Hotel Casa Cayena 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 ...

Greetings,< br>
Sitting
in the sun in Sosua, it's a little seaside town about 2 hours from Santiago.
 It's beautiful here.  We have had access to a private beach, which
has been so relaxing.  We've been sunning for a few days now, and are
headed back to Santiago this afternoon.  One more night in the Dominican
Republic, and back on a airplane tomorrow, headed home to my family!  It's
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.
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,
Who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,
Who live and move, but have no being.
We pray for children who want to be carried,
And for those who must,
For those we never give up on
And for those who don't get a second chance.
For those we smother,
And for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind enough to offer it.
 -----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.
We are watching Hurricane Bill, who looks like he ...

... is all-inclusive; 5 star chef, high class open bar, Beautiful women and alot of activities like: fishing, casino, helicopter rides, snorking, and much more... My stay there was pleasuring I ask the administrator if I could live there..., lol. Well guys if your interested in this trip take a look at the webpage: www.charlisangels.com

... a small pig, complete with his or her head - Leanna saw it too later and said it looked like Babe. My dad took a picture of it on my camera but I don't even want to look at it again and I don't think I'll be posting it here - I don't want to glamourize this disgusting image in any way. There was also stewed goat for dinner, at the buffet, among many other daily varieties of dead animals, but when you see a pig's head and body laying on a counter ...

... a hot and sunny day - great beach weather! We went to the small beach that wasn't so busy - all yellow sand and the water was clear and turquoise - just fantastic. No seaweed! (or anything else yucky in the water) I'm proud of myself too as I went in the water the WHOLE WAY (unlike my last two warm weather beach vacations in L.A. and Australia, where I thought the water was too cold and just stepped in.). I couldn't get enough of the water. Leanna ...

... Plata is eactly as I left it 3 years ago. Entire familes are still being transported on small motoconchos complete with their weekly flock of chickens. As soon as our feet touched base in Cabarete we rushed to the beach for the final section of the PKRA (world cup for kiteboarding). The wind was light but the pros were still able to perform some jaw-droppingly-amazing moves. That evening we ...