New Beginnings in the Oldest Church
Sunday. A day off.
Our plan is to spend the morning shopping and sightseeing in
Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic’s capitol city, then head to the beach
for the afternoon. Everyone is happy about the first destination, ecstatic
about the second.
Alas, the rain that we so welcomed a few days ago is back
once more, with feeling. This will be a city-only day.
Arriving in Santo Domingo in our trusty motorbus, we first
visit the market, a huge high-ceilinged building and massive interior arches.
Inside is a maze of tiny shops, each staffed by one or more highly-motivated
proprietors.
There are infinite variations on the invitation to come in
and browse. Every price is negotiable and re-negotiable.
It’s got to be tough for these vendors. They all carry
pretty much the same merchandise – every conceivable souvenir from wood
carvings to shot glasses, from woven bags and vivid paintings to Mamajuana, a
mysterious elixir made from herbs and purported to have certain therapeutic
benefits. It is deemed best mixed with rum, lending credence to the therapeutic
benefit theory.
By far the most popular and prevalent items for sale are
jewelry made from amber or laramar, a lovely pale blue stone found, we are
told, only in the Dominican Republic.
Leaving the market, we walk through a tree-lined square, the
Parque Colon. Pride of place belongs to a statue of Christopher Columbus. His
outstretched arm, no doubt pointing toward further seafaring adventures, is a
popular roost for the park’s impressive pigeon population.
This small plaza is bounded on one side by the Catedral
Primal de America (the first cathedral in the Americas), completed in 1540.
Spectacularly ornate carvings mark its entrance.
As if the fates had planned a great tourist moment, it turns
out that a wedding has just taken place inside the cathedral. The newlyweds
make their way to the square, trying to protect the satin hem of the bride’s
dress from deepening mud puddles.
Here they pose for pictures, taken by one official wedding
photographer and a slew of tourists. Everyone enjoys the moment.
It is good to witness a happy and hopeful beginning as we
prepare for the start of our second week working in the bateys.
Posted at 05:46PM Nov 09, 2009
by Linda Lightner in General |
