Despedidas

Hello all,

Well, here we are! We have just arrived in el capital, Santo Domingo, where this adventure began four weeks ago. Time has gone by so quickly!

We have been on the road since Monday when we left La Guazara for Santiago. It was a tearful farewell for many of us. The community of La Guazara will hold a special place in all of our hearts. We are humbled by the kindness and love we were shown by our many friends in the community.

After leaving the village on Monday, we traveled to Santiago, the second largest city in the Dominican Republic. The land surrounding the city yields many cash crops-- most importantly tobacco and sugarcane are grown here (which are turned into rum and cigars). All of this industry makes the city a very important and lucrative place for the Republic. It is quite modern. Our students had a lot of fun shopping at Mercado Modelo, a market that sells knicknacks, souvenirs, Haitian paintings, and other gifts. We're pretty sure that you would have been proud of their haggling skills!

After Santiago, we headed to the coastal town of Cabarete where we stayed at a surf camp for two nights. This once-small fishing town is now filled with adventure sport enthusists. It is known worldwide for its surfing and windsurfing. We even woke up Wednesday morning at 6:30 am for surf lessons! It was lots of fun!

It is hard to believe it but we fly back home tomorrow where we will say goodbye to new friends and to an incredible journey. Your children have provided us with many lasting memories and a great trip. Thanks so much for sharing them. Signing off...

Abrazos,
Scarlett and Daniel

Jarabacoa and Projects

Saludos (de nuevo) de los Guazareros!

We have just returned to Las Guázaras from a weekend excursion to the mountainous region of Jarabacoa. We stayed at a an eco-resort run by a man named Angel; an ex-Navy seal of Puerto Rican descent who lived in the States from age 3 until recently when he built this property. It was an absolute paradise. About 45 minutes north of the capital city, Santo Domingo, there is a distinct shift from dry, oceanside beauty to lush, mountainous terrain. It was absolutely amazing to see. In Jarabacoa we enjoyed great food, relaxing times by the pool, a white water rafting trip on the Yaque River, and gorgeous, cool nights filled with good conversation and star gazing.

We have now returned to Las Guázaras where our projects are really beginning to take shape. Each time we return to our little town from another wonderful excursion, we feel more and more like we are returning home. In the last week we have accomplished the following; finished work on a huge garden and planted the first crops (lettuce) at the primary school; begun laying cement floors for local families who previously lived on dirt foundation; made great progress on a mural of the first stanza of the Dominican National Anthem and its flag, painted across the back of cement bleachers near the basketball court; constructed soccer goals out of pipes; conducted interviews exploring gender roles with both women and men in the village; and started to gather materials to construct public trash cans to strategically place around town. Needless to say, we are busy and our students are pulled in many directions!

For the week ahead we plan to put the finishing touches on our projects and to continue to build friendships and a strong foundation between Putney and this community. That´s all for now...

Cuídense!

Daniel y Scarlett

La Vacá and Bahia las Aguilas

Greetings, Daniel and Scarlett here! We just returned from our first weekend camping excursion. The trip was great! Friday, we camped out at a national park, Bahia de La Aguilas (one of the Dominican Republic's most pristine beaches). At the beach we swam, collected shells, and enjoyed the incredible blue ocean (the ocean here glows it is so blue!).

Our day at the beach ended by the campfire telling ghost stories with the community members from Las Guazaras who also camped out with us! The locals told us about a mythical creature many Dominicans believe in called la vacá. La vacá is a spirit that many Dominicans believe protect crops. Apparently, the spirit hypnotizes trespassers into seeing crops as mazes causing them to become lost. Pretty cool stuff.

So, we are now back in Las Guazaras and working hard on the garden project. We have also started English classes and the community is showing up young and old! We will write more later after we return from our next weekend excursion to Jarabacoa, "the Dominican Alps".

Until soon!!
Scarlett and Daniel

¡Buenos Días desde Las Guázaras!

Well, things are underway here in Las Guázaras! We were greeted by a very warm and thoughtfully planned fiesta de bienvenida (welcoming party). It was truly great to be a part of it. Our respectful national anthems were sung, nice words were shared, and hopes and excitement were expressed on both ends.

