we are family.
get up everybody and sing.
The last day that the Westlake women's group was at the house, was the day that two of my sisters arrived. Yes, my family came down to visit me and it was so great! Thursday afternoon after our day at the beach with the kids, I went to the airport to pick up Rachel and Meredith. It was so good to see them. We went back to the house, and the next day they came to the villages with me.
Since the group had left, we tagged along with Alexia and helped her and Holly (one of the interns) with English camp. We first went to Chichigua, where we spent our time playing with the kids that weren't in class and helping out the adults put together phrases in English. The village was pretty calm the day we went, but it was great to show them where I taught and a few of my students that come to class.
We continued on to Pancho Mateo in the afternoon after eating lunch at a parada, which is kind of like a rest stop. Ask Meredith about the tostones because she was obsessed. Pancho Mateo is a lot bigger than Chichigua, so we spent all of our time playing with kids so that they would not be a distraction during English camp. After giving them the tour, we went to the basketball court (otherwise known as la cancha) and had relay races, played games like "duck duck goose" and "ring around the rosy" (all in Spanish or course!), they even got coerced into having their hair braided by the little girls. I think that they really enjoyed seeing everything, even though they weren't used to all the heat. Rachel and I laughed at how often Meredith took naps!
The next afternoon (Saturday) my mom, step dad, and youngest sister Evelyn arrived. We took a cable car up the mountain that is behind our house and spent some time walking around the mountain, exploring the different pathways as well as the cool weather.
The next day we drove to Jarabacoa and went white water rafting, the rapids were really good and our two guides were great. We also saw a couple different waterfalls in the city; the size and power was so incredible to see. After staying a night, we continued on to Santo Domingo (the capital), where we saw some sights and did a little shopping. Our hotel was a 16th century building renovated into a tranquil bed and breakfast, located right in the middle of the colonial zone. Very cool.
For the next 3 days, we stayed at a resort on the east coast of the island. It was a complete change from everyday life, but so good to rest on the beach and by the pool and hang out with family. We had the opportunity to go snorkeling, and saw some really cool things. I held a sea urchin and it suctioned itself to my hand, touched a sea slug, and saw a lot of beautiful coral and fish.
After spending a long 8 hours driving back to Puerto Plata on Friday, Saturday morning I was able to show them a glimpse of Chichigua and Tamarindo before heading to the airport. On a funny note, we all got to know our driver Juan really well during the week, that when they left he gave everyone in my family and hug and a kiss and we got a group picture! It was so good to get to see them, and for them to see a lot of the country.
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