I scream, you scream.

Today was a great day filled with doses of helado (ice cream) and multi cultural laughter.

Breakfast was at 8 o'clock this morning, and it was the first time we have been introduced to fruit since we've been here. Needless to say, it went over pretty well with the whole group. After breakfast, Father Potter met us at the retreat center, and we walked around San Pedro de Macoris. It wasn't but a few minutes of walking until we were over taken by the beauty of the Caribbean. Much of our morning was spent walking along the beach, taking it all in. Right before we walked back for lunch, we stopped by a shop along the road and had our fair share of delicious ice cream. When is having dessert first ever a bad idea? 

Dominicans love siestas (naps), and so do college students. After lunch, Father Potter allotted plenty of time for us to take a siesta before we headed off for our event filled afternoon. First, we went to a school and spoke with a Deacon about the structure of the school and the political side of their education. Before we hopped back into the vehicles, we walked to a very well-known baseball field. It was the field that Sammy Sosa grew up playing on! There was a little league game going on so we sat down and watched it. I can assure you that the little boy on the red team was happy to have the Americans cheering for him as he hit his homerun! 

Finally, it was time to see the Batey. The batey is a community built around the sugar cane plantations where most of the workers live. It is also a place where people are astonished by the Americans. After about 30 seconds, our two vehicles had a handful of young kiddos following us as if we were part of some parade. A majority of our time will be spent at this particular batey helping them with some construction work. We start that project on Monday, and I think the kiddos might be even more excited than we are.

Today was the day where we were served ice cream for both lunch and dinner. Happy stomachs equal happy days. More importantly, today was really our first interaction with the Dominican people. It's no surprise to us or them that we look different, but the language of hellos, smiles, and laughter are always the same.

All is well,

Los Americanos