In my last posting, I thought that we might be going on a cruise. We found a great one for 7 days out of Puerto Rico. However, the flight over was exorbitant!!! I think due to the fact it was the week before Easter, when many schools are closed for the week and people are traveling. Anyway, on Jetblue, the one hour flight was $500/per person/return. Ridiculous! So, we are going with “Plan B”. I have arranged to go to the village of Jarabacoa for 4 days during that week. I will be staying at Escuela Caribe, the school for rebellious American teens, where I worked over 30 years ago. It will be fun to spend time on the enclosed campus and visit with the current staff and students again. I am certain they will love my “old timer” stories of “when I was here”….I write that with “tongue in cheek” of course! So, from Sunday night the 17th until the Thurs, the 21st. On Thursday, David and I are going to connect and go to Santo Domingo for a long weekend. We are going to stay in the colonial section. It is the best time to go as all the Dominicans leave the city for the ocean and mountains during that week!
I have been back for a couple of weeks and I have slowly trying to get into a routine, but then I figure, “what is the sense of getting into some kind of a routine, when I am gone for a week!! I have been to spinning class a twice last week and plan to go again, two times this week. When I get back after Easter, I hope to work up to spinning 3 times a week. Also, I need to get back into my weight workout routine and start building up the muscle that I feel I have lost! Once back from the Easter week, I want to try kite surfing again, wind surfing and stand up paddling. Take advantage of living on the beach.
David and I went to the Monkey Jungle this week. I didn’t take my camera with me but it is 7 zip lines and a monkey sanctuary for about 15 squirrel monkeys. They were so cute. We fed them with plates of fruit. They are real tiny and would jump on our heads and shoulders to climb down to the plates we were holding in our hands.
The zip lines were great fun. The staff was helpful and very safety oriented. This is such a great program. Not only are they helping the monkeys, but all the profits that they make go to a medical and dental clinic for the surrounding villages. The clinics are open every Saturday. If you want more information go to this website: http://www.monkeyjungledr.com/site/
David has a co-worker, Darwin, who he worked with while on the Saskatoon project who has come down here to work with David. Darwin arrived in the DR on the 30th and rode to Cabarete with David this last Friday. He is staying in the condo right above us until he decides where he wants to live. It is possible that he will take that condo, which I am hoping for. Anyway, we showed Darwin around the town. We invited him to go zip lining with us, but Darwin isn’t too keen on heights, so he passed.
We did go out together to dinner on Saturday night to the Mexican restaurant that has recently opened here. It was wonderful! Sunday, we all went to Claro’s, which has wonderful, healthy breakfast choices and wraps. They offer vegetarian as well. It is one of my favorite places to eat in Cabarete, now.
Sunday, we went to for a quick visit with Julio at his home. His neighborhood is one of my favorite places to go here. He is in the process of building a bigger house and we were excited to see how much he has done on it. It was fun to show Darwin a true Dominican neighborhood! Julio’s neighborhood is one of my favorites!!
That is about all for now. I am really taking it easy and mostly hanging around the condo. It is nice not having to do anything!!! Until the next posting……