Cities are wonderful, and I love them. I love living in one. I love always feeling like I'm part of the action even when I'm simply sitting at my dining room table staring out the window. I do not, however, enjoy traveling in them very much. Although I've figured out numerous public transportation systems, memorized maps, dealt with masses of people and all of that, big cities are not why I come to places like the Dominican Republic. So, although I was having a wonderful time experiencing Santo Domingo and spending time with the girls in the Boca Chica orphanage, I already had one foot out the door.
Leaving Santo Domingo immediately put me at ease. After a slightly confusing morning waiting at the pulsing bus station, and not really knowing which bus was ours, when it was leaving, or why none of this was even being announced, we found ourselves crusing comfortably through the lovely countryside. Travel in the DR is quite impressive. For the equivalent of about four US dollars, we took a three hour bus trip to the northeast coast, called the Samana Peninsula. Take that, Greyhound!
First of all, Samana is lovely. It's lush, green, fertile, and full of rolling hills, scattered villages, and everything you'd expect from a Caribbean nation. Every bit of it we saw inspired contented smiles, and it was physically impossible to feel anything but happy and relaxed. The town of Samana is built around a small bay, and everything is within walking distance. Although we only spent three days exploring the area, we saw the highlights and made some new friends.
Our first day was spent getting settled, getting food and getting acquainted with the town. Now, Beth and I are budget travelers, but trying to get by on Spanish in unfamiliar territory all day can really take it out of you sometimes. Believe me, I groan inwardly as I even write this. The idea of being exhausted by paradise sounds ridiculous, I know. However, it's true and it happens often throughout the learning and relearning process. So, we tend to select our cheap hotels (when we're not couchsurfing) based on the following criteria; hot water, A/C, cable. Generally in that order, but sometimes when our brains are feeling romance-languaged out, cable elbows its way to the top of the priority list. So, after settling ourselves in a sweet little pensione that seemed to fullfill our needs (and even had a kitchenette!) we were fairly crushed to find our cable was kaput. The horror! Luckily, we'd established an emergency plan for situations like this...but dominoes and dice games can only get you so far. What other option did we have then to go out dancing?
I probably alluded to this a little in a previous post, but I bloody adore dancing. Always have. I generally take advantage of any opportunity to get on the floor, and it's very fun and very easy in the DR. We went to an open air bar, split a couple 40 oz. bottles of Presidente, the Bud of the DR as far as we can tell, and took it all in. Sadly, the dancefloor was pretty quiet, and the few times we were invited out for a spin our partners left something to be desired. Between the heat, the beer, the pre-existing dehydration due to irresponsible water consumption and just plain being tired, we decided to be lame and retire early.
The next couple days included horsebacking riding (on unshoed and slightly malnourished horses, sadly) through the rainforest to see the beautiful El Limon waterfall, playing dominoes with a couple local guys, flying through country roads crammed into the open back of a pick up truck, taking our very first motoconcho (motorcycle taxis that fit up to four, even though they're not exactly designed to do so), trying in vain to visit Samana's famous "Bridge to Nowhere" and finding you basically have to be a guest at the uber fancy Bahia Principe resort to step foot on the thing, hitting up a club our guide book promised to be the hottest merengue joint in town and finding nothing but an empty room with a few sad patrons and music so loud I think even my kidneys were covering their ears, late night and post-bar pico pollo runs, and gazing across the lovely bay as the sunset silhouetted the bobbing boats. All of this was wonderful, sometimes more after the fact than others, but nothing could even touch Playa Rincon.
Playa Rincon is the kind of beautiful I can't really explain, and pictures can't capture. They say it's the best beach in the country and I believe them, all of them! In one sweeping glance there are white sand beaches, densely covered mountains, swaying palms, tropical flowers, crashing waves, a few hut restaurants serving fish, lobster, chicken and other local bits hot off the open flames, and a few local families and tourists counting their blessings. Playa Rincon is a bitch to get to, and my poor stomach was doing backflips trying to hold in breakfast for most of the moderately treacherous trip. Our driver, God bless him, asked several times if I was pregnant due to my desperate gut clutching and heaving. I think he was also fairly freaked out I'd vomit on his interior. After everything resettled itself and the shakiness in my knees dissipated, I was finally able to take in the beautiful stretch of beach. The water was clear, there were a few kids diving for coral (don't worry, it's a dead reef), the smells from the restaurant were mouthwatering and as far as we could tell we were the only Americans around.
