Upon Arrival

Estamos aqui! We’ve arrived safely to the Dominican Republic and, three days after arrival, are still adjusting.  

We got off the plane and were overwhelmed with a heavy, moist heat and distinct smells of smoked meat, diesel exhaust and trash. Yum. The cab ride was three hours spent napping and sight-seeing. And the traffic was absolutely terrifying. We saw a van turned over upside down in a ditch. In response, I whispered "ten quidado" to the cab driver. I think I said "be careful" but I'm still not sure...he smiled and nodded. At the very least, he knew what I was getting at. 

Our first few days were spent orienting us to the community and the foundation’s library. The sites were impressive – long, beautiful beaches masking barrios, slums, and poverty.  As Jose stated, founder of the Library with his wife, Annette, “This is not a poor country. This country is wealthy enough to ensure people do not live this way.” He went on to explain the laws are great, with good intention, but they are not enforced. The creek that runs through town is filthy, used for bathing, washing animal intestines, dirty clothes, and drinking.  And with the tide, many throw their garbage down into it. Kids play in the creek at some points, too. And at the end of the day, all the creek water ends up in the beautiful beach. Las Terrenas depends on tourism, and can’t afford to polute the beaches as it does. But there is nowhere else to do these things. No public land, anywhere, to build a park for the children to play, a public bathing facility, or a new garbage dump. The current garbage dump is beyond capacity; we got to visit it. There were men and women “diving” for recyclables; things to wash and resell.

Anyway, Jose explained the Library is not his attempt to save the country. It’s simply one effort to make a few children’s lives better. There are no libraries, at all, in the area. None. And with internet assignments and such from school, kids have little access a place with textbooks, dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc. 


Jose’s library is run only by volunteers. There are two young women from the area who come to oversee students, help with homework and teach literacy classes. The children love the library. They are waiting in the mornings and the afternoons for us to open it’s gate. They love being read to, even if our Spanish is broken and halted. They don’t care.

Yesterday I read “Donde Viven Monstruos” to a few kids. Loved it. That’s “Where the Wild Things Are” in English. 

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We have been introduced to three parts of town. The main city central has two main streets, we live a few blocks from those.  Around our home are the lower-class houses and illegal Haitian immigrants (our neighboring house, just over the fence, is a two bedroom cement building with approximately eight Haitians living together inside). The majority of housing seems to be poor, single bedroom shacks shared by whole families.

Then there is the middle class, with larger homes, some double-story. Both the poor and middle-class neighborhoods have tiny shops in-between houses, everyone trying to sell something.

Then we visited the tourist portion of the area. The hotels were beautiful, massive, and overtaking acres and acres of land. Resorts, actually, not just hotels. I can see how tourists visit and never see the real “downtown".

The “downtown” consists of the two main streets, as I stated, and a number of small restaurants, pizza joints (yum!), and bars.  The streets run along the beach, which are never fully packed with people but always a few here and there.  Unfortunately, the streets are poorly kept and not pedestrian friendly. Huge pot holes, manholes left uncovered, and kids in their undies running around! Dodging traffic, skipping over pot holes. Man, the kids here are street smart at a young age.  And even toddlers are wondering around. A watchful eye may be ten, fifteen feet away, but no one is chasing them saying “Stop running! Don’t run into the street!”  By the time they can walk, they know to watch out.

The people are wonderful to watch. They are beautiful, too.  A mix of many ethnicities, light and dark, with bright eyes and huge smiles. Oh, and their smiles! No matter if they are washing their motorcycle, riding the back of a truck, cooking dinner or just lounging beside the street, everyone is smiling.  And they seem so kind and gentle toward one another.  Not when they’re scolding children, but when they meet on the street and say hello, or are just ordering a coffee.  Despite the poverty, the atmosphere is positive and relaxed.  Everyone just seems comfortable, even if for us it seems nearly impossible to live in such conditions and be satisfied. It’s what they have.

Jose knows the library can’t change what they have. It can’t fix a thousand lives or bring everyone out of poverty.  But positive experiences with education and reading will influence their motivation to stay in school, pursue college, and eventually read to their own children.  This is the cycle that may help a family raise out of poverty, without relying on prostitution of the Hanky-Spanky’s.


Below are a number of photos taken this week. We've experienced quite a bit in our first few days, please be patient as I continue to update with more.

Jose took us to a home nearby. Not a home, a mansion. The owners weren't home, but their caretaker, William, was there to give us a tour. The home was INCREDIBLE, atop a mountain with a full view of the town, the beach, and the ocean. Above is a view of the steps going toward the house. Below is the backyard with a deck and an infinity pool overlooking Las Terrenas. Que Linda!

This is how the other half lives.