Our Last Full Day in the DR was Amazing. Really!

 I’m writing this at 9:30 on Friday night after a long and amazing day.  I use “amazing a” lot  Not once an overstatement.  The group is resting at a hotel before we head to the airport at Midnight to check in for our 3:45 flight.  I’d rather compose this now and attempt to send it via the hotel’s weak Wi-Fi that may revive once the kids log off and take a nap.  It was a day that demands chronicling.

 

Fully packed, we managed to consolidate all of our luggage and personnel and cram everything/everyone onto the bus after breakfast and make it to the Altagracia school for final goodbyes.  As all of the children lined up for the opening ceremony and national anthem, we saw that almost every one of them was holding flags that they had made of every country in North, South and Central America, and of course the Caribbean.  They were celebrating Pan American Day, a perfect occasion for them to celebrate our friendship.  There were skits and songs, and then they presented us with wonderful gifts. The students in our group got really excellent DR baseball hats. The adults got key holders and desk sets.  Then we presented our gifts to them.  The Director told the students that they would all get a tee shirt, with toothbrush and toothpaste tucked inside.  We presented the projector, and special gifts for the English teachers, and three suitcases full of school supplies.  Then we said goodbye, and as the students filed off to class, we made two receiving lines to give them high fives and fist bumps.  Today, though, many of the kids gave big hugs.  We told them, “Hasta ano proximo!”  See you next year.  We said it with deep conviction.  We crammed back onto the bus and headed to Santo Domingo, and one of the leaders told the group, “Don’t cry because it’s over, be happy because it happened.” But we’re sad.

 

We passed the gigantic Barrick gold mine, the second largest in the Americas, a huge operation. The employee parking lot held hundreds of cars, busses and motorcycles.  It’s a big economic driver for the area, and also a massive polluter.  Further down the road, we started to shop our way to Santo Domingo, stopping four times to buy items from roadside vendors.  It was the equivalent of stopping on I-89 to buy maple syrup or sweet corn.

One of us bought a lovely rug. Rita bought flowers for her mother, beautiful birds of paradise.  We bought jars of freshly picked and roasted cashews after a little haggling.  They taste amazing, unsalted and slightly scorched.  We stopped at a highway rest stop with an amazing arrary of goodies.  I won’t spoil the surprise, but Melinda Hansberry’s family will be very happy.  

 

When we entered Santo Domingo on time at 1:30, Rita had a surprise for us. You perhaps have heard me describe the partnership we have had with Professor Juan Valdez, perhaps the most important educator in the DR.  He is an Oxford-educated teacher and advocate for English instruction for all students.  He is the head of one of the best schools in the country, head of the international organization for teachers of English as a foreign language, and a guiding force for the national teachers’ union.  He has been offered every post in the Ministry of Education but always refusing because of the corruption in the Ministry and the government.  Wednesday he announced a lawsuit against the Ministry for illegally withholding millions of dollars earmarked for English instruction that has been misallocated and in some cases stolen. Thursday, not coincidentally, all of the teachers in the country took the day off (allegedly to celebrate the anniversary of the union).  He has been on television for two days now.  He has been threatened.  His challenge to the government is very risky, but he is steadfast in his convictions.  Today, he was in Santo Domingo running workshops for teachers union. Leaders. He is also in regular touch with Rita (because he admires her work and ours), and he invited us to stop at the national union headquarters to say hello.  This is like Dr. Martin Luther King taking time during the March on Washington to greet some very humble civil rights workers. He’s that big in the country. We pulled our bus up to the very spiffy teachers union building, and there he was on the sidewalk, waving to us.  (He had on an impeccable suit, perfect tie, French cuffs, spotless shined shoes. This guy is a rock star in every sense.  Check the photos.  Rita and Frank Perotti, who know him best and have been in regular touch, had gotten dressed up themselves for the occasion.  We figured he would greet them on the sidewalk and maybe, perhaps, stick his head in the bus and say hi.  But he stuck his head into the bus and invited us all inside.  Feeling a bit shabby (We had on comfy clothing, although adhering firmly to the protocol of all wearing long pants, even on a 90 degree day.  Thank goodness. Shorts are a major no-no in the DR.) we filed into the building. Professor Valdez shocked me:  “Coach Grabill!  Thanks for your Instagram post!” How does he do that?  Sure, we have met several times, and sure, I have been sending him encouraging messages on Insta.  But how does he recognize me, rumpled and unshaven, in a line of students?  He is truly a savant.  We were ushered into a small lecture hall, and he asked Frank and Rita to sit with two of the union leaders, and proceeded to give us a 20-minute summary of the problems in DR education and how they can be fixed.  It’s his stump speech, but it was riveting and superbly done.  How good? Every one of our students, eager to be touring in Santo Domingo and hitting the beach, was transfixed.  Luckily, everyone had the context to understand what he was saying.  And his lecture was brilliant and fast-paced and compelling.  He is a spellbinder. I’ve seen great and great sermons.  There is no one like Juan Valdez.  There’s a lot that he could be doing instead of fighting for 20 years for underserved poor public school students and their teachers. But this is his passion and his calling, and he may yet succeed. After his talk, he took the students next door and introduced them to a room full of the leading teacher in the country. Amazing.

 

Wait, there’s more.  He knew we were late for pizza in the Santo Domingo Colonial Zone, so he snapped his fingers and the next thing we knew we were next door in a swanky restaurant (you know, lthe ones with the gigantic plates that do under your dinner plates) and getting fed right away and lingering to talk with Frank and Rita and then our students.  And hey, our students held their own.  We were running late for our planned afternoon, and devised a solution.  We split into two groups.  Those who wanted to go to the Colonial Zone (a UNESCO World Heritage site) would go there.  Those who wanted to go the beach would take the bus to the beach. Professor Valdez solved the logistical challenge by snapping his fingers and arranging for his driver (yes, he has a driver) and another car to take the group to see the Cathedral. How cool are our students? They were asked to choose between two of the best events we had planned after listening to a lecture about why education in the DR is so bad. But they truly appreciated it. And the rest of the afternoon came off as planned.

 

Just as the beach group was getting out of the azure waters of the famous Boca Chica beach, having enjoyed a perfect beach day, the Santo Domnigo group arrived, having had a wonderful visit to the Colonial Zone. And Jun gave my regards to Columbus.  We gathered for diner at a beach-side restaurant, and then took the bus to the nearby Hostal Angel Gabriel for three hours of rest before the flight.  Time to sign off.  I hope I can post this now, or at the very least at the airport after we check in and clear security.  Amazing day.  Amazing group.

(OK - The Internet is too slow to post pictures.  For now I'll try to post it without photos.  Please, please check the blog for the next day or two.  There will be pictures on this last day soon, and then at least one more post.)