After a lunch of grilled, whole Chillo fish (which ended with me trying a fish eye for the first time, interesting) we splashed in the waves, made the mistake of parking our towels too close to the surf, wrote some postcards, marveled a bit more, made numerous comparisons to the movie "The Beach" and kept an eye out for the lady selling coconut bread. Since we'd underestimated how long the trip would actually take, we were only able to spend about two hours in our little paradise before the sun started to sink and we thought it best to head back.
That night, I somehow inspired deep and abiding love in a very sweet, surprisingly sincere Dominican man named Leo. Now, Beth and I got used to cat calls, whistles, hisses, "hey baby's" and "ay mami's" pretty early on in the trip. Most of the time they're incredible insincere, mildly offensive, and just ridiculous. I have no idea what came over this young man, but without even trying (or being interested) I had him genuinely smitten. He was quite a gentleman, took us out, danced with us, didn't let us touch the tab, walked us home, asked shyly for a kiss and made me promise I would see him tomorrow. Even though he didn't have a shot in hell, he was a total gentleman, not at all pushy, very sweet, and treated us with respect. It was a nice change, and it earned him that goodnight kiss. I will remember him fondly, and hope he will me.
Although Samana was lovely and we could have shacked up there for days, our guide book promised great things about the northern coast. We'd already extended our stay in Samana by a day, and figured two was pushing it. As our bus pushed out early in the morning for a town five hours away called Puerto Plata, I couldn't imagine what was coming next. I surprised myself so many times in the next week, you'll get to hear about at least a couple incidents soon. Thanks again for keeping up!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Thank God for Changes in the Itinerary!
Initially, the Dominican Republic was not part of this trip. Rather, I was to spend two weeks in Jamaica with a community health non profit I had a loose connection to in Denver. Through a turn of events and the realization that I could probably have a cheaper time in the DR, I changed the plans with little thought or trouble. Honestly, the DR had never even crossed my mind, and I definitely never assumed I'd love it enough to extend my trip twice to enjoy it as long as I possibly could. However, that is the case and I have fallen in love with this beautiful little country.
We first arrived by boat after a very creaky, swaying night spend stretched out in various positions on the floor of a large room filled with extremely uncomfortable impostor recliners. The previous night as we were enjoying some live music on the deck, we happened to meet a very nice Puerto Rican couple named Bobbi and Ben. Bobbi and Ben love the DR as well and have been visiting for years now, long enough to build a relationship with a girls' orphanage outside of Santo Domingo. Upon hearing this we were obviously very interested and inquired about possible volunteer opportunities. They were thrilled to hear this and quickly encouraged us to go to the school with them the following morning to meet the girls and the directors. Sure enough, Ben found us the next morning, insisted on taking us to the ship's restaurant for breakfast and then as soon as we made it through the customs line at the port we were whisked off in a rented car to Boca Chica. Boca Chica is a suburb of Santo Domingo and situated on the coast just east of the city. The orphanage sits in the middle of the community, across the street from a concrete park, and is home to 26 girls age 7 to 22. We learned that previously, when donations were more frequent, the home was able to provide shelter to nearly 50 girls in need. We were greeted at first with shy curiosity, and then exuberant laughter. The girls were sweet, patient with each other, very well mannered and acted as sisters. It was easy to see there was no division between ages, and very little clique behavior, everyone was simply family. We learned many of the girls had been abandoned by family or sold into the sex trade. The orphanage has also initiated a campaign to end the sex trade in the Dominican Republic, and raise awareness about the plight of young girls forced into the business. Although we were able to spend less than a week with the girls, we made some wonderful connections. Several of the older girls were excited at the opportunity to practice their surprisingly impressive English on us, and we were able to talk about their lives in the home, what they wanted their futures to look like, and why you don't want to date Chris Brown. Leaving was hard. It's not often I get emotionally involved in volunteerism, but this time I did. They were so free and open with their love, it was hard not to get attached. Beth and I both decided we would visit again before our time in the country is up, and I know we will. It would be impossible to break a promise to all those smiling, expectant girls. The sadness they showed upon our leaving will definitely hold us to our word.
