Saying "Goodbye!"

As we started to round out our final week in the Dominican Republic, we began to look back at our experience here.  Monday was a day dedicated to running some final errands and doing some last minute sight seeing. We traveled to the Zona Colonial in search of what seems to be the only post office in Santo Domingo.

The rain got caught up to us and we got drenched as we walked back to Olga's house after an exhausting day of guagua rides.The locals tell us that the rain they have received lately is uncommon. A lot of the city streets are reminiscent of a Venice, a place we hope to visit while on this trip. We'll let you know how it compares but the enormous amount of water flowing through the streets have made me want to invest in a boat. In the afternoon, we made a trip to Luis' office to give him an overview of our findings and experience. The meeting followed us to Outback Steak House where we had the pleasure of finally dining with his partner, Carlos Garcia. Carlos is in charge of the developing side of the business and is a realestate and financial guru. We shared some ideas and humbly suggested some strategies to improve labor relations.

With Luis in front of a finished house

Tuesday, we headed out with Luis to the jobsite to check the progress and say goodbye. Luis had us take pictures of every step of the housing construction in order to prepare a foam construction manual for his company. After some photos we headed to lunch with Luis and Cristian, then off to Cayacoa to visit the other foam community once again. Luis is being contracted to repair some foam houses and he is also starting a new project in the same town. We did some research and brought it back to Guayacanes. A round of goodbyes sent us on our way to the capital. In all honesty, we sure will miss the guys we worked with. We exchanged emails and phone numbers with some of our new friends and were on our way.

With Luis and Elvin

With Giovanni and Vladimir, two of the greatest guys we met here

Lunch with Luis and Cristian

We started brainstorming ideas for the manual back at the office, then Luis invited us to his place for a BBQ dinner and some Presidentes.  We sat around and talked with his wife, Ginna, and we met their daughter.  He grilled up sausage, steak, and ribs and we played dominoes in between. He and Carlos spanked us like we were a couple of babies.  They won 200 to 0 two games in a row.  It will take a few weeks before we have the confidence to play again...

With Luis and Carlos at the BBQ dinner

Wednesday morning we headed to the office eary, but got their on time because of the hour it took to drive through the flooded streets.  We worked on the manual for about 4 hours and Luis reviewed the first edition before making suggestions.  We will continue to work on this when we have access to a computer and we hope we can deliver a professional product for his use.  We shared a few memories and showed him pictures of the Dixie Chicken in College Station, said a few words, and went home to get ready to leave.

Dinner with the family and friends

That evening we wanted to share a nice night with the family and friends, so we decided to cook a dinner of our favorites and have everyone together one last time.  We spent a few ours in the kitchen preparing the meal, and the result was a surprising success.  We had chicken fried steak, chicken fried chicken, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, salad and bread, and sweet tea.  A few words of thanks were given and we recollected our trip.  Attendees were Olga (mom), Francisco (brother) and Karla (future sister-in-law), Paul (brother-in-law) and Laura (sister), Ivan (friend/brother), Luis (boss) and Ginna (his wife), and Cristian (friend/boss/secret agent).  Olga finished off our meal with some custard and we moved to the porch to end the night in cigars and Presidente.  

Last picture of the family (Karla had to leave early for work)

This morning we said goodbye to Olga and Francisco, wrote this blog, and soon we are headed to the airport to jump the pond over to Spain.