Hotel El Colibri Resort Sosua

... full force by this point, and silly me had forgotten to pack my allergy medicine...even though I knew I'd be staying on a farm for a day. So, needless to say, it was not a pretty sight with me and my piles of Kleenex! <br><br>When we got back to the house, it was time to get ready for the wedding, pack up our things and head off to Puerto Plata and then on to Luperon. The drive along the north coast is quite scenic, and wild and untouched - unlike the south ...

... seen anything like that - and then gave him a round of applause when his head (safely) broke the surface. I was a little indignant that I did not get the same reaction going off of the 6-foot rope swing.<br><br>After goodbyes all around, we headed back to town to watch the amazing sunset from our terrace, batido in hand. Batidos are milkshakes made with fresh fruit - in this case, papaya - and they're the perfect antidote to a steamy tropical evening.

... stoop in the evenings. Once the sun sets, it's all about watching people go by. On our walk, many of the homes were lit by kerosene lanterns. Electricity is very unreliable here, so we weren't sure if the power was out in those homes, or if they have some sort of rationing system. Many of the kerosene-lit homes clearly had electricity (fridges and TV's, for example) but were also set up to function without it.<br>

... 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 ...

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 ...

... 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 ...

On Monday I headed to Sosua for my first day at Spanish school, at the Instituto Intercultural del Caribe (IIC), also known as Casa Goethe. It is about 20km or so away so I couldn't walk to school. I needed to take some type of public transport, as I wasn't about to pay $10-$15 for a taxi each way! The school told me that I could catch the local transportation, the carro publico, or guagua, as the locals call it, from ...

... 45pm. Tonight's theme was all different traditional music from the Dominican Republic. Very good! After that we went to bed - I was tired, still not feeling well. I hope I feel better tomorrow and I hope that it gets sunny tomorrow (despite the negative weather forecast) because I really want to go swimming again. On Sunday we are going to Cabarete and Monday Ocean World, so that doesn't give us much time left and today was a waste due to the bad weather.

... much colour I got on my skin but I don't really seem tanned yet. After spending the whole afternoon at the beach, we went back to the room to shower and change, to get ready for meeting Tony and his family, who were due to arrive around 6:30pm. It turns out they had arrived early though, at 5pm, and no one knew it. Lynette and my dad ran into them, so I missed the reunion. Tony and Julie surprised everyone by also bringing also Julie's parents, Gordon and ...

... Our life is simple out here. We have lucked in with our accomodation. We have found an apartment surrounded by lush palms and tropical vegatation, complete with pool, air con, cable TV and lots of space. James laptop has now given up the ghost so I wont be able to add any photos to the rest of our travelpods until I get back to England. Hopefully you can paint a picture in your mind of where we are.