Isla Verde Beach Hotel Cabarete

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 ...

... t think it existed here! I wouldn't go so far as to call it delicious, but we had some good mangú (a strange casserole of platanos and corn, maybe? I don't really know...) and rice with a few beans thrown in.<br><br>In the evening we strolled around Rio San Juan, another small but chaotic town. The people here have been super friendly, and the natural beauty is remarkable, but I can't say I like the towns we ...

... gives me the fortitude to be a good mother and role model for my<br>daughter.  Someday I'll share stories about these people, and I hope that<br>by doing so, my daughter will grow up to be sensitive and caring, and<br>hopefully, will have the same opportunity to offer her time and expertise to<br>those less fortunate than her.<br>I'm certain that I will be staying home for a while.  Only two semesters left<br>until graduation, so I have a long haul ...

... 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.<br>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,<br>Who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,<br>Who live and move, but have no being.<br>We pray for children who want to be carried,<br>And for those who must,<br>For those we never give up on<br>And for those who don't get a second chance.<br>For those we smother,<br>And for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind enough to offer it.<br> -----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.<br>We are watching Hurricane Bill, who looks like he ...

... something that only happens once in 20 years, so we were told). She got the best pictures from that angle. Nice dude. And the nights out in town or at the camp. Cabarete is the only place on the island where bars are allowed to stay open until 4-5am, hence the partying. Not that there are too many places to go out to, but they are ok. I would just mention "Lax", "Ola" and "Bamboo" - this is where most people hang out, and they are so close from one another you can ...

... Learning Environmental Education techniques and Projects that I may be able to implement in my future community has been important as well. Some of those techniques are: 1) The double dig gardening technique. This is a technique used to improve soil when gardening. It's called "double-dig" because instead of a typical rotor-till of land, you remove the topsoil and put it to the side of your hole without tilling it. Then, dig up the second layer of ...

... said "board no good" and handed me one of the brand new EH boards they just got in. Ok. We launched a 10m kite, walked up the beach a bit and I started pretty much right off the beach. Shari took some great pics. My 2-3 hour session was great, better than yesterday. I did not make significant progress, but I'm getting much more comfortable riding both directions. I still can't stay upwind, but got better turning my upper body, leaning further back and ...

... walked up the road next to the house and took some pictures. I didn't feel like knocking on her door because I didn't want to bother her. Juan noticed that the back gates were opened and we decided to ask the guard if we could at least see the amazing garden near the house. He asked us where we were from and Juan said Ecuador and my aunt, Gail and I said the U.S. The guard came back after a few moments and said we could walk through the garden. I ...