Tropix Hotel 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 ...

... the next six months.  The
comforts of home with the people I love, will surely see me through. That I
know for sure-
I hope you have all enjoyed the blog.  I have loved sharing some thoughts,
albeit probably a bit superficial at times, as feelings are often difficult to
retrieve-

Thank you for following my journey.  
Please look for more pictures in the days to come.

Love,

Lani

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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 ...

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

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 ...

... s forecast showed nothing but sun every day! not that that helped us!) Check out time was supposed to be 1pm, but Ray had gotten us a later check-out of 3pm, so we had extra time before we had to go back to the room to clean up. Our plane didn't leave until 8pm and the bus was going to arrive at the hotel at 5:25 to get us. So we had some time to frolick in the waves, and yes, although it was starting to clear up, the water was still very wavy/choppy ...

... then it started to really pour (we have pictures of that too - us hiding underneath the towels). Crazy weather! We went up back to our room then and then fell asleep for awhile. I was still not feeling well. Our dad came back to the room before dinner time and he offered to get me some medication from a pharmacy in town (being so familiar with this city, he has no problems in venturing "Beyond"). My sinuses were completely blocked by this point ...

... to it, to reunite with his only son. My dad wanted to take me and Leanna out today to the "real" world, that is, outside of our resort and into the city of Sosuà. And I can say it was quite an experience that I'll never forget. From nearly the moment we stepped out of the resort limits and onto the street, until we returned safely back about an hour or two later, we experienced constant "solicitations" by the locals, trying to sell all kinds of things ...

We stayed for two weeks in Sosua. I was intending to do a proper travelogue of the holiday but sadly have never got round to it. The highlights for us were: Beautiful sunsets Horseriding in the mountains (booked through a local company NOT a tour operator) Monster truck safari (good fun if a bit commercialised and touristy) Yummy cocktails in the hotel rock jacuzzis overlooking the sea Mingling with the locals