Home From La Republica Dominicana

I'm back! After an amazing 12 day journey (it was extended accidentally) to the Dominican Republic with 11 other remarkable individuals, I am now back home in the U.S. trying to process my experience. To be honest, I have been procrastinating with writing this post because I just cannot find the words to describe my trip and the many wonderful experiences I had. I have talked with many of my friends and family members on the phone, and I have yet to give an accurate portrayal of my time spent in the DR. The only word that comes close is AWESOME...as in overwhelming, inspiring, powerful.

I am not even sure where to begin, so I guess I will just start with Day 1 and go from there. I know that there will be many moments where words will not suffice, so I'm relying on my pictures to tell a story that I simply cannot.

DAY 1 & 2

We started out with a busy day of traveling, beginning with a 5 hour drive from Pullman to Seattle, followed by a 2 hour flight from Seattle to Salt Lake City, then a 4-hour red-eye flight from Salt Lake City to New York, and finally ending with a 4 hour flight from New York to Santiago, Dominican Republic! Whew!
Upon our arrival in Santiago I was hit hard by the humidity! Throughout my time in the DR I noticed that almost everyone wears pants, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why! Those first few hours in Santiago I was wearing jeans and a long sleeve shirt and it was just awful!
Next our team boarded an air-conditioned tour bus (thank the Lord!) and we took a tour of the city of Santiago, visiting monumental places that are very significant to the people of this country. One such place that was particularly fascinating to me was La Catedral de Santiago, located in the heart of the city next to el Parque Duarte and la Plaza. If I recall correctly, it is one of the oldest churches in the New World and it is absolutely beautiful! What struck me while I was in the cathedral sitting on one of the hard wooden pews was how unified the Dominican Republic is by faith. This country doesn't battle with denominations, but rather focuses on the things of prime importance: love, service, and submission to Christ. I felt so welcomed, so at home in that cathedral and it filled me with such joy!
After our brief history lesson and tour of the city, we drove about an hour out of Santiago into the lush, green mountains to the retreat center where we would be staying. As soon as we got out of the bus we were greeted by peacocks! Can I just say that looks are SO deceiving! As beautiful as those peacocks were, by the end of the trip I was so tired of their wailing and loud noises at all hours of the day! My first impression of the retreat center was that it was surrounded by amazing beauty, but the living conditions were certainly not what I was used to! The very first night at the retreat center I used a mosquito net and you have no idea how grateful I was for that apparatus...the combination of a lack of screens on the windows and just poor building construction made for an abundance of mosquitos and other icky insects!
Ready with our tickets at the Seattle airport

Goldfish anyone?

Ben playing guitar in Salt Lake City

On the tour bus

Eating lunch (our first taste of Dominican food)

El Monumento de los Heroes de la Restauracion


View of Santiago from the monument



My team



The front door of the cathedral


Inside the cathedral...aren't the windows gorgeous?

The Plaza right next to the cathedral...lots of birds





Palm Tree


The Plaza


The retreat center (do you see the peacock in the background?)

The courtyard outside of my bedroom

Our room

Fun with the mosquito net!


There you have it, a look at my first two days in Santiago. Over the next week or so I will continue posting pictures and stories from my trip to the DR. Keep checking in to read the latest news!