Left to right: Sara Colvin, Pat Messina, Penny Anderson, Lynda DeOrio
2010 Pilgrims
Sister Chris, Ed, Mary Beth, Tyler & Mike Galka, Nick & Judi Valvo, Dale, Marissa & David Rescott, Anne Adessa, Anna Dziedzic, Meghan Graney
2009 Pilgrims on their way
Thoughts and prayers going with this year's pilgrims as they make the annual journey to the DR! This year's group is Michele and Regan Cuddy, Katie Moran, Anna Comitz, Janna Fiermonte (interpreter), Linda and Desiree McConnell, and Sister Chris.
Trip Report - 2008 - Lynda and Frank - Wednesday, July 23, 2008
The day has arrived...we're headed to Don Juan in the Dominican Republic for the Mission from the Heart trip, 2008. Pilgrims making the trip this year from Sacred Heart and Saint Ann are pictured above:
Back row, left to right:
Shawn Doyle, Dave Rescott, Frank DeOrio, Lynda DeOrio
Middle row, left to right: Pat Messina, Kathleen Doyle, Meghan Churney, Mary Doyle, Katie Collier, Dale Rescott
Front row, left to right: Penny Anderson, Pat Collier, Marissa Rescott and Charlie Greene.
Father Ron, Sister Veronica and Johanna from Mustad met us at the airport, along with Jamie Dunnick, our interpreter, and her friend Katie Esmark, who arrived earlier on a separate flight. Our suitcases went into a pickup, the tarp was put over it...and then we headed to Mustad for a tour...
Then to the village of Don Juan, our home for the next several days. Traffic through the city of Santo Domingo is crazy; drivers pay no attention to what we would consider "rules of the road," in and out of lanes, passing on left and right. People selling everything from windshield wipers to cell phone chargers, and they walk right up to the vehicle in the street. We saw many half finished buildings, and were told by Father Ron this is common. Power lines are a mess...
Here's some pics of the village...
We were all taken to our host families, and introduced. We are staying with Chica. Dinner was ready, which was chicken, plantains (which look like bananas, but taste and are treated like potatoes), and cane juice.
The house is a cement block home, with three bedrooms. There is a bathroom, but no running water. There is a sink in the bathroom, a toilet, and a shower stall. There is a huge rain barrel in the shower stall, along with a five gallon pail, which is filled with the rain water. The toilet is flushed by pouring water from the five gallon pail into the toilet; the paper goes into the wastebasket. This was explained to us by Jamie, who came into our home with us to introduce us to Chica and help us get the "lay of the land." Chica does not speak any English, and we speak only a few simple Spanish phrases. We have a double bed, and have to sleep with a mosquito net over us.
There was no power when we went to bed at 9:15. Just had an oil lamp in our room. We were using our portable fans all night, as it was so hot. Lots of music and talking outside. Dogs bark into the night; they sound very protective.
Back row, left to right:
Shawn Doyle, Dave Rescott, Frank DeOrio, Lynda DeOrio
Middle row, left to right: Pat Messina, Kathleen Doyle, Meghan Churney, Mary Doyle, Katie Collier, Dale Rescott
Front row, left to right: Penny Anderson, Pat Collier, Marissa Rescott and Charlie Greene.
| Our trip begins; we leave home at 4:00 AM, with Penny Anderson. Our Delta flight leaves Syracuse at 6:00 AM with a stop in JFK. We are delayed for an hour, and arrive in the Dominican at 2 pm. In the airport, we bought a $10 tourist card, with cash, went through customs and got our luggage. We were told to keep the luggage claim tag that the airline rep gave us in Syracuse, with the original boarding pass, to get out of the airport. |  |
Father Ron, Sister Veronica and Johanna from Mustad met us at the airport, along with Jamie Dunnick, our interpreter, and her friend Katie Esmark, who arrived earlier on a separate flight. Our suitcases went into a pickup, the tarp was put over it...and then we headed to Mustad for a tour...
Then to the village of Don Juan, our home for the next several days. Traffic through the city of Santo Domingo is crazy; drivers pay no attention to what we would consider "rules of the road," in and out of lanes, passing on left and right. People selling everything from windshield wipers to cell phone chargers, and they walk right up to the vehicle in the street. We saw many half finished buildings, and were told by Father Ron this is common. Power lines are a mess...
