It was interesting to get out of the Santo Domingo area and head north to Santiago. The trip takes about two hours as the bus journeys through the green foothills of the Cordillera Central. To the west, the cloud-clogged peaks loomed over orange groves, pastures and croplands–this is the breadbasket of the Dominican Republic.
Santiago itself has about 500,000 people, and it seems much more tranquil than Santo Domingo, which Forbes Magazine named one of the world’s ten densest cities, citing in particular the terrible traffic. The Instituto Superior Agricultura (ISA) lies on a beautiful campus. Since the 700 or so ag students need experience and research opportunities, the institute has many crops, animals and flowering plants. The buildings seem fairly new and are interspaced with luxurious, well-maintained grounds. ISA has ambitious plans to diversify the student population, opening up majors in business, engineering and technology. They hope to expand from 700 to 10,000 students over the next 10 years and want to make the English program an important part of that expansion. I’ll be staying there from Jan. 2 through the 5th, conducting a series of workshops for the few English teachers. It should be a nice relief from SD.
The Forbes article doesn’t lie about the traffic; it’s horrendous. On the return trip the skies opened just outside of the capital, a torrential downpour flooding the streets. On top of that it was during rush hour, and it took the bus 30 minutes to travel about 4 or 5 miles. It kind of reminded me of the huge jams in Seoul, Korea, which was also cited in the article.
Two more days until Christmas. I was going to buy a Butterball turkey breast, but I don’t feel like shelling out $20, so I’ll probably fix up some chicken breasts, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas and dinner rolls (I’m a traditionalist when it comes to Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners) in my tiny kitchenette; luckily, it includes a fair-sized oven. I won’t be able to post again until after Monday, so once again, Happy Holiday to everyone, whether it be Christmas or Hannukah or Winter Solstice or whatever you might celebrate this time of year. More later.