Caribe Campo Club Sosua

After Shen's disappointing attempt at surfing Thursday morning, we decided to head to Cabrera, a relatively small town not far from Playa Grande. Through my work with HSI, I know an English woman who lives there and runs Animal Balance, an NGO that brings veterinary services to island dogs around the world. She does tremendous work, and her impact was quite apparent in Playa Grande, where the dogs are friendly, well-fed, and free of the myriad diseases ...

Our good luck with the guaguas continued, or maybe they're just good here. Our trek to Rio San Juan required four buses, and we weren't really sure of the route, but we made it quickly and with no complications. We headed straight for a hotel listed in the guidebook that sounded great, but we had heard different prices from different people. When we walked in, we both said, Oh no, this doesn't look like a place ...

... can't wait to see them.  My little Ellie Grace has<br>grown at least one inch, is beginning to give up her bottle, and is saying new<br>words.  She grew up some while I have been gone--I'm going to eat it all<br>up when I get back!<br>I haven't been able to reflect on this experience.  I've heard that<br>reflection comes in bits and pieces, interwoven during normal daily routines--a<br>thought here, an image there.  What I do know, is that this ...

Hi everyone,<br>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.<br>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 ...

We pray for children<br>Who sneak popsicles before supper,<br>Who erase holes in math workbooks,<br>Who can never find their shoes.<br>And we pray for those<br>Who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire,<br>Who can't bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers,<br>Who are born in places we wouldn't be caught dead.<br>We pray for those who never go to the circus,<br>Who live in an X-rated world,<br ...

... meat in it, but the waiter was really helpful to Leanna and I and he even guessed that we were vegetarians and offered to have us made a special vegetarian enchilada dish. I really appreciated that! I wasn't even hungry though after the yummy soup, but I ate the enchilada (with cooked mixed vegetables and rice) anyways. After dinner, Leanna and I headed to the internet room again where I spent about 50 minutes trying to finish uploading the ...

... it would have been a large group of people so I'd have less chance of being singled out in the crowd. However, I had my massage appointment to go to, and in the meantime, Leanna was going to check out the internet facilities here. As noted before, the massage was for 60 minutes and was only $23 - a steal! And the woman who did mine did a really, really good job. I gave her a $5 tip, which still made it to way cheaper than I would ever get in ...

... they also had), but since Leanna said no, we didn't. And THEN I found out that you are actually on the back of the motorcycle, grabbing onto some strange guy who is driving it for you! As if! I realized then that that was why Leanna had so adamantly refused to take part, and later she said that she wasn't going to partake in some Dominican guy "getting his jollies" by having women hang on to him on the back of a motorcycle. I concur! The way back was no ...

Hello, I cannot believe that Thanksgiving is this coming week. At this time last year, I was running from place to place like a chicken with it's head cut off. There was just so much going on that I do not think any of us had a single moment to breath. Our swearing-in ceremony was the day before Thanksgiving as it is once again this year, Thanksgiving is the next-day, and then the all-volunteer conference is the following-day. For the new volunteers it is a ...

Saludos How is everyone? I am currently at a HIV/AIDS conference in the second biggest city in the country, Santiago. Occassionally, we have some breaks and I have to chance to jump on a computer and do some quick e-mailing or just finding out what is happening in the work or in the Dominican Republic. I figure that you will know if a hurricane is going to hit the island before I will find out. One of the things I would like to do in my travel logs is give you a since ...