Day 1

A rooster decided to welcome the day at 4:11am, pulling me out of my deep sleep.

It is the edge of a new morning in Consuelo, Dominican Republic.  Once again I am staying in Casa Berroa, with my wonderful hosts Andre and Mirna.

Another Rotarian, Derrick, is bunking with me in the other spare bedroom.

This is a wonderful island bed and breakfast.  Mirna is an amazing cook with a quick laugh and warm smile. Her English is much better than my Spanish.  She helps me to pull "las palabras" like arroz y guandules, rice and beans, from the far reaches of my brain. Andre has shown Derrick the marvels of Google Translate. They have bridged the language barrier with technology. Some of Andre’s short, friendly, yet sarcastic comments last night on the porch had us belly laughing.

The air conditioning unit above my head kicks in with a soft rattle and hum, a comfort that not all share on this island in the sun. Many don’t even have electricity.

Dos perros decide to bark with the crowing rooster, my first day of vacation has begun.

We are unsure of the tasks that Bob, locally known as Roberto, has lined up for us.

After a hearty breakfast, we will meet up with two other Rotarians, Karen and Peter, to review the list of adventures that are in front of us this week.  I am looking forward to seeing the blue sky and green fields of sugar cane while sitting in the back of the Nuns pick-up truck, bringing clothing and food to poor in the bateys.  It is hard to predict what other experiences we will have this week, I know they will be memorable.  The gift of giving to others has a unique reward.

We saw the ocean on our trip from La Romana airport to Casa Berroa. We won't see it again until our departure. Seems ironic that after flying four hours to an island known for sandy beaches, sunshine and the warm Caribbean waters we head inland.

Day 2

The rooster announced the day at 4:25am. 

What clock does he rely upon? The sun is nowhere near the horizon, the sky is black.

The barking of the dogs begins. A scooter putt putts down the street. It is morning in the "barrio", neighbourhood.

Yesterday was Independence Day.

We started the day with a hearty breakfast of ham and cheese sandwiches, with freshly sliced pineapple and mango drizzled with honey from a neighbour’s hive. Washed down with hot black coffee and Mirna's encouraging words to eat more because “you are workin”

Roberto picked us up around 9:00am and drove us to the Casa de la Cultura for a program organized by Hector, the principal of the Polytechnic School in Consuelo.  Hector defines ambition.  As a child he sold fruit and juices from a roadside stand.  He was the first guy to bring and sell bottled water in Consuelo. He attended school under the guidance of Sister Lenore Gibb and eventually completed his university degree.  He greets us in a suit and tie. As usual, I am under dressed. He escorts us to the VIP section, the work of Rotary over the past two decades provides special status. We were in the second row, behind the politicians, the chief of police and the fire chief.  We were fortunate to have chairs, the others sat on the concrete bleachers.  We were even offered a nearly frozen bottle of water, gratefully accepted.

The program started an hour later.  It was a mix of singing, dancing, and dramatizations commemorating the struggle for Independence from Haiti that was achieved in 1844.   Derrick and I decided it was like many of the programs and recitals we attended as parents of our own children.  Although it was all in Spanish, the tone of the voices and the body language conveyed the pride and emotion the students felt about their country.

We headed back to Mirna's for lunch.  Chicken, rice with guandules, beans, and assortment of vegetables that included tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce and sliced avocado.  Marvelous.

From there we headed over to the Convent to sort the twelve bags of clothing, shoes, caps that we brought down with us.  Thankfully we were in the shade as it was a hot, humid day. As Karen, Peter and Derrick stacked the various items by gender and size, I changed the language and location on my daughter's old laptop to be donated to a deserving student.

With our work completed for the day, we returned to Casa Berroa.

I went into my bedroom and discovered that the air conditioner was under repair.It was making noises, but working.  Andres had called the local service guy who arrived on his scooter with a backpack of tools, ON A NATIONAL HOLIDAY.  He eventually removed the wall unit, took it back to his shop on his scooter.I was embarrassed about all of the fuss, Andres told me “tranquillo” and “no problema”.

Derrick and I sat on the front porch for the afternoon, chatting with Andre and his daughter and son-in law and three granddaughters. The young girls were excellent translators and we had a number of lively conversations.

