Home

I got home late last night, it's a little strange to be home, but kind of nice too. One thing I won't miss is the fact that you can't flush toilet paper in the DR. Although maybe somehow subconsciously I don't miss it, because I almost threw it in the trash can today. Hopefully some pictures to come soon!

Playa

The last work team left this morning. We are heading to the beach tomorrow morning. We are going to Caberete. Supposedly it is going off up there, rumors are saying 20 ft waves. Obviously we won't be going out in that, but hopefully there will be some surfers out there to watch. I'm looking forward to some relaxing and spending a fun weekend with the staff here.

9 days left

It is hard to believe how fast the time has gone by. I have 9 days left here before I head back to the states. Last night all of the leaders in the country came to camp for a weekend of training. Camp is pretty crazy right now. Today we have some time off, so I went in to town this morning with Jorge and ran errands with him and shopped in town. I'm going to try and do something fun this afternoon, either hike Mogote, the mountain nearby or go to the creek. Our last work team comes in tonight. They will be here until Friday and then after that we head to the beach and then I fly home next Monday.

Work Teams

So we have a large work team here this week. There are about 65 people here from UGA, Winston-Salem and a group of property staff from Sharptop Cove. I'm pretty tired from a couple of long days and am feeling a little under the weather. That may be because I've been burning branches for the past 2 days. My job for the past two weeks has been to cut and trim trees and now I'm getting rid of the debris as well as a bunch of other landscape projects. Last week we went to the movies and saw American Gangster and got some American food. So for the first time since I've been here I felt sick and it was from Burger King.
Our fun for last week was and raging inferno that broke out on property. We had paid a local guy to come in and cuth all of hte grass and vegetation out of a large canyon here at camp. The canyon is going to be filled in with dirt to make a playing field. So due to some miscommunication, some stupidity, and some strong afternoon winds, a raging fire ensued. It took everyone on property frantically fighting it to bring the fire under control. The local fire department assured us that it wasn't their problem since no buildings were in immediate danger. Thus it was a forestry issue. Now that there is nothing left in the pit, that is where we burn stuff. Just under two weeks to go, I can't believe how fast time is passing.

Transportation in the DR

This is from our adventure the other day.

So gas is pretty expensive here, making the ¨moto¨ a very popular mode of transportation. Scooters, dirtbikes, and small motorcycles classify motos. Motos can be used as pickup trucks as I´ve seen all sorts of objects being hulled with and without bungees. My favorite is the rather large propane tank held on with one hand. The moto is also a family sedan, as I´ve seen a family of 5 on one. Traffic laws here are merely suggestions, this goes for traffic lights, stop signs, lane markings, direction of traffic flow and so on. The horn is a popular way to let people know what you are passing. It is illegal to talk on your phone and drive here, but traffic cops are few and far between outside of the cities. It´s not unusual to see someone operating a moto with one hand and talking or texting with the other. Today, Eric and I are heading back to camp. We will be taking a Guagua, or public taxi. Basically they go between cities and will stop along the way and pick people up or drop them off along the main route. It´s pretty cheap and is pretty reliable. There is no set schedule, once the van is full, it leaves. We came to La Vega in one and the driver and a passenger were very friendly and helpful. They helped us get to the right place to meet our friend. People here have been really friendly and enjoy talking to you.

Independence Day

Here is a picture from our Independence day celebrations. Not sure how good the quality is going to be.

La Vega

This is Eric, the other intern, Achu a staff guy for Vida Joven and me before our night out on the town in La Vega. The night out consisted of going to the park and getting ice cream.

La Vega

So today we are in La Vega at Achu and Any´s house. Eric and I had a fun ride on the public taxi today. We were totally cramped and then the driver was trying to ask us where we wanted to go. The problem was that I didn´t really know. I just kind of assumed that there was a final stop or station like the place we caught the cab at. So we called Achu and a woman sitting behind me told him where him where to meet us. Then we went and got Chinese food....so if you are ever wondering what you are getting when you order chinese, it is compounded when you don´t understand most of the menu written in English. But it turned out pretty well, lunch was good and we´ve been hanging out most of the day. We were supposed to go to Younglife club tonight but as we were loading the car it got cancelled, because the place we were going to didn´t have power. Entonces, I don´t know what´s on tap for the rest of the day.

