Arriving at the Airport in Santiago, Dominican Republic in June, Eric did a little sightseeing before heading out to his campo in the western mountains near the Haitian border.

I believe that this may be a photo of the Our Lady of the Eternal Touchdown Cathedral.

This is a monument to the most popular man in the history of the Dominican

Republic.

Eric figures that he walked about 3½ hours each day, but it was nice scenery.

Of course, he was given the “problem child” for a

roommate to try and help him adapt, since

Eric had several months of experience in the Dominican Republic

already. Eric says that he acted like he was half autistic for the duration.

Here's Rainman watching a football hit a little kid in the face. The ball is just out of frame to the left.

We’re about one second from crying time here.

Eric and Rainman lived with a family of 16 - at least they are all sort of scaled-down versions of people there, so he had room to breathe. Here's

Eric with his Mom & Dad and 8 of his 14 brothers and sisters.

I guess we all know that the yard is

where most of their food comes from:

Here's the chicken & the egg source…

Is that duck? Yummy.

Here's the milk (& the beef). What do you call a cow that’s laying down? GROUND BEEF!Jeesh; I crack myself up.

…and what school experience is complete without mystery meat?

They worked hard.

They had fun, too.

Eric’s style may not have been quite as graceful as

some others.

There was a river nearby for cooling off where they ate enough

mangos to change your skin color.

He and one of the other students shared the same birthday and celebrated up there.

They even went down out of the mountains to

the beach one day.

The main form of public transportation in the Dominican Republic is on the back of a "moto". One

of Eric’s Dominican brothers owned one – I guess that makes his brother a cab driver.

It's a pretty trick moto, if you ask me. It even has naked

girls – that's never bad.

No cars, no phones, bucket showers and outhouses for

pooping – Bienvenidos a Piedra Partida

Piedra Partida means cracked rock, and here it is, by the way.

These people haven't really been exposed to the "Ugly American" touristas, so they never asked for a single thing from the group. Instead, the campo residents showed gratitude for the visit.

But kids seem to be attracted to

Eric in a big way.

Maybe that's why he wants to be a pediatrician.

A beautiful country...

and beautiful people...

I'm pretty sure that he would go back tomorrow if they asked him.