Soon another meal was upon us.  A light dinner according to Mirna.  A pasta salad with chopped vegetables and nuts, fresh fried plantain. Derrick and I reluctantly ate our fair share.

During our meal, the service guy and his boss, probably his dad, came back and completed the repair of the air conditioner. I shudder to think of the cost.  Extra pesos are going to be left behind...

We returned to the front porch for more conversations, an enjoyable outdoors in February.

No Mosquitos, no mention of Zeka Virus. The porch light attracts insectos, which the geckos pursue for their dinner. Derrick is not necessarily fond of these reptiles, I am fascinated by them.

Around 9:00pm a couple of cars slowly drove by, blasting music, leading at least 20 or 30 men and boys riding horses. 

Not sure why, one, based upon some of the galloping horses that came by later, alcohol was probably involved.

Truly an interesting, relaxing day in the DR.

Day 3

Roosters sleep in when it rains.  This morning's greeting was 5:27am.

Slept like a rock, the repairs to the A/C were successful.

We had a fragmented day with tremendous contrasts.

Breakfast was pancakes and a papaya mango orange smoothie.  Wonder if that will ever show up at Tim Horton's.

Mirna and Andre are incredible hosts.  Since it was Independence Day, many of their family stayed over.  Derrick and I slept in our own bedrooms, with an ensuite.  Meanwhile, the Berroa clan slept on three beds as well as on the floor of the master bedroom.  9 people, 5 adults and 4 children.

We were embarrassed and felt very bad that we had inconvenienced them. Their response, “De nada”, it is nothing.In our conversation later in the day with Roberto he said not to worry. Since we are their guests they would feel bad if they did not cram themselves all together in one room.

As we waited to be picked up by Roberto, we were entertained by a gifted young man with a violin.  He started playing the violin 8 years ago and is now a member of the National Symphony.  Last summer he traveled to Montreal and Toronto in support of the Pan American games.

He played three beautiful songs, filling the small room with beautiful and incredible moving melodies, including a familiar Mozart song, “A Little Night Music” Serenade No. 13. Quite a comparison to the sounds of the scooters, dogs, roosters, cars blasting political messages.  The DR is a country of contrasts.

I drove Andre’s truck thru the streets of Consuelo and we headed over to Daniel's house, a teacher at a local school. We met with a young girl that Roberto is sponsoring to attend University.  Roberto brought her a PC donated by a Rotarian.  She was ecstatic.  She takes twelve hours of classes every Saturday and works as housekeeper in one of the local hotels.  An education is one way to improve one's life in the barrio.

We departed and drove over to pick up Nubia and Heriberto and Sharon, a translator.

Then headed out to a small community of sugar cane field workers called a batey. Many of the buildings are concrete block structures with a concrete floor and a tin roof. Others have wooden walls and tin roofs, without or without concrete floors. It takes about 15 bags of concrete to pour a floor, a daunting task when you have to work all day swinging a machete for a meagre wage.

Most of the inhabitants are of Haitian descent, with no passports.  They have little to no education and are trapped in a vicious cycle of inconsistent work, little pay and squalid living conditions. They grow fruits like papaya and mango to sell in the market for cash to buy other essentials. There are chickens, goats and pigs that roam around and serve as both a food source and cash.

The buildings have no electricity, no running water, yet many of them have satellite dishes.Some have solar powered lights and water filters that the Rotary Club subsidizes.

Clean, safe drinking water is a luxury in the batey. Rain water is collected in some strange ways.

Part of our group, Karen and Peter and Nubia, provided instructions on how to use the water filters. Derrick, Roberto and I measured up some doors and windows in desperate need of repair.

After we got out our measurements, we headed to another small batey to measure up a roof for some new sheets of tin sheathing as the old roof, made of palm tree leaves and trusses made of saplings, leaked during rainstorms.

While the water filter team provided instructions, the heavens opened up. Hay mucho lloviendo! As my mother would say, it was raining cats and dogs.  As we were in the middle of the sugar cane fields, with little shelter, it seemed reasonable to stand under a tree.   There was no lightning or thunder, just a steady downpour. I looked up at the leaves and noticed an odd strand of pods hanging from the tree.  I pulled one down and discovered that it was a pistachio tree. The pods were in various stages of development, needed some salt.

We had a very muddy, slippery ride out of the bateys.

