Turkey Day

This year we had a Thanksgiving Dominican-style. Some of our friends who are exchange students at a local university hosted and invited us to a great Thanksgiving dinner. Yes, we did have all the necessary ingredients for Thanksgiving - turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc... - there was also a dominican twist - beans and rice, auyama, and yuca.

A look at the spread.

Batata, a sweet potato native to the Dominican Republic, yum!

And we all had just about enough room to sample it all.

They drink ponche (egg nog) for Christmas, and there was no short supply of it (white bottle).

The meal ended with some great pie for dessert.

Kiteboarding Cabarete

I recently got to fulfill a dream of mine. Imagine this: Combine the thrill of wakeboarding with the serenity of sailing... Kiteboarding! Cabarete, a town on the north coast bustling with Europeans and Americans, has become a top destination for this sport. With almost constant wind and a bay protected from waves by a reef, the local beach is one of the best in the world for kiteboarding. In fact, they host the yearly Master of the Ocean competition, which is a ocean sport triathlon including kiteboarding, surfing, and windsurfing. Saturday morning, we headed for Cabarete, where I took a class on how to control the 10 meter kite safely. Here is a look at the craziness of "kitebeach" when the wind is good.

We began with a small kite, just to get the feel of the controls.

Then, after practicing with the larger kite on land, I headed to the water to use the kite's power to drag myself through the water. Here is my instructor describing the fine art of "body-dragging."

After a lunch of 10 gallons of salt-water, we practiced the technique for standing up on the board.

Then it was off to the water.

After a total of 8 hours in the water, I started to feel comfortable getting up and riding the wind.

Heading for the shore, I did the only thing I knew how to do - crashed the kite!

Here, again, settling into the surf.

I haven't, however, perfected the jumps, spins and flips... maybe next time?

La Capital

Some of the best and most interesting things happen in unexpected ways. Take our previous weekend, for example: Rebekah and I had been planning to go to Santo Domingo, the capital of the DR, for quite some time. On the Friday before leaving, I happened to run into an American doctor, Douglas, at the hospital. He just happened to be heading to the capital the next day, and had some extra room in his car. Rebekah and I jumped at the opportunity, and spent the next few days roaming the first city in the New World...

On arriving in the city, we found a place to stay and spent Saturday morning roaming the old city. Many of the old churches, military outposts, and much of the original city wall is still in tact, giving you a small glimpse of the original influences on Hispañola. Embarking on a self-guided walking tour, we started at Parque Independencia, which has a mausoleum holding the remains of some of the countries national heroes. From this park you could get a great view of the Conde, a pedestrian-only street lined by shops, street-food vendors, and all the trinkets you could ever hope to buy.

We continued down beautiful flower-lined streets of colonial and gothic-style architecture.

Stopping for a quick bite to eat on the Malecon, the street bordering the ocean. Here we had our first look at the Caribbean Ocean. Before this trip, we had always stayed on the northern, Atlantic side.

A little friend also taking in the sites on this beautiful day!

We toured Fort Ozoma, the oldest military structure in the new world. We didn't end up staying long as it was getting on noon, the temperature was reaching 95, and we couldn't find any shade (sorry to all of you northerners who would kill for 95 degrees right now!).

Up until recently, the fort was being used as a jail.

Ah, how the times have changed...

The tour ended at Catedral Primada de América (the first cathetral of America) which is now the oldest working church in the hemisphere.

Saturday afternoon, we went with Douglas to a local medical fair. It was in the northern part of the city, in an extremely poor neighborhood. On the way, we passed some slums.

We also found someone else who was looking forward to cooling off!

The health fair was put on by a politician friend of Douglas, and they had two physicians, a small free pharmacy, as well as a group giving out Lions glasses.

Don't ever think that those glasses you drop off with the Lions Club are wasted!

Douglass and I set up shop with the other physicians and started helping. Here we are trying to get a feel for the available medications.

This woman asked for antibiotics for the cold she was coming down with. After spending a few minutes with her explaining why antibiotics weren't necessary, she smiled, said thank you, and headed for home.

