El Tiempo de Cacao y Mariposas

Muchas gracias to Erin + Julianna for their guest post!

¡Que lo que! After a week of classes at Dominico Americano we had our first excursion together at El Sendero de Cacao; a cocoa farm about an hour and a half away from Santiago.

After trying some fresh hot cocoa, we were given a tour of the farm and a few lessons about how they grow, harvest, and make the chocolate.

We also got to try the cocao fresh from the plant. Some of us had the opportunity to participate in the process of making chocolate the old fashioned way by hand by grinding the cocao beans with sugar. Afterwards it was passed around, so everyone was able to try it.

Then we went inside the factory and watched the current process of making chocolate and we were able to create our own molds and eat them after they cooled.

Afterwards, we took more pictures, ate lunch, and got some more chocolate souvenirs from the gift shop.

Then we went to the historic Mirabeau Sister’s home. They're known for their important roles in the Dominican revolution against Trujillo; a dictator from 1930-1961 who killed thousands of Dominicans and Haitians under his authority. We were given a tour of the house and the garden in which the Mirabel sisters or the “Butterflies” lived and are buried in.

On the ride back to Santiago, we had a fun time on the bus jamming to music together and enjoying our chocolate. We're looking forward to starting our service next week and many more memorable experiences together.