Hotel Palapa Las Terrenas

... three weeks she had organized her first spay/neuter clinic, and now she works with all the local vets. She had been living in SF, but she moved to the DR to decrease costs and allow her to work for Animal Balance full-time - a brilliant move. She's really a force. So we enjoyed a cold glass of water while catching up in her peaceful, tropical garden.<br><br>Emma also had some great recommendations for places to go, so after we left her house we ...

... define that, because the whole north coast is stunning. The beach is indeed gorgeous, with trees buffering the road from the soft sandy beach and a long peninsula of palm trees shielding one side of the bay. Shen was hoping to surf, but the guy with the surfboards wasn't there, and also there wasn't there any surf. Supposedly it gets very good in the winter, but this time of year it's hard to predict. He ...

Despues, fui en el autobus a el Parque Nacional los Haitses. Fui a mirar los aves y las flores y la vida de marina. Fui a acampar en el parque. Fui a comer la comida de tradicionales en el restaurante en el parque. Fui a comer champola, cual fue leche con guanábana. Me recomiendo que saca muchos fotos porque el bosque es muy bonito.<br><br>

... be a little slower than normal just because of the holidays, but, in general, my projects are doing well. My current projects consister of: 1) Teaching English classes to adults and those classes are very fun two nights a week. 2) The Escojo group, a health/family planning group for youth, is moving along. I am interested in seeing what kinds of projects we get into next. The students ...

... tons of Italian &amp; French restaurants and boutiques. And every menu is in: Spanish, French, Italian and English. Thankfully, the skies started to clear some on Saturday morning for our drive to Samaná to go whale-watching. I totally felt the favor of God over us that whole day. The taxi was way more than we expected to pay, but it was so worth it because our driver, Eddy, was really cool and ...

... to start an escojo group in her site. I therefore took four of my youth to do the whole 12 lessons on Escojo (which included human anatomy, how a pregnancy occurs and how it doesn´t occur, how to prevent HIV, self esteem, effective communication, among others) in two short days in her site of Las Taranas. The kids had a blast and did such a great job in teaching all that I had tought them (my two years have finally produced success!). I felt like a proud parent to ...

... come for cigars and it was a short sermon on tobacco after our detour which led me to pick my smoke and get back to my bungalow for a shower before dinner. Frenchie threw in some freebies that he had rolled himself and they were actually pretty good, though nothing close to the Arturo Fuentes I also walked out with. I had planned on checking out the disco in the evening. However, upon seeing the menagerie of Haitian sundowners peppering the ...

... on to their underaged friends its seems. Security is one guy near the street with what appears to be a Machete. But that isn´t that strange, considering most hotels or businesses here in the DR have a guy with a shotgun standing out front of them at night. If the Carwash is rocking, don´t bother knocking. With the Latin music finishing and the Reggaeton kicking in, we head to the same Dance Bar as last night. The Merengue, Bachata and Salsa music finished soon here as ...

... me a surprise going away party! It was an incredibly nice gesture, and they even invited fellow volunteers, spanish teachers and a slew of other neighborhood characters. And, it actually was quite a surprise to me. I am definitely going to miss them, and the enitre city of Nagua, but I hope to return in the future. I miss all y'all and hope you guys enjoyed Halloween and are preparing for Thanksgiving. Hope its cooler in the states than it is here, Brad

... here and so drastic. After leaving the party, we headed back up the street to catch a guagua back to Cabarete. However, we wound up catching a ride into town from a stranger. This care was originally suppose to hold maybe 5 or 6, but we made it hold 12. There was definitely some pain during the trip. Just think of a clown care. But it was hilarious and only something I could see Peace Corps Volunteers doing. I went back to the hotel to change and get ready to walk the ...