Spring Break in Santiago

This Saturday, Saint Stephen's will be sending its third team of Upper School students to the Dominican Republic to work with our friends at La Anunciacion. We are really excited to take along some new faces this year! Jennifer Hambrick will be joining us to help with the Spanish immersion portion of the trip, and we are taking a team of 10 students: Michelle Benz, Nate Carr, Diego Cordoba, William Drogt, Maria Liebert, Omar Sammour, Bobby Stanell, Rachel Stanell, Jennifer Sundstrom, and Andrew Walter. Bobby and Nate are veterans of the trip, and will be helping to lead student teams this year as we enter classrooms, not only as laborers, but also as students and teachers! Working and traveling in the Dominican Republic is always an adventure, and we look forward to sharing stories and pictures throughout the week. See you back in Florida on April 1st!

Dominican Republic Slideshow 2010

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Caption Contest!

Today was our last day in the Dominican Republic, and we are very much looking forward to seeing everyone and sharing our experiences. Stay tuned for a slide show of highlights from the whole trip. Until then, I propose a contest! The image below is from an advertisement on the side of the highway in Santo Domingo. Post a caption for the ad in the comments section. The best caption will win a prize!

Santo Domingo: Day 1

What did we do today, you ask? The better question is, "What didn't we do today?"!!
In the morning, we visited the Acuario Nacional, where the highlight, ironically, was the iguana display. There were also stunning views of the Carribbean Sea, marred only by the omnipresent floating islands of trash.

After a brief siesta, we took a tour of historic Santo Domingo, including the Cathedral de las Americas, the oldest cathedral in the Americas. My favorite part (and something I missed last year) was a cross that was blessed by Pope John Paul II. Our tour guide explained that, instead of confession, Dominicans place their hands on the cross to purify themselves of their sins.

The highlight of the day was dinner at El Conuco, which was our first meal in Santo Domingo that could compete with Lazaros home-cooked dinners. Both the food and the music were fantastic, and our students particularly enjoyed the merengue demonstration. I'm going to try to post the video here! As Mark Kurlansky says in his new book on the DR, The Eastern Stars, "Things you cannot do while listening to merengue: reflect, stand still, be sad."

Adios, Santiago!

After our barbecue / dance party last night, the students were feeling particularly reluctant this morning to leave their new friends. Today was our last day at La Anunciacion - a day filled with tearful goodbyes and promises to return next year. (Para una mes! says Padre Almonte) Always one to think ahead, JB had brought several children's books for us to share with the little ones. I'll admit, I was a bit skeptical that those little Dominican balls of energy could sit still long enough to listen to a story, but they absolutely proved me wrong... check out the wonderful photos!

Tonight we arrived in Santo Domingo and took advantage of our first opportunity to wander around the Zona Colonial. Tomorrow: Acuario Nacional and a historical tour of the city. We have two exciting, full days of touring ahead of us, so it's time to say Buenos noches a todos!

Today in Pictures

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Exploring Santiago

Today was a wonderful, full day of work and play. We worked in the church today, putting on a fresh coat of paint that truly brightens the space. Each day, we are becoming more efficient and learning to work better as a team. I am also hearing more and more Spanish from the students each day, not only with the Dominican students, but amongst themselves as well! After another fabulous lunch of traditional Dominican fare, we left to explore Santiago. The tour of the Centro Leon brought a host of new experiences. We watched cigar rollers in the factory, learned about African and Spanish influences on Dominican history, tasted tamarindo, and saw artistic tiles from all over the world. Then we did the requisite climb of the Monumento and braved the wind to take in an incomparable view of the city. Now we are all looking forward to some much-needed rest before our last full day of work tomorrow!