Week #12 (Last week!)

December 12 - 18

Last week in Las Terrenas! Ahhh! I'm not ready to leave at all. It truly has been a great trip full of life lessons learned and new friends that we made. We really have adjusted to life in the DR and don't want to go back! It will be good to see everybody at home though.

Wednesday and Thursday Kira and I ended up going on a spontaneous trip to Gaspar Hernandez, a town a couple hours to the west of Las Terrenas. We went with our two surfing friends for the National Surfing Championship competition for the DR. To get there we woke up at 5 am and took a bus, which was more like a small van that they call a gua gua from Las Terrenas to Gaspar Hernandez. However, it wasn't as simple as just getting on one place and getting off at the next. First of all, somehow they managed to cram a ton of people into this van with four of us sitting in the front seat and people smushed in everywhere. The ride was also very hilly, and on the way there the van we were in couldn't make it up the hill so we had to switch gua guas and then get back in our original one at the top. All the mean while more people were getting on until people were standing up crouched over inside. As we got closer we stopped at a restaurant with Dominican food on the side of the road. Even though Kira and I couldn't eat the meat, we had really good eggs, yuca, pickled onions, and mangu (which is smashed up platanos). It was so good!! The trip was a very Dominican experience and it took twice as long as it was supposed to but eventually we made it!
Wednesday we spent the day hanging out on the beach and on Thursday we watched our friends compete! They ended up winning first and second place in the whole competition which was really exciting. Kira and I took the gua gua home (there was only one per day) and went straight to Playa Bonita to watch the sunset when we got back. It was beautiful and some of our other friends were also there which was fun.

Friday we worked at school in morning painting, and then in the afternoon we were able to do our two final dives for our advanced certification!! Kira and I both had to do just a low visibility dive and a navigation dive so we were able to go right in front of the dive shop. The visibility was horrible and disgusting, but it didn't really matter to us! Kira and I had to hold hands at certain points to not lose each other because it was so bad though. It was quite a good feeling to be done with our dives and to not have to go back to the dive shop! We both felt relieved.







On Saturday, Kira and I had a pretty lazy day to relax and spend time outside before leaving the tropics. We went to get our nails done again and then went to playa bonita and stayed for the beautiful sunset.






Sunday Kira and I spent time starting to pack and then went to hang out with our German volunteer friends to say goodbye before leaving. We went with Josh to playa las ballenas at sunset and to the apartments of the other volunteers after that.



On our last day, Monday, we did most of our packing and walked to punta poppy to watch the sunset. Josh made us one last goodbye hot chocolate at Fata Morgana and our close friends all came to say goodbye. Leaving is really really hard. I definitely hope to come back and visit Las Terrenas in the future as I feel like I almost have a second home here. I am sad to leave, but so grateful and lucky that I was able to have this wonderful opportunity and that I could spend it with my amazing almost sister Kira! We really learned so much and grew a lot as people. I know I won't ever forget this experience.

Week #11

December 4 - 11

On Wednesday, my mom, Kira's dad Robert and his partner Marianne came to visit us! Before they arrived in the evening we spent the beginning of the morning working at the school cleaning out their sports supplies, but then got asked to go back in the afternoon to do some organizing work while no students were using the space. After working at the school until five, we decided to go to Playa Bonita for a quick swim and the sunset and to wait for our families to arrive! They arrived at around 7:30 when we all piled in the car and went out to eat at El Pasito where we ate on Thanksgiving.



On Thursday,  Kira and I went diving in the morning at Punta Poppy. We did two shore dives. The first dive was just Kira and I with a compass trying to navigate for the wreck near shore there and continue looking for the missing masks. We were unsuccessful in both of these tasks, but then on our second dive we went out with Paul and found the wreck. In the afternoon we just went to Playa Bonita with the family and again watched the sunset there. We then celebrated the fifth night of hanukkah with a menorah that my mom brought and we ate burritos at Fata Morgana.









On Friday, we all got in the car and drove almost an hour and a half east to Las Galeras and spent the day at Playa Rincon. When we arrived it was rainy, but it soon cleared up to be a beautiful day perfect for snorkeling and lounging on the beach. We had lunch at a local, small restaurant on the beach where we got fish, lobster, rice, beans, and plaintain chips. It was really tasty! We then drove a little ways down the beach and went snorkeling on the reefs right near the shore. We were able to see a bunch of cool brain and fan corals and some bright schools of fish as well. While our parents continued snorkeling Kira and I tanned and took naps on the beautiful white sandy beach there. Overall, even though I was tired afterwards, it was a super fun day and exciting to get out of Las Terrenas.







