How to play ball like a Dominican

Today was our first day as manual laborers/cultural ambassadors for the faculty and students at La Anunciacion. I find myself struggling to describe the feeling of camaraderie that we all experienced in our first day here. As we entered the schoolyard, we found ourselves literally mobbed by children begging for our autographs, dragging us to play a mysterious game that seems to combine red rover and tag, and generally wanting to befriend us. It was amazing to see our students playing a game of pickup basketball with their Dominican counterparts, using a combination of Spanish, English, and sign language to communicate. I hope to post pictures in a couple days so that you can even begin to share the joy that emanates from these children.

On another note, we accomplished quite a bit of painting as well. The learning facilities here are minimal at best, as my photos will show. During our evening reflection, I asked students to respond to the prompt, "If I could buy anything for the children we met today, I would buy..." The responses ranged from basketballs to new desks to whiteboards - things we consider disposable. I hope that what we see on this trip will help our students to appreciate the abundance that we are blessed with, and also motivate them to contribute their time and resources to help others at every opportunity.

There is so much more to share, but this laptop's battery is forcing me to close early. More to come...

PS - Please ignore any grammatical/spelling errors. I don't have time to proofread!