A Busy and Successful First Day in the DR

 After a few hours of sleep, we slowly came to life at the Sana Secret Garden and were revived with a delicious breakfast of coffee, cocoa with cinammon sticks floating in the pot, huevos, fresh papaya and grapefruit, and tamarind juice.  We then had several hours to chill (there were three hammocks available in the sprawling garden compound, watching an amazaing variety of flora and fauna:  birds of all sorts, including of course hummingbirds, butterflies, two wise cats and a frisky puppy.  The extensive gardens contained all sorts of fruit trees and flowering shrubs, and the walkways were adorned with all sorts of mosaics and pottery.  There was a basketball court to keeop several of the group occupied, and a samll swimming pool peerfect for soaking tired feeet.  Soon it was time for lunch (chicken rice, beans, mixed veggies and very fresh avocados), and then we boarded the bus.  

Glen, our reliable driver for many years, carefully steered us through the outskirts of Santiago and toward La Vega, where the highway turned into a local roads that took us through several rural towns.  Evdery possible roadside space was covered with huge, professionally done billboards and posters for national and municipal elections, which take place Sunday.  This may mean that schools are closed on Monday, depending on how the elections turn out.  Sometimes passions can run high in hotly-contested races.  But we will certainly be safe goinbg to church on voting day.  Any demonstrations will take place after the polls have closed on Sunday evening.

As we passed through the villages of Fantino and Mata, the rice fields dominated the landscape on both sides of the road, including severral huge processing plants.  There are generally three plantings per year, riotating so there are many harvests throughout the year.  We saw no harvesting, which sometimes stil invloves horseback laborers, but we passed several huge flatbeds filled with massive bags of ride.  But the time we passed through Mata and the turnoff to the mountain village of Hernando Alonso, where we have done much work in the past, we recognized many familiar landmarks and were soon at the hotel. We gratefully checked into our clean and modern rooms at the Hostal Maria Yoban, and greeted Rita, who had been in the DR for a week.

There was time for a brief field trip after our first organizational meeting, so we boarded the bus and took a short trip south of town to the immense Presa Hatillo earthen dam that creates the reservoir which is the largest in the DR and a big source of hydroelectric power. Like the Quabbin Reservoir in Massachusetts, the creation of the reservoir in 1977 resulted in the relocation of several small towns that were then flooded.  The road running across the top of the dam is a very popular attraction for both tourists and locals. We got there 45 minutes before sunset and the views were spectacular in all directions. The strong and steady breeze kept us cool and bug-free. No doubt some of you will see a lot of photos from this visit.  I am having trouble loading photos tonight, but I also took a few that will surface eventually.

We were joined at the dam and also for supper back at the hotel by several of the educators from the Altagracia elementary school, including Carmen, the School Director, Maribel, the English Teacher, and Lewis, the former teacher and one of our translators.  It was so wonderful to see the animated conversations between these dedicated teachers, and the ones in our group.  They share a passion for their students and their schools, and have so much in common despite the obvious differences between the underresourced school in Cotui and the ones in the Upper Valley with so many advantages and resources. After supper, we requested a change in the music in the dining room, put on something with a Latin beat, and danced.  All of us.  What do you expect?  When you're in the DR, you dance.

We're up early tomorrow and then head to church for 8:00 Mass, and then back to the hotel to spend time organizing the many, many dontations that we have so carefully collected, organized and packed.  We're excited for the busy days ahead, proud to be working so well as a team, and grateful that we have the chance to make a difference in the lives of som many children and their families. Hasta Mañana!