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TO NATIONAL, SPORTS, AND TRAVEL EDITORS:
Play Ball! Road Scholar Launches its First-Ever Look Inside the Rich
Culture and History of Baseball in the Dominican Republic
BOSTON, March 26, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Baseball may be
America's pastime, but in the Dominican Republic, it's a way of life.
Road Scholar's new educational adventure, The Best Baseball in the
World: Life and the Great Game in the Dominican Republic, amid the
Caribbean coastline, colonial architecture and the welcoming landscape
of Santo Domingo, offers the opportunity to experience the game as an
element of the Dominican identity.
The Dominican Republic sends more baseball players to professional
American teams than any other country beyond the U.S. Participants in
the eight-day program will delve into why the sport is so popular on
the island, how it has become a national obsession and how it impacts
local culture.
A sports journalist and athletes-in-training will take participants
inside baseball academies and trace the sport's hundred-year-plus
history on the island. Local experts and historians will also lead
in-depth discussions focusing on the indigenous Taino people, Spanish
conquistadors, slaves, pirates, dictators, heroes and rebels who have
played a part in Dominican history. Participants in this exceptional
adventure will discover the places where tobacco, cocoa, sugar and rum
are produced for export.
"This program illustrates the heart of Road Scholar programming," says
Yves Marceau, a director at Road Scholar. "We're thrilled to take
such a popular destination as the Dominican Republic and be able to
create an educational travel opportunity to explore its history and
culture beyond the natural beauty that has traditionally attracted
visitors. It's how we think about learning and travel - we look for
what is culturally relevant, unique and special and create a
ground-breaking educational program."
The experience will include meals that showcase local specialties in a
series of restaurants in the historic center of Santo Domingo. Dates
are scheduled beginning in October 2014 through February 2015.
Additional dates for Intergenerational programs for grandparents and
grandchildren are also being developed.
Hansel Diaz Matthews, a local sports journalist and historian who will
share his knowledge and insight on the program, says, "This Road
Scholar program is very important for Dominicans because it showcases
our culture, taking our national pastime, baseball, as a starting
point. It makes me very proud to share the origins of this
bat-and-ball sport in our country and the history of the rise of our
players from humble Dominican athletes to professional stars."
For more information, visit www.roadscholar.org/21667.
About Road Scholar
Not-for-profit Road Scholar's mission is to inspire adults to learn,
discover and travel. Our learning adventures engage expert
instructors, provide extraordinary access, and stimulate discourse and
friendship among people for whom learning is the journey of a
lifetime.
Road Scholar educational adventures are created by Elderhostel, the
not-for-profit world leader in lifelong learning since 1975. To learn
more, please visit our website at www.roadscholar.org/press.
Road Scholar's iPad App, Road Scholar: Interactive Adventures Spring
2014, is now available in the App Store.
SOURCE Road Scholar
-0- 03/26/2014
/CONTACT: Stacie Fasola, (617) 457-5418; or Despina Gakopoulos, (617) 457-5502, newsmedia@roadscholar.org
/Web Site: http://www.roadscholar.org
CO: Road Scholar
ST: Massachusetts
IN: SPT TRA EDU
SU: HSP NPT
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