One Ocean Place Sosua

... 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 ...

... can't wait to see them.  My little Ellie Grace has
grown at least one inch, is beginning to give up her bottle, and is saying new
words.  She grew up some while I have been gone--I'm going to eat it all
up when I get back!
I haven't been able to reflect on this experience.  I've heard that
reflection comes in bits and pieces, interwoven during normal daily routines--a
thought here, an image there.  What I do know, is that this ...

Hi everyone,
Just when I thought I had seen what living in destitution represented, I walked into a neighborhood this morning that redefined the word "poor" for me.  It seems that this redefinition is a consistent happening here.
This community lives in squalor, not only in ramshackle "buildings" but in filth.  In fact, their homes are literally built upon a dump. So, you ...

... aren't spoiled by anybody,
Who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,
Who live and move, but have no being.
We pray for children who want to be carried,
And for those who must,
For those we never give up on
And for those who don't get a second chance.
For those we smother,
And for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind enough to offer it.
 -----by Marian Wright Edelman 

Hola Todos-
Have you ever thought of how fortunate you are, just because you were born in a certain geographic location?  We went to a Haitian Batey today.  The Bateys in the DR are kind of like a no-man's land, not recognized by the DR, or by Haiti.  Consequently, the people who live in them are literally without a country.  These people live very poorly, and are rarely allowed out of ...

... Sosua. Many of them moved back to Europe after WWII, but some stayed, and through the years, more and more Germans, and also expats from other countries, have made Sosua their home. (More info here) I read that there is also is a Jewish Museum and a synagogue in Sosua! Casa Goethe is a fairly small school, much smaller than the last Spanish school I went to in Costa Rica (CRLA). It turns out that the school is German-run ...

... the woman who did it did a really good job, I thought, so I gave her a good tip. After that I went back to the beach, and then we had lunch, and then Leanna and Brittany decided they wanted to get manicures, and Lynette and I wanted the $23 one hour massages they also have here, so we went back to the area. Lynette and I booked our massage for tomorrow morning while the two girls were able to get their manicures right away. After that we went down to the smaller ...

... since I really do hate playing that silly game and I don't know if I will venture out into "Beyond" anymore either. We went to the dance show - they were doing all kinds of Broadway hits this time - and I really enjoyed it. I took a video of some of it and no one even cared that I was recording it. One last notable item of the day: my dad discovered a drink he really likes - the piña coladas (pineapple, coconut & banana), but he kept calling them "piñatas"!

... like shoeboxes in plastic bags: clothing, hygeine products, the such. They grabbed anything they could find and got these great beats going and sang for us.. and we sang for them. Pretty amazing life-style these families have AT the dump. I saw a pig in the mud, birds everywhere, and flies are as dense as the air. Incredible. But huge smiles on their faces... how do people do that? Then we watched Freedom Writers- a GREAT movie. Go rent ...