Although this sort of volunteering is not the kind I intended to do while traveling, I could see so many ways it paralleled my work in Denver. Although we don't directly serve women involve in human trafficking, the sex trade is all around us. Generally, we never see victims so young in the states, but North Americans and Europeans travel in droves to the DR simply to experience sex tourism. I recently read there are several towns along the north coast of the country in which the trade was so intense and so dangerous that the government intervened and closed all bars and hotels in one fell swoop. Eliminating the tourism in these areas did much to end the sex trade, for awhile. In the first few days of our trip, it was evident there is still much to be done to protect both children and adults from becoming victims. I would have loved to have spoken about HIV and AIDS services for girls and women, and asked about other services available specifically to women and girls, but I found myself being called simply to spend time with them and research later. I knew my time was brief, and probably best spent nurturing the short, but hopefully meaningful, relationships I was building with the girls and staff. Before we left we were encouraged not to forget about them, I replied that it would be impossible.
During this time we were also able to explore a bit of Santo Domingo, and meet our second couchsurfing host of the trip, Erick. Erick was fresh to the couchsurfing world, and we were very excited to be his very first guests. He seemed a bit hesitant, but ended up being very generous and welcoming. Within an hour of our arrival we had been invited to join him and some friends at a soccer tournament hosted by a local hotel. Our stay only lasted two days, but Erick was nice enough to take us on a tour of the Zona Colonial and even arranged for a group of friends to go out dancing with us. That night is probably on of the best we've had thus far in the trip. I love Dominican night clubs! This one was particularly exciting, all open air, beer is served in 40 oz bottles with plastic cups to share, the music is loud, everyone is sweaty, and everyone is expected to dance. I have to admit, sometimes I enjoy the novelty of being a gringa in a Latin country. I enjoy it even more when men realize I can dance, and dance well. There is not much in my life that I feel comfortable bragging about, but I have always known I can move. I found myself spinning around the crowded floor with dancers of all shapes, sizes and abilities, and loving every second. Due to an ankle injury in late summer, I hadn't danced in several months and could feel the itch. Thank goodness I found some men who can bachata and merengue! Two hours later we tumbled into Erick's friend's car and shot off into the night back home. I couldn't help but think how wonderful it is when everyday is an adventure, and how unexpected this night was.
Santo Domingo is big and slightly overwhelming, and we still have much to discover. However, Beth and I are much more interested in the small towns and tucked away gems. The city couldn't hold our interest for long and we were longing for exotic experiences in places like Samana and Puerto Plata. After five days, we were off for the next round of this Dominican adventure. Can't wait to tell you all about in my next entry!
We first arrived by boat after a very creaky, swaying night spend stretched out in various positions on the floor of a large room filled with extremely uncomfortable impostor recliners. The previous night as we were enjoying some live music on the deck, we happened to meet a very nice Puerto Rican couple named Bobbi and Ben. Bobbi and Ben love the DR as well and have been visiting for years now, long enough to build a relationship with a girls' orphanage outside of Santo Domingo. Upon hearing this we were obviously very interested and inquired about possible volunteer opportunities. They were thrilled to hear this and quickly encouraged us to go to the school with them the following morning to meet the girls and the directors. Sure enough, Ben found us the next morning, insisted on taking us to the ship's restaurant for breakfast and then as soon as we made it through the customs line at the port we were whisked off in a rented car to Boca Chica. Boca Chica is a suburb of Santo Domingo and situated on the coast just east of the city. The orphanage sits in the middle of the community, across the street from a concrete park, and is home to 26 girls age 7 to 22. We learned that previously, when donations were more frequent, the home was able to provide shelter to nearly 50 girls in need. We were greeted at first with shy curiosity, and then exuberant laughter. The girls were sweet, patient with each other, very well mannered and acted as sisters. It was easy to see there was no division between ages, and very little clique behavior, everyone was simply family. We learned many of the girls had been abandoned by family or sold into the sex trade. The orphanage has also initiated a campaign to end the sex trade in the Dominican Republic, and raise awareness about the plight of young girls forced into the business. Although we were able to spend less than a week with the girls, we made some wonderful connections. Several of the older girls were excited at the opportunity to practice their surprisingly impressive English on us, and we were able to talk about their lives in the home, what they wanted their futures to look like, and why you don't want to date Chris Brown. Leaving was hard. It's not often I get emotionally involved in volunteerism, but this time I did. They were so free and open with their love, it was hard not to get attached. Beth and I both decided we would visit again before our time in the country is up, and I know we will. It would be impossible to break a promise to all those smiling, expectant girls. The sadness they showed upon our leaving will definitely hold us to our word.
