Parents!

In my humble opinion, my parents had an amazing time here with me. They only had a few short days, but I made sure to fill them up as well as I could. The first thing we did, of course, was head out to the beach. Yes, I may have forgotten to bring money. Yes, I may have left them stranded in a park while I went to go get said money. And yes, they may have had a 30 minute conversation with a semi-crazy man in said park. But, they got to practice their Spanish! Eventually we made it to the beach for a lovely few hours; we are in the Caribbean after all! After returning to Santo Domingo, we went out for a nice tapas dinner at Plaza España. They had never had Spanish food before, so I was more than happy to introduce them. After dinner, we headed over to the merengue concert, one of my favorite activities here in the capital and in the country overall.

Tapas dinner in Plaza España

Merengue! Salsa!

A jumbo of Presidente is a requirement for going to the merengue concert. Nice work Dad.

Monday morning we went into the office for our group devotional and a quick update on what I’ve been up to since September. It was fun to answer microfinance questions and show how the process works in person, from Esperanza to Kiva. It was a good reminder for me as well, as I thought about the work that I have done and the overall work of Esperanza. Monday afternoon we grabbed la bandera (literally “the flag”, a meal that has rice, beans, meat, and salad which represent the four sections of the Dominican flag) and cruised around the Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo. Many times I had walked past these old buildings and sights without really visiting, so it was fun to finally get a better sense of the city’s history and share that time with my parents.

The Puerta del Conde (Door to the "Conde"). This gate has played many roles in the history of the Dominican Republic. Built in the early 17th century, it has played roles in British invasions (1655) and Dominican independence (1844).

Me and my Momma in Parque Independencia with the Puerta del Conde in the background

Catedral Primada de America (First Cathedral of America), started in 1514, the oldest church in the New World

Cool street signs; Padre Billini runs right near my house into the Colonial Zone

One of my favorite buildings in Santo Domingo - just an old, beat-up house, but I think it's great

Just a baby little gargoyle I saw on the walk with my parents

Tuesday we had an early morning as we caught a bus out to San Pedro, my old stomping grounds. Being the Dominican Republic, of course this didn’t go smoothly, but everything ended up OK. At some point during Monday evening, most cell phone networks went out. Also, the truck the San Pedro loan officers usually use broke down. So I was unable to communicate with the office and didn’t know if we would have a ride, but we went out anyway hoping for the best. We ended up taking a guaguita (little bus), the littlest “bus” ever built. I hopped on the floor in the back, and my parents, the loan officer, and another volunteer grabbed the seats. It was a long, bumpy, and uncomfortable ride, but I was so happy that my parents had the chance to see microfinance in person at a couple loan meetings. I can only describe the practice so well; to see it in person is a whole different experience. While in San Pedro they also were able to see my old house and meet my host family. I was so happy they more or less had a glimpse of the “life” I had for 3 months. Tuesday evening we did some quick (& touristy:)) shopping back in the capital before going to a fun sandwich place for dinner. They of course needed a chance to get one last cup of great Dominican juice (one of the greatest culinary blessings known to humans). Wednesday was a trip to the airport, and before I knew it, my parents were on a plane back to the U.S. But Sarah is coming in just three weeks! Can’t wait!

Cute little girl from Batey Las Pajas, one of the two communities my parents visited

In other news, last night a neighbor’s house caught on fire. We are fairly certain it was caused by the electrical wires hanging outside their house. Wiring here is, uh.. substandard? Wires often hang in trees, loose ends hang down to body levels on the sidewalks, and illegal tie-ins are rampant:

Just to give an idea. This is actually slightly tamer than much of the wiring you see in this city.

Again, just to give an idea of what I'm talking about

This happened at about 4AM, and at first I didn’t know what was going on. I awoke to weird noises and people yelling, not atypical in my neighborhood, so I did a little frustrated moan, thought “SHUT UP!” and rolled back over to try to fall back asleep. Then I realized what they were yelling “FUEGO! FUEGO!” (Fire!), and immediately hopped out of bed to see what was happening. There was a huge flame at the front of the house, and a crowd had gathered to keep an eye on the direction of the flames and smoke. Thank God that all the people in the home had plenty of time to get out, but it took quite some time for the firetrucks to arrive, longer than it should have. Anyway, as I’ve thought about this today, a few things have come to mind:

- How fortunate we are as Americans! We don’t have crazy fire-causing wires hanging outside our homes. Our firetrucks respond quickly. When we call 9-1-1 we can almost always expect results.

- I can’t imagine that the state or the electric company will take responsibility. AKA this family is probably screwed. Pray for government/company support, but if that doesn’t happen, that family/friends/neighbors will be able to support this household in the ways they will need.

- I felt helpless, as I’m sure most of those in the street did as well. Everyone is out of the house? Whew, great. Now we sit and wait until the firefighters show up. And we wait… There’s just nothing you can do.

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