Leaders of the 2004 Spring SST unit in the Dominican Republic are Jim and Lisa Caskey, pictured here with their children, Lewis (13) and Emma (9). Prior to this assignment, Jim has served Goshen College for 6 years as a Regional Director of Development. Lisa is a music teacher at Parkside Elementary in the Goshen Community Schools.

Jim and Lisa met at Goshen College where they both participated in SST, Jim in Honduras and Lisa in Haiti. "Leading SST now takes us back to wonderful memories and a time of life-changing growth. Never did we imagine we would share the opportunity to gain another world perspective and this time along with our own children and 13 Goshen College students. What a privilege this is."

[Thursday night] Santo Domingo, the oldest continuously inhabited city in the Americas has 13 new residents tonight. The Goshen students are at Plaza Colonial, a hotel at the edge of the old colonial zone. Given the major changes they experienced in the last 12 hours, they all seemed to be in very good spirits when we left them after midnight.

We stopped for some pica-pollo (chicken and platano chips) on the way to the hotel because they were very hungry. At the hotel we briefly celebrated Addie's birthday with a cake. Travel leader Jessica said about the trip, "it was really uneventful, everything went very smoothly." For that we are truly grateful.

Friday, students spent the day in orientation and then at 4:30 pm met their families who took them to their new homes for the weekend.

Monday morning, they have public transportation training from their language school and use that knowledge to make their way to and from Casa Goshen. Tuesdays are "Casa Goshen" days where we all come together for food, fellowship, fun and worship. Wednesday begins the routine of language study in the morning, lunch on their own and lectures in the afternoon.

On Monday morning, students met with language instructors at the ENTRENA language school in order to divide students into language groups. The 13 students are divided into three groups. Our normal routine is language class in the mornings for three hours starting at 9:00am, two or three days a week depending on field trips. Students then find their own lunch on the way to the afternoon lectures. A plato del dia (special of the day) of Dominican food is 50-60 pesos, roughly $1.50.

Tuesdays are "Casa Goshen Day." The normal Tuesday routine will begin the second week. This week, the morning was spent playing games, reflecting on a meditation about "waiting for God," and coming up with our group goals.

Jim led the students through an activity that resulted in the following group goals and objectives: 1) Be patient and flexible while learning to take the bad with the good 2) Respect the Dominican culture around us with sensitivity and tolerance 3) Feel comfortable enough to openly share and confide in each other 4) Have fun!

After lunch, our afternoon was spent changing money, catching up, getting haircuts (Isaiah & John B.) and interviewing each student one on one about their specific interests in service assignments.

Afternoon lectures take place at Colegio Cristiano Mi-El. ("Mi-El" means "Me-Him", but "miel" means "honey"). The small elementary school is located close to Casa Goshen. As a bonus, it is the school where Lewis and Emma Caskey attend, so they enjoy seeing all of the college students as they arrive for the lectures.

This week we heard from Puro Blanco about "The Dominican Soul" and "Social Problems in the DR." He always does a great job getting at the essence of the Dominican.

Later in the week, Patricia Zwier spoke to us about being bi-cultural and ways to combat culture shock, and Doctor Scheraldi, our group doctor, talked to us about ways to keep healthy while here in the DR.

On Friday, we took a field trip to the Zona Colonial; Santo Domingo's substantial colonial district, with dozens of wonderful old buildings and a dramatic setting right on the river Ozama.

Santo Domingo was founded in 1496 and many monumental stone constructions from the early 1500s still remain today. The students took turns playing "tour guide" for each stop we made.

On Saturday, on the way to a beach outing, the group stopped at Los Tres Ojos (The Three Eyes), a set of large caves dotted with freshwater lagoons. The caves were only recently re-discovered in the 1950's, but were used by the native Taino inhabitants for religious ceremonies. Pictured is the 4th lagoon (obviously discovered after they named the park!) that we could only reach by boat.

The beach proved to be a relaxing time away as a group after this first week of testing our Spanish abilities, living with new families and commuting in the city. We played dominoes, soccer, tried our hands (or rather, feet) at skim-boarding (Floridian Andy showed us how it was done), went snorkeling, and in general, enjoyed getting to know each other better.

