Day 4

Greetings retroactively from Thursday, the day after we’re supposed to be writing this. We have come to write from the infinite hospitality of the Guzman Abajo campo, after a long morning of digging zanja and other aqueduct-based labor. Nevertheless, the previous day was a series of unexpected events, but started much the same as all others so far. We arrived at the cafeteria to eat, expecting a quick exit to the campo at around 9 in the morning. However, this was not the case. Heavy rains had come in the previous night and made the trek over a river to the campo nigh impassible, and forced us to stay at the ILAC center until midday. After a lunch, game-session, and movie about Dominican revolutionaries, we began our roughly 2-hour drive to the campo. Unfortunately, the writer was asleep for most of it, so events during this section are not known. However, when we arrived, the citizens of the campo welcomed us with arms wide open, they offered coffee, a dance party (our favorite part of the stay, bar none), and bed and roof to all of us, and gave us a tour of their cute coastal town. After the initial greeting, they sat us down for an utterly scrumptious dinner of arroz con pollo (which is arroz con pollo, I know you’ll get that reference, Mom) y platanos, all made in-house. We had trouble not eating it all and saving some for the people of the town. The end of the day concluded with us returning to our new homes for the next few days, with some of the mamas offering tamarindas and chatting with us. With this hospitality, we stayed awake well into the night, however we needed to sleep, as the first day of labor in our aqueduct project approached with haste. Regardless, we will write to you later tonight. This is the blog crew, signing off, for just a little while.