Familes, and sugar country
On Sunday September 16th, the family picnic was held in Mirador Sur
park. This is a highlight for the families and a good chance to
mix and mingle. Goshen College provides chicken and drinks, and
each family brings a dish.
Dominoes
is probably the number one board game among men in the D.R., played
at every Colmado (small corner market) in the evening.
One nuance of the game is how the dominoes are held in both hands, then
all layed face down on the table before the domino to be played is picked
up and slammed into place. Most Dominicans are so good at
the game that they can correctly tell you who holds which of the last
three dominoes (and sometimes up to 6!). In the photo, Garrett puts
into practice his newly aquired skills in the game of dominoes.
He is partnered against his father and brother.
Another
pastime among the young women is a familiar game (probably brought to
the island by Lancaster county tourists) called Dutch Blitz :-).
Here Yolonda, Melisa and Lauresta play against two of Garrett's sisters.
In the background, Jenni relaxes and to her right, her mother and Scott's
mother chat. Below are snapshots of students with their host families.
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Eastern DR--sugar country
On Tuesday (September 18th) the field trip was to the Eastern city
of La Romana, an area where the sugar cane industry dominates.
Although since the cane season is November to June, we were not able
to see more than the half-grown cane fields.
We visited a Haggar pants factory in a "Free Trade Zone"
but were not able to take any pictures. These factories receive
already cut material from the U.S. and use Dominican labor to sew the
pants together. Each worker basically does one stich all day long.
The weekly work week is 44 hours and the minimum wage is around $33
a week although there are incentives for those who meet efficiency goals.
This certainly seems like less than ideal wages, but most workers are
very happy to be employed and bringing in a steady salary which is not
shabby compared to other employment possibilities. We pondered
our ideas of "sweat shops" and our role as consumers in this
process.
We
also visited Altos de Chavón,
an artists' village built in the 1970's by Gulf and Western, to resemble
a 16th century Italian villa.
More images: the theater
and a view of the Chavón
river.
The
final stop of the trip was a late afternoon dip in the Ocean at Playa
Bayahibe.
More images: Lauresta
and Melisa hang out, Barbara
gets in some reading and Sarah
looks for something dry.
