Now that we had a day to get settled at Rancho Ruisenor, Day 3 was our first venture into the city of Jarabacoa. We loaded up in a safari-style truck that took us to the primary fire station. We heard a brief presentation from the fire chief who then let all of us (who wanted to) take a slide down an actual fire pole! Our Program Coordinators, Diana and Nicole, took us on a walk around the city, ending up at an ice cream parlor where they treated us to super fresh, homemade deliciousness! The street is shaded by colorful umbrellas. What a delightful splash of color!
We jumped back in the safari truck and headed up the hill to Bohios Campo Anil, a historical preservation site where we got to see a demonstration of how coffee and chocolate were processed in traditional ways.
While we waited for lunch (which was delicious!), we got to hang out in a gaming area where some played dominoes and many others showed off their skills (or humorous attempts) at playing pool.
Upon returning to Rancho Ruisenor, we had a quiet self-reflection workshop, followed by a not-so-quiet dance lesson! A local teacher and his student came to our residence to teach us local, historical, D.R. styles of dance including Merengue, Bachata, Salsa and Dembow. Most of us really worked up a sweat and were grateful for the time in the pool to cool us down!
Tomorrow is our Community Day, and it’s sure to be a big adventure! Tune in tomorrow for the full story. 🙂
I am loving the updates from your three days (so far!) in Jarabacoa. How do the Dominicans prefer to drink their coffee, and what % of chocolate is popular for snacking on?
Most locals drink their coffee black, but there always seems to be locally grown, natural sugar served with it. We haven’t encountered any dark chocolate yet, but there is a popular sweet treat that has a mix of white chocolate and coconut.
Just an FYI – at this end, the photos are only thumbnails with resolution so low we can’t even make out who’s who.
We’ve updated the photo size/resolution. I hope this helps!
Looks like an amazing day! I loved seeing all the smiles in the pictures and video. Thanks for sharing several pictures and a video clip. They made my day!
looks so much better – Thanks!!
I loved seeing several photos on this day and all of the activities! I had the same experience as Michael when using my mobile device but I was able to double click photos when on my laptop and it made a big difference. Thanks for sharing these, it means so much to us!