Villa Almonte Sosua

After Shen's disappointing attempt at surfing Thursday morning, we decided to head to Cabrera, a relatively small town not far from Playa Grande. Through my work with HSI, I know an English woman who lives there and runs Animal Balance, an NGO that brings veterinary services to island dogs around the world. She does tremendous work, and her impact was quite apparent in Playa Grande, where the dogs are friendly, well-fed, and free of the myriad diseases ...

Our good luck with the guaguas continued, or maybe they're just good here. Our trek to Rio San Juan required four buses, and we weren't really sure of the route, but we made it quickly and with no complications. We headed straight for a hotel listed in the guidebook that sounded great, but we had heard different prices from different people. When we walked in, we both said, Oh no, this doesn't look like a place ...

... 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 ...

... 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 ...

... hit the beach - that was the worst place to be, because you'd get totally creamed by some of the bigger waves, which totally crashed into you and made you topple over in somersaults into the sand and then get totally disoriented as to which way you were facing while you tried to get the salt water out of your face and hopefuly not be hit by another menacing wave in the process! This happened to me many times! It would have made for some great video ...

... my Otrivin! Well, not Otrivin exactly, but a Spanish nasal spray for children, and it actually worked too, so I was very thankful to start feeling a little bit more normal again. He said at the pharmacy there was a little girl there around 6 years old (her mother was working there) and my dad said to her: "Como te llames?" (sp?) ("what is your name?") and she said "Rachely". And my dad said to her "Mi espousa es Machely" ("My wife's name is ...

... money), so my dad paid for it. Walking further down the street elicited more strange people coming up to us to ask us to come into their store and buy something from them. My dad took us into a store where he actually knows the person who works there (he bought our laramar jewellery from there last year). Coincidentally enough, they had fake Rolex watches there, which Ben had specifically requested if I saw any, but the guy wanted way too much for them ...

... the island seemed dirty, we were cheated at the airport being naive new comers and after the long flight without much sleep we probably all were a bit down. But spirits lifted after the first impressions and after arriving at our club, the Caribe Campo in Sosua, the club proofed to have everything we were looking for. A nice swimming pool, tennis courts, nice restaurants -one local, one Italian- and a nice enclosure. We spent ...