On Sunday the family picnic was held in the Mirador Sur park. This is a highlight for the families and a good chance to mix and mingle. Goshen College provides chicken, drinks and table service, and each family brings a dish.

Our second week began with Asier Cabrera, a local history teacher, lecturing on Dominican History. The students at this point seem very comfortable using public transportation and are enjoying finding new places for lunch each day.

On Tuesdays, the students are divided into four groups for exploration activities around the city during the morning. Kate, Katie and Andy were the first group assigned to planning and preparing lunch for everyone. After deciding the menu, they made their way to the Feria Ganadera, a fruit/vegetable/meat market, where they negotiated to get the most they could on a set budget. Jim and Lisa picked them up from there to stop by a supermercado (supermarket)for a few missing supplies.

After lunch, we discussed different feelings of guilt that emerged in journal entries, when facing the extreme poverty through the beggars on the street, as well as the stereotypical expectations we receive as rich Americans. After some time to relax, play dominoes, write in journals or check email, we played a group game of "Encore" before students went their separate ways into the Santo Domingo rush hour traffic back to the safety of their Dominican families.

On Wednesday, the 21st, students spent the National Holiday, Dia de la Virgen Altagracia at home with their families. There were no Spanish classes or lectures that day.

On Thursday, the group spent the day in San Pedro, a city about 90 minutes from the Capitol. We toured a sugar cane factory (Cristobal Colon CxA) where we learned all the steps sugar goes through to get from the cane fields to the bags in the store. The highlight for most was seeing the mountain of sugar at the end of the line, and better yet, being able to reach out and taste it!

After a brief stop by a Sammy Sosa monument (San Pedro is his hometown)we continued on to the Cuevos Maravillas ( Marvelous Caves) These award-winning caves claim to be the best display of Taino artwork in the country, and they were indeed impressive! The stalagtites growing over the artwork convinced us of their authenticity. Our only disappointment was that we couldn't take any pictures inside the new caves containing the Taino art.

Our final day of the week was spent with the morning in lanugage classes at Entrea, followed by an afternoon lecture at Mi-El. Today's lecture reunited Jim with his GC classmate Elias Acosta, who spoke to the group about Mennonites in the DR and Media and Business in the DR

After the extended weekend because of Dia de Duarte (A National Holiday honoring one of the founding fathers), we returned to a normal schedule, if only briefly. The students had explorations around the city ending up at Casa Goshen for lunch, prepared this time by John Blount, Allison Brenneman and Alaina Smith. After celebrating the much anticipated arrival of our first round of letters, we worked in small groups to illustrate our interpretation of exerpts from Henri Nouwen's Gracias! A Latin American Journal. We can't leave Casa Goshen without playing a group game, however. This week Jim and Lisa introduced "Apples to Apples."

Classes were cancelled Wednesday and our field trip was postponed Thursday because of the "Huelga" or strike. We are thankful for a relatively peaceful strike for all of the people in the country. Although there were 8 reported deaths, many injuries and damaged property, our host families took seriously their role of protecting their families, including our students. Most students reported a boring two days after all of the warnings.

Today began our "bus tour" of the western part of the island. Our first stop was Cueva de las Caritas, a cave up a mountain where the Tainos carved faces into the coral rock.

Lago Enriquillo, our second stop, is the lowest point in the Caribbean at 150 feet below sea level, and is three times saltier than the ocean. While we didn't see any crocodiles that reportedly live there, we did see a pink flamingo, and plenty of rhinoceros iguanas.

La Descubierta was our lunch stop, where many of us tried goat meat (chivo) for the first time. We then stopped in Jimani, the last town before the border with Haiti. We were fortunate to have Tom Meyers, Director of International Education at Goshen College, along with us on the trip. He spoke to the students about Haiti and led us on a brief but impressionable walk-through of the bare border market.

After a brief stop at the traditional "Magnetic Pole" (where objects appear to roll up hill), we ended the evening in Barahona where Tom checked-in with the students' experience-to-date, followed by a pizza dinner.

The morning began with a visit to the "Larimar Beach." Larimar is a semi-precious turquoise blue stone found only in the Dominican Republic. This particular beach is known for it's Larimar stones and, while we enjoyed the challenge of finding the stones ourselves, we also wanted to support the local children by paying them for their finds.

