One Ocean Place Sosua

... white - including the guests. In Western culture, we would never normally wear white, as it would take away from the bride, but the standard here is to wear white to weddings - which I did not, as white is a very dangerous colour for me...as many of you know, I am extremely accident-prone! Also as per Dominican tradition, the wedding itself was no more than 10 minutes long, and it was so windy that no one could hear what was being said in the ceremony ...

... somewhat explains the blank stares when I asked for frijoles), and within minutes of asking the Comedor lady about Emma (a.k.a. la gringa que cuida a los perros), we were on a motoconcho heading to her house. Surprise!!<br><br>I felt bad dropping in on her unannounced, but it was great to see her. We knew we were at the right house when five dogs bounded out to greet us. Emma arrived in Cabrera more than two years ago with virtually no Spanish, but ...

... were shocked - shocked! - that the terrace-level rooms were $15 for the two of us. The rooms are basic and the terrace isn't well-maintained, but we walked out of our room to a wide expanse of ocean and a little beach off to the side. Really, the hotel made my week.<br><br>As soon as we checked in we headed back out for Playa Grande, supposedly one of the prettiest beaches in the area. It's hard to know how ...

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

... he said, "I don't have the money or the time."  It was maddening.  I truly believe in my heart that this child will not survive this illness, just because of his living situation.  It was difficult to walk away-<br>Please offer your positive thoughts, good karma, prayers, or wishful thinking to this little one tonight.  Maybe they will help.<br>Missing all of you,<br>Love,<br>Lani

... never get dessert,<br>Who have no safe blanket to drag behind them,<br>Who watch their parents watch them die.<br>We pray for those who can't find any bread to steal,<br>Who don't have any rooms to clean up,<br>Whose pictures aren't on anybody's dresser,<br>Whose monsters are real,<br>Whose nightmares come in the daytime.<br>And we pray for those who will eat anything,<br>Who have never seen a dentist,<br ...

... 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 &amp; 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 ...