How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water (17)

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Let me tell you about one time, a long time ago, when I was in Hato Mayor and there was a hurricane. It hit my mother’s house. I was still married to Ricardo. Visiting my parents. Fernando had one year. Only a few hours before, it was a beautiful day. Nobody knew the storm was coming. The government didn’t tell us. The radio didn’t warn us. Y, prá! The water turned all the streets into a river. Two of my cousins drowned that day.

The government knew that the storm was strong, but they didn’t want any pánico, so they didn’t sound the alarm. The sky got green and then black in five minutes. We moved the furniture into one room, closed the doors. We put tape on the windows. We heard the trees crash, the gritos of the neighbors. Then the water was all around us. I saw a car flying. It’s true. The hurricane gave us a pela.

And then it stopped. I thought, OK, OK, now we can go back to normal.

Pfft! How could we go back to normal?

We could not trust the beautiful sky. We could not trust the government to be honest with us. We lost many people. Many properties were destroyed. Eight children died inside a school. It collapsed on them. Can you believe it?

So of course, we were all paranoicos. We thought maybe the government is trying to kill us. Every time, I tell you, every time we saw a dark cloud, our bodies got tense. Everyone knows that hurricanes are like jealous lovers. One follows the other.

One day, my uncle Rufino was fishing and he saw the water of the sea getting bigger and bigger. He went home and told his wife, Clarissa. Then Clarissa said she had a dream about another hurricane coming—and we all know Clarissa’s dreams are true, like a contract. And then, when her neighbor heard about the dream of the storm, she told her cousin in New York. And the cousin in New York then told her sister, that called her mother in Santo Domingo. Phones were ringing from New York to Hato Mayor to Copellito and then to La Capital. And then we were convinced that this storm was going to be more strong than the last one. Because not only Clarissa was dreaming the storm, but everyone was waking up with the thoughts of the rain and the flying trees.

So even if the sun was shining, and the radio played bachata and the DJ in the radio was talking vaina, we were sure another hurricane was coming. So we packed our photos and important papers inside the big plastic garbage bags. We prepared our windows. We closed all our doors. We drove up to the highest hill and waited for it.

The santeras lit their candles and sacrificed some animals, and the rest of us prayed to La Virgen de Altagracia, because even if she usually forgets about us, it’s better to have faith in something than nothing. We waited inside a big house made of cement. An abandoned palace owned by a baseball player that gambled and lost all his money. Long time abandoned, without electricity or water, but it was high on the hill, so it was safe from flooding.

I was sure we were going to die.

And you know what I thought? Does it really matter if I die?

I was married.

I had a child.

I had lived enough.

And you know what? The storm never came! So, you see, that’s the thing when you grow up in a place like Hato Mayor. You can plan all you want, but nature will always show you who’s el jefe.

Learn this from me. So much can happen in the life. Things you did not imagine. When I was a girl, I never imagined I was going to be sitting here with you. In New York. With a husband that almost killed me, and a son that will not return home.

So, like I was saying, we can’t always plan what is going to happen. But who knows, maybe praying together to La Virgen made the hurricane disappear. Maybe if we work together, we can find a solution to my problem.

Yes, of course. I promise, next week I will take the test you ask of me. If we don’t get on the bike and peddle, for sure we get nowhere.





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The jobs on this report may be good matches for your workstyle, based on how you rated your skills, interests, and personality.

Skills you rated highest:

Work with disabled persons

Teach social skills to children

Research new medicine

Install a hardwood floor

Persuade others to one’s point of view

Write a script for a television show

Counsel a person with depression

Plan educational games for preschool children

Plan activities for the elderly

Give a speech in front of many people



Personality traits you rated highest:

Shy

Inquisitive

Reserved

Agreeable

Creative

Self-disciplined

Outgoing

Charitable

Organized

Humble



Your WORKSTYLE results:

Cara Romero, you are a HUMANITARIAN! You want to make the world a better place.

Cara Romero, you are a CARETAKER! You are of service to others.

Cara Romero, you are an INNOVATOR! You can solve complex, rational problems.

Cara Romero, you are a PRAGMATIST! You are accurate and efficient.

Cara Romero, you are an OBSERVER! You notice details and make connections.


The best career choice for Cara Romero is HELPING. You want to dedicate your work life to serving, caring for, and inspiring others, motivated by an aspiration to make the world a better place. You are highly attuned to the needs of the people around you and gain satisfaction from attending to those needs. Other strengths include: BUILDING, THINKING, CREATING, PERSUADING,ORGANIZING.