Day 2 – Dominican Trip

After a day of travel, Day 2 I would describe as a day to get acquainted with the culture and people.  First, our meals have been really good. There is no lack of food at this place. We have eaten well, breakfast, lunch and dinner. After breakfast we loaded up to worship at a church about 30 minutes away (by the way, you want to talk about an adventure that driving hear is something to experience). The only way to describe it is that drivers drive fast, honk often and don’t stop even if something seems to be in the way. We drove to a church, through some dirt road neighborhoods, where the houses were nothing more than 1 or 2 rooms, some with windows, some without… dirt floors, and right next to their neighbors. The church was right in the middle of a neighborhood, and Pastor Miguel (not me but the pastor at the church) and the people there treated us very well. There is a language gap wherever we go but we work hard to break through it. The guys are using their spanish as much as they can. Honestly they have learned a ton of spanish here. The church was translated for us by a local guy who new “un poco” english. It was very hard to understand him. But a great experience for all of us. In the afternoon, we went to the baseball field. Well, what they would call a baseball field. Trash everywhere, we had a few rough bounces, but the dugouts were great. I think what the guys loved most is we had 2 dominicans playing with us… along with 3 or 4 other young boys who came along at various points who we played catch with. A hot practice but not one of them complained. We then drove back and went to a local shop that sells pastries, coffees, and a bunch of other things called “The Lilly House”. It is a house for women rescued from the sex trade. This shop provides income for women who are rescued. We then played some basketball with some locals, and went to the beach, which was an experience… We were surrounded by vendors selling jewelry, sun glass and wooden turtles…  We bought a few trinkets from the vendors (some were not very good at the bargaining side of things). And Jordan HAD to have some MILK so all the boys got pesos for the first time at a local store. Today was a day where I am really proud of the team we brought down. They are having experiences together that will bind them together as a team that no tournament can ever replace.  And they are interacting with people who live with joy but have nothing. Some incredible stories that I will let the boys share when we get back.