Take Me Out to The Ballgame

In the Dominican Republic, baseball is king, and today we got to see where the King grew up.  

The bus dropped us off at the service high school at the normal time on Tuesday morning and we split into two groups - the larger of which strolled through the neighborhood to the local "bate" or baseball field. There were not two, not three but FOUR simultaneous games on one square field - one in each corner, facing toward the middle.  This kept everyone in the outfield on their toes as balls hit deep into the outfields ended up in other people's infields.

Some younger Dominican players graciously lent us their gloves and we began to play. Evan and Carleigh impressed us with their honed softball skills while some of us had to dust off our dormant batting abilities. Crystal proved to be the most resourceful player on the field by catching a pop fly with her bare hands and her hat and Aaliyah sped around the bases like a professional. Those that did not play took great pictures and made friends on the sidelines.  Xavier even befriended a small gray parrot that perched on his shoulder like a mascot, and Marady captured the heart of a mischeivous 5 year old.

By the end we were all dusty, sweaty and felt like homerun hitters.