Republica Dominica!

So I finally arrived in the Dominican Republic on Thursday January 3rd after about two days of continuous travel. Our New Year´s celebration in Utila lasted about two days, and I literally walked onto the ferry to leave having not slept in who knows how long. My friend Daniel from the dive center was leaving with me, so I had some company for the journey. Our friends Ivonne and Mario gave us a ride to the airport in San Pedro Sula (a few hours journey from the coast where we were) and we were there all day waiting for our flights.

It was hard getting on the plane and leaving. I just kept thinking I was making a big mistake. My travels to the D.R. took me through San Salvador, El Salvador; San Jose, Costa Rica; and Panama City, Panama so I had plenty of time to stew over whether or not I should give back the money and just go back to Utila after the D.R. I still haven´t decided.

Arriving in Santo Domingo, D.R. was great, though. The sun was shining, and I immediately met an honest and kind taxi driver who sped to the bus station so I could make my bus to Puerto Plata to meet Jared (my man friend!), waited to make sure I had ticket, then wished me all the best. The ride to Puerto Plata was long and stressful--I wasn´t sure where I was meeting Jared or how to contact him while in route. To top it off it started raining.

Everything worked out in the end, though, thanks to a very kind Haitian man sitting next to me who kept reassuring me I would arrive okay and all would work out. Jared and I stayed in Sosua, a German town for two days before heading to the resort my beautiful aunt had arranged to let us stay in. Unfortunately, of the four days we´ve been in this country, it´s POURED for three of them. I have been sick with weird bite/hives on my legs and a sore throat, so Jared has had to put up with a lot of whining and plenty of trips to the pharmacy (where surprisingly enough, there was another Haitian man who went out of his way to help me communicate to the pharmacist what was going on and how to take the medication...hmmm).

Yesterday it was gorgeous, thankfully, and we headed to a nearby beach town called Cabarete. There were kite and wind surfers everywhere, and the town has a laidback sunny feel. We caught a ride back to our hotel with one of the most upbeat characters I´ve met yet. Jared and I were squished onto the back of his motorcycle with armfuls of groceries and he just chattered the whole way about how much he loved his beautiful country and how we would too. He told us to come back to Cabarate at night for bachata and merengue at the clubs and gave us his card.

We´re getting ready to head down to the beach for a swim since it stopped raining for a bit. Ciao!