Club Residencial Sosua

... has goats, chickens, pigs, horses, a donkey, and a few other animals that I am sure I'm forgetting. Driving to this point was around 4 hours, and we were all quite tired when we arrived. We had a lovely meal, and chatted outside until late at night, as it was pleasantly cool in the mountains - a very nice change from the sweltering heat of Juan Dolio! <br><br>The next morning, Matilda, her son, and I went on a little walk around the property, armed with ...

... plague most developing-world beach dogs. Since we didn't really have an itinerary ahead of time, I hadn't told her we were coming and I had no idea where she lived except "Cabrera." The town was not the tiny place that we had expected, so we thought we'd have no chance of finding her - but apparently expats can't hide as easily as they may sometimes wish! We had an awesome lunch (where I learned that they only use the term "habichuelas" for beans ...

... can afford. As soon as you walk into the reception area, you get a grand view of the ocean, with tables set on a patio in the open air. The terrace below literally juts out over the water, and the waves (tiny as they are) break against the building. A broad outdoor spiral staircase leads to three levels, all with wide balconies facing the water. The hotel has seen some wear and tear, but it's truly beautiful ...

<!--StartFragment--><br><br>Greetings,< br><br>Sitting<br>in the sun in Sosua, it's a little seaside town about 2 hours from Santiago.<br> It's beautiful here.  We have had access to a private beach, which<br>has been so relaxing.  We've been sunning for a few days now, and are<br>headed back to Santiago this afternoon.  One more night in the Dominican<br>Republic, and back on a airplane tomorrow, headed home to my family!  It's<br>been a long trip and ...

... 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 ...

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

... that I had with me (and discovered that wearing socks with flip flops doesn't exactly work well). I was happy to be actually awake for this time on the plane and there were actually some half decent movies that they were showing: Ratatouille (which turned out to be really, really good!), and Rush Hour 3 (which was okay, but kind of stupid). I want to talk a bit about Ratatouille, which has now become one of my new favourite films. I can't stop ...

... while I took a few pictures of him. Poor guy. He had a snout and whiskers and big pink ears. I wanted to pet him but that probably wouldn't have been a good idea. They must have really cute rats in the DR if Anthony is representative of his fellow rat brethren here. I really wanted to go swimming, even though it was a red flag still and the waves were still really choppy, but lots of other people were in the ocean. You couldn't really "swim ...

... it for (really expensive) but my dad offered him $6 (the price he bought one for last year) and the guy said no but agreed to $7. My dad said he would look around more to see what other people had first, but he later decided to go back there to get it. $7 is a pretty good price for that - my dad said that when he got back home to Canada with his shell last year, one person offered him $30 for it and another $40! The guy there also had snorkel and mask ...

... concerning prostitution. Sometimes I had the feeling that we four were the only male tourists in the hotel who did not travel for sex to the Dominican Republic. Sosua seemed to me like a giant brothel. There are many things I will never forget like playing tennis with my best friend Christoph, playing volleyball in the water and a night were some people we met stole drinks from the ...