After that, we stopped at San Rafael beach near Paraiso and while lunch was being prepared, we hiked up the nearby river. The 45 minute hike was challenging but rewarding. We were very ready for our fresh fish, moros, verde fritos and refrescos.

After a morning of Spanish classes at Entrena, we heard from Jean-Claude Hudicourt about Haiti and Haitian/Dominican relations. Jean-Claude (GC class of '84) and his wife, Annouck, are very active in a grass-roots movement to get current president Aristide to step down. They brought the current situation of protests, acts of violence, political unrest and social difficulties to life for us, but also shared a deep rooted hope for the future, almost beyond our ability to comprehend amidst such despair. This particular lecture was special to Lisa because Jean-Claude was her Haitian brother when she was on SST in Haiti 20 years ago!

Drew, Stephanie, Addie and Isaiah provided lunch for all of us after our explorations. The grilled hamburgers, macaroni and cheese and papaya shakes were a hit! Afterwards, we checked in on our group goal progress and discussed the different ways God reveals himself in the people we come in contact with, both Dominicans and fellow SSTers. Our ending game of "Squeak, piggie, squeak" will take some explaining.

After Spanish classes on Wednesday, we looked forward to a lecture by Jaimi Moreno about business and the economy in the DR. The co-owner of our favorite ice cream store, Helados Bon, was unable to make it, so we spent the time wisely researching how the Helados Bon business functions in the DR!

Our field trip this weekend began in the "breadbasket" of the Dominican Republic, the Cibao Valley. We were treated to many delicious smells, tastes and incredible hospitality at the organic farm of Don Jose and Dona Nati. We ate mandarins fresh off the trees, strawberries from the vine, held day old goats and bunnies, and witnessed the process of roasting coffee beans in Don Jose's converted washing maching drum. We were thrilled to buy all the coffee he had ready to sell, the freshest coffee any of us ever tried. The beauty of the view from their simple house was breathtaking. Many students commented on the clean fresh air as compared to the city of Santo Domingo.

The afternoon in Jarabacoa was at Rancho Biaguate. There, some of us conquered a high ropes course before all of us walked or rode horses to the Biaguate falls, where we had a cold river swim! An evening of good food, conversation and singing around a warm circle of friends in the cool mountain air ended a wonderful day.

On Friday, we visited Loma Quita Espuela, a scientific reserve created to protect one of the rarest ecosystems in the world, the mist rain forest. Fifty-eight different bird species have been identified in the reserve. The name of the reserve Quita Espuela literally means "Take off your spurs." It was so named beacause the locals say that you can't take your horse up the mountain so you might as well "take off your spurs."

The hike up the 3,090 foot mountain was a hard one, but the whole group made it! Along the way, there were 42 markers denoting different varieties of trees and plants and wild life habitats along with conservation of land/erosion issues. When we returned from the mountain, a well-deserved meal was waiting for us.

This group was fortunate to visit the Samaná peninsula where Humpback Whales migrate for winter to mate and calve. Mid February is the peak period with up to 300 whales present in the bay. In March they begin migrating north, to summer in New England, Newfoundland, Greenland or Iceland. The waves were rough in the bay the morning we planned to go. Many tourists cancelled their reservations for the day, but our crew voted unanimously to forge ahead in the choppy waters. It proved to be the right call as our marine biologist guide, Kim Beddall remarked at the number of sightings and activity we were privileged to see. The first young male we saw swam beside our boat before launching himself into the air giving us a spectacular view of his body. This is known as a breach. In all we sighted about 12 different whales. All but one of us made it back without getting seasick!

During lunch, our local host, Jodi José, gave us an overview and some interesting history specific to Samaná. Many freed slaves from the United States were encouraged by the Dominican government to come and settle in Samaná, with offers of cheap land. Evidence of this can still be seen by the names in local cemeteries and the fact that some older residents still speak English.

We ended the day at the end of the road, as far north and east as you can go on the island, at a beautiful beach where we witnessed the perfection of a Caribbean sunset.

Our stop on the way back to Santo Domingo was Salcedo, where we visited the museum of the three Mirabal sisters. The sisters were killed by orders of the dictator Trujillo on November 25th, 1960, because of their involvement in an underground movement seeking to overthrow Trujillo's vicious regime (1930-1961). Trujillo himself was killed in May of 1961 backed by some of his own generals.

