One last post from San Juan--Better late than Never!

Panoramic view of the river valley below the not-yet-completed Palomina dam outside San Juan de la Maguana

     So this is our last night in San Juan de la Maguana before we head back to Santo Domingo tomorrow morning.  There has been a lot that has happened over the past weekend and couple of days, so I will try to get your caught up before we head out and do not have Internet access for the rest of the time here.

    On Friday our team headed back to Santo Domingo and we simply rested and caught up on things that we needed to do around here--like translating surveys from the teacher workshops and organizing the materials that we were then going to take back to the schools to leave with them for doing some of these activities.  We put away the remaining donations that were here from this week, cleaned up the donations rooms (the pharmacy space, etc.), did laundry, and took a nap.  On Saturday, we walked into town to climb the steps to the cathedral here in San Juan. There is a tower where you can climb to the top and survey the whole city and valley, so  below are some pictures of that cathedral and the climb and view.

Ken and Jenny Reid standing outside the Cathedral of San Juan

Inside the Cathedral of San Juan

The view back toward the guest house from the the top of the tower of the Cathedral of San Juan

Jenny and Ken Reid and myself inside the Cathedral of San Juan

From the cathedral we walked a little further into town and Ken and I decided that it was time to become nearly official Dominicans.  Since we are here on a semi-regular basis, we decided that it might make sense to get cell phones.  So off we went to the Claro store to buy the Domincan equivalent of Track Phones.  Cell minutes are pretty expensive here if you make calls,  but if you receive them, it doesn't cost you anything.  If you are making the calls, you can talk for about 5 or 6 minutes for about 100 pesos (about $2.50).  So now we have our official DR phones in case we need to make contact with anyone.  Really, cell service is far more reliable here than any other form of communication.  We then headed back to the guest house to just do a little more R & R during the hottest part of the afternoon.

On the way home, some local boys knew how to deal with the hottest part of the afternoon as they swam and played in the river than runs behind the guest house.

Three boys swimming in the river behind the guest house on a hot day.  All of their clothes are lying on the river bank on the left of the river. 

    On Sunday, we went to church Sunday morning and then came back and had lunch.  Olvis, a friend we have gotten to know here, then took us to see a "waterfall" near the Palomino dam that is being built outside of San Juan.  We were pretty excited to go.  We hiked up through the forested area, and...

... this was the waterfall.  We were a bit -- underwhelmed.  But the drive was beautiful, and we went down the river.  The panoramic scene at the beginning is from the river valley.

     On Monday we went back to Elias Piña, the town right on the Haitian border.  Ken and Jenny met the new student that they sponsor at the Lamb of God School there.

Here I am with some of the kids from the Lamb of God School in Elias Piña

And then we walked through the Haitian market.  The experience is quite interesting, to say the least.  The important necessary items are there, but not much in the way of luxury.  The next series of photos and the captions will give you an idea:

Smoked fish at the market sold right beneath laundry soap and detergent

Meat Stand.  Notice the hog head and pig snout and feet.  I think there are are also hearts and other internal organs here.

Beans, Lentils, and other dried goods for sale in the market

Hand trucks for moving large bags of heavy rice or other heavy items

The "hardware store" where you can get essentials.  There are stoves.  They are cooking grills made from wheels and steel rods.  Charcoal goes inside, and the three pieces of rod that extend in hold the pot over the charcoal.

The Haitian market is called such because many of the Haitians come across the border to buy and sell here at this market.  The Dominicans feel about the Haitians much the same way many Americans feel about the Mexicans.  Indeed, at one point while going through the market, we overheard one Dominican say to a Haitian woman, in a harsh tone of voice, "We speak Spanish here, not Haitian!"  The Haitians speak Creole, a French-Caribbean dialect.  The Dominicans feel as though the Haitians are a lesser class of people, and they do not appreciate having them in their country.

On the way back to San Juan, we drove by to see the river that separates the DR from Haiti.  You can see in the photo below that river.  On the other side is Haiti--the one of the two poorest countries in the Western hemisphere.

The river that separates the DR from Haiti.  The other side of the river is Haiti.

Two Haitian women walking alongside the road on the Dominican side of the river that separate the DR and Haiti

     Yesterday I got the go to the CCED school and catch up with Karla, the student that I sponsor.  She is in 8th grade.  We didn't get to talk for long, because she is in final exams, but we got to talk briefly.  I feel so honored to be able to sponsor her and serve as a role model for her.  My hope is that I can encourage her to go on a pursue a college career and move forward in a professional sense.  She is such a sweet young woman.  And the sense of reward I feel from sponsoring her is really fulfilling!

The picture says it all

From here we head to Santo Domingo for a couple of days on the beach.  This trip has been amazing, as usual, and I continue to learn just so much each time I come.  I will likely have one more post and pics and reflections once I return and have a chance to look back on the past two weeks.  And then there are the two more coming up.  So much to be grateful for!