Arrival - Day 1

Finally! After many long months of waiting, a late night of packing, and an early morning drive to JFK airport, Alexa is now in the Dominican Republic.  This will be her home for the three months.

At the airport she met up with a whole bunch of fellow ILP DR volunteers who had left the previous night from Salt Lake City.  Everyone was so excited! The flight from NYC took about 3.5 hours, and so around 11am the group had arrived.




After arriving, the girls were transported to their apartment and then taken on a walk around their neighborhood.  It is a very poor area.  She said there are stray dogs everywhere, looking for food and just wandering.  The people seemed to be all outside, sitting in front of their houses or standing talking.  And the children....the children stole her heart immediately!  As they walked down the street the children would run up to them and throw their arms around their legs, and in their limited English proclaim, "Teacher!".



Alexa also says it is so humid that she is "swimming in sweat!"  Doesn't that paint a pretty picture!  Dinner that first night was delicious, with traditional meat, rice, beans (lentils), and broccoli.  On a side note, the water that they are provided to drink (supposedly the "safe" water) smells like fish food...