Andre’s truck was covered with mud, Derrick and I were extremely embarrassed to drive into the town of Consuelo.  It was our task to take Sharon, the translator, back to her house.  Yet when we entered the centre of the city, the Carnival and the people of the town were blocking the route that we knew to return to Casa Mirna.  Sharon asked us to drop her off so she could walk home.  My trusty navigator and I drove around the back streets of Consuelo and about 30 minutes of searching, we found our way back. Andre did not bat an eyebrow when we pulled into the driveway with a filthy car.

Another great dinner of bean soup and arroz, and a couple of cold Presidentes

Day 4

Last night a cat or something disrupted the two dogs at Casa Berroa a number of times throughout the night. They were barking as if they had cornered something they were going to kill.  Coral, the little dog with a high pitched bark and Leon, the big mutt with a baritone.

Then the rooster kicked off his morning ritual at 4:28am.

Derrick and I started off with a plate of four tomato and lettuce breakfast sandwiches, tasty!

Mirna says we need food to give us strength to work. A reasonable rationalization. One that I don't think I could sell to my wife.

Derrick and headed out to the streets of Consuelo and with his navigation skills we found the house where Sharon, the translator, lives and headed over to Heriberto's house.

Peter and Karen were heading out to the bateys with Nubia, Heriberto and Sharon to install water filters.  Bob and Derrick and I, along with Mirna's daughter Sherlin, headed to the lumber yard to buy some madeira, wood, to build some new doors and a shutter and some sheet metal to repair a roof. The rough sawn lumber had the same grain as the BC Fir that I have throughout my house.

We loaded up our supplies and headed over to the convent to work in the shade of the garage. It was sunny and about 29C. Within about two hours we had two new doors and a shutter ready for installation. We ate our lunch on Mirna's porch and headed out to the bateys.

The installation of the first door was hampered by the absence of the old man that lived there.He was out for the day and it was locked. We removed the hinges and the hasp and carefully installed the new door while he was away.  I wished we could have seen his face when he returned and discovered the new door.  We moved onto another small task replacing his shutter, which the locals call a ventana or window.

We needed some longer nails to complete the job. Since it is an hour long drive to the closest hardware store, I ended up pulling out some old nails from the original hinges and straightening them out with a hammer.

The last door was a bit more of a challenge. We either measured the height incorrectly or wrote down the wrong measurements.  The door was an inch too long, so we had to disassemble part of it, trim and put it all back together.  A significant number of good natured sarcastic comments flowed freely as the job was completed.

As we were packing up the rain returned.  On the way back we drove past the school in Eskaduna where we are moving a swing set from the old school grounds to the new one.

When we returned to Consuelo, we convinced Sherlin to take us to a place where we could get her dad's truck cleaned up.  She directed us to a guy named Johan, where she negotiated a price for an exterior and interior clean, including windows and hand drying for 250 pesos, about nine bucks.  Within an hour the filthy, mud caked car was sparkling clean.  Waiting was not too bad as we were entertained by the constant stream of scooters and motor bikes streaming around the city centre at an intersection called the “6’s” because of the number of streets that intersect.  No one wears a helmet. No car seats for children, they are either held, sit on the drivers lap or hold on.  Truly bizarre.

Derrick and I were more than impressed with the speed and quality of Johan and his young crew of boys and tipped him an extra 150 pesos.  We tossed our muddy shoes into the back of the truck and I drove back to Mirna's in my socks.

A couple of cold Presidentes tasted fantastic upon our return.  As the power was off for most of the day, the shower was not hot, but not cold, as the water tank sits on top of the roof. Before I could take a shower, I discovered a tiny gecko resting in the corner of the shower. Much to my surprise, I was able to grab the little guy and show him off to Derrick. He was not impressed. At least he didn’t scream like a girl…

Another incredible dinner to complete the day included fresh dorado on rice, potatoes, and a famous Dominican delicacy, plantain pasteles y hoja.  Green plantain wrapped around ground chicken.  Simply awesome.  And for dessert, pineapple upside down cake.

Andre returned from work around 8pm. We sat on the porch, talking and watching the geckos chase the bugs attracted by the light.   We read the weather forecast for Whitby, 15 cm of snow and freezing rain and hoped that our wives weren't too mad about having to deal with the snow.

I crashed around 9:30pm, it was a great day.

