Day Seven: Goodbye DR

Our last day in the Dominican Republic was bitter sweet.  I woke up and finished packing up all my stuff.  Getting everything crammed back into my bags was difficult, especially since I had acquired so many things (chocolate, dominoes, Yolanda’s rug, my new blouse from Marilu, etc.).  Luckily, Marilu was able to give me a nice shopping bag for the rug and whatever else didn’t fit.  

I disliked saying “goodbye” to Marilu and her kids and Yuleidy.  

Sheila was still asleep so we didn’t get to say “goodbye” to her.  That made me very sad.  Marilu had also sent Grismaldy out on the motorbike to get us some breakfast sandwiches; she almost didn’t make it back in time.  She arrived just as our van was arriving.  Unfortunately, the sandwiches had bacon on them (and cheese!), and Erin’s a vegetarian, so I got custody of her delicious sandwich.  To be fair, I could only eat one of them because they were heavy on mayo and ketchup, which did not sit well on my tummy.  

We had one last appointment in the DR that morning on our way to the airport: a visit to the Colonial District of the capitol, Santo Domingo.  This is the part of the nation where Columbus landed in 1492.  We saw the Presidential Palace, which is quite impressive!  It contains the president’s living quarters as well as many governmental offices.  The saddest government building, in my opinion, was the Palace of Justice, which looked like something out of East Berlin.

One of the first things we saw in the Colonial District was the Puerto del Conde (Conde Gate), which is a symbol of Dominican independence from Haiti.  It is the location at which Juan Pablo Duarte entered the city to conquer it during a bloodless coup on February 27, 1844.  (Unfortunately, this independencia only lasted until 1861 when the Dominicans again submitted to Spanish rule to protect themselves from the Haitians.)

Near the water, we saw the Catedral de Santa Maria la Menor.  You see it in the background here.  Some say that Columbus’s remains are buried here near this statue of the explorer.  

As expected, we knew this couldn’t be a totally pristine trip:

We did pause for a minute to get a drink and go to the bathroom.  We went into the Columbus Commercial Center (Centro Comercial “Colon”).  The inside of this small three story building was quite lovely!

We walked past El Museo de las Casas Reales (Museum of Royal Homes) as well.  It was built in 1511 and served as the main government buildings for the Spanish conquerors.  It was called the Royal Houses because it served as the Royal Court.  

We also got to see the Alcazár de Colón, which was built by Christopher Columbus’ son and his wife from 1500-1512.  (Sir Francis Drake sacked the joint when he showed up in 1586.  Nice job, fellas.)  

Finally, it was time to say goodbye to the DR.  We intend to continue working on the content of this blog--adding details and anecdotes--over time to develop our experiences into a series of articles and campus presentations. 

Much love and appreciation,

--kerry cantwell