Dominican Republic: Caribbean Service Adventure 2025
June 26, 2025
First, we woke up at the Sheraton after a long night of travel. Then we enjoyed an American Breakfeast buffet. After packing we drove to Santo Domingo and enjoyed some pretty good pizza. While on the streets we got Popsicles and met our guide, ex NBA Player, Rudy. He took us on an hour long tour showing us the important places in Santo Domingo while displaying his buttery smooth jump shot. While we waited for the bus, some kids showed their highly profound negotiation skills by haggling a belt from 2,000 to 1000 pesos. Finally, we got picked up and then we were dropped off at Ascala, where we are staying for the next few days. After dinner, we played cards and got ready for tomorrow!
By Lucas and Cade
June 27, 2025
Dear parents,
Today was our second full day and first day doing service in the community. We awoke around 7am, ate fruits and Johnny Cakes (fried dough), then we departed to the worksite, Monte Coca. We began by hauling materials to mix and pour cement, and we worked alongside various members of the community such as Roberto, Mickey, Jonathon, and Orlando. We worked for 2.5 hours flooring a house with concrete. After we went back to Ascala for a delicious lunch of rice, beef, and fruit. After our lunch, we returned to Monte Coca for 1.5 hours more if flooring, completing 2 full floors, which is double what he average speed for a group of similar size. The work day ended, we cleaned our tools, and headed off towards our current place of residence. The group sat and talked for awhile, bonding further, before eating fried eggs, pasta, meat, and Fritos (fried plantain), which was a delicious meal. To wrap up the day we watched “The Price of Sugar”, a documentary detailing the horrible conditions of Haitians in sugar plantations, primarily in the early 2000’s. The documentary was extremely informative and interesting, teaching the group of how are bare necessities are privileges in different communities. We then ended the night with a discussion about the film, where we asked questions to leaned more about the community we’re working at.
By David and Beckett
June 28, 2025
Today we started off the day at 7am, ate ham, cheese, eggs, and mango juice for breakfast. We took a bus ride to Monte Coca and almost finished the floor of the house we’re working on. We met three kids from the community Kendry, Aiden, and Rubendry and played some basketball. Then, we headed back for lunch, which was chicken fried rice and avocados, a delicious meal. After lunch, we returned to Monte Coca and finished the flooring of the house and cleaned up after ourselves. Afterwards, we went to the local basketball court and balled out with the local future NBA studs. It was very fun and a good bonding experience with the locals allowing us to sharpen up our Spanish skills. On the bus ride back, we screamed for ice cream, and our wishes were granted, as we ate some bussing helado. For dinner we enjoyed fried chicken, sausages, French fries, and fried Yuka which was an incredible meal. After dinner, we learned about the history of the Dominican Republic, then Harry led a beautiful dance session, teaching us merengue and other Dominican dances. To finish the day, we did an educational activity about worldwide privilege.
By Beau
June 29, 2025
First we had a nice breakfast of empanadas. Then we went to the sugar cane field and learned about the workers and the industry. We also got to try the sugar cane! We did a little tour of San Pedro and saw the church and a mural of baseball players. We went to the beach and had pizza for lunch, and finished the day with soccer on the beach. For dinner we ate sandwiches in Harry’s beach apartment and watched the rookie on Netflix as a group. We are excited for tomorrow!
-CJ and Omar
