Let the drenching begin!

Today is June 1st, the start of Hurricane Season. And, like clockwork, the rains have begun.  Actually, it's more like the Rains have begun, cause it's not like it didn't rain a ton in May. The land is already saturated with water and there's been threats of flooding in some areas of the country...but that was just May weather. That wasn't hurricane season.  Oh no, hurricane seasons means that the Rains have arrived. 

In honor of the start of Hurricane Season, ONAMET (the DR weather service) announced that starting today there would be 4 straight days of rain...and I don't just mean rain, I mean Rain. - like 4 inches of water in a single deluge, per day, type Rain.  The streets of Santo Domingo never could handle that amount of water, and now it seems like many parts of the country won't be able to either.  At least in Santo Domingo, the water only floods the streets for as long as it takes to roll down the hill to the ocean. Well, that is unless you live in one of the shantytown barrios...then you might wash down to the river with the water, instead of watching it pass you by in your car.

Today's downpour started about 40 minutes before I had to leave work (and ended about 40 minutes after I left work...which made for great traffic). The embassy and USAID are on a slight incline, so when it rains, the entire street in front of work floods, typically overflowing the 6-8in deep gutter and creating its own stream down the sidewalk (as well as in the street).  This means that in order to walk from USAID to the Embassy, you must walk directly through (not cross, but heading "upstream") a good few inches of fast moving water. The intersection is always flooded, which means stepping through 3-5 inches of standing or rushing water, and dodging traffic at the same time.  I can pretty much say that today was the last time I will wear long pants until the Rainy season is over. It;s skirts, dresses, and havaniana flip flops from now until November. Everything else will be perpetually soaked. At least I've learned my lesson from last year, and have a few different umbrellas strategically stashed in various locations. 

Now if only my car had a snorkel...

Liz vs. Wild - rematch

the Wild wins.   ouch!

Well, the month of no Mondays has ended and February brought work back with a vengeance. BUT, I did get in a fabulous 4-day weekend of fun with my SDQ friends, Nicki and Robert, and my visiting friends, Jesse and Oana.  It was a blissful weekend that began with lemon-ricotta pancakes (my own recipe) and freshly made fruit juice...and ended with me not quite able to sit down without wincing (but full of a weird sense of accomplishment) - in between?  beautiful beaches, fresh lobster-on-the-grill lunches, bocci with the new set (no more coconut bocci for us!), a drink called Honey Lips, humpback whales, and some of the freshest, yummiest fish I have ever eaten!...oh yeah, and a 50ft. cliff-jump into the ocean.

The five of us went to Las Galeras, Samana for the weekend. It's on the tip of the Samana peninsula, and still largely untouched by the tourism industry.  There are amazing beaches there, some which you can only access by boat, and the area is the winter home/nursery for humpback whales. In Las Galeras, there is also the best restaurant on the island.  At the little cliff-top restaurant and camping ground called, El Cabito, you should really call a day ahead to make a reservation. Why, you ask? if this place is so off the beaten track...well, it's because they want to know ahead of time how many people and when you plan to come - that way they can go fishing for your fresh fish (or lobster) in anticipation of your arrival.  When we got there, they presented us with 5 whole dorados (mahi mahi), which were definitely alive that morning, and asked us how we preferred to have them cooked.  The restaurant is open-air with a thatched roof, and literally sits overhanging/overlooking the cliff.  50ft below you can see the serene, turquoise waters of the mar caribe hitting the cliff face (on rougher days, best not sit next to the railing. the awesome splash might get high enough to get you wet).

There is an overhang on the cliff next to the restaurant where you can jump off from (on calm days only). At one time, there was a ladder underneath to climb out again...but a storm took it away and the owner, John, hasn't had time to build a new one yet.  Luckily, a short (10min) swim around the "corner" takes you to a low, flat rock where it's relatively easy to get out of the ocean.  So, you guessed it - challenge of the day?  jump off the cliff and don't chicken out.  (we chose to do this before lunch, so we wouldn't waste a good meal).  I went first, since I was the birthday girl (and the crazy one who's idea it was in the first place). Jesse followed, then Robert.  I leaped without fear, and screamed as the "oh my god, my stomach is in my throat" feeling hit me...but I noticed that my form was a little off as I got closer to the water. I was sure to keep my arms in, to prevent a nasty bruise, but I felt like I was leaning too far back and risked a back-smacker (and from 50ft, well you can imagine!)...So, I tried to upright myself a bit, and nearly succeeded, except that my legs were scissored and I was leaning to the right, just a bit... 

smack. SPLASH!!!  "Holy SH*T!!  hahaha I made it!! (oh man, that's gonna leave a mark)  "Come on, Jesse!!! keep your arms in!"  (2 down, 1 to go).  YOU CAN DO IT, ROB!!!.  YES!! excellent form! (3 down, all alive...let's swim to shore)  What a rush!  After a good swim and some scrambling on the rocks to get out, the three of us stood there, staring at each other wide-eyed.  "you ok?" "yeah" "oh my god, we did it!" "yeah!" ...now how do we find the restaurant again? let's go eat!  

