Yo quero Santo Domingo!

I just came back from the Dominican Republic.  Specifically, Boca Chica, which is a nice little beach town on the other side of the airport from Santo Domingo.  Jet Blue had a flight deal, so I booked it Monday, and left Wednesday.  I just got home last night.

Had a great time there, but did not take many pictures.  Since most of my time was spent on the beach and snorkeling, and my camera does not take pictures underwater, I did not have a lot of photo opportunities.  I wish I could take pictures under water because I saw some amazing fish and these jelly fish like plant thingys that are beautiful but sting if you touch them.  And I did.  Not on purpose, of course, but when swimming near the coral reef, in very shallow water, and not realizing the wiggle things next to me were stingies, I brushed against them and got affected ("stung" is not really the right word) on my arm and thigh.  One of the locals told me to put vinegar on it, but the bar didn't have any.  They did, however, have tequila.  I drank a bunch of margaritas in a short amount of time, and was proud of myself for finding a solution to the stinging pain, until I woke up sunburned and realized I had passed out in the sun.

I stumbled to the shade (it was a pitiful sight) and slept off the rest of my stupor and then went back to my room for the night.  Now, however, the sting is gone, and the red has turned brown so I got a nice tan out of the ordeal.  Gotta love Italian genes.

I found the town of Boca Chica to be very charming, though very poor.  There are a lot of orphaned kids around sleeping on benches and the like.  It's very sad.  But the people there are super nice and welcoming, and I made several friends who told me of life there in the Dominican Republic.

I stayed at a cheap "all inclusive" hotel, and found that "all inclusive" does not include soap, washcloths, a remote control, or room cleaning.  The food was borderline bad, and being that I am really not picky, that's pretty bad.  I was able to find something edible at each meal, and supplemented the rest with free but tiny margaritas.  The one time I had a great, sizable drink, was when I went to the bar and found it unattended.  After waiting a few minutes I went behind the bar and put my mixology skills to the test, filling my water bottle with margarita ingredients.  The bar keep came back just in time to give me a dirty look and hear my
heart-felt "gracias!

I did take a couple of pictures, and will post them as soon as I get settled and get them off my camera. I still have pictures from James' birthday party that I need to download from the camera too.

I am sitting in chemo right now, and just booked a flight to Cancun for June 19.  Can't wait for that!  Before that trip, though, I will be going to the cancer center in Philly, and taking a drive down to Florida with Joss and James to see my family.  I am also considering a local beach trip, to help me keep the bronze goddess look I've recently acquired, and am still looking into Honduras and Puerto Rico.  I'd like to stay with host families at those places, so if you know anyone there that would like to host an American, please let me know.  I am also considering attending a Spanish school in Honduras for a week.  You stay with a host family, get one-on-one lessons each day, and they show you around and introduce you to the culture.  It's like $250 a week for all that, and they feed you too!  I was able to stumble through some conversations in the DR with my limited Spanish, and found myself wishing I knew more.

Of course I am still hoping to get back to Europe soon, but still don't know if that can happen.  Will keep you all updated.  Go somewhere soon!!!  It seriously makes life so much more fun. 

What you are about to read is a true story

Returning to Greensboro inspired by the peace and beauty at my Dad's place in Maine, I decided to take on some projects in the yard.  I will pause here for you to compose yourself, and re-read the last sentence in disbelief. 

It's true... I did yard work. Busted my ass too!  I've got pictures and a body full of scratches to prove it. I don't know where this energy came from, but I spent the past four days on this project.  I am now sore everywhere and exhausted, but I hope to get motivated to do someting in the back yard next, before it gets too hot.  Well, it's kinda already too hot. 

So here we go:


Before

After

Before (yeah, I know it's bad)

After:

I've still got some work to do, but I'm happy that it looks so much better.

Oh, and while working, I found this: 

I tried not to trim too close to it, but I have not seen mama bird back since I cut near it :(  I hope it's OK.