Although we helped many people with simple infections, parasites (see below), and cuts/scrapes, afterward I found myself wondering if we'd really done some good. With no follow-up, no privacy, and little organization, it wasn't primary care as I envision it. It was probably better than the health care they would have received otherwise (i.e. nothing), but it certainly wasn't optimal. Imagine a box full of blood pressure medication but no blood pressure cuff to be found...

Sunday, we spent a very relaxing day with a friend, Ingrid. After stopping at a local coffee shop by the coast for breakfast, we headed to the arboretum. It was so nice to get out of the smog-filled city and explore trails winding through forests of lush palms and bamboo.

Our final stop before leaving the arboretum was perhaps the most beautiful Japanese garden I have ever experienced. In a climate where literally anything you stick in the ground grows, the sheer amount of green can be overwhelming.

Mountain Adventures

It's impossible to pick just a few photos of the days we spent in the mountains last week, so I feel obligated to warn you...you may want to get a cup of coffee and make yourself cozy...because this is going to be the epic post of preschool preparation...enjoy!

We spent Monday through Thursday at Rita and Diego's house while we dove full-time into curriculum writing, room design, planning, planning, and planning...in addition to our regular weekly commitments. Nancy's trip was a working one, you see...and so we worked hard!

Here are the gorgeous accommodations we enjoyed (albeit without electricity and water the majority of the time...the view was still great!).

Nancy met the neighbors, Minin & Icidro, who are scheming something big, I'm sure.

And she got to enjoy Cheima lunch.

And got the tour of the clinic and new school site.

We began at sunrise each day. Began drinking coffee and absorbing the beauty of the mountains, that is...this is the Caribbean, after all. And, we're not crazy.

As soon as we finished breakfast, we got to work though. Tuesday was preschool day at the clinic site. The new toys Nancy brought were a big hit!

We laughed...

We cried...

We asked...you actually think I'm going to share these trucks?

Professor Nancy taught the kiddos to use a scissor (open...shut...open...shut)...and how to do a puzzle.

We went crazy over bubbles...

And although this picture doesn't exactly capture it, I do mean really, really crazy.

After class we took a time-out for another Cheima lunch and un chin de café (a bit of coffee). Totally essential.

Before long, the LOGXCEST girls showed up to work on our Christmas ornament fund-drive project.

Painting giant seeds that we collected on the farm...

The night passed quickly as we discussed more details of the new project, and played a few hands of Pinnochle by candlelight. The sunrise the next morning was beautiful...we could have sat and enjoyed the view all day.

But we didn't. Instead we walked up the road to the local school (which is actually being held in a warehouse while the actual school is getting repaired...or so the story goes). A visit with the Kindergarten class was very interesting. This teacher had her hands full! And, very few resources.

But compared to the preschool in Tinajita, the warehouse didn't seem that bad. Here we are getting the students at our second preschool site into a line. It only took about half and hour...or so. :)

These kids aren't used to much. Our small pile of toys keep them entertained.

And so does the scissor lesson! This little guy parroted everything Nancy said. His favorite was "Oh my gosh!"

The new block and Matchbox car set was pretty exciting.

Before eating snack, we said our prayers.

After snack we played outside with bubbles & hula hoops...

And then listened to Red Bear at circle time. We only had to sit on a few to keep them still...

To finish off the day, we spent time outside reading books in small groups. These kids love to look at their books (and kiss the pictures inside and lick the pages it turns out, especially when Micah is around to get them all silly!).

By the look on these faces, I'd say we had a great day.

We packed up our bags and began the walk home. Here the teacher's aids stop at the local store before they went to get ready for school.

Tinajita is a secluded village, since it is situated at the bottom of a hill that is impossible to pass in most cars. It's really gorgeous...

...and the hike out is strenuous. We had to stop at the colmado to get some refreshments once we got to the top.

And we even considered calling a taxi to take us the rest of the way home. But we didn't know if this local "taxi" would carry all three of us...

...so we pressed on. Only to find that Minin, Icidro, and Moreno were preparing a special treat for us!

Dulce de coco! Hooray!

The local sugar-filled sweet. As in a pound of sugar per pound of coconut sweet. No wonder this stuff tastes so yummy!

After saying a few goodbyes to the neighbors, we ventured back into the city to get Nancy to the airport.

Thanks for coming and for helping so immensely with the preschool, Nancy! We hope you had as much fun as we did!