Extreme Hotel 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 ...

<!--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 ...

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 ...

... 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 ...

... excursion didn't help either). It actually happened on the first day when she was just learning to jump on the board. Before she knew it she was off the board and under the water. The board naturally hit her on the head, the fact which didn't surprise me per se, cos with our luck, an accident that calls for a visit to a pharmacy is a norm. But in her case it was a bit more serious than we were planning. Not sure how she achieved that exactly, but she cut open her crown ...

... Santo Domingo. My dona (senora) takes great pains to take care of me-she even washes my shoes. Yes, I'm being really spoiled. J Some of the ways my life has changed from the States is that now I deal with a cold bucket shower/baths. The doors in my house are made of sheets. I use a mosquitero (mosquito net) every night to protect me from dengue fever, malaria, and the creepy crawlers. There is no running water, and sparse electricity. There are ...

... how to kite. We rigged a 8m kite. I practiced getting on the board and riding to the right for a few hours and made slowly progress, but no breakthrough. At the end I would get on the board but more or less always crash after a few seconds. Once or twice I picked up some (for me) serious speed and then crashed hard since I did not know how to control the power properly. Mon Feb-18 - Right Side Clicked I wanted to take another lesson with Norbert today. But ...

... kept driving, wondering if we should turn around. Then my aunt spotted another sign for Ojo de Agua so we followed that. We began to drive on a beautiful, narrow road with gorgeous houses and gardens wherever we looked. Unfortunately we didn't see a townsquare or plaza, as my uncle had told us about. In the townsquare of Ojo de Agua there would be a monument to the Mirabal sisters and on the corner in front of the plaza would be the Mirabal family ...