Although this sort of volunteering is not the kind I intended to do while traveling, I could see so many ways it paralleled my work in Denver. Although we don't directly serve women involve in human trafficking, the sex trade is all around us. Generally, we never see victims so young in the states, but North Americans and Europeans travel in droves to the DR simply to experience sex tourism. I recently read there are several towns along the north coast of the country in which the trade was so intense and so dangerous that the government intervened and closed all bars and hotels in one fell swoop. Eliminating the tourism in these areas did much to end the sex trade, for awhile. In the first few days of our trip, it was evident there is still much to be done to protect both children and adults from becoming victims. I would have loved to have spoken about HIV and AIDS services for girls and women, and asked about other services available specifically to women and girls, but I found myself being called simply to spend time with them and research later. I knew my time was brief, and probably best spent nurturing the short, but hopefully meaningful, relationships I was building with the girls and staff. Before we left we were encouraged not to forget about them, I replied that it would be impossible.
During this time we were also able to explore a bit of Santo Domingo, and meet our second couchsurfing host of the trip, Erick. Erick was fresh to the couchsurfing world, and we were very excited to be his very first guests. He seemed a bit hesitant, but ended up being very generous and welcoming. Within an hour of our arrival we had been invited to join him and some friends at a soccer tournament hosted by a local hotel. Our stay only lasted two days, but Erick was nice enough to take us on a tour of the Zona Colonial and even arranged for a group of friends to go out dancing with us. That night is probably on of the best we've had thus far in the trip. I love Dominican night clubs! This one was particularly exciting, all open air, beer is served in 40 oz bottles with plastic cups to share, the music is loud, everyone is sweaty, and everyone is expected to dance. I have to admit, sometimes I enjoy the novelty of being a gringa in a Latin country. I enjoy it even more when men realize I can dance, and dance well. There is not much in my life that I feel comfortable bragging about, but I have always known I can move. I found myself spinning around the crowded floor with dancers of all shapes, sizes and abilities, and loving every second. Due to an ankle injury in late summer, I hadn't danced in several months and could feel the itch. Thank goodness I found some men who can bachata and merengue! Two hours later we tumbled into Erick's friend's car and shot off into the night back home. I couldn't help but think how wonderful it is when everyday is an adventure, and how unexpected this night was.
Santo Domingo is big and slightly overwhelming, and we still have much to discover. However, Beth and I are much more interested in the small towns and tucked away gems. The city couldn't hold our interest for long and we were longing for exotic experiences in places like Samana and Puerto Plata. After five days, we were off for the next round of this Dominican adventure. Can't wait to tell you all about in my next entry!
Friday, November 13, 2009
Playing Catch Up!
Hello to everyone reading! I apologize for not writing for awhile, internet access has been spotty and brief, and never consistent enough to devote time to an entry. So many big and little things have happened in the past few weeks that I have a difficult time figuring out where to begin!
First off, I have learned a little bit more about women's health in Puerto Rico, and access to reproductive health services. My friend, Jessica, is a graduate assistant at the University here and I was recently able to accompany her on a trip to the university clinic. While we were waiting for her appointment, she and I chatted about the health services available to students, primarily females. I was very surprised and pleased to learn that birth control is extremely affordable for students, around $5 per month, and STD testing is always free of charge to all students. STD tests, including an HIV test, are also required annually when renewing one's birth control prescription, and condoms are given away by the handful. There were also numerous posters and pamphlets related to specific issues in women's health and reproduction, and I got the impression there was very little stigma attached to accessing these services. The one downside was that actually getting to see the doctor generally takes upwards of three hours. Sadly, no matter how wonderful the services are, I'm sure the many students have to walk out on their appointments simply to get to class, work or other engagements. One thing that did sort of concern me was the fact that there seemed to be very little concern for privacy when discussing sensitive health information. There was a student in the corner who was visibly upset, shaking and crying while having a conversation with one of the physicians. She seemed like she was trying very hard to contain herself, and it was obvious she'd rather be having this conversation in a private room...as opposed to the general waiting room which at that time was crowded up with at least 20 other students. I guess I'm just used to an environment in which confidentiality and client comfort is a top priority. It was odd and uncomfortable to see such an intimate conversation taking place in such a public setting.
