Santo Domingo – Day 3 & Day 4

Day 3

Mike and the coaches played golf on the third day, while the rest of us did sightseeing in Santo Domingo.

Santo Domingo is really not a sightseeing city; there’s not a whole lot to do/see/explore. But there is one area – the Colonial Zone – that’s historical and a draw for tourists. It’s the oldest permanent settlement in the New World and has many buildings dating from the 1500s. Most are now museums.

We didn’t go inside most of the buildings, but it was interesting to see. We did go inside one building, the Panteon de la Patria, where there is an eternal flame watched over by the Dominican military. It is the Dominican equivalent to our Tomb of the Unknown Solider. There are catacombs inside the building where famous people are buried. We happened to be in the building at noon, which is when the changing of the guard takes place. That was very neat to experience!

Afterwards we went to the marketplace, which was a large building with a lot of small rooms with things for sale. It was a lot of “ticky tacky tourist trinkets,” honestly. There were some neat paintings, and one in particular that I really liked. I was able to find a very small painting that echoed the large one I liked and purchased it. I also purchased an elephant, which has nothing to do with the D.R. and was probably made in China, but it is perfect for the little collection that’s building on my kitchen windowsill. It also made me think of L.J. because he really likes elephants.

The afternoon was spent relaxing, including a little pool time. Our next big adventure was dinner. Holy. Cow. We left for dinner at 8:30 p.m. We returned to the hotel at 11:40 p.m. It took forever + 10 days. They knew we were coming, they knew the size of our group…they were totally unprepared for us. Caribbean time, a huge language barrier, small wait and kitchen staff, etc. The food was tasty but the experience was a complete disaster. Some people got their food 30-40 minutes before others. Some people got the wrong order (but ate it anyway due to timing). Everyone was tired.

At this restaurant and the one the night before, we all got a small appetizer of Sancocho, which is a signature soup in the D.R. It was delicious! (And yes, we did find a few menus with some English at the restaurant.)

Day 4

The fourth day was our second shoe distribution day. Monday had gone phenomenally well, so everyone was pretty excited for round two. Our distribution took place in La Victoria, an extremely impoverished area west of Santo Domingo and also home to the D.R.’s largest prison.

Unlike Monday, this shoe distribution took place on a basketball court right in the center of the community. The court was fenced in and gated. Before we got off the bus we were told that under absolutely no circumstance were we to leave the gated area.

We walked into the court – an open area but covered (pavilion-style) – and the children were seated quietly in neat rows. Things were looking good, but it was the calm before the storm. We got the “shoe store” set up and everyone prepared for their role of the day. I chose to wash the feet of the children. Then we began the distribution.

My experience Wednesday was very different than Monday. It was much harder. We were supposed to be friendly with the children (the easy part) and also try to minister to them too – encourage them, tell them God loves them, etc. With my rudimentary Spanish all I could do was ask them their name, age and if they had brothers and sisters. My attempts to talk to them were often met with quizzical stares, which, in retrospect, I suppose is kind of funny. There were only 2 translators for about 20 foot washers, so once again, the language barrier was immense.

The children’s feet were dirty and rough. They were not soft like children’s feet at home are. Their legs were often bruised and scarred. Their clothing was worn. Their shoes were in various states of worn out. Yet they were so excited to see us! Their smiles were huge! Their hair was carefully combed and braided. Most of them used their best manners.

They were sweet and they were children. Some were outgoing and some were shy. Some were grateful for any pair of shoes, others had a definite opinion about what they wanted.

My favorite experience of the day was a little girl who was probably the third or fourth child I helped. She approached the seat in front of me a little shyly and gave me a small smile. She had on a brown skirt and a shirt with a butterfly on it. I said hello and asked her what her name one. She said “Monica.” I told her my name was also Monica and we both got pretty excited about that connection. She got the absolute biggest grin on her face! I don’t remember her age – under 10 – but she has one brother and one sister, both younger. She also asked if I was a Christian and got a very big smile when I said yes. I wanted to say “God bless you” when she left, but the translator wasn’t nearby and I didn’t know the words. Such a sweet little connection.

The foot washers were very busy with our task and weren’t really aware of what else was going on in the pavilion. It turns out that a lot was going on. This was an extremely poor community and they had never experienced something like this before. A group of mothers became angry and almost belligerent towards the people running the shoe store. They wanted more shoes, certain shoes, etc. They set a very negative tone for all the children around them. Also, there was a small hole in the fencing behind the bleachers at the far end of the pavilion and children started sneaking in. The person monitoring the gate was local to the community and eventually stopped preventing people from entering.

The only thing we noticed from our stations was that the crowd of children didn’t seem to be diminishing. Well, it’s because more kept coming in. And it ended up being sad because some of the children who were patiently waiting – who were supposed to be the ones getting shoes – didn’t end up getting them.

The angry moms and the kids sneaking in happened during the distribution, but the gatekeeper giving up happened toward the end. Most of the shoes were being packed up at that point, thankfully. Before long there were kids surrounding our chairs wanting shoes. We politely told them no. The atmosphere was getting strange. Where were all these people coming from??

Suddenly, Coach Hunter appeared. He said there were safety concerns and we needed to leave immediately. He instructed the men in our group to take the women by the hand and get them on the bus immediately. Do not stop, do not pass go – get them on the bus now. We finished packing up and were on the bus and on our way in less than 10 minutes. It was chaotic and a bit scary.

As we were leaving, our tour guide, Abel, said that he had lived in the D.R. his whole life, had never been to this area and would never be going back. He said it was unnerving for him too. For a local to say that – that sums it up pretty well.

I can’t even accurately describe how I felt afterwards, except to say that I was emotionally exhausted. It’s a very different kind of tired. Manny says that sometimes after helping the kids your well is just depleted and that’s exactly what it felt like.

We drove to the American/ex pat part of the city for “lunch.” This part of the city is much nicer than many other parts. It was cleaner, with shopping centers and modern buildings and apartments. There wasn’t trash everywhere. Many people were in business attire. Our lunch destination was Outback. I have never in my life been so glad to see a menu written in English! Air conditioning, lots of water and a filling hot meal later – we were all feeling a bit better after that. (And also feeling thankful for such luxuries that we all too often take for granted.)

Peppa Pig poster in an ice cream shop for L.J.

We didn’t do much in the evening. Everyone was really spent. The team meeting was relatively short, but it was interesting to hear all the different puzzle pieces about the shoe distribution, such as the angry mothers and the kids sneaking in.