Adventures in the Dominican Republic, Part II

Field Notes II.VIII: Photographing a mission trip to the Dominican Republic, July 2021

Welcome to Field Notes!

This is a scheduled post. If you are reading it on the day it is published it means that I am watching sunsets over the Gulf of Mexico from the Florida panhandle on a much needed beach vacation with the family. How fitting that while I am at the beach I can provide you with a story and photos of another, more distant beach!

This is the second part of the limited series covering my trip to the Dominican Republic in the summer of 2021.  The first day was primarily a travel day to get to our destination town, Puerto Plata.  Now we are here, and ready for the first day of work, exploration, and photography!  Read the first part of this story here-

Now, let's go!

Monday July 19, 2021

I awake early to the hum of the a/c unit that has been running throughout the night.  My red bedroom is deliciously chill. A small table stands pressed against the wall. I reach for my water bottle, filled with opaque dark brown liquid, and sip.  This is my solution to the coffee problem.  I was assured that coffee would be available somewhere during the trip, but in the absence of specifics I leave nothing to chance.  Small packets of instant coffee spill out of my pack onto the table. Last night I emptied one of these into my water bottle to slowly diffuse as I slept.  It is cold, bad coffee, but it works.  Victory!

Now I am presented with a series of challenges centered around convenience.  The water from the tap in the Dominican Republic is not safe to drink.  At least, not for foreigners unaccustomed to it.  Under a cold, weakly dripping shower I take care to keep my mouth sealed.  I have non-coffee water bottles, filled from a tank in the lobby the night before, to brush my teeth with.  Next, I encounter a sewage system that cannot handle toilet paper.  It must go in its own trash can. All minor hurdles. I have experienced worse on the trails.

Unpleasantries accomplished, I prepare to sneak out.  Unfortunately, all group members had been instructed to not leave Hotel Kevin alone.  I will not challenge this mandate out of respect for Sandi and the other group leaders, but this does greatly restrict my opportunities for photography.  Instead, while everyone else still slumbers, I grab my camera gear and glide quietly through the hallways and stairwells to the hotel’s open air rooftop lounge.

Humid and warm ocean air jars me as I step out under a hazy sunrise.  Puerto Plata spreads all around and I have a clear view of the Cathedral of St Philip the Apostle and of nearby mountains.  The metal and glass of my camera are cold from the air conditioned room.  As I retrieve it from its case the lens instantly fogs in the much warmer outdoor morning.  Wiping it with a microfiber cloth becomes a constant chore in between photographs.

Click to enlarge in web version of this post

The group has awakened and assembled as I return.  We make our way to the church where we are provided with a delicious Dominican breakfast.  And hot coffee.

Hochi arrives with our bus, Expresso, and we climb aboard, bound towards our labor of the day.  The church owns a very small triangular plot of land at the intersection of two roads in the Cableway area. It is a sloped embankment that no one in the States would concern themselves with. Land in this town, though, is precious.  The church plans to install a series of concrete pillars, create a level platform and, and build a chapel upon it.

We arrive at mid morning.  There is already a small crew of Haitian laborers at work digging the foundation of a wall.  We shift focus to the footings for the pillars that will be installed on the low side of the embankment.  With picks and shovels, we all begin to dig.  Sweat flows freely in the unflinching sun and everyone must rotate out often to recover in the shade.  The digging progress is slowed by the soil’s mixture of generations’ worth of metal, wire, and plastic refuse.

Three hours grind by.  From an adjoining alleyway a tiny black and white angular dog supervises our efforts.  I try to set an example by working harder and longer than the others, but our group needs no motivation.  Everyone toils in the heat without complaint.  My turn to rest in the shade comes, and I am able to take out my camera for some quick photos.  As the day progresses trembling muscles and dizziness drag us down, one by one.  The decision is made to halt work for the day.  Expresso arrives and lugs us back for lunch.

The remainder of the day is an excursion.  We again climb aboard Expresso for an hour-long drive to the town of Sosua for some time on a public beach.  The silky sand of this beach is framed by rocky ledges, forming an aqua blue bowl of ocean.  Calm waves glint brightly in the full sun, the rhythmic sound of their wash overlaid by the shouting and laughing of the teenagers playing in the surf.  I take my turn in the cool saline waters, but then wander along the shore with my camera.  Even with a neutral density lens filter, the brightness of the day makes any long exposures impossible.  My skin glows in the sun as a small white dog pants and watches from a shady alcove in the rock.

Dinner sits heavily in my belly, as if too much for for my empty muscles to support.  Before we can go to our rooms we are presented with the opportunity to purchase handmade jewelry from one of the members of the church.  Many beautiful creations of amber are laid before us. We are also introduced to a turquoise and white stone called Larimar, found nowhere else on earth outside of The Dominican Republic.

After many thanks to our hosts, we finally retreat into the darkness to Hotel Kevin.  I turn on the sumptuously effective a/c unit in the room and soon relax into sleep.

To be continued…

Thank you for joining me on this second installment of the Dominican Republic series! Stay tuned, there are several more days and some really interesting adventures ahead. Consider subscribing for free so that you don’t miss it-

Have you ever been to the Dominican Republic? I’d love to hear about it. Let me know in the comments.

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