On Saturday, we went to Playa Coson in the morning, which is the beach past Playa Bonita and the beach that the surfers go to because the waves are bigger. It was a beautiful sunny day to be at the beach and the waves were perfect for jumping into, body surfing, and swimming around in. We stayed at Coson until lunchtime, and then returned to Fata Morgana. After we ate we drove to el Salto de Limon which is the waterfall that Kira and I went to before. This time however, we walked in from the top of the waterfall instead of from the bottom. On the way there, Kira, my mom and I missed one of the short cut turns and ended up having to walk through super muddy trials filled with horse poop to get there. It was honestly kind of funny though and very worth it once we got there. The waterfall is so refreshing and nice to swim in, and a great respite from the loud, hot city. On the way back we went on the shorter and easier path through this beautiful meadow up on a hill with a gorgeous view. Driving back to Las Terrenas we stopped at an ecolodge that my mom's friend Noemi owns. It is off the main road and up this winding street way up high on a mountain. The views from up there were breathtaking and we stayed and talked with them for a while before continuing on our way. Upon arriving back in Las Terrenas we decided to stop and get empanadas for dinner at a beach hostel and restaurant called Afreeka. This was the first time we had them and they were really good! Unlike most other empanada places in town they had many more vegetarian options which was awesome.

On Sunday we got up early and went to Los Haitses National Park which is only accessible by boat from Samana bay. We went on our own boat from Sanchez with Edit (who runs Fata Morgana) as our own personal tour guide. We started off with a swim at the first cave we went to which was full of bats and fish in the water. The water was cold, but a beautiful blue and it was fresh water which was super refreshing. We then got back in the boat and on the way to the next cave saw islands known for the birds that go there during mating season, which it was, and so of course there were tons of birds everywhere. The second cave we went to had some really awesome petroglyphs on the walls and cool smaller areas that we had to crawl through that lead into hidden big open areas. After this cave we went to the mangroves there which were beautiful and it felt almost as though we had entered a magical forest because of all the roots surrounding us. After stopping by to see the impressive mangroves, we went to the next cave which also had a lot of petroglyphs. There were drawings painted by natives of many different animals such as birds and sea creatures and a few different drawings of the medicine man. After the natives painted these images, the Spanish colonizers left writing and drawings on the walls, and then people who were hiding out during Trujillo's dictatorship in the 1920s and 30s. They had written their names and dates on the walls on the caves. Seeing all this history written right there on the walls was super fascinating and powerful because we were standing in the exact spot that so many people had also been to throughout time. Our last stop in Los Haitises was our lunch stop at a little beach which was next to a small cave. We ate food and then went into the last cave, which had carvings of faces in the walls. We then were able to swim out of an opening and around a point back to the beach and our boat.















I am so glad we were able to go to Los Haitises, and Edit was a wonderful and informational guide. It was a beautiful day but I also learned a lot about the horrible past in the DR of their colonization and how people lived and survived under such an oppressive dictator.
We arrived back to Las Terrenas in the early afternoon, and all then went back to Fata Morgana to grab the paddle boards and go to Las Ballenas Beach past the dive shop. The sunset was of course beautiful and full of vibrant pink and purples. I took a nap in a hammock to relax and then we drove to the mosquito beach bar past Punta Poppy near El Portillo beach. We ordered drinks and relaxed there for a bit before going to dinner near Punta Poppy. It was a long day full to the brim of activities but was super fun and I was grateful to learn more about Dominican history.



On Monday morning, my mom left Las Terrenas to get on the bus back to Santo Domingo to take her flight home to MD. I woke up early to go with her to the bus stop and say goodbye. After she left, the rest of us went to a beach that I had never been to before but Kira went to with Dennis called Playa Escondida. The name literally means 'the hidden beach' and it really is hidden. To get there you have to walk for about five minutes through a little path in the trees to the far right of Playa Bonita. It was a super nice secluded and peaceful beach with reef close to the shore. I then went to spend time at Playa Bointa while Kira and Robert paddled out to islands near the beach called Las Ballenas Islands. Their name means 'the whale isalnds' because their shape looks somewhat like a whale from shore. I hung out with our friends at Playa Bonita until for most of the day until they returned. For dinner we went to pizza near Punta Poppy. For some reason pizza is a really big thing is Las Terrenas and there is a whole line of pizza restaurants right there on the beach.

On Tuesday, Robert and Marianne left around midday. In the morning we went with them to Punta Bonita to the left of Playa Bonita and then Kira and I stayed there until early afternoon. We went back to Fata Morgana for lunch and then worked at the school in the afternoon helping to paint. Kira went to Spanish class at night.



It was fun to have our families here and have a car to be able to get out of Las Terrenas and go have fun adventures! I am however, really not looking forward to coming home (of course I miss people but not the weather!)

