Los Pinos Las Terrenas

... guys, who actually lives in New Jersey, offered to go up with him. It was funny, because clearly no one thought he would jump - after he walked away, there was a chorus of, "Look! The gringo is going up to the cliff! Snicker snicker snicker.." Shen is definitely not one to show off, but the poor expectations made it totally necessary, so he did a back flip off a 35-foot cliff. The group made several comments about how the gringos never jump, they had ...

... seen. They almost have a strip-mall feel to them - shop after shop, power cables criss-crossing the street all over the place, and no real center. There's nothing pretty about them. The towns we've seen do have a Plaza Central, but life doesn't seem to revolve around it as it does in many places. I can't seem to find the town's anchor. One thing that does give a sense of character is that everyone is out on ...

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.

... lots of energy, to say the least. I would like to propose a couple of projects to get it going in a more productive direction though sometimes! 3) My Brigada Verde (environment youth group) has become more motivated since returned from the regional conference last weekend. The Yaritza, Massiel and Ileidy, the three girls who attended the conference, gave a charla (presentation) during our ...

... men with young half-naked Dominican women. Sunday was spent laying on the beach all day, which was wonderful. So all in all Samaná/Las Terrenas was a success. I can't say that it would be my favorite beach, though, mostly because of the lack of convenient amenities and the limited modes of transportation to and around the area. A beach with no consistent availability of ice cream is no beach for me.

... it as a way to save money. With the price of natural gas increasing, they cannot afford to cook on their more costly cook stoves. Finally, my last project is with a group of youth committed to improving the environment. My work with them is currently focused on gardening and composting as a way to help improve the soil quality and increase the quantity of organic fruits and vegetables. Of course, these are tried and true ...

... which looked very much like a prison and the room definitely so, although I think inmates have better decor and amenities. It certainly dingy and depressing. Anyway we finally got a hold of them only to find out they had gone to a parade at 2pm and we had been to our one at 12. Two different parades. Theirs involved adults dressed up in similar costume and went around hitting the spectators with a rugby ball sized thing. Apparently it hurt if you got hit several times as Jun was. I ...

... and walkways in both directions leading to it, I passed and headed out to some of the tapas bars and local dives that lie on the beach itself, some of them with cushions and couches on wooden decks above the waves. Plenty of French, Germans and Italians were out and about, but the scene was tranquil and low-key seeing as how tourism is at a lull this time of year. On my way home I stopped and shared a bottle of Brugal with a Haitian artist ...

... not getting it." I shouldn't be so harsh on all my students cause some are quite bright and hardworking, but I will say that in the past week I have probably spent a total of 1 hour and some change trying to get people to correctly pronounce 13 and 30. They haven't mastered it yet, but maybe they'll suprise me tomorrow when I return...if not I'll just keep encouraging the use of hand gestures. Despite these insignificant set-backs, English class is going quite well. I have a huge ...

... so early at like 6 months. At three months they are giving them tea, juice, food, and water. A lot of the people in my community know what AIDS is about, but not how you contract it. For the most part there have heard rumors. Most of the women do not work and that could be a place to change. Maybe try and create a project that could generate money for the women's organization. I feel like I am learning so much. I am learning to create projects, solve issues, write proposals for ...