"Red/ Rojo brings a bright future." Hopefully, that's what this face painting means... That's all I can find concerning red face painting in the Dominican Republic. But...
While my guide was busy smearing some kind of plant dye on my face, I was taking photos of something else. He did say what these markings mean in local customs. Unfortunately, I wasn't really listening at the time. Duh? He said something about how only women have their faces painted like this. Meanwhile, my mind was on photographing some sort of wildlife that was walking past. Strangely, I now can't find those photos or even remember the exact animal. Weird. Guess I should have paid more to my guide while he was painting me. I remember he was talking about fertility and aphrodisiacs, but I don't remember if that had anything to do with the face paint.
Meanwhile, just to see what it was like, I did drink a local herb concoction that he later claimed was a potent aphrodisiac. Hum? That came before the face painting. The drink was about the color and consistency of swamp scum. My guide said it took months to ferment and contained some special herbs grown only in the Dominican Republic. Luckily, it didn't taste any worse than cough medicine. This all happened while we were out in the jungle far away from civilization. Wish I could remember more that happened after I drank the swamp scum aphroditic. Wish I could find the wildlife photos I thought I took...
This red dye job looked even more odd after I later applied sunscreen and rubbed it in all over my face and neck. Upon returning to "civilization", I got some very strange looks. When I looked into a mirror, I could see why. The paint was later very hard to wash off. It literally took days to totally remove.
Fortunately, I didn't get sick from the swamp scum concoction. Nor am I pregnant with quins. But looking at this photo of that day, I now wonder why - for some reason - I look so strangely out of it. I may be adventurous and willing to try a lot of things at least once, but no more swamp scum drinks for me. And next time, I'll listen to the explanation of exactly why my private guide felt he had to paint my face with some kind of fertility ceremony symbols. I was traveling sans hubby.
PS The visor cap I'm wearing (an oldie) had nothing to do with this trip, but I find it comfortable for sun protection and wear it everywhere.
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