across a video called Shades of the Border where the narrator, a journalist living in DR, starts with the proverb ” every Dominican carries a little bit of Haitian behind his ear”

This diary post is close to my heart because, I hear and see what is described and seen in this video all of the time. My mom once said to me ” Dominicans will always hate Haitians because we as a nation are proud of our blackness we embrace it, we welcome it. We even greet each other that way, calling ourselves neg lakay, Dominicans are still hiding from theirs”

Read, watch  and discuss and do not be afraid to be controversial.

A little bit over a month ago, my dear friend Johanna encouraged me to sign up for Bikram yoga with her. She went on about how much it helps with weight lost, how it would help my arthritis ect ect. Finally I said ok, I will do it, $30 for 30 days wasn’t a bad deal so I figured why not. I must say my first class was brutal. Anyone who says Bikram yoga is easy is lying. It was the hardest thing I have ever tried. I wasn’t sure what to expect but since I am trying to be open minded about things I decided to just go with it. The room felt like the subway station in July, hot, smelly and crowded. Once I got pass the smell, I settled into my little corner and made it through the entire 90 minute session without passing out. When I went home that night, I had THE best sleep of my life. I felt younger, my skin felt amazing and my body felt great. It was then I realized that Johanna wasn’t lying. I went to 5 classes and I must say they did help with my back, and most of all it help me realize that I can do things I never though would be possible. Bikram yoga is a mind and body experience, it teaches you that the body can and will do anything the mind tells it to do.  One more item checked off the “to do list as Rhy calls it since I am way too young to have a bucket list.

Oh another benefit Bikram yoga has is the ability to be flexible, I can now bend my body a lot easier than before 😉

I  plan on continuing trying out new things and encourage anyone and everyone to do the same. I am so glad that I have a friend like Johanna who always encourages and invites me to do tons of new and different things and never stops until I say yes. Love her to death.

Below is a video of what its like  enjoy!