Other than that, we had a wonderful rest of the week in Rincon. I swam and played on no less than four different beaches and got to enjoy an old friend and a not so old friend becoming fast friends themselves. I love that! Makes me feel like I have lots of quality people in my life. However, after a week of laid back beach town, we had to continue on our way. This past week was spent in the rainforest near a small mountain town called Utuado. Some of you have probably already heard this story, but our original plan was to work for two weeks on a sustainable coffee plantation in Adjuntas. We were extremely excited and had set the plan into motion months ago. Suddenly, four days before we were to arrive in San Juan, our plantation hosts cancelled very unexpectedly with no real explanation, and it was very disappointing. I scrambled for a few days to find a similar appointment, because I really didn't want to spend 8 full weeks as a typical tourist. I would much rather feel like I'm actually contributing something to the place I'm visiting than just consuming it. So, long story short, we found Marlene. Marlene is a 60ish expat who rents out a small cottage on the edge of her property. In exchange for a reduced rate, we agreed to spend a few hours a day working and doing whatever chores she needed. Sounds pretty straight forward, it was anything but. We found ourselves stuck in the middle of almost nowhere with a certified lunatic. Seriously folks, our host was off her bloody rocker in a big way. Not only was she a chain smoking drunk, but she was a conspiracy theorist, extremely passive aggressive, had some of the most frequent and extreme mood swings I've ever encountered, contradicted herself every two minutes, made odd statements such as "I have supersonic hearing" and preferred to refer to herself as "She" or "Pinky". After six days of thinly veiled personal insults and patronizing comments, being forced to sit through her anti-everything rants, and doing shit jobs such as de-ticking her six infested dogs, we were more than ready to get the hell out of dodge. I could go into detail about how God awful those six days actually were, but I'm over it and moving beyond!
One thing I can say for Marlene is that she knows good people, and was nice enough to give us some invaluable connections as we left her home en route to Mayaguez. Through Crazy Marlene, we were able to meet Salvatore, taxi driver and cousin to Puerto Rican rock star Robby Drago Rosa, don{t worry, we had never heard of him either. Not that it mattered to Salvatore, he was still thrilled to death to drive us to Mr. Rosas country home and let us play around the lovely hacienda. It just so happened Mr. Rosas dad was in for the week and suddenly we found ourselves sipping delicious coffee, playing with Robby´s cats and watching his music videos on Youtube. Turns out this guy is huge! Not only was he a founding member of Menudo, but is still an enormous latin star and a songwriter for Ricky Martin. All of those number one hits generally first belonged to Robby, it was sort of surreal.
After that we were on our way again. Luckily, Salvatore is a wonderful man who loved indulging us and showing off his island, and didn´t mind arriving a few hours later than expected to Mayaguez. We stopped off in the town of Lares, the birthplace of Puerto Rican nationalism...and the home of the most interesting ice cream shop I have ever encountered. Over a span of 20 minutes, I tried avocado, pumpkin, rice, bean, corn, and breadfruit ice cream...as well as a strange flavor that seemed like a cross between egg nog and butterscotch! As it was also plastered with memoribilia from the town´s political past, I also felt like I was getting a free history lesson. Before leaving town Salvatore insisted we stop at a streetside lechonera, or pork stand, for a bite. I was able to try friend pig skin for the first time, and it was surprisingly delicious. Had it not been for the intense greasiness I probably would have order skin straight up.
