(Still) Digging Ditches: Day 4

As has become routine now, we loaded up the truck with our supplies and returned to our work site.  There is something strange about beginning to feel comfortable, to fall into a familiar routine, in a place so foreign.  We take the same route to work each morning, look forward to seeing our friends from the community day after day, and know every inch of the trench by now.  The work hasn't become monotonous, largely because each day we complete a new phase of the project.  Today we installed about two dozen pipes, each about 20 feet in length.  The highlight of the day came after the glue had dried and we had the opportunity to test the line.  There was a collective cheer as water gushed out of the end of the pipeline, driving home just how productive our presence here has been.  After we verified that the joints between each pair of pipes were sealed, we began to fill in the trenches.  By the time we left in the afternoon, that stretch of the aqueduct was complete.  We won't return to the site again until Monday, when we'll continue working our way across the next field.

After the work day was over, we ventured out from the Rancho again, this time on horseback.  The trek took us to the Salto de Baiguate, one of Jarabacoa's many waterfalls.  Virginia, '13 shares her perspective about the excursion:

After a long day of putting in pipes and covering them back up, we all enjoyed horseback riding from the Ranch to Salto Baiguate (the Baiguate Waterfall) and back. For those of us who were first-time riders or needed a little extra help, some local boys who grew up with the horses enjoyed the ride with us, getting behind us on the horse and helping guide them and occasionally whip them when they were slowing down. The horses, especially mine, had a mind of their own, sometimes blazing their own paths instead of following along behind the others. Treading through Río Baiguate and down dirt roads, our trek ended at a gorgeous waterfall. The horses sadly did not come to the waterfall with us, but instead we took a five-minute journey through the woods. After spending fifteen minutes walking around in the water and taking pictures, we walked back to the horses and ultimately rode back to the Ranch. The ride back proved faster than the ride there because the horses took off cantering down the road back to the Ranch. Luckily we did not lose anyone on our faster and more furious journey back. Overall the ride was gorgeous, with the mountains and clear blue, Dominican sky as our backdrop. It was an exciting adventure and a memory I will never forget.

Tomorrow we take a much-needed day off.  We will spend the day recuperating at the beach, resting up for our final day of work before returning to Santo Domingo.

And we would like to send a special birthday message to Mr. Norton from Haley.  Feliz cumpleaños de la República Dominicana!

Hasta luego.