Adios Republica Dominicana

Although I have made it back to the States, I'm still finding myself translating my thoughts to Spanish. Before making the final connection flight in Charlotte I stopped to grab a bite to eat at the place with the shortest line because I was almost late. It turned out to have Mexican food, and when I walked up the guy behind the counter said 'hola' and I stood there stunned wondering if I'm still going to have to continue struggling to remember Spanish vocab here in the US. Good thing quesadilla is the same in both languages.

I hope you have enjoyed the stories and pics. Special thanks to my friend, Margot, for giving me the idea for the blog and setting it up for me!

These last 5 weeks have been unforgettable!

Pics from horse-riding along the beach

Then we stopped to enjoy some fresh coconuts...

What a beautiful day to be on the beach. Enter: torrential downpour.

I was off to the beach to collect the last of my data for my individual project – and to enjoy the sunny weather. It is a bit of a walk from the foundation where we stay, down the employee road, past the hotel, and out to the beach. I got to the second site down the beach to collect more data when some serious clouds were quickly coming overhead. Despite trying to work a little faster, the droplets started falling before I could finish and I soon found myself running down the sidewalk next to the beach with my backpack bumping along. I made it under the grand thatch-roofed center by the beach as the storm picked up, and sat there watching the water snaked across the ground around me. After deciding I looked pathetic enough sitting there alone staring out at the rain, I made a run for the lobby, stopping under each umbrella along to way to scout out the next closest one. I still must have looked some kind of pathetic peering hopefully for another dry spot in the direction of the foundation, because one of the hotel drivers stopped the shuttle for me. I was most grateful since there is nothing more along the road except small tree branches. Back safe yet damp, I get to work on my project as I enjoy another splendid meal of rice and beans.

Tortugitas?

There are a number of scientists working on projects around the resort. One that has arisen is that of turtles laying their eggs on the same beach the guests enjoy. It has never occurred here before so there are some pretty excited people who wake up daily before the sunrise to check the nests. The only problem is they predict some Haitians in the area come by earlier and take the eggs. Turtle soup maybe? No thanks.

This turtle nest site is new and the closest to nearby activity (we rent kayaks from the hut 100 feet to the left and there is a restaurant on the beach about 50 feet away on the other side). I could see the tracks left by the momma who came from the water the night before.

I don’t think I’ll be going into the cigar-making industry

We made another stop for a delicious lunch, lobster included… and of course rice and beans also. Lisa knew how to get every piece out of the shell.

After lunch we went next door for some cigar making. A young boy, (I couldn’t understand his name when he said it) presumably the son of the man showing us from the head of the table helped Lisa and me with ours. Well actually he mainly laughed at me as I tried to explain how I wanted us to make the best cigar of the eight groups around the table. Lisa did most of the work as I kept looking at him for feedback. After rerolling and re-gluing, and a hesitant nod and grin from my new friend, we handed it in. We didn’t win, the edges were not cut with sufficient precision – the prize of Mama Juana went to another group – but mi amigo insisted ours was his favorite.

A taste of DR

After that man found us from his motorcycle, we took an exciting jeep ride up and around a mountain for a panoramic view. You could see over mountains and across the ocean for miles.

There was a cute little outhouse up there too.

Next we stopped at a little hut where a guide told us all about local crops and we got to smell fresh cinnamon, taste peanuts and cacao, and drink coffee and the most delicious hot chocolate. Chickens and roosters roamed at our feet. The older man behind the table holding everything up for us to see was quite entertaining…

Happy Father's Day!

Iguana Drama

There is a site with iguanas native to the island of Hispaniola here so we took a field trip to observe their behavior. They are huge compared to the typical bright green iguana one usually imagines. Each pair of us was assigned a male to watch and note his actions towards the other males. Everyone agreed we should name then Spanish names, so my partner, Casey (my usual snorkeling partner also), named ours Jose Cuervo. Jose was quite inactive and lame compared to the other males who would defend their area. We deduced Jose was in fact just a large female, so we appropriately changed her name to Josefina.

Some of the others in my group got a little daring and walked farther into the walled habitat. They had a lot of action to follow, as their iguanas, Alfonso, Ignacio and Chollo, chased each other back and forth. At one point, an iguana went a little loco and ran around the side towards a couple students as another was coming from the other direction. Stuck between the oncoming iguanas, the students were little nervous, to say the least, and leapt onto a nearby bench where they stood for the rest of the 30-minute exercise. (The iguana is at the bottom..)

Another interaction that occurred a few minutes later left a particular impression on me. Ignacio got a little more daring than usual and ventured across the little dried-up creek. Alpha-male Alfonso had a little something to say about another dude entering his quarters. As soon as he noticed, he moved his little legs so fast to attack Ignacio. Alfonso chased Ignacio (over the dried leaves noisily cracking beneath them) back towards the creek. Just as Alfonso was about to take a bite out of Ignacio’s tail, Ignacio leapt for the other side of the creek. I watched in awe, then…THUD. Ignacio slammed his thick scaly neck right into the slightly elevated stonewall of the other side. He then quickly picked himself up and continued scurrying away. I had truly believed in Ignacio’s ability to clear the wall and make it back safely. In my shock, I swallowed my gum as I died laughing/choking at what I had just witnessed.