The killing of the Mirabal sisters was the final "straw" which finally brought down the dictator. The Mirabal story is told in the very interesting book In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez.

On Monday, Ana Rivera was well received as she gave a Dominican resident’s perspective on the current political environment. She gave an overview of political history since Trujillo, and then explained many of the differences between the electoral processes of our two countries. One of the students expressed regret at knowing so little about any process other than our own as Ana spoke knowledgably about US and Latin American politics with ease. This was especially apropos while we are in the midst of a presidential campaign to be determined in a May 16 national election.

Between morning Spanish classes at Entrena and afternoon lectures at Collegio Mi-El, some students became regulars at the neighborhood colmado after eating lunch.

This Casa Goshen Tuesday, Libby, John Thomas and Jessica made pizzas and peanut blossom cookies for the group, while others explored around the city. Libby touched-up the Goshen College sign that hangs on our carport door, so that once again it reads “Culture for Service.” As always, there was time for haircuts, relaxing and writing those last journal entries. As a group we discussed American vs. Dominican Cultural Values and 10 different structures of Dominican families, identifying with a number of them in our own homes. Another crazy group game ended our day together, this one introduced by Jessica called “bippity-boppity-boo,” as Katie and the two Johns hurry to form a rabbit.

Wednesday afternoon we visited the U.S. Embassy and Peace Corps offices. Bain Cowell from the Embassy spoke to the group about current U.S./DR relations. The Peace Corps workers provided the students with information about what it’s like working in “the campo.” On Thursday, we visited the national palace, a magnificent building constructed in 1947 during Trujillo's reign. One of the highlights for us was singing "Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow" in the acoustically live ballroom where Trujillo's wife entertained her friends and other dignitaries.

On Friday and Saturday the group took part in “Village Study,” an important part of the SST experience and consistently, through the years, one of the highest rated activities. This year was no exception. Early in the week, 4 different groups each drew the name of a small village somewhere in the country. After figuring out how to get to “their” village by asking family, friends and teachers at Entrena, each group met Friday morning to put their plans into action. The 24 hours that follow leave an indelible impression on most students, as they are exposed to hospitality from strangers that few have experienced before. Along the way, they talk with village residents about all aspects of their lives in the village. Groups are given gifts, food and even homes to sleep in. One student wrote, “I was overwhelmed! I had to wonder how a strange visitor who could hardly speak the language would be welcomed in my neighborhood at home. These people kept thanking us for visiting them, it was very humbling!” Students learned that sometimes “receiving” is the best gift you can give. Village study is an excellent preparation for service. It gives the students the confidence needed to step out of the city, rely on themselves and their language skills with an insight into the great hospitality present in almost every small Dominican village.

By invitation, we held our Monday afternoon meeting in the home of Williams Velez, our in-country assistant, as well as host family for Allison. It was an exciting afternoon as each group gave a brief report of their Village Study experience and everyone learned his/her service assignment for the first time. After some free time, we were treated to a delicious Dominican dinner prepared by our generous hosts. Each week we feel more at home in our host country as we set a personal new record of 13 people in our Mitsubishi Montero, (built for 5) while returning students to their homes!

Service Placements: Three students will be working with Peace Corps Volunteers: Jessica in a school in Tubagua, Puerto Plata; Kate in Saboneta working in a school, helping to establish a preschool, and working with micro-finance strategic planning; Alaina in Montecito, San Juan, teaching English and computers. Andy and Isaiah will be in Jacimeyes building houses for Habitat for Humanity. Addie will live close-by in a small batey outside of Barahona teaching in a pre-school. Stephanie will be in San Pedro working in a clinic. Allison will be in San Francisco working in a children’s center. Libby and Katie will live in Samaná, Libby teaching at a school and Katie working for the Center for the Conservation and Ecodevelopment of Samaná Bay and its Environs. John Blount and Drew will work with habichuela farmers in Arroyo La Pita, and John Thomas will work on an organic strawberry farm in Los Dajaos.

