Students arrive in Santo Domingo

When American Airlines flight 1901 from Miami arrived Wednesday evening in Santo Domingo, fourteen students from Goshen College experienced their first taste of life in the Dominican Republic. The weather was warm and muggy, a foretaste of the heat that will continue to build over the summer months.

After loading their luggage into a small trailer and climbing aboard the guagua (small bus) on which they will take many trips, they headed into the city of Santo Domingo. They experienced some of the night sounds, smells, and breezes as they drove into Santo Domingo to the Hotel Plaza Colonial at the edge of the historic Colonial Zone where they will spend the night (more photos: 1, 2 ).

Thus began the 2003 Summer Study Service Term in the Dominican Republic. After a day of orientation on Thursday, the students will meet their host families in the late afternoon, and then spend their first night with them. On Friday, the students will travel with their families via public transportation to Entrena, the language institute where they will be studying. In the afternoon on Friday, they will be taught more about using public transportation from the Entrena teachers and will navigate their way to Casa Goshen, the unit house.

Then the students will spend a long weekend (Monday is a holiday) getting to know their families, neighborhood, and getting accustomed to hearing and speaking Spanish on a daily basis.

The leaders for the summer unit are Phil and Karen Rush, pictured here with children Sarah (7) and Luke (4 ½). This is their third and final unit this year in the DR, and they are looking forward to the experiences with this group as much as they did the previous two.

In addition to this international experience, Phil and Karen have also spent almost 2 ½ years in China. Their first China experience was in 1984 when both were SST students. They returned again from 1991-1993 to teach English as a second language with China Educational Exchange and Mennonite Central Committee. (Phil later served as Assistant Director of the China Educational Exchange program for 2 years.) In addition, Karen spent one semester during college studying Spanish in Costa Rica, as well as spending time in Haiti as a youngster. These experiences have greatly enriched their lives and they see SST leadership as one way to foster in others the richness of international awareness and understanding.

In the fall, Phil will resume his role as Associate Professor of Business Information Systems at Goshen College. At least initially, Karen will resume her role as full-time mother and homemaker. (Karen's background is in elementary education, and she has directed several childcare programs.) Luke will be attending the college kindergarten in the fall, and Sarah will be a second grader a Parkside school, but right now they are focused on the final months of school at a local Spanish colegio.