Hotel Metur Santo Domingo

... for the four of us at a table and the other options were to dine on a bed - and we didn't want to do that - so then it stopped raining and we went back outside - and finally got drinks and dinner - it was great and we were happy to be outside. The temperature was great - very mild with just a little humidity. We walked around a bit after dinner and then headed back to the hotel for a good nights sleep. Bon Voyage!!

... model is to work within existing community structures. In Puerto Plata for example, CSA has relied on the Catholic priests' knowledge of the need in the community to identify projects that CSA could provide volunteers for. This ensures local support for each project. The goal of the day's meeting was to meet with leaders from surrounding communities to try to expand the work CSA is doing in the area. After lunch, we sat down with about a dozen ...

... day, although I didn't get to see much of the sites in the capital. Cristina has told me that we will go another day and I will be able to do a tour of the city. It is large (over 2 million people), but it doesn't feel or look like Toronto or Montreal, or any other big city that I have been to. It isn't a very tall city, and there are lots of trees, so maybe that's why. Anyway, that was my latest Rotary adventure...stay tuned for the next one!

... restaurants, oceanfront cafes, night clubs, discos, five star hotels and casinos, are easily accessible for unforgettable evenings and pulsating nightlife. Also within walking distance is the historic Colonial Zone, where you will enrich your cultural life as you take a stroll down cobblestone streets to a place and time when the history of the New World was just beginning over 500 years ago. Here you can visit ...

... to be disappointed but spent a lot of time cheering himself up with the very hospitable Cuban girls! Ah well each to their own. The pathway through customs in DR was so much simpler than Cuba that we couldnīt quite believe it. Spending a total of 20 to 30 mins getting through was as painless as this process is likely to be as they simply wave you through to the next station and before you know it youīre through. We came out into the main terminal and were greeted by ...

... car accidents or a mugging. The CURE hospital is located in the heart of the downtown, a few blocks from the large urban hospital where you can expect to wait days for any treatment. CURE's patient population in the Dominican Republic is mostly poor rural dwellers who have severe orthopedic problems because of a lack of prenatal care. Some of the children we treated has fairly bizarre defects, things that you would never ever see in the United States or the developed world ...

... working! My site is faboulous, and I'm so thankful to be placed where I am. Wednesday, we get sworn in as actual volunteers, so that is exciting as well! We are all ready to start working and get into our daily life activities. Sorry this is short and lacking of better details, but my time is up! Part two coming soon... :)

... Hmm, what else...oh...the doņa's friend...she is HILARIOUS. She is also like in her 60's and is a smoker, so she has this raspy voice, but she came over the first night I got here, came into my room, looked me up and down, and the first thing she said to me was ''are you single or married''. That is all she wanted to know, I guess! But then we all sat around talking, and she is just one of those ladies that says whatever she is thinking and just ...

... conditions are like. These bananas do get exported to the USA and Europe. I will be able to see capitilization in action. Also, I have decided that my village has a sanitation problem. When the americans built the homes, they also build seperate bathroom facilities around the homes. Well some of these facilities have been destroyed but others still remain standing and they smell horrible! Nobody uses them anymore, and they just stand there, rotting away ...

... center. So since we werenīt near any pedestrian bridge, or cross walk, we did what every dominican does....cross the highway. Yes, it was crazy. Yes, I thought I was going to die. I donīt think I have ever ran that fast in my life. Just to let you know, there is no such thing as following the spead limit. It was crazy. And I know that I would never ever cross a 3 lane highway...well 6 total, in the US. So thatīs my little adventure that I have had so far in the DR. Next week I have ...