The reporters who normally gather outside the Santo Domingo home of President Hipolito Mejia were surprised on Christmas morning when the Chief Executive first invited them inside and then personally conducted them on a tour. Mejia explained that the gesture was part of his effort to "demystify the presidential image" and become "an accessible president." Although a small apartment is available for the President’s use in the National Palace, Dominican presidents, by tradition, reside in their own homes. The spacious, three-story house where Mejia has lived for almost 30 years is located in the "university district" of the capital. Clad in a casual "chacabana," his head covered by a blue and white baseball cap, Mejia showed off the new offices that have been created in the house immediately behind his which, "for security reasons," he recently purchased. At the tour’s midpoint, the visitors encountered a surprised First Lady. However, Mrs. Rosa Mejia, took the surprise in stride, joking with the journalists, and proudly displaying some of her garden’s plantings.
