Barcelo Premium Puerto Plata

... gives me the fortitude to be a good mother and role model for my
daughter.  Someday I'll share stories about these people, and I hope that
by doing so, my daughter will grow up to be sensitive and caring, and
hopefully, will have the same opportunity to offer her time and expertise to
those less fortunate than her.
I'm certain that I will be staying home for a while.  Only two semesters left
until graduation, so I have a long haul ...

Hi everyone,
Just when I thought I had seen what living in destitution represented, I walked into a neighborhood this morning that redefined the word "poor" for me.  It seems that this redefinition is a consistent happening here.
This community lives in squalor, not only in ramshackle "buildings" but in filth.  In fact, their homes are literally built upon a dump. So, you ...

... never get dessert,
Who have no safe blanket to drag behind them,
Who watch their parents watch them die.
We pray for those who can't find any bread to steal,
Who don't have any rooms to clean up,
Whose pictures aren't on anybody's dresser,
Whose monsters are real,
Whose nightmares come in the daytime.
And we pray for those who will eat anything,
Who have never seen a dentist,
Santiago, Dominican Republic lstockwell

Hola Todos-
Have you ever thought of how fortunate you are, just because you were born in a certain geographic location?  We went to a Haitian Batey today.  The Bateys in the DR are kind of like a no-man's land, not recognized by the DR, or by Haiti.  Consequently, the people who live in them are literally without a country.  These people live very poorly, and are rarely allowed out of ...

Hi Everyone!
Very busy Monday.  We started out doing home visits with the International Child Care Center.  My group saw two children.  One child was so neurologically unstable, that he really wasn't a great candidate for "therapy" per se.  He is being raised by his grandmother/father, who told us that he has at least nine seizures a day.  In fact, while we were assessing him, he had two.  Not a pleasant sight, and as you can ...

... eye-opening.
We were hosted by separate families.  My roomie and I stayed with a family who were quite influential and involved in the community.  They were very kind people, who were so hospitable.  Our "mama" kept telling us to "come in" with our muddy shoes.  I would shake my head 'no', and take them off, and walk in barefoot.  Here she was, with little, yet didn't think twice about me walking into her home with mud, etc.  I couldn ...

... to bring back with you the cheapest place is the Brugal rum factory where you would be looking at between $7 - $10 a bottle compared to double this amount at the duty free at the airport!! There is a Brugal rum called "151", this is very potent at 75% proof!! And as such you are NOT allowed to bring this back on your flight as it is highly flammable. Cigarettes (Marlboro) are cheapest at the airport duty free though at $24 per 200 where as at ...

... juicy bone. They smelt the bribe money and there was no way we could skip on out of there. Within 10 minutes there were 5 officials all sitting around the table in our cockpit. One woman, who seemed to be in charge and acted as interpreter, one customs come immigration official, no less than two quarantine guys and some other bloke we have no idea about. After about 15 minutes we had been relieved of another US$50 and had again cleared into and out of the ...

... of water splashing in my face and because I was screaming (I think), I had my mouth open the whole time and actually swallowed the salt water. Then it was over and I went back up and watched everyone else do it. There was a little girl in our group, about 5 years old, who went to do it by herself. When the dolphins passed by her, she failed to grab onto the fin with one of her arms, and the dolphins patiently stopped and waited until she secured both hands onto ...

... themselves aren't too bad, but getting back and forth to town to use a computer makes things take a lot longer than they would at home. It is coming along though, and I should have no problem getting everything done in time. I have also started an English class for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders which is going pretty well. Speaking English and being able to teach it as a second language are definitely two different things! But I think they are learning and ...