Steve at Playa La Boca and a day at Playa Grande with Tony and his family
Sunset with the beach dogs at Playa Grande
More beach photos (for you Ann :-)
Sitting on our new couch in one of my new outfits thanks to my sister Ann!
Sunset with the beach dogs at Playa GrandeMore beach photos (for you Ann :-)Sitting on our new couch in one of my new outfits thanks to my sister Ann!My first Humane Education class. Teaching kids about compassion for our earth, each other and the animals!
Lunch Dominican style thanks to our neighbors Tony and Basilie: Morro de guandules.
It's avocado season and they are everywhere and free! We are eating them everyday along with fresh platanos, ganeos (bananas), buen pan (bread fruit), etc.... Jealous, eh?
Every Wednesday I go to the campo (countryside) with Dr. Medina. This is him testing a cow for pregnancy. We speak Spanish together and he helps the animals who belong to the people who live in the campo.
This is one of the houses Steve works at. He is cleaning the pool here while Panda watches on. Not bad for a work location, wouldn't you say???
I went through quite a bout of homesickness for a couple months in June and July. I was a wreck. So depressed and wondering to myself 'what the @#$ did we do??? But, I have pulled out of that now, thanks to my great family and their support, and we are now having a wonderful life here. Every day is different and we are learning so much and making lots of memories. We are still in Spanish class 2 days a week. We are still struggling with the language but it is getting better, little by little. This is a picture of us in class. (left to right, Emma, Dave, Dodie, Luis our teacher, me and Steve)
In June the FBI arrested a guy who had been living here in Cabrera for the last 3 years. He had been hiding out here because he faced child molestation charges in the US. We knew him pretty well and the good thing I can say about him is that he was very kind and caring to the animals
here. He always fed the beach dogs and he was the guardian of 2 dogs he had rescued from the streets. After his arrest we were left with the dilemna of what to do with his dogs. We were afraid to leave them here in Cabrera due to the guys reputation and the locals knowing what he did. We were afraid for their safety.
This is a picture of Dr. Medina (sitting), the local veterinarian and Julie, a veterinary student going to vet school in Scotland and Irma.
We've celebrated some birthdays since being here and our 15th wedding anniversary. Steve had a birthday in May and I had mine in August. We had great times with our new friends. We go to the beach and do a little hiking and then have dinner together.
This is a picture of our neighbor Tony's little girl Desiree. She is 4 years old and is so much fun. Her mom painted up her face like a cat in this picture. She loves to come over and play with the puppies I'm usually fostering or she plays with Smudgie, my cat. I brought her a coloring book in Spanish so she sits with me and colors. We practice our Spanish together. We've taken her with us to the beach several times too and she loves to go under water. It's great fun to watch her!
Lunch Dominican style thanks to our neighbors Tony and Basilie: Morro de guandules.
It's avocado season and they are everywhere and free! We are eating them everyday along with fresh platanos, ganeos (bananas), buen pan (bread fruit), etc.... Jealous, eh?
Every Wednesday I go to the campo (countryside) with Dr. Medina. This is him testing a cow for pregnancy. We speak Spanish together and he helps the animals who belong to the people who live in the campo.
This is one of the houses Steve works at. He is cleaning the pool here while Panda watches on. Not bad for a work location, wouldn't you say???
Hola todos,
I have been out of the blog-o-sphere for long enough now. It's been 4 months since I posted anything so it's time to get off my butt and get back in the saddle of blogging. So much has happened since I last wrote anything it would be impossible to catch you up on everything so I'll just write about a few highlights and include some pictures to get you up to date on our life in the Dominican Republic.
I'm having trouble formatting my pictures where I want them within the text this time so I'm putting most of the pictures at the top of this posting. I'll put headings underneath them to explain what they are and how they follow my story.
