Day Nine - Last push & local flavor

Today we took on one additional project in the morning - painting the home of another single Mom with 2 girls and 3 boys, 4 of which started attending the school last year (the youngest is not quite old enough). The 2 youngest boys are sponsored to attend the school by Amelia Campbell. Sponsors pay 1/3 of the cost (around $20/ mo.), while the parents pay the remainder. In fact, several of our team are sponsoring students....this place and these people have that kind of impact on you. Please be sure and ask one of our group if you are interested.

We also took a quick walk over the house we had worked on earlier in the week so that the entire team could see the completed project. After a quick lunch and shower, we boarded buses for a trip into the market area, a tour of the historic district, and a pizza and ice crream dinner. (Yes!)

The market was similar to one of our flea markets, but the Dominicans are bit more aggressive than our typical Saturday vendor. We were in small groups of 5 or 6 with at least 1 or 2 of our Domincan friends along with each group to help with translation and negotiations. Jewelry, hand made purses, hats, scarves, artwork, amd more were typically haggled down to half of original price or better.

There was also a coffee distributor just down the street where they roasted the beans on site and sold it for 165 pesos per pound. ($3.80) I cannot descibe how wonderfull the aroma was... the rich, dark beans of the Dominican coffee will turn even the most serious of coffee drinker's nose. I hope all your kids are bringing you some of this Dominican staple. (Yes dear, like Jack, I loaded the backpack with 5 lbs of the amazing beans)

Leaving the market we headed to the port, where the original Santo Domingo city and fort are, to learn about the history of the city, its discovery and development. It seems that Columbus was not a very good guy to the natives... There was also a Latin American festival going on and the port had tall masted ships docked from many countries that allowed us on to tour (very cool). Gracious officers and sailors tried to explain their vessels as best as they could with all the language barriers, but the ships were nonetheless very impressive.

We left the historical city for a short bus ride to a pizzaria, where we had our first taste of the American world since we landed. The way it was devoured, you would think it had been months instead of days. And yes, everything they say about the Coca-Cola being better here due to the sugar cane here is true....at least I think it is, it may also have something to do with only water and fresh juice for 9 days. Just saying...

After pizza, we walked 2 doors down to a really good ice cream shop for another treat we have missed like Americans. A walk over to the seawall ended our night with the smell of salt air soothing our tired spirits as we laughed and talked with our Dominican brothers and sisters. The A/C on the bus ride back makes for a fine end to a terrific day. As I wrap up today's thoughts, I am listening to the passionate chatter of the young Dominican men that stay in the adjacent cabin. They are a loud, boisterious bunch....and I love it.