Our last Casa Goshen day was a meaningful conclusion to this enjoyable part of our first 6 weeks. After morning explorations and a delicious lunch of taco salad, each student shared something from their journal, a favorite Bible verse, song or thought that impacted them this term. We celebrated Katie and Allison’s birthdays and spent more time talking about hopes and fears of service assignments. The men in our group couldn’t wait to properly outfit themselves for rides in the campo on motoconchas (motorcycle taxis).

After Entrena classes the group took a trip to San Cristóbal, former dictator Trujillo’s hometown. During Trujillo’s rule the city was in its heyday, being the beneficiary of an enormous cathedral and two palatial presidential residences, all courtesy of the government. Our first stop was Casa Caoba (Mahagony House). This summer home of Trujillo was built in 1938 and was trimmed out entirely in Mahogony. We were fortunate to cross paths with the architect who is planning to convert the residence into a historical attraction. He was generous enough to give us an impromptu lecture and permission to tour the inside.

Afterwards, we toured the Castillo del Cerro (Castle of the Hill), a luxurious 6-story mansion that Trujillo built in the 1940s but never lived in. Perched atop a hill, the home has a beautiful view overlooking San Cristóbal. One can only imagine how the locals felt seeing the magnitude of the money spent on this house while so many lived in poverty.

Our final stop was Iglesia San Cristóbal, the 19th century cathedral that contains Trujillo’s mausoleum – although his remains actually are in France.

We left at 8:30 am for our trip to San Pedro and Tetelo Vargas, the baseball stadium that is the centerpiece of the city. Our purpose was to visit the Chicago Cubs training camp to meet the Dominican players who hope to one day play in the major leagues. More Dominican players in the major leagues come from San Pedro than from any other place on the island. Players at this level are given room and board during training camp, and a small salary during the season. Included in their training is time for English lessons preparing them for playing in the United States. We visited with the team manager and one player who comes from a family of 7 children, 3 of whom are signed with different major league franchises. Players cleared the area behind the net when Alaina impressed them with her excellent batting form.

John Thomas left early in the morning for his service assignment in Jarabacoa. He is working on an organic strawberry farm owned by Barnabé Mañón, who lives in Santo Domingo and drives up each Friday morning. At Entrena, the students took their final evaluations, received certificates, and enjoyed cake to celebrate their last day (and Katie’s 21st birthday).

In the afternoon at Casa Goshen, after final instructions and supplies (mosquito nets, motorcycle helmets and life jackets) were offered, we shared a service of sending. We read scripture, (Psalm 121, Joshua 1) sang the hymns In Christ There is no East or West and Will You Let Me Be Your Servant and read together a benediction prayer for service. A general feeling of “readiness” and “courage” was evident in all the students.

Katie Beck is working with CEBSE (Center for the Conservation and Ecodevelopment of Samaná Bay and its Environs). Each morning she boards one of the whale watching boats and collects data about the whales. Working with a GPS unit, she marks their location, appearance and behavior. Since most of the boats do not have guides, she often answers tourists’ questions about the whales and serves as translator for the Spanish-speaking captains. In addition, she helps with the captain and crew meeting for all of Samaná Bay. Katie lives with Liliana and Alejandro, the CEBSE directors in Samaná.

Libby Short is teaching English at colegio Arcoiris (rainbow), a small private school in Samaná. She works with three groups of students; first and second graders, kindergarteners, and a Maternal class (3-4 year olds). Most of the children have not had English classes before now. Both the students and parents are very excited about what Libby is teaching them! In addition to working at Arcoiris, Libby works with Jodi José, tutoring a group of older children two evenings a week. She lives with Rosaida de Messina, 17 year-old daughter Bony, and her 74 year-old abuelita(grandmother).

Libby and Katie chose a Chinese restaurant high on a hill with a wonderful view of Samaná Bay for their meal out with leaders, Jim and Lisa, (and Lewis and Emma). Katie took Saturday off, and we all went to their favorite beach, Playa Rincon, arguably the most beautiful place on the island.

Kate Nafziger is working in Santiago Rodriguez (Saboneta). In the mornings, Kate volunteers at Los Tamines, the elementary school where her brother Elvis attends. After going home for lunch with her family, she helps Peace Corps Volunteer, Jennifer Jones with the activities she has initiated: organizing a new preschool, strategic planning for local business owners, visits to prisoners, and women’s group meetings. Kate enjoys beginning each day with a morning jog in town and has learned to actually like beans!

