Meier's blog on the Raiders' trip to the Dominican Republic
| Published: 08/27/2010 |
|
|
|---|
Senior forward Austin Meier is blogging on the MSOE men's basketball trip to the Dominican Republic. Check here for updates on the trip.
Day 1 (August 25):
The team was alive and ready to travel this morning despite the fact that we were up before the crack of dawn. We arrived at O'Hare rather early so the down time was spent eating McDonald's breakfast and bickering about top 50 NBA players. The flight was rather smooth to Miami and a first experience for some on the team. We grabbed a quick bite at Pizza Hut burning a hole through our pockets. The slight layover in Miami went quick due to the anxiousness of the guys to get to the resort for some all you can eat buffets especially (Eric) Bohrer. After about an hour and a half flight, we safely arrived to the Dominican Republic, but the traveling wasn't quite over. We took a short bus ride and arrived at our paradise resort with large beautiful rooms with all the amenities. The rest of the night was spent eating and recovering from the day of travel, given there was some fun injected in those last few hours before bed.
Day 2 (August 26):
Since none of us wanted to waste much time with all the activities to do at the resort, we were up at a staggeringly early time of....9 a.m. We grabbed some more all you can eat breakfast from one of the four restaurants on the resort then immediately transitioned to the ocean front. The group consensus was to snorkel and that is what we did. Not too much action there but it was still a great experience for everyone. We also took a trial dive in the pools just to see what it was look to scuba since the $100 fee was a bit much for us. Then after a relaxing afternoon on the beach we went for an hour drive to see The Three Eyes which was amazing, a natural cave with small pools and a lot of life. We headed to the gym afterwards to play our first game against Los Padros. The game went right down to the wire but we ended up winning by just a couple of points. The bus ride back to the resort, for lack of a better word, was chaos. Pretty much no street signs, signals, lanes or any of the organization we love in the U.S. The horn is used about 75% of the time while on the streets and a red light doesn't mean much here. They are having a Michael Jackson show tonight at the resort and everyone is going to be at that which should be a lot of fun. The night is young and we have plenty of energy for a fun night.
Day 3 (August 27):
The day started later because of much needed sleep. The routine stayed practically the same with buffet lunch and swimming in the ocean. Prior to game hydration has been key so we all have been taking in mass amounts of water. We also stopped at the Christopher Columbus Lighthouse which is the largest concentration of lights in the world however, it takes so much power that they only have the lights on five days a year. It was a wonderful piece of architecture that is laid out like a cross. Today has been the hottest day thus far. We then endured another bus trip through the slums and crowded streets of Santo Domingo. The gym was an arena style which we are more accustomed to playing in versus the tin shed we played in yesterday. The game was quite physical and frustrating because of the language barrier between us and the referees and opposing team. We lost 74-72 with a chance to tie at the end but came up short. The night ended with a trial of Dominican style cuisine and a team building exercise to help with camaraderie. It's an early night because we have an early day starting with a camp for underprivileged kids in the poorer part of the Dominican Republic followed by a game.
Day 4 (August 28):
Today started out a little different than usual. None of the guys liked getting up for breakfast at 7:30 a.m. but it was a necessity for our camp for the impoverished kids of Quisqueya (the town where MLB player Alfonso Soriano is from). The drive to this small town inland from the coast was less crowded than that of the city driving, but the landscape was comparable to that of Wisconsin cornfields and open plains with the exception that the fields were sugar cane. On the bus ride there, our guide and travel aid informed us of the history of the island and the relations between the Haitians and Dominican which was rather interesting, one thing we didn't mind learning while we were out of school. As we approached the town and the gymnasium, the conditions of the poor area became quite apparent. The gym was basically a tin shed where the basketball court was unplayable with rotting areas on the wooden court as well as a significant layer of dirt and grime which provided for absolutely zero traction.