Day 5

Mi amigo, the rooster, announced the morning at 4:11am.

I am an early bird but this is ridiculous.  Oh well, I slept like a rock again last night.

Yesterday's breakfast was an interesting mix of flavours.  Toasted tuna fish salad sandwiches with a bowl of fruit that included grapes, sliced banana, papaya and cantaloupe. Sure beats the heck out of a bowl of oatmeal.

Derrick, my reliable navigator, and I hit the road at 7:45am to pick up Sharon, the translator for Karen and Peter.Driving in Consuelo is very similar to southern France.  Scooters and motorbikes swerving in and out, narrow roads, roundabouts, and constant motion.  As per Roberto's coaching, “expect the unexpected.”  There is no need to use turn signals. He who hesitates is lost. My commute in Toronto is nothing like this.

We arrive at the home of Emilio, the welder.  His daughter Sharon comes to our car with two small cups of espresso loaded with Dominican brown sugar, cafecita. Marvelous!

We then headed over to Heriberto's house to meet up with Karen and Peter.  We switched trucks as the Nun's truck is "cuatro y cuatro" so that the water filter crew would be able to go deep into sugar cane country and the unpredictable dirt roads.  Roberto and Derrick and I used Andre’s truck.

We headed over to the convent to load up tools to install a second swing in a batey school. Sherlin, Mirna's daughter, met us at the Convent. She is quite a character and talks very quickly with much enthusiasm.  Derrick and I quite enjoy how she and Roberto verbally abuse each other in a mix of Spanish and English.  We headed over to Sanchez, the hardware store, to pick up some new drill bits.

We arrived at the batey school shortly before 10:00am, the Dominican sun had already pushed the temperature to the mid 80's and was climbing.  We unloaded the compressor, ladder, drill and other tools and got to work in the playground, which is really a rock strewn weed field complete with empty water bottles, discarded wrappers and pieces of coconut husks from the stately palm trees behind the school.

When we finished with the installation of the second swing, the teacher led the well behaved children in single file to try out the new swing.  Boys on one swing, the girls on the other. Seeing the smiles on their faces was worth all of the effort.  The small investment of our time will have an impact, we just won't know the result.

As we were packing up, some cane cutters were walking back from the field for lunch and a chance to hide from the noon day sun.  We handed out a baseball cap and long sleeve shirt to each of the appreciative men.  We stopped under the shade of a tree on the side of the road to eat the lunch that Mirna prepared.  Turkey and cheese Sandwiches and fresh fruit.

While we were eating a couple of turkey hens with a half dozen chicks slowly worked their way across our informal picnic ground. As there are few wild predators, these turkeys are not too shy around people.

On the way back from the batey, about 3 miles from the main highway in 29C heat, the car started beeping. Roberto initiated a simple remedy which he said usually works many times with cars. He turned the engine off and started it up again. The car chugged a bit and then stopped dead. This was a bit disconcerting. I indicated that Andre’s instructions regarding his dual fuel car were simple, that the cutover between propane to gasoline was automatic. Seems that wasn’t the case. Sherlin indicated that she had a similar dual fuel system in her car. Just to be sure she called Andre on her cell phone and he talked her thru how to change between propane and gasoline. With a simple push of a button the truck switched over to gasoline and we were on our way. The gasoline tank indicated that it was half full, I wasn’t sure I could trust the gauge. Fortunately to everyone’s great relief, the truck now seemed fine and we continued on the bumpy, rutted cane fields.

As we entered the town of Consuelo, Sherlin encouraged Bob to stop in for a cappuccino and a donut at a wonderful pastry shop.  The contrasts in the Dominican life are surreal at times.  Children play in garbage strewn playgrounds while wearing school uniforms.  Sipping cappuccino while chickens scratch for food across the street.  Nevertheless it was a nice treat.

After that brief break, Roberto dropped by the house of a local artist, Mariachi, that had painted a portrait of one of the founders of Rotary International, Paul Harris. It has been crated up for shipment back to Toronto.Mariachi was not there so we headed back to Consuelo to see the nearly completed new Seniors Centre.

This facility was funded by a number of groups that included the Grey Sisters of Ottawa, Whitby Rotary Sunrise and the Dominican government.  Compared to the harsh conditions these former cane cutters lived in, this is like the Taj Mahal.  The new facility provides more capacity, modern cooking facilities, improved shower facilities and better sleeping quarters for the poor aging men and women of Consuelo.