Several hours and brief stops to oooh and ahh over waterfalls and local sites, we were at the home of couchsurfing hosts Aldy and Yano Hernandez. I feel entirely confident in saying these two are extraordinary people. They´re the kind of people that just make you feel like the world isn´t so big after all, and that maybe we don´t give each other enough hugs. Seriously, I have a couple crush. Aldy and Yano are veterans of the couchsurfing movement, and estimate they have hosted hundreds of different travellers. We were extremely disappointed to only be spending two days with them, but immediately felt comfortable and at ease in their home full of random dogs, cats, tennants and even a pet goat named Anais. During this time I had also been sick for about three days. Whatever it was was camping out in my chest, preventing sleep and causing a truly glorious lung rattling cough. Naturally they have a doctor friend down the street, and Mari, a tennant, just happened to be a pharmacist who was generous with over the counter prescriptions. By the time we left for the ferry to the Dominican Republic, Aldy, Yano, Beth, Mari, and I had become easy friends and had even made plans to go snorkeling together upon our return. How a situation can change in just a matter of hours! Thank God we didn´t escape the western side of the island thinking all inhabitants were all like Crazy Marlene!
After a 12 hour ferry in which we camped out on the floor we found ourselves in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. At this point I must peel myself off of this computer and be satisfied with waiting until another day to share more about my travels. It´s getting late, dark, and I have chocolate and blessed American cable stations waiting for me in my hotel room! There will be more coming soon! Thanks so much for keeping up with me!
First off, I have learned a little bit more about women's health in Puerto Rico, and access to reproductive health services. My friend, Jessica, is a graduate assistant at the University here and I was recently able to accompany her on a trip to the university clinic. While we were waiting for her appointment, she and I chatted about the health services available to students, primarily females. I was very surprised and pleased to learn that birth control is extremely affordable for students, around $5 per month, and STD testing is always free of charge to all students. STD tests, including an HIV test, are also required annually when renewing one's birth control prescription, and condoms are given away by the handful. There were also numerous posters and pamphlets related to specific issues in women's health and reproduction, and I got the impression there was very little stigma attached to accessing these services. The one downside was that actually getting to see the doctor generally takes upwards of three hours. Sadly, no matter how wonderful the services are, I'm sure the many students have to walk out on their appointments simply to get to class, work or other engagements. One thing that did sort of concern me was the fact that there seemed to be very little concern for privacy when discussing sensitive health information. There was a student in the corner who was visibly upset, shaking and crying while having a conversation with one of the physicians. She seemed like she was trying very hard to contain herself, and it was obvious she'd rather be having this conversation in a private room...as opposed to the general waiting room which at that time was crowded up with at least 20 other students. I guess I'm just used to an environment in which confidentiality and client comfort is a top priority. It was odd and uncomfortable to see such an intimate conversation taking place in such a public setting.
Other than that, we had a wonderful rest of the week in Rincon. I swam and played on no less than four different beaches and got to enjoy an old friend and a not so old friend becoming fast friends themselves. I love that! Makes me feel like I have lots of quality people in my life. However, after a week of laid back beach town, we had to continue on our way. This past week was spent in the rainforest near a small mountain town called Utuado. Some of you have probably already heard this story, but our original plan was to work for two weeks on a sustainable coffee plantation in Adjuntas. We were extremely excited and had set the plan into motion months ago. Suddenly, four days before we were to arrive in San Juan, our plantation hosts cancelled very unexpectedly with no real explanation, and it was very disappointing. I scrambled for a few days to find a similar appointment, because I really didn't want to spend 8 full weeks as a typical tourist. I would much rather feel like I'm actually contributing something to the place I'm visiting than just consuming it. So, long story short, we found Marlene. Marlene is a 60ish expat who rents out a small cottage on the edge of her property. In exchange for a reduced rate, we agreed to spend a few hours a day working and doing whatever chores she needed. Sounds pretty straight forward, it was anything but. We found ourselves stuck in the middle of almost nowhere with a certified lunatic. Seriously folks, our host was off her bloody rocker in a big way. Not only was she a chain smoking drunk, but she was a conspiracy theorist, extremely passive aggressive, had some of the most frequent and extreme mood swings I've ever encountered, contradicted herself every two minutes, made odd statements such as "I have supersonic hearing" and preferred to refer to herself as "She" or "Pinky". After six days of thinly veiled personal insults and patronizing comments, being forced to sit through her anti-everything rants, and doing shit jobs such as de-ticking her six infested dogs, we were more than ready to get the hell out of dodge. I could go into detail about how God awful those six days actually were, but I'm over it and moving beyond!
