Staging and to the Dominican Republic

Here we are, the D.C. staging event is one day away. I'm finding myself to be much more calm than I had anticipated. I am sitting in a coffee shop in Easton Pennsylvania, while Phoebe runs some errands. We're trying to sell our car before we leave the country, which is turning out to be a last minute snafu. Thakfully Phoebes dad Cliff will be helping us take on this responsibility as our local contact. Selling the car long distance would've been quite a pain. I got a call on the car this morning and think that we may actually be able to sell it! I get to try and tie up the electronic loose ends, send out emails, update the fb status, field phone calls and enjoy listening to the Starbucks regulars chat each other up.

In these pre service moments, I find myself thinking about little details, wondering whether I'm taking too many clothes, thinking about how I may have to carry my bags all at once on public transportation in the Dominican Republic, and wondering whether or not we're wise to take a brand new computer down to the Dominican Republic. We bought a lock and insurance for our personal possessions so I'm supposed to feel better about taking the computer. I'm wanting to be hyper-vigilant to protect my computadora. Should I keep my puter on my hip 24/7? Lock it up when we're not around? Is theft REALLY going to be a big problem? We did a little research (reading our pre service documents and reading other blogs) on theft in the Dominican and found that it could be a problem.

Phoebe and I are the type of people, while living in Durango we would leave the door unlocked to our house, leave the keys in the car and moments ago I left the computer on the table while going to the bathroom, in a 'strange' city. I remember reading an article in the Durango Herald discussing the amount of reported thefts in La Plata County. The article was trying to convey something to the effect that theft was actually a major problem in Durango despite the common belief that it was the type of 'safe place' where people leave their keys in their cars. I never thought theft was much of a problem, likely because it never happened to either of us.

My question is, are people and places in the D.R. really that different than the people and places in the United States? Certainly, there are cultural, economic, language and social differences. Does that include theft? Is theft the national past time? I seriously doubt it. Although, by taking my new MacBook Pro to the D.R., I'm likely not doing much to combat the stereotype that all Americans are rich.