Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Club Puerto Plata

Greetings,< br>
Sitting
in the sun in Sosua, it's a little seaside town about 2 hours from Santiago.
 It's beautiful here.  We have had access to a private beach, which
has been so relaxing.  We've been sunning for a few days now, and are
headed back to Santiago this afternoon.  One more night in the Dominican
Republic, and back on a airplane tomorrow, headed home to my family!  It's
been a long trip and ...

... 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.
As we were evaluating him, his father walked in.  Drunk.  When we recommended to the father that he seek medical care ...

We pray for children
Who sneak popsicles before supper,
Who erase holes in math workbooks,
Who can never find their shoes.
And we pray for those
Who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire,
Who can't bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers,
Who are born in places we wouldn't be caught dead.
We pray for those who never go to the circus,
Who live in an X-rated world,
Santiago, Dominican Republic lstockwell

... 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.
We are watching Hurricane Bill, who looks like he ...

... aggressive, and I had to be "rescued" by the staff.  A sweet little girl with Down's Syndrome seemed particularly out of sorts today, as she kept grabbing my backpack and trying to open all of the pockets.  "Es mio, es mio", I kept telling her.  It's mine!
She was adorable, but quite a stinker today.  So, it's been an eventful, tiring day all in all.  
I'm also missing my family like crazy!  I think I have done well so far ...

... quickly that it's difficult to convey sentiment when you can't speak the language.  Gestures say a lot, but when you are trying to convey the importance of a recommendation for health, it's frustrating!  So many patients with injuries/complaints related to poor body mechanics.  With lifting huge barrels of water, bending over fires for cooking, etc., it all adds up.  Consequently, these people have chronic pain from misaligned bodies due ...

... a big selection of seafood, like Lobster, Prawns, Oysters, etc. They had a little bit of fish and octopus. We ate like kings while there and had no problems stomach wise at all other than just getting used to it. Every thing was clean at all times and there were ladies giving hand wash when ever you entered any of the dining areas and also when you exit the toilets. Hygiene is a priority there, which I have not come across anywhere else so far ...

... the reef without problem and as we made a sharp turn to starboard, there was Luperon anchorage. It was huge and we were shocked at arriving to over 100 boats tucked away taking lee from the prevailing easterlies. Dogs, goats, chickens, pigs, cows, donkeys, horses... Luperon town is like an open air zoo and with the open air sewer running alonside the dock wall into town, smells like one! The town is simple with relatively poor people but compared to the ...

... as he passed by. The first time this happened, I had my arm out as was told, but didn't realize what was going to happen, so when I was suddenly touching dolphin skin out of nowhere (I was looking the other way), I screamed! The trainer told me not to give the dolphin a heart attack. The dolphin did this several times and we got to feel some more. Connor had his hand out a little bit too long one time and touched the dolphin's genitals and got in trouble for that ...

... After lunch I usually take a short nap because it is too hot to do anything else, and then in the afternoons I "compartir" with my community by sitting in the street in a plastic chair and talking to people, watching telenovelas (Latin soap operas) with my family, or playing cards with a group of muchachos and muchachas. Once in a while my family and I venture down to the discotech to do a little dancing, but I don't really like to go beacuse all the ...