The end

Well dear readers (if anyone's out there...), I think it's that time. Time to say goodbye :(

My 2 years in the DR have finished. I'm moving on to my next big life experience (Phoenix, AZ here I cooome!). And I'm slowing down with this blogging thing. How can I find time to sit down and share my adventures when there's so many adventures out there to be had?! And so little time!

Thanks for your continued interest on my journeys abroad. It was a blast, but I'm glad to be home. I grew so much and learned so much, and I feel well prepared for the next big leap. So off I go! Hope to see you around! :)

Pa' Mangar Mi Visa

The song goes like this:

Querido Santo Domingo

O sea, querido Nueba Yol

Yo quiero una americana

(Pa' que?)

Pa' mangar mi visa!

Which translates to:

Dear Santo Domingo

In other words, dear New York

I want an American.

(Why?)

To get my visa!

And it was the song of the weekend!

At the end of the year the school organizes a little day trip for all the teachers at both the campuses in Santiago as well as Santo Domingo. This year they decided to take us to Rancho Don Rey, which is a camp the school owns (and runs during the summer) on the other side of the country in Sabana de la Mar. It's on the far far far east, and is pretty hard to get to because there's only one road and it pretty much loops around the whole east side, with the last stop being Sabana.

For those of us in Santiago we had the luck of getting transported there partially by boat! The funniest part was just seeing all the Dominican teachers screaming for glee as we glided over the waves. It was like a veritable roller coaster!

We arrived and it was tooootally like a birthday party. They actually hired an entertainer to lead us in super silly games and songs. In addition they had a pool, climbing wall, horses, and beer ;) Because it was like 4 1/2 hour drive I had decided to pay the extra just s

o I could stay the night, and it was definitely worth it. It's an absolutely beautiful ranch and it was so great to see all the teachers hanging out and acting like real people! :)

The next day we checked out this hotel called Caño Hondo and it is absolutely gorgeous. Made out of rocks, and built among tons of waterfalls. The owner had diverted a nearby river and built it into lots of little waterfalls and constructed the rooms right alongside them. Each room is named for the little waterfall it's located beside. It definitely has the best view of the whole area. Unfortunately we didn't have lots of time so we couldn't take a dip in the river amongst the waterfalls, but nevertheless it was definitely the most peaceful place I've seen in this country.

And then we had our 5 hr drive ahead of us with our race car driving chofer. I think he thought he was Mario Andretti. There was definitely no sleeping on that ride.

Then when dropping me off at my apartment after it was all over he offered me $10,000 to marry him and give him a visa. I told him I was waiting for love and he told me "I can fall in love with you, if that's what you want".

You know me folks, I told him "Sorry" but that I was going to hold out for the real deal...

A trip out east

Don't you just love 4 day weekends?!

So school ended on Wednesday with many blows into the handkerchief, and it truly was a sad occasion. To say goodbye and not know if that will be the last hug shared is quite a depressing thought. My students and I were all a mess of teary eyes, and it was so touching just to see them understand and feel so moved remembering all the times we've shared together. I had trouble finding the words to express just how much I love them. I've been blessed to have had the best 2nd grade classes ever to exist during my 2 years here!

Luckily I had an exciting weekend to look forward to, so I didn't have too much time to dwell in misery before it was off to Samana! Specifically we were headed to Las Terrenas, a cute little touristy town with a big French influence located right on the water. I went with my frie

nd Katie who borrowed her ex-bf's car for the trip so we wouldn't have to deal with public transportation (riding 26 to a van meant for 10? nooooo thank you). It was a great drive and the views are amazing

from the mountains you cross right before you get to Las Terrenas. There are just palm trees and rolling hills of green grass everywhere. Beautiful countryside.

Now we had 2 goals for this trip-we wanted to go see El Salto de Limón (a gigantic waterfall) and Los Haitises (a national park made up of mangrove forests and cool caves). And we accomplished them both! We were so impressed, because 1/2 of the time when you travel you just have to accept that not everything you want to do is going to become a reality. But we got lucky this time!

To get to El Salto de Limón we had to take a short horse ride with a guide through the forest, and that was probably the worst part for me. The horse I got stuck with was a jerk, plain and simple. He didn't seem to understand that I didn't enjoy riding with my legs scrapping along the barbed wire fence, or that galloping over logs at full speed without a helmet wa

s not my ideal way to go. On the way back I happily switched horses, and I got to ride on one named Mantequilla (Butter). And he was appropriately named-smooooth! Much better experience on the return trip.

So after a 45 minute horse ride we got to the top of the mountain and could see the waterfall gushing down below. We climbe

d down and were just stunned into silence by this waterfall. I've never seen anything like it. It's not really 1 waterfall but more like hundreds of tiny little ones because of all the rocks jutting out that split the river into more and more cascades. Most of the rocks are covered with green moss, so it gives a beautiful color to the whole waterfall.

After an easy horse ride back, the ranch feeds you a delicious (and BIG) Dominican lunch of rice, beans, salad, and chicken. Yum!