Week #10

November 28 - December 3

Kira and I were only able to work at the international school once this week, and didn't get to dive at all because we have been sick with colds for a few days now. When we're congested, we can't equalize our ears and therefore can't dive and we didn't want to get the kids at school sick. :(
The one day that we did work at the school though we finished our huge project of cleaning all the toys for the preschoolers which was awesome and a big relief!\



Although we didn't get to dive, we did work at the dive shop. Aldeas de Paz rented out two new rooms for the dive shop across the little plaza where the old dive shop rooms are. Kira and I spent a couple days this week painting the walls of the new rooms and helping to move things across the plaza to store in these rooms.

Besides working for a few days we didn't do that much this week just because were so sick. We spent our free time when we weren't in bed at Playa Bonita, soaking up the sun as our time comes to an end. The sunsets here still put me in awe every day and I am so incredibly grateful to have the ocean so close to our house.

Hanukkah started on the 2nd, but unfortunately I do not have a menorah to light. I still thought about all my family though and am wishing everyone a happy and healthy holiday!

I am so not ready to come home at all but I am excited to see everyone once I get back because I miss my friends and family endlessly.

Week #9

November 20 - 27

Can't believe it's almost the end of November and Thanksgiving was this week! I hope everyone had a great holiday. I was definitely missing home, family, and friends on Thursday- I think the most in a long time. I do have to say though that I wasn't missing the cold (the snow maybe a little haha)!





We continued working at the international school this week, however the couple that runs the school are from the US and therefore the school had a Thanksgiving break (closed from Thursday -Monday). We spent more time with the five and six year olds, and also spent hours washing their toys that had not been washed in almost three years!! They were very very grateful for our help with that project. We got to go with the students to the international school's playground down the street from the school. Originally the school had just been a library, but when they built it out into a school they also created a big, nice playground down the street in an empty lot for the kids to play in. This was the first time we really got to spend time with the kids while they were running around playing and it was fun and a good contrast to working with the people at the dive shop!

Kira's friend Dennis visited this week for Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving night we ate out at this restaurant called El Pasito. I had black squid ink risotto and shared ceviche. It was soo good, but of course I still missed home.



On Friday I helped at the dive shop all day. In the morning I was just in the shop getting kits ready and in the afternoon four of us volunteers had to go out to do do snorkeling surface cover with clients who were try diving. There were 17 of them, and they were all on a mission trip from places like Indiana, Ohio, and South Carolina and ranging in age from ten year olds to seniors. We split them up into three groups and took each group out for a short shore dive from Punta Poppy. As surface cover, pretty much we snorkeled above the divers (because they were new and not certified) and made sure they were ok. If anything went wrong we were supposed to notify Paul, Audrey, or Josh who was on rescue. Everything went safely, but it did take about four hours and until the sun was setting to get everyone in for their dive. To be honest, at the end I was very hangry and cold and all I wanted to do was go take a warm shower and go to sleep! The sunset that we saw from the water was very pretty though which put me in a better mood! After this when we got back to Fata Morgana Josh made me his special hot chocolate which was super tasty and good.

Over the weekend I didn't do that much but I went to Playa Bonita both days. On Saturday I went around far to the left of the beach with a couple friends and around the point to where the water is calmer. There was, yet again, a beautiful sunset that faded over the green hills.







I had three more dives this week, with one of them counting toward my advanced certification meaning I have two more to do to be a certified advanced NAUI diver.
The first two dives (not counting toward my certification) were on Monday at a deep wreck near a beach called Portillo a little ways out of Las Terrenas and at a coral garden a little closer. We were supposed to do the dives on Sunday but it ended up being two wavy so we went on Monday instead. The first dive went smoothly, with the wreck being at about 25 meters. We were able to swim through the top cabin of the boat and we some lion fish and other smaller colorful fish.
On the second dive, I still was able to dive but I was having a hard time equalizing my ears. I still saw the beautiful coral garden but couldn't go deeper than 18 meters for some reason.
After lunch break, Paul wanted me to stay and help paint the wall of the compression room. This didn't take all afternoon however, and after this Jack wanted to go on another dive to go look for his mask and a clients mask that got lost by Punta Poppy a day earlier. He wanted our help to look, so we all kitted up and drove to Punta Poppy. Ironically, as we were putting our fins on in the water, Jack lost the new mask that he was using, and so now we had to find three masks instead of two. On the dive, I was fine at first, but only a few minutes into the dive I was unable to equalize one of my ears only at three or four meters, so I decided not to risk anything and got out of the water. The rest of the divers returned without any of the lost masks.





Yesterday, on Tuesday, I did a shore dive successfully in the morning. This dive was from Punta Poppy and another attempt at looking for the lost masks. We again didn't find any. After this dive in the afternoon I stayed to help paint the stairs leading up to the dive shop and then went home.