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Published: April 16th 2006
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It feels a bit fraudulent having a week's holiday when you´re volunteering, but Easter means the schools are closed and we have been forced to take a week off for what Dominicans call Semana Santa (literally, holy week). What a shame!
To kill a bit of time we (that´s all eleven Santo Domingo-based volunteers) de-camped to a small town about two and a half hours east of SD called Bayahibe. It´s a tiny place, no more than 20 streets and a hundred or so houses and small hotels. The main purpose of the trip was to get a bit of sun and to take a trip out to Isla Saona, a small ´paradise´island just off the mainland. This was planned for Tuesday so after checking into our hotel on Monday lunchtime we fulfilled our first ambition by lazing around on the beach all afternoon. It was pretty hard work, but every now and again I even managed to drag myself from under the dappled shade of a palm tree and take a short, cooling swim in the clear, blue caribbean sea.
The weather wasn't looking so good on Tuesday but as we'd paid a deposit for our trip, and
had nothing else to do, we headed for the beach as planned and set of for our first port of call; a(nother) white-sand beach on Isla Saona itself. When we got there, we amused ourselves snorkelling and swimming while our skipper made himself busy cooking lunch - barbequed fish and chicken which we washed down with beer and rum. After lunch it was back into the boat to visit a 'natural swimming pool'. Unfortunately, the weather caught up with us on the way there and we ran into an incredible tropical rainstorm - no wind or lightening, just lots and lots of rain. It was still pretty hot though so we carried on regardless.
I didn't really know what a natural swimming pool would be but it turned out to be a huge area of shallow water - no more than thigh deep - about 100m offshore. The water was so clear and the sand of the sea bed was so white that it actually did look like a swimming pool. There were already quite a few boats moored up when we arrived and it was pretty weird to see people standing up in the water so far from
shore. We found a quiet spot to moor up in and pretty soon we were wallowing in the water and drinking more rum and coke that our skipper had blagged from one of the other boats. In fact it turned into quite a party and everybody was in such a 'happy' mood that we weren't particularly bothered by the massive black clouds that were approaching with alarming speed. Big mistake... within about 15 minutes we were caught in another downpour even more spectacular than the first. For some reason at this point, we decided it would be a good idea to
pull the boat to shore! So we did. I still have no idea why we did this but it was one of the funniest experiences of my life - I just wish I had some photos to prove it actually happened.
When we got back to Bayahibe, it turned out to have been raining for most of the day and unfortunately this set the tone for Wednesday. We'd hoped to spend the day on the beach but it just didn't stop pouring down. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot to do in Bayahibe except go to the beach so
we mopped about the hotel being taught how to play poker by Jeffrey until it was time to go for dinner.
We got back to Santo Domingo late Thursday, in time to do a bit of essential shopping before the Easter closedown on Good Friday. Unlike bank holidays in the UK, when shops are open all hours, everything in the DR shuts down. It's quite eerie to see the streets so empty and reminds me a bit of 28 Days Later.
On Good Friday a few of us headed to the Cathedral to watch a performance of Mozart's Requiem. We didn't realise until we got there that this is an annual thing and quite an important event in Santo Domingo's social calendar. The audience reflected a very different side of the city than the one we usually see. Overwhelmingly 'European' and obviously wealthy, we could have been in Madrid or Rome. It was definitely the place to see and be seen - we think the President of the Domincan Republic himself was there judging by the number of secret service men lurking in the aisles.
It's been a great week and very relaxing but I'm looking forward
to getting back to work tomorrow, even if it does mean a few hours planning lessons tonight.
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catherine
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beach
It just looks amazing - was there anyone else on the beach . Looks perfect !- wish I was there. Hope you are still having fab time. take care xx