Casa Carmen Cabarete

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 ...

... t think it existed here! I wouldn't go so far as to call it delicious, but we had some good mangú (a strange casserole of platanos and corn, maybe? I don't really know...) and rice with a few beans thrown in.<br><br>In the evening we strolled around Rio San Juan, another small but chaotic town. The people here have been super friendly, and the natural beauty is remarkable, but I can't say I like the towns we ...

... has<br>changed me, and has offered me a new perspective on what is really important in<br>life.  Sometimes I wonder if the past two years of struggling through this<br>doctoral program has been worth it.  So many sacrifices on the part of my<br>family.  Time away from Ellie--<br>I know that when she gets older, I will tell her about the kind, selfless people<br>who live in a different part of the world.  I hope that, if anything, this<br ...

... long he has been at home since the release.  He kept tugging at his ears, so I'm sure he has an ear infection on top of the Dengue.  He was so listless that he couldn't hold his head up for very long, and was unable to smile or reach out for a ball.<br>As we were evaluating him, his father walked in.  Drunk.  When we recommended to the father that he seek medical care ...

... aren't spoiled by anybody,<br>Who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,<br>Who live and move, but have no being.<br>We pray for children who want to be carried,<br>And for those who must,<br>For those we never give up on<br>And for those who don't get a second chance.<br>For those we smother,<br>And for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind enough to offer it.<br> -----by Marian Wright Edelman 

... only in underwear.  Sweet kids, but resorting to desperation (pinching others, manipulation, etc.) in order to get attention.  One child kept pinching the little girl I was holding!  So sad!  We will offer a health clinic to them on Thursday afternoon.  They speak mostly Creole, limited Spanish, so communication will be interesting.<br>We are watching Hurricane Bill, who looks like he ...

... in the program all seem very nice, and we're getting along so far. Luckily, clases don't start until next week and we get "estudiantes de apoyo" (like peer tutors) to help us with slang and getting along at the university. I'm still getting used to everything, but it's going pretty well so far. That's it for now! I'll be able to write more when I can get wireless on campus. Hasta luego amigos!!

Originally appearing in 365, Ink (April, 2007) Dubuque is a city of circles. England has its unexplainable crop circles, Jack Byrnes has his rigid Circle of Trust, and the People's Republic of Dubuque has its inaccessible social circles. Anyone who has either come back to Dubuque or is all together new to the city will agree: it can be hard to meet people in Dubuque. It's not that Dubuquers are unfriendly. In ...

Hi All! Here I am in my new training site, so I thought I would give an update on my life here in the DR. I have been in El Ranchito, a small village of about 800 people, for two weeks. It is up a mountain from Santiago, the second largest city in the DR. We have beautiful view of the city on one side and a mountain valley on the other side. If you continue up the road from my village, it leads towards Pico Diego de O'Campo, the second highest peak in the country. I jokingly refer to ...

... filled with other mopeds and thru puddles. There´s massive amounts of mopeds everwhere and there are no rules to the road, you just hang on! When I was in Cabarete a couple of nights ago and was staying in that KILLER hotel, I took a day trip to some waterfalls. OK, so I was actually trying to do a day trip to Haiti but no one really does that any more. Something about a revolution... Anyhoo, the day trip was way ...