“¡Tú eres más dominicano que un plátano!”

A few months ago, while hanging out with some English teachers in the campo, I was told, "Pero, diache Sarah, tú eres más dominicano que un plátano!”(translation: Geez, Sarah, you are more Dominican than a plantain!). Aside from the fact that I think the statement is intrinsically hilarious, I also find it tremendously flattering. For some reason, right around the 1-year mark of living in this country, I transformed. I went from "sticking it out" because I'm committed to my project, to actually WANTING to be here. Almost without noticing, I began to love many of the very things that had driven me nuts just a few months prior. I used to hate that Dominicans just wanted to sit around in plastic chairs and "compartir," and now it is like my favorite pastime! I used to think "Rice and beans AGAIN??" and now you will find ME in the kitchen whipping them up (on the rare occasions that my neighbors don't deliver them to me).
I think that I just let go of trying so hard to be "me" and, therefore, "American." I feel like "Dominican-ness" has just somehow seeped into my veins, without effort and without consciousness. Now when people ask me, I tell them that I am American-Dominican. So be prepared for lots of rice and beans and, of course, plátanos.