[Incidental] Road trip!

The following day some of us went on this awesome tour. We took our bus to the drop off spot, well not directly there. Apparently we missed the stop somewhere along the way. The bus driver, David, unknowingly turned down a seriously rural and hilly dirt/mud road and we drove at least two miles before a girl from the hotel in the bus with us recognized we were not supposed to be on that road. Without a place to turn around on the narrow, David resorted to a newfound skill. He put the bus in reverse, and with the annoying beeping, we drove backwards almost the whole two miles. A few residents walked or rode horses by, clearly wondering what the heck we were doing. While some people were getting a little queasy up by the driver as we rumbled back through the puddles, I was in the back, er front now, quietly dying of laughter at the entire scenario. We finally came up to a little gated drive, so Lisa, our TA, boldly got out and opened it for us to turn around. Take in the entire scene:

Despite making another wrong turn and traveling 20 minutes in the wrong direction, we were back driving through the town we passed an hour earlier, where a man from the tour company was looking for us. Finally positive we were on the right track, we gladly followed him and his motorcycle back in the direction of that muddy road. No worries though, our safari-like jeep was waiting for us before we reached that road. Quite a humorous introduction to the next six hours of enjoyment.

^ Herding cows across the road.

I'd take a Corona with that

After the snorkeling, I thought we were done for the day, but we continued around the next rocky cliff to the picturesque Caribbean beach. Supposedly Corona shot commercials here in the 1980s. Despite being summoned to pay to use the chairs on which we threw our towels and bags before heading to the water (so we moved our stuff to the sand), we had the most relaxing time swimming there and enjoying the soft sand.

I'm on a boat

One of the highlights of the trip so far was our boat excursion out into the Caribbean. The 14 of us (plus our friendly driver) boarded a catamaran and started our trip along the beautiful coast. Luscious greenery, including palm and mangroves, continued up from the coastline and incredibly blue water to distant mountains. The captain stopped the boat at a sandbar a good distance from shore. With my snorkel gear all ready, I followed the rest as we swam from the back of the boat over numerous sea stars, sea urchins, and sand dollars that were scattered around the sandbar. I watched as one sea star made its way several feet across the sand. A big-eyed puffer fish remained still in the sea grass as we stared, hoping it would puff up for us.

After roaming around a bit there, we continued northwest towards the Samana Peninsula. We approached these huge cliffs, and a few of us through out the terrific idea to jump off of them. So we stopped there. No worries though, we stopped to snorkel – the only jumping was off the boat. The water was completely clear all the way to the bottom at least 40 feet below. It got shallower as we floated towards the rocky island, where numerous fish were tooling around. There were some brightly colored ones, and a school of at least one thousand of the tiniest of Silversides swam right below. We were careful to avoid the small jellyfish – only a few randomly lingered a couple feet below the surface, almost the perfect depth for us not to notice at all. We also saw an eel (ugh but cool).

Small town DR

Took this video as we drove through one of the few towns we passed on our drive to Miches.

(It may take a few minutes to load.)

Introducing Miches

Just got back from Miches. It was amazing!

The roads were not in great condition so it took 4 hours for our bus to bump along about 60 miles. The scenery was beautiful. There were not many other cars along the drive – people travel mostly by motorcycle, scooter, horse or foot. After being at the hotel for two weeks I had almost forgotten this is still a third world country, but the drive down dirt roads and by the humble houses was a resounding reminder.

From the moment and we drove onto the beach to get to the Coco Loco Hotel I knew it was going to be a wild time. We were split into groups of threes and went to settle into our casitas, one-room mini houses, as a storm was approaching quickly. Of course I ran to the bathroom after the bumpy ride, and as I opened the toilet I startled the frog that apparently had been resting under the lid. It jumped way up and splashed into the pot as I maybe just slightly overreacted, and the lid went crashing down. We did not really know what to do about that situation and my roomie flushed the toilet only to find the frog back in there next time she opened the toilet haha. Next on the agenda was getting the cockroach out of the toilet. The extent of my participation in this was solely holding my camera to capture the moments.

Then, an intense thunderstorm rolled directly overhead and lightning even hit the side of one of the casitas, leaving a little burn in the grass next to the girl sitting on the porch.

Much more to follow soon…

Off to Miches

We are off to the small town of Miches tomorrow morning for the week. We were told there is one of the most beautiful beaches in the DR near it, so I’m really excited. It is unlikely there will be internet at the small hotel where we’ll be staying, but I’ll upload some pics as soon as I can :-)

Playa Blanca

A few of us girls took the free shuttle to relax at another beach in the resort for the afternoon. There were maybe eight other people on the beach or in the restaurant because it is still the ‘low’ season. Someone had the great idea of taking the lounge chairs into the water. The potential enjoyment of this situation quickly declined as the strong winds washed up bits of sea grass to stick to our legs and backs, the start to seriously distasteful tan lines.