It didn't take long for my bruise(s) to show up.  They were indeed the ugliest ones I've ever had...but they only lasted a couple of weeks.  I've conquered that cliff...no need to do it again.  Sore as I might have been afterwards, though, it was totally worth it.  What a great birthday! (made great more by the friends I had with me than the cliff, by the way)  Our lunch at El Cabito was so fabulous, and place so serene, that we stayed there through dinner (and a second meal) and on into the night - dancing, drinking, taking photos, and dancing some more. 

At the end of it all, I was sad to have to take Jesse and Oana to the airport.  Too bad they couldn't just stay here for longer (like forever, maybe?)...As for the 3 of us, well, we'll find ourselves back in Las Galeras soon enough. After all, there are more beaches to explore, we haven't dived there yet, and then there are the whales....

For right now, though, February is Carnaval here in the DR.  I hear it's a party every weekend - but watch out! cause the be-deviled, costumed parade participants have large inflated rubber bladders stuck on sticks, which they use to hit you in the ass if you get in their way (or even if you don't). I've got to watch my behind - no more bruises!!

Liz vs. Wild...

Liz wins! (admit it, you're surprised...)

Continuing to take advantage of my month of no Mondays....this past weekend was packed with Liz vs. the Wild -type activities (and now I have Monday to recoup!)  I did two day trips with friends this weekend and they couldn't have been more different...

Saturday: Diving trip to Bayahibe with some friends/colleagues from the Embassy
This was a 2 dive excursion that friends organized, with an early (7am eek!) start from the capital.  Leaving SDQ at 7am on a Saturday might mean a tame Friday night, but it also means a peaceful and dominican driver-less trip along the coast.  We got to Bayahibe by 9am and were on the catamaran, ready to dive by 10:30. 

The first dive was a relatively shallow reef dive, relatively ho hum...except that we saw quite a few creatures - moray eels, sting rays, lobster, lion fish, stone fish, etc.  It was pleasant and easy...and a 100x better than the last dive we did in Punta Cana in December! (a horror of a dive with a current that exhausted and a guide that lost us)  The second dive of the day, though....wow!  We went to a shallow shipwreck just off the coast from the resorts. In its "glory days" (this was no Titanic), the boat had been a ferry that took tourists to Catalina Island for the day. At 35m long, it was too big for its shallow mooring and was washed against the reef during a storm and subsequently sank, about a year and a half ago.  Looking at the ship underwater, though, you would have thought it had been there for far longer.  Salt water and currents are not so kind to metal...

The wreck was not safe to go into, but we were able to do a few laps around it to satisfy curiosity.  Parts of the railings and side laid in contorted pieces along the bottom of the sea and you could watch the schools of fish dart in and out of the glass-less windows of the ship. The color of water and the ship, with the errant beams of sunlight that streamed down was breath-taking. Inside the front section, we could see the remains of a hammock, still suspended from the ceiling of the ship...making for an eery image of what had once been... 

The shipwreck made me get excited about diving all over again. Now I want to continue on to the advanced certification, so that I can do more wreck dives as well as night dives, which I hear are amazing!

Sunday:  Saltos de Aguas Blancas (waterfall) and a nice mountain hike
Getting up early for a second day in a row on the weekend was totally worth it with the day that my friend Robert and I had in the mountains of this country.  We grabbed our coffee to-go mugs and headed out of SDQ before 9am on Sunday, with the Constanza valley and the Valle Nuevo national park on our To Do list.  We stopped at Miguelina's bakery in Bonao, then started the winding ascent to Constanza.  It's only a 50km drive, but takes at least an hour to do with the switchbacks and the narrow 2 lane highway.  It's a beautiful drive, though, and we had a full view of the Bonao valley after only 15min of driving.

Constanza is considered the breadbasket of the DR and its residents remind you of that fact with all the fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers they sell on the side of the highway.  Now we're in strawberry season. yum!  We stopped a few times during the day to get strawberries during our trip.  After we got to Constanza, we took the route headed south toward San Jose de Ocoa, which passes through the Valle Nuevo park and passed the Aguas Blancas falls.  The road was touted as being so horrible you needed a tough 4WD vehicle to get by.  Well, I guess Rob's Xterra was tough enough, cause we did just fine.  (we were hoping for a little more mud to give the 4WD an actual workout...) About 45 min into our semi-off-road trip, we reached the waterfalls. 

The waterfalls had a nice little viewing platform at the bottom of the falls, and then there was a rather rough, straight-up-the-hillside hike you could do to get to the top.  Most of the Dominicans we saw stayed on the platform.  Rob and I headed straight for the top.  It was not exactly an easy climb to get up to the top of the 135m waterfall, but it was totally worth it!  The view of the Constanza valley below and the rest of the mountain range in the distance was remarkeable...and totally made us forget that we were actually in the middle of the Caribbean (definitely reminded us both of Colorado).  After resting for a bit and eating our lunch, we decided that the view from the actual top of the mountain must be even better...so we should climb up to it to see. The total lack of any path was a minor detail and we set off to blaze our own. Aside from some scrapes (I look like I lost a fight against a cat), we made it to the top unscathed and in only 20min.  The view was amazing!   I don't know how high we actually were, but the mountains in that area reach up to 2600+ meters above sea level.  Not too shabby for a Sunday afternoon. 

