Hotel Todoblanco Samaná Peninsula

... might as well be jumps!) and too many pot holes and dirt sections of road to count. However, when we finally descended into the valley and the town, it was clear that it was well worth the drive! Samana is a small town in an inlet off of the Atlantic Ocean, and it is apparently quite a tourist area for cruise ships, which I didn't realize. There is a small island in the bay, which you can pay to go to, and apparently there are beautiful beaches there ...

... vibe culture. It's beautiful here. My little village is about a ten minute motoconcho ride outside of the pueblo Samaná. I live with a family of six in the village and we're less than 2 minutes walking to the coast. I don't have cell phone reception inside of my house, but outside by the beach I can get reception. It's not really a nice beach, but it's a beautiful waterfront. The culture in the Village is very warm and friendly. I feel like I ...

... military construction (La Torre del Homenaje); and first Monastery (Las Ruinas del Monasterio de San Francisco). Numerous restaurants, bars and sidewalk café's, at the Colonial Zone fill the afternoon and evenings with fun and variety. Our hotel rates are very reasonable - only a small fraction of the pricey hotels just around the corner - without compromising the comfort of our guests. Our rates are per room and ...

... stinky, unhealthy eyesore. On one walk around Santo Domingo, we succeeded in finding a small, sheltered beach - there was more rubbish than sand and a couple of scavengers (one dog, one woman) were the only sign of life. I know I sound scathing, and I know one isn´t supposed to be judgemental of third world (well second and a half) countries, but it´s still horrible. So that, along with the hassling by hawkers, beggars, oversexed men and even primary-school ...

... and took the tour with Leo. Zona Colonial was one of the first European settlements in the New World and the old Spanish colonial capital. It was founded by Bartolome Columbus 1496 after the fatal failure of La Isabella and actually ruled by Christopher Columbus from 1498. 1500 Nicolas de Ovando replaced Christopher Columbus, moved city to western bank of Rio Ozama and started construction of monumental stone building of Zona Colonial. Zona Colonial ...

... by the government and welcoming the president of the Dominican Republic to Las Taranas. She was so nervous at first but very happy. I stood with another volunteer among pushing and sweaty crowds for FOUR hours awaiting the president, who finally arrived in a helicopter. He first took a tour of the school and then gave a few speaches, but the most impressive was ...

Yay!! We received our sites last Monday, and I will be living the next two years in a pueblo/campo site about 10 mins outside of Santiago! It's a gorgeous area, very lush, green, and mountainous. The city is close, so I can get all of my shopping done and do whatever I need to do there, but I get to live in the tranquillo ...

... will take a few weeks, and then to get the thing approved from the capital and sent back to Monte Cristi will take another few weeks. So what did they tell me in Monte Cristi. Come back in May to see if it was approved in teh capital. God do I miss the days where documents can be looked up and sent via electronic files. But in a country will no electircity that just won´t ever be possible. This week I am also giving presentations to all my communities about my comunity ...

... which side of the pueblo I am on. I have been told by many male volunteers and Dominicans in my sight that I should just ¨ignore¨ it. I guess that being brought up as a strong female, and in a society where it is offensive to treat a woman as a mere object, but to treat her as if she had a brain (even if, in your male mind, you still only think of her as an object), I can´t simply ignore the taunts and teases...as an involuntary blood-boiling reaction begins to ...

... let us off. But I realized that this was not the usual stop we take. But since some of the girls paid already, they would not let us back on the bus, and the bus drove off. This happened even though I told them that we needed to get back on and that this was the wrong stop! So there we where 5 americans on the side of the highway, wondering how the hell we were going to get to the training center. The people told us that we needed to cross the highway to get to the enterance of the ...