08 May 2006

What more could a PCV want...

... than a visit from friends and family? Well, I certainly lucked out and got visits from BOTH, within one month!
I always enjoy having people visit. It gives me a chance to step back from my daily life and see from a new perspective. (Example: Oh yeah, I guess riding in the back of a pickup truck up a mountain road, over a landslide, with 17 other passengers ISN'T a normal activity for most people!) When Krista came, I made sure to give her the "volunteer version" of the DR. This included things like public transportation (crowded pickups - yes, you can fit 8 people in a double cab - and motos - you can also fit at least 3 on a moto!), no electricity, attending a 2 hour mass, dealing with my obnoxious community boys, and of course weather. Yup, rain, and lots of it. Although it deterred us from making it to Samana, we bravely set out for the great cascading adventure known as 27 Charcos.* Naturally, since it'd been raining for a week, the falls were very full, which made for adventure travel indeed!
*For those of you unfamiliar with cascading, it is an
adventure sport that usually involves climbing up a series of waterfalls, and
then jumping back down them. We took the option of hiking up the mountain and
coming down the falls... all 26!
The trip culminated in a typical Dominican evening - a night out dancing, followed by a mad rush to the airport with 4 people squashed in the truck cab... at 1 am. (Go figure, Krista loved it so much she's coming back! What adventures shall we have in store this next time...?)

The twins' First Communion

Jaime playing in the rain

The La Vega cathedral

Beach in Puerto Plata (proof we went to the beach!)

2am is way too early (or late?) to be at the airport!

1 comment:

Krista said...

What's not to love? I can't wait to come back and do it all again!