We met Kate at her house and took her to “El Patio” for lunch, where we all had the special of the day, chivo (goat) and yellow rice. At the local park, we treated Kate to her favorite flavor at Helados Bon while she caught up on mail from home. Back at Kate’s house we met the family and were treated to coffee and fruit, an impromptu trombone recital by her brother, and some chess with the neighbors.

Jessica Schrock is in La China, a small barrio outside Tubagua in the northern part of the island. She works at two different schools, one in Arroyo Ancho and the other in her own barrio of La China. A recent project at Arroyo Ancho has been to help the students create a map mural of the island.

After meeting Jessica in Arroyo Ancho, we hiked up the muddy 1.5 mile trail to La China and her family’s house. We met Jessica’s service family and were treated to lunch in her home. We were all very impressed with the work of Peace Corps Volunteer Teresa Stidsen. Teresa, who has built her own house in La China, will have Jessica’s help with building a chicken coop, starting a garden and building a new type of more energy efficient stoves for the local women. In the afternoon we visited Jessica’s school in La China where we were entertained by an enthusiastic group of students with songs and games.

Allison Brenneman is working at Albuerge del Buen Samaritano, a day care center for low-income families. She has spent each week with a different age group. After lunch at home with her family, she teaches an English class at CEAM (Center for English and Music) to a class of 5 and 6 year olds.

After a tour of the Albuerge facility and a meeting with Padre Ross, his wife Liset, director of the preschool, and missionary volunteer Jane Fladd, we went to Dorado, a local Chinese Restaurant for lunch. Back at Allison’s house we met the Tineo family, who treated us to wonderful guineo batitas (bananas, milk, ice, vanilla and sugar). Drinking those, however, didn’t stop us from our promised visit to the Helados Bon in town before returning Allison to her family for the weekend.

Drew Weber and John Blount live in Arroyo La Pita, an area in the central region of the island referred to as the Cibao Valley. They live in the Cordillera Central mountain range that continues through Haiti and then pops up again in Cuba and Central America. The Dominican section of these mountains has by far the highest peaks in the Caribbean, higher even than North America’s Appalachians.

Drew works on a habichuela (bean) farm in addition to some time on a reforestation project and digging out a new community center after a mud slide. John works primarily on his family’s farm with his father, planting, fumigating, irrigating and picking beans and yucca. Both enjoyed a hard day of work trying to keep up with the more experienced Haitian workers hired to work in the same fields.

There are no phones in the area, but many homes get their electricity from solar panels courtesy of a government project. We were treated to coffee with Drew’s family and freshly made grapefruit juice at John’s home. We took a hike up to the field that John had helped to plant days earlier, to meet his father.

Along with John and Drew we took the trip down the mountain to Jarabacoa, a resort town at 1650 feet altitude where it is warm in the day and cool at night all year round. We met John Thomas, who lives 19 miles up the mountain in Los Dajaos on the other side of Jarabacoa. After lunch at the Grand Jimenoa Hotel and dessert at Helados Bon, we made the scenic trip up the mountain to see where John Thomas lives and works.

John lives in the mountain home of Barnabé Mañón, an organic farmer and businessman who spends most of his time in the capital as president of a tree nursery, Los Arbolitos. Since Barnabé and his family live in Santo Domingo during the week, John lives alone and is responsible for watching over the farm, including strawberries, habichuelas (beans), and Christmas trees. He also monitors and records weather statistics. John works closely with his neighbor Antonio, and eats most of his meals with Antonio’s family, including wife, Teresa and some of their 10 children.

Isaiah Goertz and Andy Graber live in Jaquimeyes, a small town in the southwest part of the island. They are working for Habitat for Humanity, which has been active in the area since Hurricane George in 1998. They are currently constructing six different houses in their neighborhood. No supplies came in for work the second week they were there, so they spent time traveling and exploring the southwest area they live in.

Isaiah lives with Aida Bautista and her family. She works for Habitat for Humanity. Andy lives just down the street with Gracia and Manuel and their large extended family in one of the homes built by the Habitat crew. Both Andy and Isaiah have experienced an insider’s view of cockfighting, a popular but controversial national past time. Andy’s grandfather raises gallos and even has his own training ring to exercise the birds.

