Flat Stanley got to meet up with my mom again!
My parents' stay was much more... calm, although I did manage to inflict some true Dominican lifestyle on them as well! Unfortunately, my mom was mostly immoble due to a broken ankle the month previous. But she was a great sport and gingerly gimped about as much as we would let her! Although they had made plans to stay in Puerto Plata, about 3 hours away, I managed to convince my parents to visit my site. Naturally I proudly showed them off to all my friends and neighbors. We only regretted that there wasn't enough time (and the lack of communication. Time to learn Spanish, Mom & Dad!)

That evening my favorite bachata artist, Frank Reyes, was in town. Being my loving parents and wanting to experience the DR, they opted to come along to the concert. Well, they got an earful! The DR ranks as the 3rd noisiest country in the world, and they live up to their reputation! Somehow I don't think they enjoyed "Princesa" as much as I did... :o)

Thanks to my mom's first grade class, my neighborhood kids got some new toys. Toys are rare in my campo, and thanks to the generosity, my friends can play jacks and jumprope and cards and frizbee. They have a lot of new games to learn!

After leaving my site, we made our way to Puerto Plata where we spent the rest of the week being spoiled and soaking up rays. It was nice to take a vacation and see new parts of my country... and spend some time at the beach!
So, while I've been avoiding my blog updates, life has marched continually on. Hopefully the next won't take so long! (Although, I have to say this is much more of an update than I've heard from any of y'all! Shoot me an email sometime! ;o))