From this beach you can make out the two bulges where the waves begin to break – there are two separated and overturned halves to a large boat that apparently came too shallow long ago. I heard it is pretty cool to snorkel out to and see, but from my previous experiences with the snorkel, I doubt I’ll be making that journey.

Another snorkeling spectacular

We headed back out to the water for another afternoon of gathering data as a class. This time my data-collecting partner and I got to stay closer to shore, meaning there was more sand available to stand on as opposed to the mysteriously swaying sea grasses. For sure an easier task…or so I thought. We took our transect out with plastic bags to collect seaman’s brushes, aka a stem with a big furry ball at the end. It was a tad difficult to get the transect situated. As soon as we managed to get one side down, the other would float up, quite the dilemma. As she was trying to put it down with her feet, I was doing my best to keep her from being carried away by the current. We could not stop laughing at ourselves as we were both flailing about trying to regain control of ourselves while we had no control of the transect and plastic bags calmly floating away. It must have been quite the scene, because in the midst of trying to keep my head above water as not to consume anymore saltwater while also preventing any contact with the sea grass (yes, I’m a little scared of it), I caught a glimpse of one of the resort supervisors – who says hello to us at breakfast every morning – laughing as he looked on from a gazebo on a nearby dock. He was probably thinking the only thing I can do well is eat an omelet.

Parking for the Preggers

Interesting discovery: According to the parking signs (the hotel entrance is a short walk to the left), a pregnant woman is more handicapped than a handicapped visitor.

"Indigenous Eyes"

Lunch by the Lagoons

We walked through the resort’s ecological reserve for the first time. It has occasional colorful flowers and some random termite hills, but its best features are the lagoons. There are about five throughout the reserve and all are perfectly clear and bright blue from the limestone rocks that make up much up the area. Tilapia live in them and one had a gang of turtles. You can jump into the largest one from a small platform above it, which was entertaining for all, and we spent the afternoon swimming there. I'm sure I'll be back there soon.

Passport to the Court

Coaches, not to worry.. I was pretty excited to discover this cute little basketball court. Now just need to find a basketball.

First day of "class"

Had our first lecture and ‘scholastic’ outing today. After learning about the basics of ecology and the geography and climate of the Dominican Republic we ventured to the shore with our snorkeling gear. I got to touch some red, green, and brown algae, very exciting stuff! Most humorous were the two crabs fighting/bickering at the shoreline. As much as I enjoyed swimming around the shallow waters observing the tiny fish scatter and an enormous sea cucumber below, I got some serious anxiety having to breath through the little air thing and slightly freaked out a couple times when a little water got in because we could only stop and stand on the sand, not the rocks…but I made it.

It started sprinkling when we got out and as we were returning to our rooms, some of us made a pit stop by the pool. It soon started to rain more, which was timed perfectly because right when we got out a mini dance session was beginning under the big roof over a stage adjacent to the pool. Couldn’t resist. Guess what…lady who led water aerobics yesterday, Julie is her American name ha, also leads the dancing! She taught us – and the four slightly coordinated Russian women who just got out of the pool also – some basics of the meringue.

School in the Pool

Went to relax at the pool with the group. Santo, one of the Dominicans who leads the daily water aerobics, invited us to join him. He put on some intense half-American/jock-jams, half-Dominican music and pumped us up as another woman led it in the water. We were the only 8 people doing it haha.

Mi Cuarto

Chess Anyone?

Here's a photo from the walk to the beach...

I have arrived!

I awoke up during the last half hour of the flight just as we began to fly over the island. The water is beautiful and clear along the coast. There were random little dirt roads scattered around the rural land, appearing to connect groupings of small houses to some distant destination. The terminal of Punta Cana International Airport is simply the walk down the plane’s stairs, across a sidewalk, by other planes and onto a line under the huge entirely open, thatched-roofed building to get a photo with two Dominican women dressed in their ruffled, festive attire. It was humorous to watch as they kept hurrying people through and pausing abruptly to smile for a half-second as another women, looking bored out of her mind, continuously clicked to take the photo from the camera propped on the counter.

Once I got my passport stamped and exchanged dollars for Dominican pesos, I took my two huge bags through customs where the guy took my apples and oranges. Sorry, Mom, didn’t have time to eat them all.

As we were warned, almost everyone from that point on was wearing a Punta Cana Resort shirt, but thankfully I quickly located the guy holding a sign with my name. Another student from our group was waiting with him, and he could not believe I had just gone through the whole process myself. Apparently he saw someone from the resort with his name immediately when he got off his plane who then whisked him through each part, minus the crowds and lines. I was most appreciative to hear this information as the perspiration continued to emerge across my forehead from the muggy weather I had been standing in for the past 25-30 minutes. ☺

After getting settled into my room and turning the fan on high, I got to explore for a bit. I headed straight down the road to see the beach. It looked amazing. You can see for yourself… I can’t wait to take out a kayak or snorkel.

Dinner was at the house where the workers eat, cafeteria style. I am expecting to see rice and beans at every meal for the next 34 days.