One time, a peace corps volunteer was living with a really old lady in the Dominican Republic. It was dark out an the electricity in the house hadn't been working for a few days. The volunteer spent the night playing "Skip-Bo" with the three kids this lady was caring for. Two were he grandsons destined to move to America at the end of the school year and the other was a young girl who ha lost both of her parents on the years preceding.
On this particular night the volunteer went to her room to prepare for bed. She heard whispers and laughter just on the other side of the door. She walked to the kitchen and there, hovering in the corner were the kids and their grandmother. They were chucking and holding a flashlight over the sink.
When the volunteer joined then they laughed some more. The oldest was opening a bottle with the end of a can opener and grandma was holding the light.
When he popped the top the grandma pulled out some cups and asked the volunteer if she wanted some. The confused volunteer asked what was in the bottle thinking it was root beer or club soda. The corners of grandmas lips curled up as she said "Cerveza!" The volunteer couldn't hold in the laughter and everyone else joined in too.
Not wanting malt beer but also not wanting I miss out on the moment the volunteer accepted the glass. The group shared the bottle and headed to bed. When the grandma snuck more dark liquid into the volunteers glass the volunteer snuck the glass to a snickering little girl.
The funny thing is the volunteer had no idea who they were hiding from. The law in the DR isn't like in other places. Kids can walk into colmados and buy beer for their parents all the time. Their is an age limit, but what matter is it. None of the kids have parents currently in the country if they even have parents that aren't this particular doña.
Things like this happen all over the world. Grandmothers just want their gran children to laugh a little and enjoy a little sneaking around. What a fun moment the volunteer will always have.
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