The rain started again so we headed back to the Convent to unload our tools and supplies.

Had a couple of cold beers on Mirna's porch and enjoyed resting in the shade.

Another great dinner that included pollo con leche, chicken in a garlic cream sauce, black beans and rice, fresh avocado and fresh lettuce.  The after vacation diet will be a must.

Andre arrived home around 8:00pm.  A long day at the cement plant, he is a manager, thus more responsibilities. But he now gets some weekends off and a company pick-up truck.

Sat outside, talked about the day, the looming snowstorm heading towards Ontario and turned in around 9:30pm.

Another great day in the DR.

Day 6

Yesterday was a series of short experiences.

Breakfast included hard-boiled egg sandwiches and fresh fruit. Simple but filling.Derrick and I posed for a photo of ourselves at Mirna's table raising our glasses in a toast and emailed it to our Rotary friends in time for their morning meeting.  We were wearing our Dominican "ropa" which included T-shirts, shorts and flip flops as it was sunny and 22C at 8:00am. Our friends in Whitby woke up to 4-5 inches of fresh snow and a crisp -11C.

We started our day's activities with a focus on fuel for Andre's truck.  First we went to a traditional gas station to top off his tank.  10 gallons cost nearly 2000 Dominican pesos, which is about $68 CDN.

As we were leaving the parking lot, I needed to turn left onto the main two lane highway, similar to Highway 12 that runs thru the middle of Whitby.  There are no stop lights, stop signs or centre lane markings.  Just a constant stream of cars, scooters and motorcycles weaving in and out. Various trucks and buses, some shabby, some in decent shape. And to make things interesting, semi-trailers overloaded with the local cash crop, sugar cane.

I slowly eased my way into the intersection and looked to my left.  Two buses, side by side, were coming at me at about 80km per hour.  One was trying to pass the other!  With horns blasting and by the grace of God, there no accident this time. Roberto indicated that just last week there was a head-on fatal collision between a van, trying to pass a sugar cane truck, and a bus.

Eventually I was able to turn left and we went to the propane fuel station. For about $1500 Dominican pesos, $51 CDN, we bought close to 20 gallons of propane.  This was my first experience driving a dual fuel vehicle, it is very prevalent in the Caribbean and I guess with many of the taxis in Toronto.

After we left the propane station we picked up Sharon, the translator for Karen and Peter, and met up with the group at Heriberto's house.  After exchanging the usual pleasantries, we headed out to the lumber yard to buy some roof trusses for a house in the batey.  The trusses are usually rough sawn, unfinished 1x4 planks.  This is an improvement over the logs that are there now.

We headed out to the batey and met up with Roberto's buddy Agatha.  She is somewhere around 60 or 70, quite animated, friendly with a great smile and a loud voice.  She defines incessant talking.  We dropped off the trusses. With the tin metal sheathing that we delivered earlier in the week, the house will be much drier.  Roberto will provide the cash for the woman to hire one of the cane cutters to install the new roof for her house.  The term house is a bit of stretch, it is more of a wooden shack.

As were leaving Agatha's, she encouraged us over to her kitchen.   This kitchen is another wooden shack with a dirt floor and open fire pit.  Agatha grows many of the fruits and vegetables that she eats.  She also forages the countryside to fill her stomach.  Her sandals are wearing thru on the bottom.  She offers Roberto a bag of produce to say "thank you". This woman has next to nothing, except an incredible spirit.  In spite of her multiple hardships, she chooses a positive attitude, every day.

From there we headed to Haiti Mejier to finish the installation of a door at Anna's.

While setting up the compressor and gathering the necessary tools, I walked over to visit the old man that lived in the house where we had replaced his door and window. He admitted that he was quite surprised when he came home and discovered them. Then he asked if we could paint it for him.  He lives in a wooden shack with a tin roof, a dirt floor, no electricity, no running water. He walks outside to use an outhouse. A chair is a short log sitting next to the open fire inside his shack.  The walls inside are black with smoke.  He made a door handle out of barbed wire.

Yet he wants us to paint his door?  Pride of ownership is a strange thing in the DR. Then again, he is a HABS fan…

Roberto and Derrick wrestled the new door for Anna into place, not quite up to Roberto's standard of quality craftsmanship, but very impressive in a Dominican batey.