Here's some pics of the village...
 |
 |
| We went on a tour of the convent in the village - this is the chapel in the convent... |  |
We were all taken to our host families, and introduced. We are staying with Chica. Dinner was ready, which was chicken, plantains (which look like bananas, but taste and are treated like potatoes), and cane juice.
The house is a cement block home, with three bedrooms. There is a bathroom, but no running water. There is a sink in the bathroom, a toilet, and a shower stall. There is a huge rain barrel in the shower stall, along with a five gallon pail, which is filled with the rain water. The toilet is flushed by pouring water from the five gallon pail into the toilet; the paper goes into the wastebasket. This was explained to us by Jamie, who came into our home with us to introduce us to Chica and help us get the "lay of the land." Chica does not speak any English, and we speak only a few simple Spanish phrases. We have a double bed, and have to sleep with a mosquito net over us.
 |  |
There was no power when we went to bed at 9:15. Just had an oil lamp in our room. We were using our portable fans all night, as it was so hot. Lots of music and talking outside. Dogs bark into the night; they sound very protective.
Thursday, July 24 - Our work begins...
Up at 7 am with the sounds of Burnet Park Zoo...some yelping noise in the backyard (found out it was a puppy!), the roosters crowing, and the pigs eating next door...speaking of which, they joined us in the house before breakfast - just walked right in the back door! Chica opened the front door, and shooed them back next door, where they belonged.
Some people painted in the school...
Penny and I cleaned some of the school toys, with some helpers...
Frank, Charlie and Pat put together the bookshelves that the parish had sent down, and set up the two basketball hoops, one of which was put to immediate use!
Lunch...break at noon; Chica came to get us. She served us rice, beans and sweet sliced plantains. Back to school at 1:30 to finish up the projects.
We finished our projects around 4 pm, and went by school van to a nearby church (don't remember the name, perhaps one of the other people can put it in the comment for this post) for mass. Marissa and Mary played their flutes; we were welcomed with hugs. There was a huge rainstorm during mass, didn't seem to phase anyone but us visitors...
Were dropped back in the village park; Katie brought out her bubbles, which the kids enjoyed...
Pat took some pictures, which the kids were anxious to see...
Chica came to bring us back about 7:30 pm, which was good, as we had no idea how to get home from the park! Dinner was a chocolate drink (she showed us the cacao tree at lunch, on the way back to school), some sort of fried orange sausage, and mashed plantains. We went to bed shortly thereafter; we really can't communicate with Chica except for a few hand signals. There was no power again.
Breakfast was coffee (half a cup, black, but sweet); fried plantains, cheese and rolls. Chica ate with us - you can see in this picture, that the windows just have louvers on them - no screens, which explains the need for the mosquito netting at night. She always set a beautiful table for us, with a nice tablecloth; you can see I always had my Spanish/English dictionary close by! After breakfast, we headed to church at 7:30 AM.
 | From there, we walked to the school to get our instruction on what our projects would be. |
 |  |
Penny and I cleaned some of the school toys, with some helpers...
 |  |
Frank, Charlie and Pat put together the bookshelves that the parish had sent down, and set up the two basketball hoops, one of which was put to immediate use!
 |  |
Lunch...break at noon; Chica came to get us. She served us rice, beans and sweet sliced plantains. Back to school at 1:30 to finish up the projects.
 | The students of the school were watching, and wanted the pictures off the box (behind these girls)... |
| so Frank used his knife to cut the pictures out for them. |  |
Were dropped back in the village park; Katie brought out her bubbles, which the kids enjoyed... |  |
Pat took some pictures, which the kids were anxious to see...
 |  |
Chica came to bring us back about 7:30 pm, which was good, as we had no idea how to get home from the park! Dinner was a chocolate drink (she showed us the cacao tree at lunch, on the way back to school), some sort of fried orange sausage, and mashed plantains. We went to bed shortly thereafter; we really can't communicate with Chica except for a few hand signals. There was no power again.
