Santo Domingo de Guzman

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Day 3 Today we spent the entire day near the Santo Domingo Culture Center. Once a church this area serves many purposes now. The one we enjoyed the most today was the Jardin de Ethnobotanicals. These gardens are open only three days a week and admit a limited number of visitors to protect the plants from vandals and piracy. The first area features desert plants much like we would see in far West Texas. The most interesting area was the gardens of maize that showed the evolution of maize from ancient times to present day. The diet of this area has not changed a lot. They people still are primarily vegetarians. Tropical plants including orchids were in another area. A twelve month growing season guarantees large leaves and healthy stems. We left and headed to a restaurant that features many dishes based on these foods we saw growing in the jardin. The plaza was full of vendors with beautiful hand made garments to candies. Tomorrow begins the solemn process to seven churches and the times for penitents to prepare for Pascum.

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