We were feeling pretty pumped after that and wanted to check out a nearby beach our guide book had recommended. We asked the cook how to get there and she just stared at us with her mouth open. "You want to go there?!? Just the two of you?!? But that's so dangerous!" She told us that we needed to take a guide to protect us because it's a beach just in the middle of

nowhere. Someone else had told us we needed a guide, but we assumed they were just looking for money and a job. This woman we trusted though, and she recommended her friend who came along with us. It was a little weird thinking back, because essentially we paid a man $6 to be our bodyguard for the afternoon while we bathed in the ocean. I feel like that's something P. Diddy does, not 2 nobodies from the States! But I'm glad we had him along because it literally was in the middle of NOTHING. Of course, that meant it was untouched by tourists and just gorgeous :D

Then the next day we set off early in the morning for Los Haitises. I've been told you can

walk in the park, but we were going mainly through the mangrove forests so it was more or less just a boat ride for us. The boat took us to some different teeny tiny beaches and a bunch of big caves. We got to see some cool Taino (the "Indian" natives to the island) drawings on the walls, though at times I doubted the authenticity of some of them...No placards around, and the guide couldn't really remember much about their discovery. Hmmm...tourist trap?!

But all in all it was just a fantastic trip. Hostel on the beach, some killer shopping deals, plus a couple close calls...

And just when I thought this country couldn't get any more fantastic!

One of those moments

They have a new plaza in Santiago and it is sweeeeet. I remember 2 years ago when it was just pieces of wood and concrete sticking out of the ground, and now finally we have the finished product.

Plaza Bella Terra!

It is beautiful and has a Tony Roma's and a Papa John's. And a Creamoooos yogurt place, wh

ich I don't think they have in the States, but that's just an awesome name to say anyways. Creamoooos

It is also super special about this new plaza is the movie theater. Now Santiago already has 3 movie theaters, so a new movie theater in itself isn't anything exciting. But WAIT. This movie theater has stadium seating! Can you imagine?! That's a pretty big deal here.

And it gets better. Not only does it have stadium seating, but they also built a special VIP section to the theater. That mean

s for RD350 (or the cost of a regular movie in the States) you can go to a special side theater where all the chairs are LA-Z-BOYS. Seriously, the foot rest flips up and everything. It is ridiculous. A waiter comes to take your order and then hunts down whatever you want from the various snack bars in the lobby. It is so comfortable-you could just curl up in your chair and go to sleep! But you don't, because you paid $10.

I went this past Saturday to go see the movie "Remember Me" starring Robert Pattinson (think: Twilight blood-sucking vampire) and VIP sounded just too good to pass up. We didn't know what the movie was about, but the super helpful woman selling tickets said, "I think it's about love. Or something". It's this horribly tragically sad love story, and the most intense heart-wrenching moments are the last 2 minutes. Usually after a movie is over the theater stays dark as everyone recollects themselves/dries their eyes/processes what they think and the credits roll on. Well not here. Just as our sobs reach a crescendo and we're desperately hunting for tissues to blow our nose, BOOM-movie over lights on. They didn't even show the credits! I looked over at my friend and couldn't help but laugh. She looked like a red-eyed deer caught in the headlights. It was such an abrupt crash back to reality, and neither of us were prepared for it.

Before I would've been super annoyed and frustrated, but maybe it just goes to show how much I've come to love the DR. How can I bear to leave those moments behind when I go in June?!

The Race is On!

May 16th is it for political parties. On that Sunday everyone (or 60% of everyone) will head to the polls here to cast their vote for the next diputado and síndico. Let me tell you, they do not do politics the same way here as in the States...

First thing is that not everyone can read, so posting billboards and handing out flyers outlining each candidates' platform ain't gonna work. Instead what they rely on is colors, because everyone (more or less...) can distinguish those. So all the candidates make sure to prominently display their party's political colors wherever they go. Red, purple, white, blue. And there may be a green out there.

The most common and popular self-promotion technique: face signs. These are literally just ENORMOUS pictures of the candidates face. Their tactic for getting someone's vote consists in draping a sign of their smiling face over the side of an entire building. With their party's color as the background of course. It's kind of creepy really. Walking down the street and seeing all of these Godzilla size people staring down at you, smiling eerily and reminding you to vote! :D

The current man in charge is Jose Enrique Sued, and now that elections are coming up there's a whole bunch of (inconvenient) construction projects going on as he tries to make it look like he's actually been doing his job for the past 6 years and improving Santiago. So imagine 6 years of work crammed into the course of 6 months...trying to make up for lost time?? He's always asking for your "pardon" as you try to figure out how to walk around wet cement without also walking into oncoming traffic. Helping to make Santiago more beautiful or less pedestrian friendly? There's the real question!

My favorite part of all though is by far the parades. Oh the parades! Every weekend on Saturdays and Sundays each political party will have parades in the cities to promote their candidates. However, their version of a "parade" is a big long traffic jam of people wearing the same color. And making sure every car is blasting reggaeton or merengue as loud as their stereo system will let them. That is it. There is no discussion of platforms, no chanting of any slogans. Just music and colors. Sometimes people just join onto the parade because there is a chance that their palms will be greased with some dinero if they shake hands with an important person in the party while cheering their hearts out.

