Viaje al Pueblo

For the last day of school before vacations Alberto and I decided to do something special with the kids. The majority of the kids from our school live in the community of Mata Gorda, which is a small rural community about 20 minutes from town. Most of the families only go into town about once a week at most and it is very rare that the kids ever go; only if it is a special occasion or if they are sick and need to see a doctor.

So Alberto and I decided that it would be really fun to take the kids on a 'field trip' into town. We rented a taxi mini-bus and loaded all 22 kids and 4 teachers inside.
The kids were so excited as we began our journey into town, pointing out landmarks that they recognized to show us that they had been to town before. There was also a lively discussion determining who had been into town more than the next kid.

Our first stop was the town park. Now, this is not a playground park like many of you might imagine but more like a town square. In most Latin American towns there is one or many parks like this one always next to a large Catholic church.

Look at these two cuties waiting patiently for instructions. The kids had a blast running around the park and up and down the stairs.
We then bought them ice cream, about 50% of which was dropped on the ground, but they all enjoyed it nonetheless. Next we took them to Doulos Discovery School, which is a very nice private Christian school here in Jarabacoa. They have a really cool playground so we let the kids play there for about an hour.
They especially enjoyed the koi pond with fish and turtles!
To top off the day we took them to Pica Pollo for friend chicken and fried green bananas for lunch. Yum!!