R&R

Managed to get out of the city last week and explore the DR a bit more. I ventured out on my own, taking guagua after guagua after guagua (yes, three guaguas) down to Monte Plata to rendezvous with Ellen, a Peace Corps Volunteer who graduated from the MPH program at Emory last year. I got a glimpse of a day in the life in the Peace Corps and slept in her hammock before we took off for Puerto Plata the next morning for a grand waterfall adventure. We worked up a sweat hiking to the mouth of the river, and then went walking, swimming, jumping back down. It was really fun. I highly recommend a visit to 27 Charcos if you find yourself looking for something fun to do in the DR.

Since then, I've been back entering data and sleeping more than I should. Its not as exciting as traipsing through the campo looking for Haitians, but its part of the process. I also picked up a copy of In the Time of Butterflies, Julia Alvarez's novel about the Hermanas Mirabal. Its a doable read in Spanish (they don't sell English versions here), and the mental picture I have in my head from visiting their house in Salcedo and meeting Dedé, the surviving sister bring it a little closer to home than the Mexican novel I just couldn't get into.

One failure we've faced in San Francisco is that of finding the dance scene. It was one thing that we spent the first half of our weekends working, but now that our schedule is a little more fluid, we're still having trouble finding the party on the weekends. What is becoming clear is that we (practically the only rubios in the city) are simply too lame to catch the party train in this town. We have made the mistake of going out around 8 or 9, only to be all pooped out by the time the party gets going (which is well after midnight). Apparently the trick is to sleep until 11 or 12, go out after midnight and stay out dancing until the wee hours of the morning. We're learning, and hopefully we'll get in at least one raucous night of veritable Dominican baile before our time here runs out.