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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------{ April 28, 2007 }
Visit number two
I moved! I am finally in my own house, above a colmado. It is sooo nice to be able to cook what I want and not have to go to bed at the same time as everyone else. I only have 'provisional' approval though, which means they can tell me I have to move later but hopefully I won't have a problem. Moving was interesting...I finally got approval the day before my parents came to visit but couldn't move anything that day because it rained, so the next morning some friends helped me move everything in and I organized as much as I could before heading off to Santiago to meet mom and dad at the airport.
It was a fun visit and we did a lot in a short amount of time. The first night we stayed in Santiago because they got in in the evening, then the next day we bought a bunch of things for my house and loaded up the SUV and headed to Juncalito. People in my town were really excited to meet them because family is so important here and everyone said they looked very young, which they appreciated. I stayed the first night in my new house when they were there. Apparently, however, they didn't sleep all that well due to the large quantity of roosters in the campo. I have been here so long I don't notice it at all, but both of them as well as Susan commented on it, especially because they do not only crow at dawn but also during the day and in the middle of the night.
The next day we went from Juncalito to Jarabacoa on the mountain road that goes in between them. Well, I hadn't been on it the whole way before and it was somewhat of an adventure. No car could make that trip and I am just grateful dad was driving instead of mom, although he definitely was ready for a few cervezas afterwards. When we were in Jarabacoa we went to a waterfall, where we met another volunteer who I hadn't met before, and her family who was visiting her. Our hotel was right by a river so when we ate at the restaurant you could look right down at the river.
From Jarabacoa we went to Santo Domingo, where we visited the Colonial Zone including the first cathedral of the Americas, the Larimar Musem (larimar is a precious stone only found in the DR), a memorial and a fort the first day. We had dinner with my friend David whos site is only about an hour and a half away from the capital and afterwards listened to some merengue at the Plaza Espana. The next day we went to Diego Colombus' house (Christopher Colombus' brother- Christopher left him in charge of the DR), had lunch with Sarah (the woman who works at the Embassy that I normally stay with in Santo Domingo) and had dinner with my host family from Santo Domingo.
On Sunday we went to Samana. This was an interesting trip. Mom and dad like the beach but none of us had wanted to sit at a resort all week, which is why we trucked around to so many places. I thought the Samana peninsula would be nice because it is on a bay and you can drive a little bit and go to the beach but could also take a boat ride on the bay. Options. Well, I had only been to Samana one other time for my site visit in September, so I had apparently forgotten how long it takes (those buses really fly too!). First, it took a super long time to get there. Then, when we finally got there, the hotel wasn't quite what it was described to be in the Lonely Planet and the only other decent option was a highly over price all-inclusive resort unless we drove further on to Las Galeras, another part on the peninsula. We went to Erica's house (the volunteer I visited) before going on to Las Galeras to see if there was anywhere else to stay but there wasn't. We ended up staying at a very nice hotel in Las Galeras...I am putting pictures up and there are a few with the view from the hotel. Part of the reason I had wanted to go to Samana was to go to Playa Rincon, supposedly one of the most beautiful beaches in the DR and the Caribbean. The following morning we went there and yes, it was beautiful, however, the experience was partially ruined by the mass quantity of trash on the beach. Mom and dad visited the week after Semana Santa (Holy Week), the only week of the year that almost all Dominicans have off and therefore go on vacation. Environmental damage between the trash, deforestation and other issues is high in this country. There is another sector of volunteers that works in environmental education. We stayed at Rincon in the morning and then hung around the hotel for the afternoon because there was a small beach and area for swimming. The next day we drove back to Samana and went on a boat tour to Parque Los Haitises, a national park on the other side of the bay that has cave drawings from the Taino Indians from as far back as 4,000 years ago. Unfortunately, it rained on the boat ride over and we had to duck under ponchos to avoid getting drenched. It calmed down when we got there and it was a really neat tour and interesting to go into the caves. There were also German and French people on the tour and our guide spoke to each of us in turn. The day tour also included a trip to Cayo Levantado, a little island off the coast of Samana that is pretty and has a nice beach, however, as soon as we got there, it rained again so we had to wait around for a while to get back to town. We drove part of the way back to Santiago and stayed in Las Terrenas for the evening. In the morning we headed back to Santiago because their flight left very early in the morning.
I'm sure I have forgotten something and that mom and dad will remind me, but I haven't had much time for the internet since their visit. I am in the capital now and will try and post again while I am here. I am in for medical right now (no worries) and then have my 6-month language training from Monday through Friday. David and Christina have theirs at the same time so it should be a good time, minus the class part.
Posted by katie on April 28, 2007 06:38 PM | Permalink
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Comments so far:
HI FRIEND! Wow, it took me a long time to take the time to track ya down. I'm soooooooo sorry. Dude, how the heck are you?! I haven't read any of these posts. So I'm going to do that now. Just wanted you to know that I was thinking about you and I love you very much!
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Posted by:
Lexi |
May 6, 2007 10:26 PM
I'm so excited for you. It really sounds like you know your way around and everything.
I must admit, it's really awesome to hear you talk about places I've been to. I've been to Santiago, Jarabacoa, and Santo Domingo.
Guess what! I'm coming your way this summer! I'm so excited and I'm working hard to get my stuff together for this trip. You would be so proud of Barry. He has done so well with organizing and he has done more communicating about this trip than any other event that we've ever had. We're working hard to be really prepared to go over there.
Can't wait to see you!
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Posted by:
Lexi |
May 6, 2007 10:38 PM
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