Lauren Campbell
Lauren Campbell
Dominican Republic, July 2024 - April, 2025
Hola! My name is Lauren and I am traveling to the Dominican Republic to work with New Hope Girls. Their mission is to rescue girls and empower women. At New Hope, I will serve as the residential storyteller and caregiver, and as an executive assistant. Read More About Lauren →

An Eagles Victory

After Thanksgiving, I went to a DR baseball game, and my roommates invited me to their Lazemiento. It is an event that “announces” their graduating class by performing a dance routine, complete with a full stage production with music, videos, and costumes. Kids begin planning as soon as grade school! My roommates D* and E* are graduating high school this year, so it was their turn. They personally chose not to perform in the production, but we still made a big deal out of attending.

The Lazemiento performance occurred on a Saturday, so I and my co-worker/roommate/friend Helina took on some responsibility for getting the girls to the school and hosting another girl from our organization and E’s sister at our house for a sleepover. I have six older siblings, and it was surprisingly fun to play “big sister” for the night (or, really, every day). The girls rode together, and Helina and I took a separate car. She mentioned that it “may not be what you expect.” Jokes on Helina because I had no expectations at all. I don’t even know what “lazemiento” translates to, or if I’m spelling it right. Suffice it to say that I was quite literally along for the ride. The only thing I knew to do was dress up for the occasion.

We arrived at the school. Like most buildings in the DR, it looked intimidating at first due to the electric fences surrounding the building, but once four unenthusiastic teenage girls asked for the entry fee at the door, I felt like I was back in my hometown of Carmi, Illinois, for what is called the “One-Niter.” Basically, it’s a variety show that the seniors produce every year. Think, SNL meets teen talent show. There’s a Rockette-style dance number performed by the cheerleading squad, ballads sung by the choir soloists, and sketch comedy enacted by the theater department. My mom took me to see it every year as a kid, and as Helina and I stepped into the neon-lit gymnasium turned auditorium, I was right back to my roots (minus the palm trees). I found my expectations.

Feeling the school spirit, I asked N* (one of the girls in our organization…she’s the student who I occasionally tutor in English) to join me at the snack booth. I bought us Sprites, and we returned to the nearly dark gymnasium. She was buzzing––just so excited to be out and about, counted among the teenagers and not the littles. I remember that feeling: that first moment you were allowed to walk into a new room that was once off-limits. She wore it well!

The announcer arrived on the stage and (from how I understood it) made her remarks about the definitive characteristics of this graduating class, how bright they are, and how hard-working they were to pull off their Lazemiento. She then launched into the narrative…the story was that the class “went to Brazil,” and then a sketch video played displaying just that. At the end of the video, the students came out dressed in rainforest tourist attire. The energy was high! Music vibrated the floor, giving the effect of a minor earthquake.

The dancers were super serious. They transitioned to the “partying on the beach” dance number, and the girls started doing some crazy dance moves. That’s when Helina and E turned to me, E said, “That’s why I didn’t want to dance,” and well, yeah, I understood why. It differed more than slightly from the Rockette-style number from my little rural town’s One-Niter, but we were still having fun due to the high energy of the production. Something I admire in E and D is that they are not easily impressed or influenced, especially E. They have a backbone. If they wanted to dance, we would have cheered them on, but they didn’t want to, and I admire their honesty.

The production ended with the introduction of their class title, which was a Portuguese word I’ve since forgotten. D and E were on the stage for the final moments. We cheered so loud! After the crowd cleared, we all returned to the house and Helina and I bought them Papa John’s. I could tell all the girls were having so much fun, and that was my favorite part. I was glad to be there, so glad to hear them laughing.

A few days later, a bucket list DR experience occurred: attending an Aquilas (eagles) baseball game in Santiago! The Reyes family are big fans, especially Vidal (Joy’s husband) and Isaac (Joy and Vidal’s oldest son). After Helina, S*, and I mentioned our desire to go, Vidal got us all tickets near him and Isaac.

We girls live a town away, so we ordered an Uber. Guess who our Uber was? My favorite one! I couldn’t believe we got him again. There are some very interesting and/or creepy characters who work as drivers in La Vega, but few are both characters AND nice/trustworthy. This guy was both. He immediately remembered me, and I remembered him. I told him I needed his taxi number, and we talked it over on the way to Santiago when…he blew out a tire. So, there we were on the side of the highway, lounging in the folding chairs this man set out for us while he calmly replaced his whole tire. It was hilarious. If it were any other driver, I might have been a little afraid, but this guy should teach a masterclass in how to handle a situation like that. In no time, we were on the move.

Our seats were in the right field. I purchased 8 Aguilas caps for my nephews. We had our tiny personal pizzas. We were ready…and I’ve never had more fun at a baseball game. Dominicans are super fans. A player would walk to first, and you would have thought it was a game-winning home run. The whole rivalry game played out like that. They tied, so the Aguilas won in the bottom of the 10th inning! It was crazy! I’m the biggest Aguilas fan now. I’ll learn to like wearing yellow.

 

bonus content: helina reveal. I accompany her to Jumbo to refuel with Mangoes Monsters.

My dear ole estadio. Best enjoyed at sunset.

I watercolor paint for fun nowadays. I call this one “flowers,” because that’s what it looks like.

me on the side of the highway because my favorite uber drive blew out said tire

Helina and S. On our way to the game. This is the car with the blown out tire

Aquilas v. Paray!

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