Rumors in the Dominican Republic
I was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic working as a youth, family and community development volunteer with a focus on adolescent reproductive health. Two months after I arrived at my site, it was Christmas. I was living with a Dominican family, and at Christmas Eve dinner some of the extended family members invited me to go out dancing with them. I had not been out dancing (something I love to do) since I arrived, because I was trying to establish myself as a "mujer seria" (serious woman) reputation for myself. I thought that since I would be with "family" it would be fine to accept the offer. So, later that night I went out dancing, had a dixie cup sizedglass of beer from a big bottle that was shared by the entire table and danced with various friends of the family.
While on the dance floor, one of the men tried to kiss me. I had a boyfriend, and I was insulted by his actions. I left him on the dance floor and walked back to my seat. We didn't stay much longer, and some of my "family" members walked me home. The next day in the afternoon my host mother, who had not been out with us the night before, would not speak to me. She was clearly upset with me about something, but I had no idea what I had done wrong. After much effort, I was finally able to get her to talk to me. She told me that she was ashamed of me and that numerous women in the community had called her to tell her that I was drunk and chupeando (sucking face) with all of the men at the discotheque. They told her that if this was the kind of woman I was they would never let their children work with me. I was VERY upset and did not know what to do.
What would you have done?