And to continue the celebrations throughout the week they just have trucks drive around and blare music from the extra extra large speakers in the truck bed that are covered with (you guessed it!) a big face poster.

Only one more week left of pure ridiculousness...

PICOOOOO DUARTE

Now that I have sufficiently recovered, I'm ready to talk.

Semana Santa is Spring Break down here, for which we had an entire week off of school at the beginning of April. A whole week! Just imagine!

A lot of the other American teachers were going home, but I decided to aprovecharme of my (little) remaining time here and use it to do something I'd been wanting to do for a long time.

CLIMB PICO DUARTE

The highest peak in all of the Caribbean islands. 10, 164 ft. In 4 days? Totally possible.

I went with a company from Santiago called Camping Tours, which put together a group of about 15 people for our little trip. We were a mix of everything-Americans, Dominicans, old, young. Ready!

We met on Thursday morning nice and early (4:30am to be exact!) and we were told repeatedly "American time!". We were told we would be left if we were 5 minutes late. We were told to be there or be square.

Psh. Never trust anything a Dominican company says :P Time is always negotiable.

We were going to be hiking out of the mountain town of Jarabacoa, about 2 hours away. We got there, had a quick breakfast, and off we went!

The first hour was a piece of cake. Eeeeeassssyyyy. We were all thinking, "No sweat, right?!". Then we rounded a bend and looked up. Straight up. Oh geez, here come the hills.

Before long all small talk and pleasant chit chatter had died away. All you could hear was people struggling to breathe. Sweat pouring off our faces, legs burning with fire, water being guzzled like there would be no tomorrow.

After an exhausting 10 hours of hiking, we reached camp. Our guides encouraged us to not be antisocial but to stay up and hang out. And then they told us we were going to be waking up the following day at 4am. That didn't make it sound like the ideal night to be social. We ate our asopao (a meat stew), drank our ginger tea, and then passed out on the cold cement floor of the cabins.

4am couldn't have come fast enough. I was FREEZING. And cement isn't as comfortable as you might like to believe.

Day 2: Our wake-up call was a rousing chorus of "VAMONOSSSSSSSS!!!!" (Let's go!) screamed inside the cabins. What an alarm clock. This was the day we climbed the part appropriately named "Regret". I have already blocked those excruciating 4 hours out of my brain.

But...

We finally arrived! We made it! Victory! :D

After all of that hard work we had reached the top and could see mountains and valleys and green in every direction we looked. What a sight! We were above the clouds so it was pretty chilly, but the feeling of accomplishment warmed us up. Duarte's bust and a tattered Dominican flag were at the top for photo ops, and after drinking in all that we could of the beauty down below, it was time to descend.

Ironically enough, that was the worst part. The mountains were so steep and you really had to watch your footing. There were a bunch of loose rocks and more than a couple times I had a near heart attack thinking I was about to roll down the mountain. It also hadn't rained in a while so the rivers were dry, and there was no extra water to drink. That meant rationing for 13 hours! We had so much walking to do that we had no time to stop for lunch. We arrived at our camp site at around 6:30, and THEN had lunch. The only glitch in the whole trip was this day, because one woman with us was a very slow walker and she was taking a really long time to reach camp. She refused to get on a mule to go down, because they made her nervous. She ended up going down the mountain at 9:00pm in total darkness with just a flashlight. Eek!

Day 3: REST! Our bodies finally had a chance to recuperate. We slept late, went for a quick dip in the ice cold river, sunbathed on the rocks, played cards, and ate good Dominican food. Just what I needed. The best part by far was waking up and seeing an entire pig roasting over the fire. I have no idea where it came from. Were we carrying it with us? Did we find it? It slow cooked all day and made for a filling dinner.

Day 4: Our return. A measly 7 hours walking. Not a problem after those other days. A lot of soreness, but I did it. I felt so proud of myself. I climbed up and down the mountain without a mule, all by myself, for 4 days. I didn't know my body could do it!

That was definitely one of the most physically demanding things I've done in my life, but I don't regret it at all. It was totally worth it. It made me appreciate this beautiful country even more. Gorgeous beaches AND breathtaking (in more ways than one) mountains?!

How lucky I am ;)

What will one day drive me crazy

There is a serious problem with change in this country. Change meaning small bills and coins.

I went to the post office Saturday to mail a letter to the United States. The woman told me it would cost 30 pesos. Perfect! I had 50 pesos, so that shouldn't have been too hard for her to find change for. Riiiiight??

I put the 50 down on the counter and she gawks at me. "But there is no change!"

Then it was my turn to gawk.

"No change? NO change? You mean to tell me that in this ENTIRE POST OFFICE BUILDING nobody has 20 pesos??"

That's when she became the most annoying broken record I've ever encountered. It was a stand-off.

"There's no change."

"Are you sure?"

"There's no change."

"There has to be SOME."

"There's no change."

ARGH!

There are some things about this country I will never be able to get used to.

But my happy conclusion? A stranger walking by had 20 pesos ;)