As we round the fourth week down here I finally have a morning to myself to send an update. Life is good here in Banica.
I created this blog so that rather than not reading and having to delete a series of mass emails you could simply not read one blog. I’ll try to update as often as I can but internet is limited here, so I have an excuse for being lazy.
Now on to the meat and potatoes. For those of you who didn’t know I’m currently living and volunteering in the Dominican Republic in a town called Banica located right on the border with Haiti. The Dominican Republic is located on the island of Hispanola which it shares with Haiti. Because it was a former Spanish colony the official language is a very provincal Spanish, the climate is tropical, which means sweat is a fact of life. That’s the short course.
A shot of a sweeping vista (oh, that’s original)Banica is located in the mountainous and rural region of the country about 4 hours from the capital by truck. We are not totally isolated from modern influence (clearly, as evidenced by this blog post), but at the same time most of the roads remain unpaved and electrical power is spotty at best. But Banica is a comfortable country town.
Life in the Dominican Republic has been remarkably easy to adapt to. Since the weather here is roughly the same every day (cool morning, blazing afternoon, heavy down-pour in the early evening), there is little to delineate the days. In this way nearly a month has passed since we’ve been here and what was shocking at first glance seems remarkably unremarkable.
I have been working primarily in the collegio, the private school attached to the parish. Mairin and I have been teaching English in fifth through eighth grade. Additionally we organize a sports league for the kids two days a week and tutoring in literacy. Life is busy but life is good.
And now a group shot/ proof that I'm actually where I said I am...