Saturday was spent getting more organized and playing basketball and other games with locals after a very informative tour where we learned cool facts about Las Guázaras and its people. We are making friends really quickly, and our group is thriving in spite of language differences.

On Sunday we left our mountaintop town for a nearby beach called Playa Quemaito, which is a great beach for swimming as the water is really calm. The surrounding area is absolutely beautiful, and it was not too crowded.

As far as the work goes, we are officially underway. While we prepare the last few details for our primary project, the group and some local Guazareros have been doing trash clean-ups around town and cleaning the school. We are set to begin work soon on our central construction project soon-- laying concrete foundations for the homes of several local families.

Monday afternoon, we went up to the Río Palomino and hung out there building dams to create swimming holes and splashing playfully with the other people that had gathered there that sunny afternoon. Then we hiked up a little further to the waterfall.

On a different note, I´ve got to mention that we are really proud of how our group is coming together. During our nightly meeting last night, the question was put out there by a student, "what is it that really makes you get up in the morning or what is it that keeps you going?" The answers were no less than inspiring. Without spending hours writing what all that was shared, I will just say that we have a very impressive group and we are proud to be leading them and learning from them!

That´s about it for now. We will be working the rest of this week and continuing to get to know the townspeople until this Friday, when we head off for our first weekend excursion, to Bahía Las Águilas y el Hotel Coralsol.

More soon,
Daniel y Scarlotta

Saludos desde Santo Domingo!

¡Hola a todos y saludos desde la República Dominicana!

Scarlotta and I wanted to send a quick post to let everyone know that things are going well here. The group arrived to the hotel last night to pizza waiting for them, and then it was off to bed.

This morning after a quick breakfast, we headed out on a guided tour through the Colonial Zone where we learned tid-bits about Santo Domingo´s founding, Cristobal Colón (Christopher Columbus), Hatian-Dominican relations, Dictator Trujillo, and other interesting facts that have contributed to the present realities of La República Dominicana.

Right now, the group is resting before we hold our orientation meeting. Tomorrow, we will head off to our village and home for the month, Las Guazaras, to meet our new neighbors, friends, etc! Saturday will be spent getting to know the people and community, Sunday- a day trip to a local beach, and Monday- ¡A trabajar! (to work we go!)

We can already tell that this is a great group, and we are really excited about the month to come!

Cuídense,
Daniel y Scarlotta

The group has arrived

We've received word from the leaders that the group has arrived in Santo Domingo.

Meet the trip leaders

SCARLETT SHAFFER: University of Delaware, B.A., Anthropology and Latin American Studies; School for International Training, M.A. Candidate, Sustainable Community Development. At the University of Delaware, Scarlett discovered a love of cultural anthropology and travel. She has traveled extensively, conducted research, and worked in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. Aside from anthropology, her work and studies have included grassroots community organizing, activism, and policy advocacy related to her passion for protecting and promoting a multiplicity of cultural and artistic expression. Scarlett currently works with low-income youth as a field-coordinator for a need-based scholarship program in central Mexico. This is Scarlett’s second summer with Putney. She led a Community Service program in Costa Rica in 2008. Scarlett is fluent in Spanish.

DANIEL CASE: Rhodes College, B.A. Spanish major, Psychology minor. Daniel has loved Spanish since the first class he took in the 7th grade. Since then he has taken advantage of any opportunity available to pursue this passion. Daniel spent his junior year of college studying language, culture, and history in Granada, Spain. He took classes in Spanish literature, psychology, and second language education while studying flamenco guitar and history on the side. While his academic pursuits have focused on Spain, Daniel has always had a strong interest in Latin America and the Caribbean, in particular. Daniel's interests include any and everything Spanish, being of service to others, teaching, learning, sports, history, music, and travel. Daniel will be entering into his third year teaching Upper School Spanish and coaching basketball and tennis at Providence Day School in Charlotte, North Carolina. This will be his third summer with Putney. He has led Language Learning programs in Spain and Costa Rica. Daniel is fluent in Spanish, and is thrilled to be leading another Putney program.