Dissecting a Coconut

Recently we took some time to fly back to Pittsburgh to visit with Hunna and Grappy. We felt it was important to take time to connect with them while we can. Eliza has stayed behind to help her parents with this life transition they are working through. The kids and I returned to the Dominican Republic and are moving the boat around from the south coast to the north coast and look forward to the time when Eliza rejoins the cruise. This chapter has changed the course of our journey, but we feel grateful that we had the flexibility in our lives to visit and help out. We are also thankful for the kind words and support that many of you have extended.

After a brief taste of snow and winter, most of us are back in the realm of clear blue waters and white sand beaches. Jeremiah has put together a piece describing a recent activity.
Enjoy. - Peter

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While we were playing at Saona Island a coconut fell out of a tree and landed by our dinghy. We thought it would be cool to crack it open like we did with our cousins in Puerto Rico. Instead of prying at it with sticks and banging it with rocks, we brought it back to Ohana and used different tools that we had. These were a machete, a saw, a hammer, and a flat head screw driver. We knew that we needed to get the outer shell off, and then get through the thick husk. We used the hammer to pry up rectangles of the outer shell that the saw had cut. Then we used the machete to hack down to through the husk to the inner shell. The saw came out again and we made a small split in the inner shell. Finally we used the screw driver to crack open the shell. We ended up with halves, each with about an inch of white flesh around the inside. The “milk” was clear, but had bits of husk in it, so we poured it overboard. Each of us tried a small piece of the flesh. Half said “yick” and half said “yum.” Overall this way was more efficient then when we smashed them on the beach in Puerto Rico.

-- Jeremiah

On the beach at Isla Saona

Using the machete to remove the husk

The results!

More on our time with Orphanage Outreach

Each of the kids took time to write about their time volunteering in the Dominican Republic. Xavier has already posted his thought, and below are excerpts from Josie, Catherine, and Jeremiah. This was an incredible experience for our whole family and it was hard for each of us to try to get it all down in words. Nevertheless, we hope this help you understand a little of what our week was like.

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From Catherine:

Orphanage outreach was an experience full of learning, teaching, making friends, and helping others. Within the volunteers there was a strong sense of camaraderie. We shared our teaching experiences, passed on tips and exchanged stories of success or frustration. We also shared episodes of what happened when were were playing with the orphanage children.
For me, there was one girl who latched right on to me. She also latched onto Josie. Whenever one of us would walk onto the field between the orphanage and the volunteer area, we would hear, "Eh! Eh! Eh!" and see little Mery awkwardly clapping her hands and running towards us. Most of the time I spent with Mery was passed by playing her favorite game -- throwing the ball as far away from me as she could and having me bring it back. Sometimes, though, she would just lead me around holding my hand and saying "Corre, Corre" when she wanted to run somewhere instead of just walking...

Mery with Josie

From Jeremiah:

When we taught in the schools I noticed may differences between JFK in Monte Cristi and Brackett in Arlington. The first was that the kids wandered around the classroom and no one seemed to mind. There were even kids that came into the class we were teaching that didn’t belong there. They would try to get a sticker that we were giving out and then leave. Another difference was that the teachers taught by writing something on the board and the kids would copy it down. They didn't have any textbooks or worksheets. A third difference was how the teachers disciplined the students. At Brackett, students get warnings, lose recess time, or get sent to the principal. At JFK, the teachers would hit the students with a stick or twist their ear. This was strange. I’m glad I am a student at Brackett instead of JFK.

Our family at the JFK school in Monte Cristi

From Josephine:

To get to school each day we walked along the dirt, or sometimes mud, roads. As we walked through the neighborhoods everyone would greet us with a very happy “Hola” or “Buenos Dias” even though they did not know us. Everyone seemed more than content to sit around on their sagging front porch gabbing away with whomever. They did not appear to be worried about the fact that there was a hole in their roof or that they did not have running water. They seemed at least as happy as their next door neighbors who may have had a nicely painted house and two shiny cars. I did notice that in Monte Cristi when people got more money they did not up and move away to a nicer part of town, rather they improved their house so they could stay near their own neighbors. I thought this was great because it meant that once people somehow got more money they did not think they were better than their neighbors and they should move away from them. Seeing these people really proved to me that happiness does not come through material goods or money.

One of the homes on our walk to school.

One of the 12 paved streets in Monte Cristi
with a variety of building types.