Now that the word is out that we can make doors, another old man wants us to replace one for him and repair another.  We took the measurements.  It is hard to say “no”.

We packed up our tools and headed back towards town to find a shady spot to have lunch.Roberto found an appropriate location with an impressive view of the sugar cane fields with mountains in the background.  Beautiful.  We had a nice quiet break and then headed back to town.

Stopped in at the lumber yard and picked up the necessary supplies and the headed over to the convent to work in the shade of the garage. Watched a man on a scooter utilize a very interesting approach to take lumber to a job site.

Then Derrick and I took Andre's truck back to Johan the car wash guy for one final detailing.While we waited we sat and watched the cars and scooters, horse and wagons and buses cruise thru the centre of Consuelo.  We are still amazed at the parents with children and babies packed together on a scooter.  The deafening noise never stops.

Roberto joined us for a banquet at Mirna's.

BBQ pork chops, Mexican burritos, beef with roasted red and yellow peppers, mangu, avocado and a mix salad of corn and peas with red onions and black olives.  Wow!

We waddled to front porch to digest our feast and watch the geckos slowly stalk their dinner.

Then I drove Roberto back to the Convent.  Driving in Consuelo in the day time is crazy.Driving at night is a whole new ball game because many of the usual landmarks disappear in the dark.  Even crazier, many of the lunatics driving scooters and motorcycles have no lights.

Roberto said not to worry too much about those idiots because they can see my car and maneuver much quicker.  Or as Andre would say "tranquillo". I made only one mistake on my first night time solo returning back to Mirna's.  Upon discovering my error I backtracked and rerouted thru a longer, yet easier trip.  I missed Derrick, "El Navigadoro".

When I returned, we chatted on the front porch with Andre and Mirna y Señor Google.Fought to stay awake until 9:30pm and then "Voy a mi cama"

Day 7

It's 4:16 am and the Rooster is awake. And now I am too.

We started off the day with a couple of hearty chicken sandwiches, and fresh fruit.After Derrick and I finished those off, Mirna brings out some yogurt. We groaned and said "No mas!"

As we were leaving to pick up Roberto, Mirna offers to take us for a quick tour of the Municipal Office building. We did a quick walkabout, met the Director of Human Resources and the Mayor's secretary.  After spending a week in the city, I have many questions regarding the conditions of the streets, the intermittent electricity supply, traffic, excessive noise.

Is it a lack of funding? Are funds being misappropriated? Quien sabes?

We headed over to the convent to pick up Roberto.  We loaded up the new door, tools and headed out to the batey.  When arrived we were greeted by the three young boys that seem to pop up every time. I have never seem the wear shoes. They walk on rocky uneven terrain, on a yard that is more weeds than grass, and serves as an open latrine for the dogs, chickens, pigs and horses that call the batey home.  There is no concept of stoop and scoop.

While Derrick and Roberto worked on replacing the back door for an old man named Simoyen.I worked repairing his front door as the bottom hinge had come loose.  While I was laying on the concrete floor and using a screw gun on the hinge, something grey and fuzzy ran underneath my arm. I screamed an appropriate expletive and jumped back as I know there are rats in the cane fields.  I was relieved to see that it was only a kitten.

It was Simoyen's lucky day.  On top of the work on his doors, we presented a bag that was donated by Elsie, a local resident of the town of Whitby.  Elsie participates in a program managed by a member of my Rotary Club and the Grey Sisters of Ottawa. For $200 CDN, you can feed a retired cane cutter for a year.  Every year Elsie sends down a bag of clothes, shoes, baseball caps and some cookies and crackers.  This spring Elsie's sponsored cane cutter had passed away. We selected Simoyen to be her new brother in the Dominican.

Then we headed back to Consuelo to have lunch with Hector, the principal at the local Polytechnic school. We had a "light" lunch of chicken with a garlic sauce and a side of mixed vegetables.  For dessert, fresh warm coconut cake. Hector asked us to assist with an Open house in April to highlight the work of Rotary in his community.  Not sure what that means.