Friday, July 25 - Our projects continue...
| We woke up to the roosters "cock-a-doodle-doo" at 5:55 am...this is the view out our bedroom window... |  |
 | ...and here is a proud Chica with her roosters, which is our alarm clock every morning! |
Breakfast was fried eggs and grilled bread with orange juice and that tasty coffee again. Chica does not eat with us; she has the table all set, and she sits in the living room while we eat. When we were almost finished, she brought us a plate of pineapple with a honey syrup.
| We headed to the school and found the kids were already there, waiting for us... |  |
 |  |
 |  |
At noon, Chica came to get me; Frank and Charlie were still painting. Chica's daughter went to get Frank; lunch was rice with chicken, plantains and fruit. Frank headed back to finish painting with Charlie, and I stayed at the house until 2 pm, which was our meeting time at the school. Chica's daughter took me to the farmacia.
| Frank and Charlie had been painting... |  |
 |  |
| When we went back to Chica's so Frank could get cleaned up, it poured, and I was able to get some pictures of how the rain barrels catch the rain off the roof... |  |
 |
The rest of the group had met back at the school at 2pm to decorate for the party with the students; due to the rain and Frank's painting, we didn't get there until 2:30. About 100 students showed up, and we made visors with them, that Dale had brought with her.
 |  |
We went to 5:00 pm mass, then headed to Via Mia for a youth group presentation of their local culture - songs and dance.
 |  |
| The youth in our group shared in a "cultural exchange" with the youth of the DR... |  |
 | ...followed by dance lessons! |
Saturday, July 26 - Trip to Los Llanos
Chica called us for breakfast at 7:30, which was bread and butter, and a big bowl of fruit - pineapple, melon and grapes. We walked to the farmacia (by ourselves! finally getting our bearings!) to be picked up to go to Los Llanos to paint....we always see such interesting things on our walks...
When we arrived, there were about 10 cement block homes, and a store.
Sister Veronica wanted us to prime the front of the homes, then paint them, alternating yellow and blue. It was very hot; 100+ degrees; we did the painting, with help from the villagers.
What follows are some of my favorite pictures of the trip...
Then we were off towards home around 2:15, stopped at Tripli San Pedro to celebrate their feast of St. Ann. The villagers rang a bell when Father Ron arrived, and they all came to mass; the church filled within 5 minutes. There was a baptism and a presentation of an infant.
We headed back to Don Juan after mass, and arrived back to the park around 5 pm. Our kids brought out sidewalk chalk and bubbles; Pat M and Charlie played hopscotch!
Frank and I headed home about 6:30; Chica had dinner ready, which was chicken, mashed plantains and orange juice. Frank showed Chica, her son and grandson the pictures in the camera that we had taken today; we went to bed around 8:00.
 |  |
 |  |
| We had to go in two pickup trucks due to the remote location.There were five of us inside the cabs of each of the two trucks, and the rest in the beds of the trucks. It took 45 minutes from Don Juan. |  |
When we arrived, there were about 10 cement block homes, and a store.
 |  |
| This is the church in the village...it may be a future Mission from the Heart project. |  |
Sister Veronica wanted us to prime the front of the homes, then paint them, alternating yellow and blue. It was very hot; 100+ degrees; we did the painting, with help from the villagers.
 |  |
| We were brought coffee by the villagers, and also had a lunch of hot dogs and punch. It started to rain about 1, so we moved in the shelter of the store porch, and spent some time visiting and singing with the villagers, led by Sister Veronica. |  |
What follows are some of my favorite pictures of the trip...
 |  |
 |  |
| Frank ended up giving one of our watches to this young teenager, who was very interested in it... |  |
Then we were off towards home around 2:15, stopped at Tripli San Pedro to celebrate their feast of St. Ann. The villagers rang a bell when Father Ron arrived, and they all came to mass; the church filled within 5 minutes. There was a baptism and a presentation of an infant.
 |  |
 |  |
We headed back to Don Juan after mass, and arrived back to the park around 5 pm. Our kids brought out sidewalk chalk and bubbles; Pat M and Charlie played hopscotch!
Frank and I headed home about 6:30; Chica had dinner ready, which was chicken, mashed plantains and orange juice. Frank showed Chica, her son and grandson the pictures in the camera that we had taken today; we went to bed around 8:00.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Comments - click bulleted comment to read
