19 October 2009 -- No Luz

Many people consider the Dominican Republic a "developing nation". A much better description would be an "Un-developing nation". Basically, foreign aid loans and foreign business investment enters the country and nothing "develops" except a trail of corruption or another unfinished project. A great example of the end result of all this is the electricity system in the country. Electricity is a relatively old and established technology. Thomas Edison died a long time ago. In America, if the electricity goes out for even a short time, people are held responsible. Here the power goes out all the time. Or, more accurately, the power comes on once in awhile. Businesses owned by foreigners usually run on generators because the electricity companies are so corrupt that they charge whatever they think they can get. Sometimes you have to wait a couple of extra days to get your clothes from the laundry because there was no electricity for the washing machines. For some reason the local Dominicans really do not seem to care, probably because it a convenient excuse not to work. A common expression for why something did not get done is "No luz." (Luz is Spanish for 'light', but their pidgin Spanish uses luz to mean electricity) So, a joke I heard the other day that shows how the people respond to all this is, "How many Dominicans does it take to change to change a lightbulb? None, they think the electricity will come back on."