Just after remarking on how there was an awesome absence of insects during our adventure, we ran into a tarantula on our descent.  That's right, a tarantula...reality check, we are in the tropics. To be fair, I probably startled him more than he us...especially since I nearly stepped on him.  We were a bit more vigilant for the rest of the descent, however.  I couldn't leave the waterfall without going for a dip...so I took a plunge into one of the pools above the falls on our way out. The water was FREEZING! but oh so refreshing!  And we were the only ones there.  What a fabulous day!  By 3pm we had to get going so that we would avoid the most treacherous of the roads at night.  The return trip was pleasantly uneventful, and we were back in our homes, happy and exhausted by 7pm. 

Next week Liz vs. Wild continues as I take my friends Jesse and Oana (along with friends from SDQ) for a weekend visit to Las Galeras (Samana peninsula).  On the To Do list - cliff jumping, whale watching, yoga, beaches and maybe a lobster dinner....stay tuned
Man vs. Wild, DR

What a difference a bacteria makes...

It's been about 4 months since the first cholera cases started to appear in the Dominican Republic. So much has changed as a result...

When the outbreak of cholera began in Haiti, Dominican health authorities (and my office as well as the CDC) knew that it was just a matter of time before the bacteria found its way over to our side of the island.  The plan was "prepare, prepare, prepare" - for prevention, as well as for diagnosis and treatment to prevent a full-fledged outbreak.  I think is safe to say, mission accomplished.  Whereas in Haiti the cholera outbreak has affected hundreds of thousands and killed over 3,000, there have been only 100s of cases in the DR and no fatalities.  The Dominican government (with the help of international groups) did a great job of educating Dominicans and of expressing the importance of hygiene, prevention and seeking medical attention at the first sign of symptoms. 

Now, 4 months later, authorities have figured out the origin of the bacteria in the DR - the rivers that run along the border between the countries, which are now forbidden for swimming, fishing, washing, etc.  (The same rivers/area where I swam when I visited the border in September!).  The presence of cholera in the country, as far as I understand the situation, is now being "down graded" to an endemic issue instead of a potential outbreak...meaning that we will continue to see cases appear here and there in the hospitals, but we should be out of the danger of seeing what happened in Haiti (unless an outbreak starts).

So, it would appear that the DR got away largely unscathed, right? much ado about nothing in the end....except that the emergence of cholera in the DR has opened wide other wounds that had seemed to be on the mend.  I'm talking about the Haitians. There is a long, complicated history with respect to the Dominican-Haitian relationship...too long to really go into here. Let's just say there is no trust and no love lost between the two.  After the earthquake, though, things had started to change. The DR did an incredible job with their response to the quake, and they've pretty much had an open door policy with respect to Haitians.  Now, though, as we pass the first anniversary and with the presence of cholera, the discrimination against Haitians is back in full effect. Haitians are being  blamed for the crime in communities, and for bringing cholera to this side of the island.  Community groups in the Santiago area have recently mobilized to kick out the Haitians in their neighborhoods (some recent arrivals, others long time residents).  In the middle of the cholera scare, Haitians were purportedly banned from getting on public buses in some parts of the country!  Now the government is rounding up hundreds of illegal Haitians and deporting them back to Haiti. 

I'm not suggesting that the DR continue to have an open door immigration policy, or that all Haitians are innocent of wrong doing in this country...but it is a shame to see how quickly the country can regress out of fear.  I think we're seeing that in many places these days....

Back from Hiatus...

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly time flies here...especially when we are supposed to be on island time! It's been well over a month since the last time I wrote, and my only excuse is that I was traveling for part of that time. As for the rest, well...I guess saying I'll do it "mañana"  means that 6 weeks can fly by before anything is accomplished. (and judging by what I've seen from work in this country, that is definitely the truth)

Anyway, I am back and vowing to be better with the writing. I won't call it my new year's resolution, though, because that will pretty much ensure that I never do it again. I guess to re-start the blog, I should do a bit of a recap.  What has been going on for the past 6 weeks?...

(in no particular order)
1. successful office retreat  results in yours truly designated as the lead on donor coordination, knowledge management, as well as named as the gender expert (all exciting responsibilities! but I still cringe at the idea of being considered "expert" of anything!)

2. Two week  vacation through Argentina with 2 friends from SIPA. The first time I've been back in nearly 5 years. Highlights include: driving 3000km in a week (with me being the only one who could drive manual), horseback riding in the foothills of the Andes, wine tasting bike tours (w/o any crashes!), beach time/Christmas with the Marti family and all of my little nieces and nephews, 48hr whirlwind tour of Chaco, new years eve in Buenos Aires (dancing til 7am and narrowly escaping injury from firecrackers)

3. January - the month of no Mondays!  Work respects Dominican holidays and American holidays...that means 3 Mondays as feriado (work holiday) and 1 Friday as well.  Not too shabby

4. Embassy bowling league starts.  My team just might be the team to beat and I never would have thought just how much fun an adult bowling league could be.  yikes