Blogs from Ciudad Colonial, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Central America Caribbean - page 2

Hello all! It's been a few weeks and a busy time in the office, but I snuck out for 4 days to go to the D.R. for their 2nd Intl. Bachata Festival the weekend before last. After an 8 hour busride I was in Santo Domingo for an incredible first trip to other country that shares this island. Not only was the contrast in city infrastructure striking between Haiti and the D.R., but even on the busride over there was a notable difference in the agriculture: organized fields, tools, tractors, irrigation systems for rice fields, etc. (another convo about international investment and country histories would be great to have here, but I can't do it justice now...). Anyways... It was the first time I've ever paid for a hotel in my adult life (granted I shared ... read more

This has been a long years wait to come back here, this time on the southside of the island! I managed to catch my flight on time from San Jose despite my driver getting into an accident on the way to get me in the morning, I hopped in a cab and to the Airport I went. I was a little worried that the "new" law had kicked in for expired visas, but my friends Debb and Ryan just crossed over by land to Nicaragua and Ryan told me not even a second look as he was over by a month, I would be over almost 2 and at the airport....So I get out of the cab, spark up a kool and look one last time at the Mountains surrounding San Jose I head in to ... read more

Well, here I am. The lone traveler has landed in her homeland. Excited? Yes. Distressed? Absolutely. Confused? Without a doubt. These feelings are something I knew would be inevitable upon my arrival to my home state. The things I saw and experienced will never be forgotten or disregarded; I intend to use what I have learned to expand my horizon through a refreshed state of mind. I know my life will be forever changed whether I chose to acknowledge these changes or not. Now, going through my daily tasks sometimes seem simple and meaningless. For example, when I go to the store and am trying to chose the right beauty product or thinking about what I might eat for dinner, it is easy to forget all the things that I have seen, heard and lived. Sometimes ... read more

From our insel Air window, SDQ looked green, flat and sparsely populated. Rusty zink sheets covered the roofs of the homes in the shanty town which lie along the flight path. The approach was turbulent but the landing was good and the passengers broke into applause. It was 2.16 pm. Bienveniedos a SDQ. We spent the night before at Tante Ligia who graciously offered us to share her house since we had neither furniture nor house. We slept fitfully at 2 am, woke at 6.15, left some baghs and instructions for Panic (who is camping at a pet resort until our return) with Eve and got to the airport on time. To see us off were Rose, her son Shaquille, Gera, Eve (all good friends) and Shanna´s oma (grandmother). The flight took us thru St. Maarten ... read more