After lunch we headed to La Romana with a painting of Paul Harris, one of the founding fathers of Rotary International that was painted by a local famous artist, Mariachi.  It was a 45 minute drive to the airport, Roberto filled out the paperwork with the shipping company and then we drove over to the government export office. We sat outside for two hours waiting and were then told that person that could sign the paperwork was not coming in.  Very frustrating.

Back to Consuelo for a quick shower, a cold Presidente and a change of clothes.We headed over to Nubia and Heriberto's house for dinner.  The dining table was set for only the five of us. Nubia brought the food to the table and then she and Heriberto went to the living room while we ate. It is a very, very strange Dominican custom. It was an incredible banquet of chicken, pork chops, yucca, rice and beans, salad. And for dessert, a butterscotch cake.

Nubia “offered” me a glass of Vino Tinto. She was very enthusiastic that I should try it. Hard to say “no gracias’ to the Principal of a school. Besides, she could probably toss me thru a wall. It was in a plastic jug, cold, very sweet and very strong. My cheeks went red in minutes. One glass was all I could manage.

Nubia and Heriberto are wonderful people, with big hearts, great smiles, hearty laughs and a willingness to give back to their community.  Special people in this adventure called life.

Derrick drove home, I wanted him to enjoy the experience night time in the streets of Consuelo.

We arrived safely back to Casa Berroa and crashed.

Another great day in the Dominican.

Day 8

I was sleeping quite soundly until that darn rooster decided to start my day at 4:23am.

I read my book for awhile, with the TV on. No English channels, so I listen to Spanish MTV. Many of the songs are from English singers like Adele, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift and some guy singing a crazy song called “Cake on the Ocean”. It helps to block out the sounds of the streets.

Derrick and I got up to have breakfast at 6:30am with Andre before he went to work. We thanked him for sharing his home, his truck and his hospitality. Roberto was due to pick us up at 8:30am. Unfortunately he got delayed.

He picked us up around 9:15am and we headed to the Johan the Car Wash guy to clean up the Nun’s pickup truck. I offered a price of 500 pesos to Johan, he was all in and gathered his crew to clean up the truck after 7 days in the bateys. I sat and watched the incessant noisy scooters, motorcycles, cars, trucks and buses navigate thru the centre of Consuelo while Roberto and Derrick went shopping for Dominican Rum and Vanilla to bring back to Canada.

The clean-up of the car took longer than expected. We told Johan to skip the hand drying and we took off to pick up our luggage from Mirna’s. She prepared another banquet for us to eat, unfortunately we had to take it to go. Gave Mirna big hugs and an “Hasta la vista” and went to the convent to load the portrait of Paul Harris into the truck again and then headed off to pick up Karen and Peter at the Apartment. Then dashed to La Romana airport back to the export depot to drop off the painting. As Roberto completed more paperwork, I took Derrick and Karen to the WestJet check in booth and we dropped off our bags. I went back to pick up Roberto and Peter, the painting had cleared all the necessary hurdles and was ok to export.

We returned to the Terminal, I grabbed a cold Presidente and opened up the packages of Mirna’s food to share for lunch. Big smiles all around. Pasteles en Hojas and Pastelon de Platano Maduro, two famous Dominican dishes. Once again we ate like kings.

We packed up, said our good byes to Roberto and Peter, and headed thru security to return home.

As I reflect upon another wonderful week in the Dominican bateys, I reflect once again on the incredible contrasts.

Poverty beyond comprehension in the bateys. Luxury in the resorts that line the Caribbean shoreline.

Meeting people that grow vegetables and fruit to eat in a meagre hand tilled garden compared to the thousands of acres of sugar cane planted, and harvested by hand to convert to rum. Shacks made of wood that have dirt floors, no lights, no plumbing yet have padlocks to keep others out.

School playgrounds full of garbage, weeds and rocks and the children wear uniforms.

A lack of civic pride, yet incredible national pride. A smile and a “Buenos Dias” from most any stranger that you meet.

Derrick and I spent many hours riding around the bateys with Roberto. He and his wife Margaret spend a significant amount of time and effort each winter in the Dominican Republic. They provide food and distribute clothing to those that are truly in need. They invest their time and energy to help others. They don’t walk the beach or swim in a pool. They make the lives of those less fortunate, a little better. They define the Rotary phrase “Service above Self”

One can learn many things by walking in the shadow of a humble man, we were very fortunate to spend time with Bob.