Day 1 - Monday, June 23, 2014

It was 4:20 am as the team gathered at Eppley Field in Omaha. Looking around, some were more awake than others, but all were excited. Our day had finally arrived and we were heading out to the Dominican Republic and a little town just up the hill from Jarabacoa called El Pedregal. We were not the only team heading out today, we saw another much larger team getting ready for a trip to Nicaragua and there were a couple other teams coming to the DR that were on our flight out of Atlanta. I know it usually not a good thing to say early in a trip, but everything went as planned today. Everyone arrived on time, we took off on time, landed 10 minutes early in Atlanta, made it to our connecting flight across the airport without a problem, got through customs without any difficulty, met with Karen Carroll as we exited the terminal and entered the waiting area, and we didn’t lose anyone along the way.

Without further ado, we loaded up the trailer and bus and we were on the road. Traffic can always be unpredictable here in the DR. But today, today was a good day. We made it through Santo Domingo without any real difficulty. It was a beautiful day for the drive across the island although many on our team missed some of the countryside view. You guessed it, after an early wake up, a lot of time on the airplane, and an opportunity to sit back and rest, many on the team drifted off for a well earned nap. Those who were awake, saw everything from densely populated urban areas to farmland to small out-of-the-way villages. Our first stop is a roadside rest area half way between the airport and the camp. Everyone had a quick bite to eat and before we knew it we were once again heading towards the mountains and our final destination. Along the way, the kids noted how many people were riding motorcycles, not just the number of bikes, but the actual number of people on each one of them. We even saw a man hauling a large propane tank, a man delivering bread, and many others who were loaded down with goods and friends as they traveled along the road.

As we approached Jarabacoa, our driver stopped to confirm directions. He didn’t want to repeat what happened to our youth team the last time they were here (that driver got lost). Today’s driver did not get lost, he brought us right up to the gate at the camp and when we arrived there was much rejoicing. As happy as we were to arrive, what awaited us was totally unexpected. Along with Padre Alvaro and his wife were Padre Tony and several members of his parish who musically welcomed us to the DR. What a blessing it was to have dear friends of Don and Melissa make the journey up the hill from Santiago to be here for us in this way. It didn’t take long to get settled and after a little more chit chat, and the application of some mosquito repellent, the dinner bell rang and we were presented a feast of pescado, platanos,  arroz, hortaliza, y pan (fish, plantain, rice, fresh vegetables, and bread). We were joined by our welcome committee and enjoyed getting to know one another.

After dinner, we talked about the projects ahead of us and as we did we saw the heads of our some on our team beginning to dip dangerously low. That is when Glennys, Joel, Michelle, Charlie, Fr. Tony and a friend of Joel’s favored us with more musical fare and even got our youth up dancing. It was really a blessing to see our youth dance with those who welcomed us and with each other. Still, after about 30 minutes some were starting to wind down. Don and Melissa gathered up some medical supplies they were giving to Fr. Tony and we said gracias (thank you) for all they did to make our first day so special.  Finally, we all gathered to offer Compline as a way of giving thanks for everything that we had received today; the many blessings, the prayers of family and friends, safe travel, a joyous welcome, and hopefully a peaceful and restful night. With that, we headed off to our rooms and settled down for that desperately needed good night’s sleep.