Buenos noches!
We have successfully made it to and from Santo Domingo, the captial of the Domincan Republic. The rain seemed to be determined to keep us from having fun in the capitol on Friday night, but we stuck it out and by about 9 pm the rain had stopped and we could do a little exploring. We weathered the rain at a local restaurant where a merengue band stopped by to sing happy birhtday to Hannah as well as a several other familiar toons.
We were very fortunate to be able to stay at Betty´s hostel during our time in Santo Domingo. Bettye is a native of Tennessee who has lived in the DR for many, many years, but still refuses to let go of her southern accent. She runs a fine art gallery - not just an art gallery - out of the lower part of her building, and houses travelers in the upstairs quarters. It had all the ammenties we needed, and ONLY the ammenities we needed. Some in the group purchased some beautiful paintings and pieces of jewelry from Dominican artists at Bettye´s, while others braved al mercado, the huge market that is open on Saturdays. At al mercado, bargaining is the name of the game, and we were able to get some good deals on bowls, jewelry, rum, etc.
Saturday the gringos braved the beach, which was a bad idea for some, but lots of fun for everyone! It turned out that those of us most concerned about getting burned actually got burned, and those with a more leisurely approach to applying sunscreen now look beautifully tanned. Everyone was able to enjoy the water and the Presidentes and SkimIces. Later that day after we had liberally applied aloe vera, we ventured to another restaurant for italian food - which was delicious - then out onto the central plaza where there was live music, singing, and dancing. The national dance troop performed several traditional dances, then invited everyone up to dance the merengue. Of course, since it´s obvious we are not from these parts, we were all dragged up to dance with the locals. Some of us have picked up the dances, while others - like myself - cannot move our hips without moving our trunk, shoulders, and arms at the same time. Definitley not a suave Domincan dancer yet!
This morning we had a guest join us for breakfast at Bettye´s. His name was Eduardo, and he is said to be a national treasure. Eduardo sat and talked with us about why the DR is the way it is. Elections will be held here in about 3 weeks, and Eduardo educated us about the difference between the two parties and the emotions behind the upcoming elections. In a nutshell, there is no difference between the two parties, very unlike the differences between parties in the US. Each candidate promises to improve the same things - education, economy, and health care - and have very similar ways that they want to accomplish these changes. He explained to us that the reason the country is the way it is goes back to poor education - a common problem in many developing countries - teachers are being taught by poor teachers, who then teach students who turn out to be poor students. There is never any progress because the standards are non-existent. The government is suppose to contribute 4% to education - only 4%! - and they don´t. Currently, they give less than 2% to educaiton - herein lies the problem. Listening to his wisdom really opened our eyes to the complex structure of a developing country.
Now we´re back at base camp with warm showers, mosquito nets, tranquility, and peace of mind. We all enjoyed an afternoon off to prepare us to return to service work tomorrow. One more week!
Hasta luego,
Ali, Megan, and Katie G
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