Montecristi, Dominican Republic

Last weekend we went to Montecristi which is about as far away as we can get in this country. We left Santo Domingo on the Duarte Highway and went to the end. It is a nice big highway between Santo Domingo and Santiago (the second largest city in the country) and then it gets smaller and smaller and peters out in a small unpaved residential street and just ends. The end of Montecristi is the end of the road.

This cute little girl is playing in front of the open door of her house. Her Mom was watching and came out when I took her photo from the car. I smiled and waved and so did she.

Montecristi is an old city. Columbus was here more than once and for a time Montecristi was an important city. There are several very old buildings but they were not made of stone so they do not date back to the beginning. There is definitely a sense of history here though. This building looked like it had historical interest but many are old wooden buildings that remind me of downtown Melba. They may be old, but torn down and replaced would be an improvement.

The reason we were here was to train the District President and Branch Presidents about the Perpetual Education Fund. And to hold a fireside with the Young Adults to tell them about the opportunity to get help in planning their future; choosing a career and finding out what is needed to prepare for that career and obtaining a loan to pay for schooling, if needed. The three branches are quite a distance from each other. The District President lives in Dajabon so he gathered up the people from his area and they all came to Montecristi. Grandpa is a good teacher and everyone learned a lot and was excited about the opportunities that might be in reach. Here are two photos of the Young Adults looking up scriptures to identify the guiding principles of the PEF program. The District President is in the back with the blue notebook. The people are so friendly and patient with my Spanish. It is a pleasure to get acquainted with them.

We also drove down San Fernando Road to the beach. There was a narrow dirt road right by the shore and we drove down to see what was there. It was about a mile long with houses facing the ocean. One big nice house had a sculpture in front. I think the sculpture must have been a homemade project. But how fun it is to live on the beach with your own sculpture in front of your gate? The rest of the houses ranged from tiny cottages to shacks to large block houses. They are just a narrow dirt road away from the water. One of the members told us that they have much less severe storms in Montecristi than in other parts of the island. I hope they move further inland if there is a big storm.

Grandpa picked up some shells for me. We enjoyed our trip to Montecristi. The only thing we did not like was the mosquitoes. I still have angry red blotches. I guess I am alergic to the bites. But they don't itch any more and all is well. One of the houses along the beach had cows in the front yard. They were happily munching the grass. I didn't know some cows have floppy ears.

When we drove down San Fernando Road to see the ocean we found another end of the road experience. I'm glad we were driving during the daytime:

“People are the most important things; families are the most important people.”

I like this quote. We are away from our family. We are working with people and helping them to improve their lives. We look forward to returning to be with our family again. Meanwhile, email and photos and phone calls keep us close.

We love you,

Grandma P