One thing I can say for Marlene is that she knows good people, and was nice enough to give us some invaluable connections as we left her home en route to Mayaguez. Through Crazy Marlene, we were able to meet Salvatore, taxi driver and cousin to Puerto Rican rock star Robby Drago Rosa, don{t worry, we had never heard of him either. Not that it mattered to Salvatore, he was still thrilled to death to drive us to Mr. Rosas country home and let us play around the lovely hacienda. It just so happened Mr. Rosas dad was in for the week and suddenly we found ourselves sipping delicious coffee, playing with Robby´s cats and watching his music videos on Youtube. Turns out this guy is huge! Not only was he a founding member of Menudo, but is still an enormous latin star and a songwriter for Ricky Martin. All of those number one hits generally first belonged to Robby, it was sort of surreal.
After that we were on our way again. Luckily, Salvatore is a wonderful man who loved indulging us and showing off his island, and didn´t mind arriving a few hours later than expected to Mayaguez. We stopped off in the town of Lares, the birthplace of Puerto Rican nationalism...and the home of the most interesting ice cream shop I have ever encountered. Over a span of 20 minutes, I tried avocado, pumpkin, rice, bean, corn, and breadfruit ice cream...as well as a strange flavor that seemed like a cross between egg nog and butterscotch! As it was also plastered with memoribilia from the town´s political past, I also felt like I was getting a free history lesson. Before leaving town Salvatore insisted we stop at a streetside lechonera, or pork stand, for a bite. I was able to try friend pig skin for the first time, and it was surprisingly delicious. Had it not been for the intense greasiness I probably would have order skin straight up.
Several hours and brief stops to oooh and ahh over waterfalls and local sites, we were at the home of couchsurfing hosts Aldy and Yano Hernandez. I feel entirely confident in saying these two are extraordinary people. They´re the kind of people that just make you feel like the world isn´t so big after all, and that maybe we don´t give each other enough hugs. Seriously, I have a couple crush. Aldy and Yano are veterans of the couchsurfing movement, and estimate they have hosted hundreds of different travellers. We were extremely disappointed to only be spending two days with them, but immediately felt comfortable and at ease in their home full of random dogs, cats, tennants and even a pet goat named Anais. During this time I had also been sick for about three days. Whatever it was was camping out in my chest, preventing sleep and causing a truly glorious lung rattling cough. Naturally they have a doctor friend down the street, and Mari, a tennant, just happened to be a pharmacist who was generous with over the counter prescriptions. By the time we left for the ferry to the Dominican Republic, Aldy, Yano, Beth, Mari, and I had become easy friends and had even made plans to go snorkeling together upon our return. How a situation can change in just a matter of hours! Thank God we didn´t escape the western side of the island thinking all inhabitants were all like Crazy Marlene!
After a 12 hour ferry in which we camped out on the floor we found ourselves in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. At this point I must peel myself off of this computer and be satisfied with waiting until another day to share more about my travels. It´s getting late, dark, and I have chocolate and blessed American cable stations waiting for me in my hotel room! There will be more coming soon! Thanks so much for keeping up with me!
Monday, November 2, 2009
Back in the travel groove...
Writing this I can't help but feel like I'm in Honduras all over again. I'm sweaty, I hear the chirps of unfamiliar birds and insects, I just had a lovely meal that included tortilla, and I have the slightly confused feeling of being both on a Spanish language mission and on vacation simultaneously. In actuality, I am in Rincon, Puerto Rico, a small surfer town on the western side of this small island. A good friend from college, and my main inspiration for deciding to trek through PR, happens to live here. I can see the Caribbean in all it's glory from her balcony, and every once and awhile I glimpse a lizard dashing across her walls.
Rincon is a beautiful place, but still quite new to Beth (my travel partner) and I. We just arrived Saturday afternoon after spending a week in San Juan taking refresher Spanish courses and refreshing ourselves in Latin culture. San Juan was interesting and challenging in it's own ways, but honestly we were both happy to leave. After six days of maddeningly inaccurate bus schedules, extreme temperatures outside and extreme air conditioning inside, and paying city prices for just about everything, Rincon is a nice change of pace. There were several highlights in our first round of San Juan, though. First off, we were lucky enough to have two wonderful people as Spanish language instructors. Jose and Lizzy were great teachers, and also gave us invaluable information on cheap places to eat and stay, helped us coordinate our publico bus trip to Rincon, and even gave us rides back to the hotel several times throughout the week. Jose, my instructor, was big on conversational practice, so I took advantage and asked him all about Puerto Rico's political structure, social issues, cultural norms, and basic things like traditional foods, music, and the best places to visit throughout the island.