Independence Day

So Wednesday was Independence Day, thus we took the day off and celebrated. We went the Salto de Jimenoa for some hiking, then rapelling, some rock climbing, some more hiking and then some cliff jumping. It was a blast. I took a disposable waterproof camera so pictures will be posted once I get home or if I get ahold of someone else's camera. Last sunday I "learned" how to kayak. The only part I mastered was the wet exit, but again it was a ton of fun. The first work team has come and left and so now we are just kind of working around camp trying to get some projects ready for the next work team. I've been cutting/trimming a bunch of trees as well as planting some sod. Every night this week we've been having dinner at someone who is on camp staff's house. It has been fun to get to be with them and there families and see their homes. This weekend Eric (the other intern) and I are going to one of the local Vida Joven (Young Life) leader's house for a few days. It should be pretty fun, Any and Achu were here for the week when the first work team was here and we look forward to seeing their lives and how they do Young Life.
I'm going to do my best one of these days to post some pictures. We have the day off on wednesday do hopefully it will happen then.

Also check out the new JL audio logo, I mean Younglife logo.

Phone number

Here is the number if you want to call me, I do get free incoming calls. I'm an hour ahead of you until you turn clocks forward, then we are the same. I usually have the phone on me after 6 my time.
829.804.5542

I had a personal best score today in frisbee golf, 5 under.

And the song, it's too late to apologize.... is on right now. Domican kids are dancing in the dining area.

Later

Blogs are like club talks

Blogs are like club talks in that you spend a bunch of time planning them and then totally shoot from the hip. So I was thinking about my blog today in the shower, because that is where I plan my club talks, and I totally wiped out. Yeah I fell in the shower. No worries...I'm fine. Anyway, everything here is going well. I'm having alot of fun and everyone here is pretty fun. The beauty of Young Life/Vida Joven is that everyone knows everyone, so the first few days are spent playing the name game. Anyway I have a cell phone, but it is charging right now and I can't remember the number, but when I do I'll post it and you can call me. I get free incoming calls. Ok so now managing 3 "g-chats" I'll update soon hopefully. The camp has internet but it is finicky. I'll try to post some pictures and my phone number soon. We hiked to some sweet waterfalls today. That's it, I may have ADD

Bon Voyage

Nothing says goodbye like beer and wings. Had a great time tonight with "Us" at BW3's. It's been too long since all of us have been together. My bags are packed, my room is clean...really clean, and just a few more things to get done before I go to bed. Thanks to Dan, I will have "The Wire" seasons 3 and 4 on my Ipod, and I am very excited about that. Here's to the beginning of what will hopefully be a great life experience and six weeks that I will look back on as life changing. How's that for some expectations?

If for some reason you want to send me mail, here is the info:
Pico Escondido
c/o (your name)
Unit 3029 – YLDR
3170 Airman's Dr.
Fort Pierce, FL 34946

Please be aware that YOU will have to pay $1.25 per pound to RECEIVE packages that people send you. This is in ADDITION to the postage they pay to send a package to Florida. For example, if your mom sends you a 10 lb. package, you will have to pay $12.50 when it arrives. Mail goes out and is delivered through our mail service EVERY OTHER TUESDAY - that's once every 14 days! Letters and such should me mailed AT LEAST one week before mail day and packages should be sent close to 2 weeks beforehand.

Mail days for this spring are as follows: February 19^th , March 4th, and March 18th. This means that if your family & friends send you any mail AFTER March 12th, it will not make it to you.

If you would like to gamble, you may also try the Dominican mail system. I do hope someone does this, I guess you would have to find the address of camp.

This is my blog

I plan on becoming famous because of this sweet blog. Follow now, so when I am famous you can say I 'm not really into it anymore, now that he's sold out.