To the river!

On Saturday we were all very Dominican: we went to the river to eat sanchoco. It is something truly Dominican to do (at least on the north coast). It was supposed to happen last Monday (Día de los Trabajadores, Labor Day) but it worked out better for everyone to have it on Saturday. So we headed to Los Ciruelos (The Plums, the neighborhood where they're building the new Makarios team house, one pueblo closer to Puerto Plata from Monte Llano) for the day. Here's the day in pictures:

Here we are! We just made it and are taking in the veiw. It was so green and there were some "rapids" behind the rock. It made a perfect "waterslide"


Diego had a GREAT time getting dirty in the sand and then spent most of the rest of his time in the water or eating. Here he is building sandcastles with Jennie, his mama.


La Piedra. I would advise you to not jump off of it; it's not as deep as it looks. Garrett bruised his tailbone, pobrecito.


Anne and Kendall went up to take a look. Isn't it lovely?



Here are the men getting everything ready! They pealed and cut yuca, yautilla amarilla, yautilla de huevo, plátano, ñami, ahuyama, and papas; cooked the chicken; added cilantro and other seasonings and then let it boil.




It was a massive pot of sanchoco. With all of us eating we ate only about a third of it. SO DELICIOUS! ¡Gracias a Javier, Miguel, Edi, Fredo y Chepe!


The gringas waiting for the food, after going down the "waterslide"


Sharla, Jamie, Jakob, and Isaak came to visit! They didn't stay for long because the boys needed to nap but it was so good to see them. Sharla and the boys moved to Santiago and we have missed having them around.


Ahh, por fin the food was ready. Here are some of the gringas chowing down


The menfolk chose the piedra as their dining room.


And Miguel chose the biggest bowl ever for his food. And, yes, he did eat it all!


Look at how precious this family is! Miguel, Diego (who's turning 1 on Tuesday!!) and Jennie