As a very important part of my time here will also include visiting women's organizations, Jose and I also discussed services for women and programs I might want to contact. Sadly my top two choices never responded to my introductory emails, but I will keep looking and keep contacting. Luckily I still have seven more weeks to go! However, after several conversations with my college friend Jessica, and her graduate school advisor, Ricia (who also happens to be building a women's studies minor at the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez), it might be harder than I'd first thought. According to Jess and Ricia, a massive cultural stigma still exists which keeps a great many women from seeking and taking advantage of social services, whether it be for domestic violence, family planning, addictions counseling or trauma therapy. The majority of women who may need these services instead choose to remain quiet and handle their issues internally. As discouraging as this news is to my goal, I am not terribly surprised to hear it. However, they also were able to give me some excellent contacts and I look forward to taking advantage of them.
So, for the rest of today Beth, Jess, myself and several of Jess's friends will be celebrating her birthday on the beach in Boqueron, which is said to be one of the most beautiful little spots on the island. After a week on the Atlantic Ocean side of the island where the currents are so strong we actually saw police gathering up the body of a young female tourist who had drown in the undertow, we are very much looking forward to the calmer, gentler waters of the Caribbean. I'm still deciding if I would like to learn to surf during my time here. Sometimes it seems thrilling, and other times I decide I'm too much of a wimp. Can't really imagine I'll be able to keep it up in Denver anyway :)
Our next leg of this adventure will take us into the hilly coffee region of the island, so look out for more postings about rain forest cottages, iguanas and possibly even monkeys soon! Thanks for keeping up with me while I'm away!
Rincon is a beautiful place, but still quite new to Beth (my travel partner) and I. We just arrived Saturday afternoon after spending a week in San Juan taking refresher Spanish courses and refreshing ourselves in Latin culture. San Juan was interesting and challenging in it's own ways, but honestly we were both happy to leave. After six days of maddeningly inaccurate bus schedules, extreme temperatures outside and extreme air conditioning inside, and paying city prices for just about everything, Rincon is a nice change of pace. There were several highlights in our first round of San Juan, though. First off, we were lucky enough to have two wonderful people as Spanish language instructors. Jose and Lizzy were great teachers, and also gave us invaluable information on cheap places to eat and stay, helped us coordinate our publico bus trip to Rincon, and even gave us rides back to the hotel several times throughout the week. Jose, my instructor, was big on conversational practice, so I took advantage and asked him all about Puerto Rico's political structure, social issues, cultural norms, and basic things like traditional foods, music, and the best places to visit throughout the island.
As a very important part of my time here will also include visiting women's organizations, Jose and I also discussed services for women and programs I might want to contact. Sadly my top two choices never responded to my introductory emails, but I will keep looking and keep contacting. Luckily I still have seven more weeks to go! However, after several conversations with my college friend Jessica, and her graduate school advisor, Ricia (who also happens to be building a women's studies minor at the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez), it might be harder than I'd first thought. According to Jess and Ricia, a massive cultural stigma still exists which keeps a great many women from seeking and taking advantage of social services, whether it be for domestic violence, family planning, addictions counseling or trauma therapy. The majority of women who may need these services instead choose to remain quiet and handle their issues internally. As discouraging as this news is to my goal, I am not terribly surprised to hear it. However, they also were able to give me some excellent contacts and I look forward to taking advantage of them.
So, for the rest of today Beth, Jess, myself and several of Jess's friends will be celebrating her birthday on the beach in Boqueron, which is said to be one of the most beautiful little spots on the island. After a week on the Atlantic Ocean side of the island where the currents are so strong we actually saw police gathering up the body of a young female tourist who had drown in the undertow, we are very much looking forward to the calmer, gentler waters of the Caribbean. I'm still deciding if I would like to learn to surf during my time here. Sometimes it seems thrilling, and other times I decide I'm too much of a wimp. Can't really imagine I'll be able to keep it up in Denver anyway :)
Our next leg of this adventure will take us into the hilly coffee region of the island, so look out for more postings about rain forest cottages, iguanas and possibly even monkeys soon! Thanks for keeping up with me while I'm away!
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