Apr 22, 2013 - Not just a tourist

¡Hola todos! I can hardly believe it, but today marks the start of my last week in the Dominican Republic. An incredibly bittersweet realization that I have still not quite gotten used to. But before I get into my thoughts about that, I’ll do a quick overview of the past two weekends (since I’ve clearly been slacking). Last weekend (April 12th- 14th) was a vacation weekend for us. And a much needed one, that’s for sure! We went to Rancho Baiguate in Jarabacoa, a cabin-y resort sort of place with the perfect mixture of relaxation with a...

Apr 14, 2013 - Lessons from the campo

¡Hola todos! I’m still playing catch up from everything that’s happened, so I’m about a week behind on current events. But hopefully after today and another post in the next day or so I’ll be all caught up! So here’s what happened last weekend (April 5th through 7th); our whole group traveled about 2 and a half hours to a community called El Rodeo, aka a “campo”. A campo is a rural village in the DR, smaller communities outside the larger cities that typically have fewer modern amenities. Our role was to provide physical therapy...

Apr 11, 2013 - Catching up on the past week

Almost another week down, and I realize there are still so many things I haven’t even shared about yet! So here’s a run-down of some important things for you all to hear about: • The guaguas: A guagua is a form of public transportation in the Dominican Republic, and although my friends who have been to the DR in the past had told me all about them before I left, I still didn’t fully grasp the craziness or hilarity of what they are exactly until I experienced it. A guagua is essentially an 11 passenger van that has had extra seats put in,...

Apr 7, 2013 - Si Dios quiere

Ok, so I realize now that not writing in a week is really difficult, because there is SO MUCH to share after only 7 days! So to help break it up for you all a bit, I’m going to put in multiple entries with each one talking about a different part of my trip thus far. So here goes! The largest, most impactful, amazing experience that I will have on this trip will most certainly be Angeles de CONANI. This is an orphanage in Santiago where approximately 75-100 children and young adults live together with the large majority of these kids with...

Mar 31, 2013 - ¡Estoy aquí!

Bienvenidos a la República Dominicana! I successfully arrived in Santiago, Dominican Republic (DR), on Saturday night with no problems: met up with my group of classmates and a few professionals/professors in Miami, we all flew to the DR and made it through customs smoothly, received my luggage (all intact!), and even spoke a few Spanish words to the workers at the airport. It was fairly late when we arrived and everyone was tired from a full day of traveling, so we just had a quick introduction to our new home and then headed to bed. The...

Dec 31, 2012 - Buzz in Dominican Republic - Mikayla's traveling teddy

Bonjour à la classe de M. Boutin et bonjour Mikayla!!! Tu me manques! XO I found I was getting a bit cold in Canada, so decided to jet off to the Dominican Republic, in the Carribbean, for New Years! Enjoy the photos! Happy 2013! Buzz

Oct 27, 2012 - The last few Storm Days

After our return from our Catalina Island Day trip, we spent the next couple of days viewing and listening to the Tropical Storm Sandy. The rains, winds, thunder and lightening were unbelievable. Santo Domingo was the worst hit causing major flooding and the local fishermen had to take refuge in Cuba as their fishing boats could not get back to their home port. Punta Cana also received an over abundance of rain, causing road flooding and the closing of all water sports at the Hotel Resorts. (thankfully all our excursions were complete)...

Oct 26, 2012 - A quick update

Will bring you up to date, hopefully this evening or tomorrow morning. We are currently sitting through a Major Tropical Storm (Hurricane Sandy in Jamaica) has done a real number on the TV and Internet connections. I've never seen so much rain in one day as we've just experienced. WOW. Thunder and Lightening like crazy. I will send this up date to let you know the storm is suppose to pass by end of today so we will hopefully have longer internet connection and bring you our stories from our Catalina Island day. (a rocky boat trip back due...

Oct 26, 2012 - A Day On Catalina Island

Well, we've made it through the storm and are now able to update you on our fabulous day on Catalina Island. The tour bus picked us up at 6:50 a.m. and after the normal hotel stops for more tourists we headed out to La Romana, D.R. situated on the Caribbean Coast. We had one stop at a little souvenier/coffee shop along the way for a short 10 min. break. Once in La Romana we boarded the Catamaran for our 1/2 hr. cruise trip to Catalina. The sea was all ready starting to get quite choppy and it was an eye opening trip, but once we arrived to...

Oct 22, 2012 - Casual and Restful fun days

A quick update to cover the last few days of relaxing, going out for dinners, appies, lunch and pool/beach time. SATURDAY: We spent a nice quiet day at the Condo Pool swimmng, tanning, reading and just plain relaxing. We ended our day at the new restaurant at the Palme Real Center.. RAGAZZI ITALIAN RESTAURANT just opened less than a month ago. Joanne and I had the most delicious Italian Dinner followed by a dessert to die for. (Crepe stuffed with Nutella with Ice Cream and drizzled with dark chocolate...mmmm served with Illycrema which is a...

Oct 21, 2012 - A full day in Santo Domingo

THURSDAY: As we mentioned, this day was spent just plain relaxing at the pool, resting up for our early Santo Domingo departure tomorrow morning. A great day swimming, tanning, reading etc. etc. etc. FRIDAY: We met our tour group at the Melia Caribe at 6:30 am and headed out for our day in Santo Domingo. After a few hotel stops to pick up other couples, we drove out through the country side passing a number of Villages and lots of amazing scenery. Our first stop was at the Columbus Plaza in La Romona where we enjoyed a great cup of...

Oct 17, 2012 - Manatee Park Day

As mentioned in our last update, yesterday was our relax day. We went for a walk along the Golf Course Fairways ending at the Club House for a swim and Pina Coladas poolside. From there we wandered over to the Palma Reale Center (across the street from the Condo) for a lunch at the Pizzerelli Restaurant, mmmmmm deeelicious, with enough leftovers for a late night beer and pizza snack. Today we spent a great time at Manatee Park where we started off Swimming with the Dolphins. No photos to show as they did not allow cameras in the Dolphin...