Return to the Dominican Republic June 2008

Week 1: Santo Domingo, Republica Dominicana

We finally made it back to the Dominican Republic! We went in June so it was kind of an anniversary celebration. We were there for three weeks! Wow, so much fun. I look back and can't believe that it's been 4 months since we've been home! We spent the first week in the capital at the MTC on the temple grounds. So awesome! We were able to attend the temple a lot and do a lot a sight-seeing and such.

My Grandma was able to come with us the first week while we were in the capital and also had a great time! Wow, she's a trooper. She kept up with us the whole week! I'm really glad that she was able and willing to come on such adventure with us. We had a blast with her.

Here we are riding in one of their public source of transportation: La Ruta! They are all totally ghetto sedans just driving in circles (routes), but it was nice because it was so cheap! You can't see her, but there is actually another girl to my left... they usually fit 4 in the back and 2 in the front passenger seat... seating 7(including the driver...)! And with a big guy like Rodd there with us in the back... I've practically got this girl on my lap. It was quite the experience.

We met up with one of Rodd's friends, Bolivar Compress there as many times as we possible could! We were able to catch a ride with a member and meet them for church on Sunday. His sweet wife made us probably my favorite Dominican dinner we had our whole trip! It was a feast! Grandma really hit it off with Bolivar. They talked the whole time like old friends.

This is a Colmado. These little stores are on every street corner (atleast) and are run locally.

While on our tour of the capital, we had seen dozens of limpia botas (shoe shiners). At the end of our tour, this was the one that convinced Rodd to get his shoes cleaned. He was the only one with the right stuff to do white shoes, plus he followed us on our tour for nearly an hour for one customer! His name is Alex. We paid him with some lunch. Their Dominican Specialty: La Bandera (Chicken, Rice, Beans). We really enjoyed his company. We tried to ask him about school. He said he went in the evening (after he had done a days work), but I'm not sure he really even went to school. Here are some Dominican students.

We got a chance to go to The Museum of Natural History: The Dominican Man. We learned a lot of interesting things about the history of the culture and 'the real story' of Columbus coming... Plus it was fun for Grandma to see some typical houses and such, since she would be missing out on the real stuff.

We wandered off one night searching for some of Rodd's favorite Dominican food, one specifically was Chimichuris (it's comparable to a hamburger, but apparently so much better. :) ) We stumbled on this little stand selling empanadas and juice. It was so packed. It was right by a college and inbetween classes it was the place to eat, I guess. We got some empanadas and some juge de melon con chino (cantelope and mandarin juice). It was our favorite meal in the capital. We ate there 3 times.

We learned a lot about the country's history and it was also so interesting to see the difference in the lifestyle of the people there from the other parts of the country. They are living quite well in comparison. A person with a good job there is making about 90 pesos per hour (that's about 3 dollars). We really loved spending time at the capital and exporing places where Rodd was less familiar.