Addie Liechty is close-by in Batey Central, a small community on the outskirts of Barahona. A batey is a Haitian community, originally built as housing for the Haitian immigrants who work in the sugar cane fields. The living conditions in a batey vary, but are usually the poorest communities in the country, often with no electricity or running water. Thankfully, Addie has both. She works in the Albuerge del Iglesia Jesus Peregrino, a pre-school run by the Episcopal Church. Her sister is the teacher of the class and Addie contributes her gifts of music and love for children. While we were there, the children sang songs showing us their ability to name colors, numbers and parts of the body in English. Addie’s host mother works in the kitchen for the school.

We took Addie, Isaiah and Andy to Brisas del Caribe (Caribbean breezes) restaurant. After a stop at Helados Bon they took us to the local river, their favorite place for a relaxing swim after a hard days work.

Alaina Smith is working in Montecito, high up in the mountains in the central region of the island. Her site was definitely the most difficult to get to, challenging our four-wheel drive vehicle for the 1 ½ hour climb. Alaina was placed with Peace Corps Volunteer Byron Holcomb, who lives in nearby Los Frios. She is helping Byron by teaching a computer class at the local community center.

Living with a large family that owns a colmado and a small drugstore has provided many diverse activities for Alaina as she has become a part of the family and community. She has ridden mules, played baseball, watched novellas (Dominican Soap Operas), played dominoes, dug a latrine, milked a cow and played lots of pool. Our afternoon was spent eating a meal at her house (along with PCV Byron), visiting with her family and neighbors and enjoying the view from high atop the mountain.

Stephanie Schmuhl lives in San Pedro de Macoris, a large town about an hour east of Santo Domingo, best known as the hometown of Chicago Cubs star, Sammy Sosa. At the Clinica Esperanza y Caridad, Stephanie serves as the first contact with patients as they arrive for care. She records patient information, works with patient files and to everyone’s delight, uses her Spanish in the waiting area to announce who’s next! The Clinic recently took advantage of her translating ability while assembling new Physical Therapy equipment, because instructions were only in English. She also helps figure dosage for the pharmacy, and has even assisted the dentist with a filling! Stephanie lives with Doctor Luisa, two brothers and Dr. Luisa’s mother.

We spent the afternoon with Stephanie touring the clinic, meeting her family and eating lunch at El Piano a local restaurant on the town square. Her ocean-side Helados Bon won the prize for best atmosphere!

As we end the week and begin the month of April our household is filled with excitement for the return of all the college students to Santo Domingo. As a family we are mindful of the excitement the students must feel as they prepare to return home to loved ones as well. With these photos of various students with Lewis and Emma (who attended every field trip, most lectures and claimed “Casa Goshen” days as the highlight of their weeks), we want to publicly thank each of them for their genuine interest and acceptance of a younger brother and sister for these 13 weeks together.

Casa Goshen was once again filled with the exciting buzz of students exchanging stories and preparing for their trip home. Everyone arrived safely from various parts of the country today. After checking in with their host families they came to Casa Goshen for debriefing, filling out forms, handing in supplies and picking up their schedules for our final retreat, which begins Monday.

The students arrived at Casa Goshen Monday morning after saying "Good-bye" to host families in Santo Domingo. After final business, testing over Spanish and geography, and some souvenir shopping from Larimar jewelry representatives, we left for a final retreat at Playa Esmeralda. It was good to see our friend and chofer, Jose Miguel for the short trip to our resort.

Our time at Playa Esmeralda proved to be an ideal stepping stone for re-entry into the United States. The balance between structured time for sharing (service stories, final journal entries, preparation for going home and overall SST impressions) and time to simply play (on the beach, dancing at night and celebrating) seemed to fulfill the needs of this close group preparing to say good-bye.

We saw the sunrise over the Caribbean horizon during our early morning breakfast. This day had been marked on each one’s calendar since the beginning. Collectively we experienced the range of emotions a day like this brings. The students checked baggage, passed through immigration, boarded the plane and finally took off for their Miami connection to Chicago. As their plane disappeared over the interior of the country, we were filled with deep gratitude as leaders for the privilege of sharing this rich experience with these 13 wonderful new friends.