I went through quite a bout of homesickness for a couple months in June and July. I was a wreck. So depressed and wondering to myself 'what the @#$ did we do??? But, I have pulled out of that now, thanks to my great family and their support, and we are now having a wonderful life here. Every day is different and we are learning so much and making lots of memories. We are still in Spanish class 2 days a week. We are still struggling with the language but it is getting better, little by little. This is a picture of us in class. (left to right, Emma, Dave, Dodie, Luis our teacher, me and Steve)In June the FBI arrested a guy who had been living here in Cabrera for the last 3 years. He had been hiding out here because he faced child molestation charges in the US. We knew him pretty well and the good thing I can say about him is that he was very kind and caring to the animals
here. He always fed the beach dogs and he was the guardian of 2 dogs he had rescued from the streets. After his arrest we were left with the dilemna of what to do with his dogs. We were afraid to leave them here in Cabrera due to the guys reputation and the locals knowing what he did. We were afraid for their safety.So, with the help of many wonderful people, one of his dogs got adopted by a family in La Vega. He now lives on a huge farm with lots of people and other animals. His other dog, Pepe, is now living in the US with Brenda, who helped make it possible to get Pepe to the US. After he goes thru treatment for a tumor Brenda will be placing him in a new home. Here is a picture of me and Pepe waiting to put him on his plane at the airport in Puerto Plata.
With the help of some visiting veterinary students, veterinarians and the local vet Dr. Medina, we have been able to do some surgeries throughout the summer. Mostly spays and neuters but also an amputation. There are always animals needing rescuing here so when we do we get them fixed and then place them in new homes. It isn't easy to find good homes to place them in here so sometimes we have them at our home for quite awhile. Here we are doing surgeries on Emma's dining room table. This is Dr. Annie Macnab, who lives in The Dalles, OR and Irma assisting. Irma is from Canada and lives in Cabrera with her husband and daughter. She is a wonderful help with animal rescue and sugery.
This is a picture of Dr. Medina (sitting), the local veterinarian and Julie, a veterinary student going to vet school in Scotland and Irma.
We've celebrated some birthdays since being here and our 15th wedding anniversary. Steve had a birthday in May and I had mine in August. We had great times with our new friends. We go to the beach and do a little hiking and then have dinner together.
This is a picture of our neighbor Tony's little girl Desiree. She is 4 years old and is so much fun. Her mom painted up her face like a cat in this picture. She loves to come over and play with the puppies I'm usually fostering or she plays with Smudgie, my cat. I brought her a coloring book in Spanish so she sits with me and colors. We practice our Spanish together. We've taken her with us to the beach several times too and she loves to go under water. It's great fun to watch her!
I've started teaching Humane Education classes in the schools here. I taught my first 2 classes last week. I'm working with some of the local teachers hoping to setup regular times each week to visit their class and teach Humane Education to the children. So far the support here among the teachers has been fantastic. I hope the program will take on a life of its own and just grow and grow.
Steve has 2 jobs right now. He manages a place called Casa Luna which involves him being there Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. He keeps the pool clean and oversees the maid and gardener. You can check it out at http://www.vrbo.com/172856. It has house rental information at the website too. Check it out. Our friends and family get a 50% discount on rentals so get your butts down here. It's a beautiful place and very peaceful.
His other job is maintaining the pool at a house that sits right on the ocean (see picture above). The owner lives in Florida and is only here once in awhile. Must be nice, right?
We are doing well and have settled in. For the most part things are good. We are able to take Panda to the beach swimming almost every day and we love being a part of the community. There are still hardships that we are trying to get used to, such as: we've had no water in our house for most of the day the last week because there's been no rain and the river is very low. But, everyone is in the same boat so you just plan ahead.
We feel very fortunate to be here and to be able to live the life we are living. Please remember that we love to have visitors so know that you are welcome anytime. Just give us a holler. We can find you a nice motel to stay in that has 2 double beds, a kitchen and sitting area and full bathroom, RIGHT ON THE OCEAN, for around $22/night. Also, there are 7 beaches within 5-20 minutes of our house. Sound tempting yet????
Muchos besos, Connie and Steve
Panda, Smudgie, Wilson, Penny and Rusty
1 comment:
Remember when we talked on the phone about your planned move to the DR and you said that you had been afraid that I would try to talk you out of it?? I said "Never! But there WILL be challenges." And in the back of my mind, I was remembering my own "what in heavens name was I thinking???" question that has been a part of every one of my international moves! You have now tackled the most difficult aspect of international adventures: homesickness/loneliness. I am glad that you have come through this tumultuous time in fine shape for continuing your adventure! I am happy to report that any future blips diminish in intensity and length (whew!).
It is wonderful to see your photos and hear about the things you and Steve are doing! The motel on the beach sounds perfect---I'll be keeping my eye out for a good flight down this winter!
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