The camp had about 40 kids there ranging from the ages of 7-18 which we split into four groups to run the camp. The language barrier again provided for difficult communication, relying on gesticulation and body movements to get our lessons and activities across to these children. Their club was grateful for all the basketballs we donated as well as the children being ecstatic for the clothing and shoes we brought to them. The shoes were so important to these children that they would fight over them in order to come out as the owner of a used pair of shoes. After a small lunch and photo session with the kids, we proceeded to play two short games of half court 5 on 5 to ten points by ones and twos which we split 1-1 with the club team. This gym was by far the hottest one to this point, possibly being triple digits with likely 80-90% humidity. As we left the gym, all the children surrounded the bus asking for anything we could give, even our socks we just used in the game. We gave them as much as we could before we left. Once we got back to the hotel, showered and ate and then headed back into Santo Domingo to see the First Cathedral of the New World where Christopher Columbus was buried until 1992. Afterwards, we hit the market for some goods. This place was quite chaotic, every last person trying to persuade you to buy their goods and basically herding each of us into their shops. The best part was being able to barter and get the price that best fit us. The rest of the night was free for us to wonder aimlessly about the resort having fun in whatever way we could find. These next excerpts are feelings from the players about the poverty encountered in today's camp at Quisqueya.
Austin Meier: "Taking part in an experience like this really makes you value and appreciate the everyday little things in our lives that we take for granted. The bare necessities that we can get any day at the store, in a mall, on the corner, are what these people try so hard to obtain and even in some instances can't afford because of the extreme poverty seen in this town. To see kids argue and squabble over a pair of used gym shoes that we could purchase for $20 back in the states really makes us second guess our materialistic culture and take a look at what we should really value and be appreciative of. Humility is what was learned today."
Rob Linzmeier: "It was an eye-opening experience to see children fight over a pair of shoes or even game-used socks. To perform a camp and see the court in which they play basketball every day, which we wouldn't even play on because it was not safe. Lastly, the houses they all live in are extremely run down making a dorm room seem like a palace."
Bennett Deacon: "Seeing all the little kids faces light up when we brought all of the balls into the gym, like we were heroes to them. Giving them shoes that for us would be worn out and would never be used again, they treasured them like they were a 50" Plasma TV. It really makes you think of how good we have it and how much we should be treasuring the little things that we have that they don't and that makes life a lot easier for us!"
Mike Ricciardi: "I had very mixed emotions about this experience we had today. I felt very happy and appreciated when we first walked in and saw their faces light up. But as time went on while we were working with these kids, I received more of a bad feeling. Seeing people as they live their day to day lives makes me feel terrible about what I take for granted. But overall, I'm very happy I could take part in this experience."
Austin Kearns: "Today was a day that I will never forget. Seeing what these kids face on a daily basis is something that I cannot imagine. The kids were so poor, some even with no shoes. To see the smiles on their face when we walked in the gym, really gave me a feeling of how great we have it in the United States. The kids were even knocking on the bus window as we were leaving asking for anything. When I threw my socks out the window, they acted like they had just won the lottery. I even felt a connection with a few of the children and it was just an amazing feeling. Everyone should experience something like this, it was incredible."
Oren Bloom: "Great experience. Appreciate what I have now. Did it for the kids!"
Cynerick Osinaike: "Today was an eye opening experience, to witness children who appreciated the little that we had to give them. Things that we would throw away brought so much joy to these kids. They treated us as if we were NBA superstars. Overall this was a very humbling experience and I've learned to appreciate the everyday things I have in life."
Eric Bohrer: "I went into today knowing that it would be a very humbling experience however, I had no idea just how humbling it would be. Just driving into the city and seeing the residents digging through the dump to find what whatever they would be able to make use of was enough of an experience in itself. Once we saw the gym and court they play on I was thrilled that I was able to help them out and donate what we were able to bring. The kids were very appreciative, and that made it all the more worth it."
Day 5 (August 29):
Today the team woke up at about the same time as yesterday, about 7:30-8:00 a.m. The bus trip to the gym for today was short, no longer than 15 minutes and when we got there it was probably in the best condition overall that we've seen thus far on the trip. Unfortunately, we waited for a little over an hour for the team to arrive due to the fact that their transportation broke down on the way to the game. By the start of the game, the entire team was stiff from sitting and were a bit lethargic compared to the other games. A bit of some unfortunate news, two of our players, Mike (Ricciardi) and Rob (Linzmeier), had to visit a hospital to get a couple stitches due to a physical game. Both are doing fine so no worries to everyone reading this. When we got back to the resort, most of the team walked around the resort to snap off some pictures since we had not thought of that until today. The rest of the day was free to live it up and do what we pleased. We have a dinner scheduled with our guide, Bert, at 7:30 and afterwards a show. We have an early flight at 7 a.m. in the morning so it will be a rough travel day. The DR was fun and we will be back to the states in no time.
