Arrival | rachael

There will be a blog post written from the perspective of one of the students but, for now, this will have to suffice. It is currently 1:00 on Monday afternoon and all of the students were just released to go “outside the base” for the first time since arrival. They were put in groups of 3 or 4 and were sent on an impossible photo scavenger hunt; it is impossible because there are more items than they can dream of finding in their three hour excursion. There are items with Spanish words, they need to find a Dominican York, a pool (rare here), people playing soccer and will receive bonus points if they have Dominicans in their pictures (among other things). We will see them when they return to the base at 4:30.

Today is “La Dia de Patria” – the day of the Fathers/Independence Day. I was hoping there would be parades and fanfare but this morning, amidst the startling quiet, I realized all of the festivities happened on Friday. Although this is a great challenge for me, they don’t know what they’re missing.

As mentioned previously, departure from Toronto was the smoothest yet. Everyone was there in plenty of time, Westjet employees were fabulous (it was their idea to take pictures of the whole group) and there were enough willing and extra hands to fill in the little gaps. TD teachers/admin Ben Freeman, William Groot, Patty Schuurman and Judy Van Schepen helped make this departure uneventful yet meaningful. A special shoutout needs to go to Westjet and one of our parents, Trish Krale, who saved us a hefty amount of money as we got all of our baggage fees waived! Shameless plug: when in doubt, fly Westjet. And, according to Laura Van Luyk and her Oma, Westjet cookies are the best; now you have two reasons to choose them!

We had a direct flight to Samana whereas we usually transfer in the States and land in Santo Domingo. The beauty of avoiding the States was appreciated but this new, quiet, empty airport was a weird experience. I am used to arriving to excruciating heat, smog, horns, people, people, people, noise and food options. None of that existed. Harry made it clear the week before we left that the moment he was most looking forward to was exiting the plane into crazy heat. I made it clear that the temperature change was significant; it is hot here. However, landing in Samana (on the north coast) was not dramatic at all, but Harry was still pumped for the moment regardless of temperature.

The airport is surrounded by green: lush, green loveliness. Other than the airport there is little that represents civilization. We waited for about half an hour before our bus came. Other than employees, we were the only people in the airport. A big, nice bus pulled in and Brian and I looked at each other and both said, “that bus is too nice. It better not be our bus. The kids need to be stretched”. Alas, it was our bus. We told the students they should open the tinted windows and enjoy the views and so we turned off the A/C.

Guido and the team on the way from the airport

After a three hour ride we made it to Santo Domingo and sat down to rice, brown beans and sauce, spaghetti and Coke. There were rave reviews on the food by, I think, all students. There was plenty of food and many scarfed it down. After dinner Chelsea and Laura (no surprise here! :D) volunteered to do dishes. They had a blast figuring out how to do dishes DR style, getting to know our cooks Maria and Magaly and working on their Spanish. After dinner Laura shared a sad story: Chelsea and Laura were trying to teach Maria and Magaly their names. After a couple of times of saying “Laura”, Magaly looked at her and said, “Dora?” Laura regretfully agreed to allowing that to be her Spanish name. She was trying to avoid that but, Dora it is! In the past Dylan and Daniel have changed their names to Diego and Seth changed it to Juan – these names are remembered. Dora will likely end up being quite popular!

While they were doing dishes the rest of the crew chose to stay sitting at the table and play a hand clapping game. Everyone was involved, there was great laughter and everyone had a place. This game then evolved into Stella Ella Hola (:D) which was heaps of more fun and ended up with Harry and Ashley as the finalists. After this the students got their rooms, set up their stuff, chilled, had circle time and went to bed by 10:30.

The finals - Harry and Ashley!

Sunday was Brittney’s (a chaperone) birthday. Brian, Britt and rachael went to the church that we’ll go to regularly. After church we took Britt out to a birthday lunch and worked out some Sunday logistical kinks and headed back to the base.

Sunday was a “base day” for the students. Sarah, Ashley and Jesse stayed at the base with the crew. Students had time to journal and spent a great deal of time planning a party for Britt. They played musical chairs, the animal game, the balloon stomping game, had an impromptu wedding, played Twister (completely homemade, even the spin board) and found gifts that didn’t cost them any money. After dinner we played a group game (the name game) where Maddy and Tim each won a round.

Britt receiving a gift from some students

Twister DR Style - Final Two (Christine and Juliana)

Homemade Twister Board - DR Style. Impressive.

Today they slept in until 8:00, got organized and made the base home and embarked on their scavenger hunt.

I was able to connect with many students this morning and today’s question was, “what has most surprised you about being here so far?” Some were surprised by the food, the fact that Dominicans have cell phones, how they’re okay with not knowing what they’re doing and how the mentality towards littering is different then in Canada. There were a number of students who are surprised by how easily they have adjusted, how easily this place is referred to as “home”. This may be difficult for parents to read but I urge you to choose you to see this as a good thing. Many students thought the adjustment to living here would be more difficult then it has turned out to be. Many are surprised at how comfortable they are here and how quickly that happened. “I surprised myself at how much I enjoy being here, at how well I’ve adjusted”. The group has done well at being chill, doing things together and creating fun.

The 5 chaps currently sit to my right playing Monopoly Deal, the two cooks are to my left discussing something dramatically in Creole and the students are out exploring our new surroundings. Hopefully students will find some Independence Day celebrations but, if not, they’ll all be back at 4:30 with a hefty number of stories.

Max (our usual missionary host) arrives from Ontario tomorrow. We’re pretty pumped. The chair at the head of the table is empty and waiting for the fearless leader.