First of the Fall and There She Goes Back

Four weeks of visitors has just ended and I’m back at my site. It’s a great time to evaluate and feel and whatnot.

First was 2 weeks with Rebecca, a good friend from high school. She and I did a lot of super fun stuff and kept really busy. She was quite a hit in my town and people still ask about her, where she is, when she’s coming back, etc. She was willing to do it all and we really did. She and her wonderful family procured some Spanish-language books to donate to a library project that I want to do down here and I was so thrilled to open them all up and look at them. She also brought some candy and she and I ate that to our hearts’ delight. We also watched some DVDs, played with Lina, went for walks, went to the beach (and out to our famous sand island), and much more.

The next week was my wonderful, sweet sister’s visit to my town and she was also a great sport about it. I’d imagine she would say her favorite thing to do here was play with Lina, and she really got a lot of opportunities to do so. Unfortunately, I was visited by 2 PC peoples while Julie was here which really tied up 2 of her days here. On the second to last day we made it out to the sand island and the beach, and on the last day I took her up the mountain (with some youth group kids) to the waterfalls where I also went with Rebecca. Both of these days really tired us out.

The following day was the day we went to Puerto Plata to join our parents and our brother Tim at a 5-star resort. Walking in to that resort, especially because I was with Julie who wasn’t as used to my campo life, was INCREDIBLE for both of us! The resort (as it did all week) smelled wonderful. Everything was white and the ceilings were way off of the ground. After checking in and bringing our stuff to our rooms, Julie and I sat around and compared what made the lobby of the hotel different from my house here. There were some notable differences.

Seeing the family after the longest stretch I’d ever gone (8 whole months) was great and how beautiful it was to be greeting them in such a beautiful location as well. We spent the first few days relaxing beach and poolside. It was so lovely to have water and power 24 hours a day as well as a TV with some decent channels (although no Olympics).

Sunday night we explored the malecon in Puerto Plata and the old fort (built around 1600 to protect the city from pirates such as Sir Drake.)

On Tuesday I took them to the 27 charcos. They are 27 pools beneath something like 17 waterfalls over which you can climb with a strong guide who knows the terrain well. It’s an intense day, hiking, climbing, lifting your own body weight, swimming, wading, etc. I warned the family of that, but they still decided to go for it all, so we did. My parents’ reactions were the funniest. They both put on their “oh my God!” faces and were quite funny, but again, very good sports and really got into it after a while. (The first time I went up, with Rebecca, I remember being a bit surprised at how much involvement was required on my end to actually do it.) Tim described it as the best activity he’s ever done. SCORE! I didn’t jump many of the waterfalls when I went with Rebecca, and when I went with the family I did all but one, the biggest jump rock I’ve ever seen that only Tim was gutsy enough to do.

The next day we set out on a mission. All of us but Tim had read In the Time of the Butterflies and so we embarked to find the house of the Mirabal sisters (which is now a museum) in Salcedo. It was a bit of an adventure because we went in search of a hat (in Santiago after having looked for it when Tim was here in March and on this trip in 2 stores in Puerto Plata.) Luckily, we found it. Once getting to Salcedo we all agreed that the museum was lovely, very quiet and very beautiful. We didn’t spend too long there and on our way out encountered some more to make the trip an adventure. Some “thieves” (as they were described to me) had vandalized the road and effectively blocked it from letting traffic pass through by lighting tires and tree branches on fire. I wanted to be extra careful considering the fact that we were a car full of gringos. We waited for the police to arrive and eventually went through.

Thursday was a golf day. Playa Dorada Golf Course, ranked among the Top 100 Outside of the US by Gold Digest in 2005-06. I’m not sure we would have ranked it as high due to extremely dry conditions on the tees, fairways and greens. It’s the dry month after all. (I decided I think I’d rather the people in the towns have water before the golf course get a drop of sprinkler water… but I’m not really in charge.) It was still a very fun day. I made par once. That was nice. (For those who don’t know, between about summer 1995 and 2007 I never played golf once and of course hadn’t played since last summer until the other day.) After the waterfalls and the golf outing, I was QUITE sore.

Friday was a relaxing day both because we’d planned for one and because Tropical Storm Fay rolled overhead. Julie and I went to get massages in the afternoon and boy were those wonderful! I love massages and feel that 16 months is too long to go without getting one.
Which brings us to Saturday, today. Saying goodbye for months-long spans is never fun, as I’m sure many can relate, but this one was especially tough. Now that I’m not trying not to cry, I feel as though I let the flood gates open. I cried 3 times today and held back tears a lot more often. Every little thing almost set me off. Why was it so hard? Because it had been too long since the last time I’d seen my family? Perhaps. Because December seems far off? Perhaps. Because we’d had such a great week? Perhaps. The good thing was that I was not at all sad to be coming back to my town; it was really all about saying goodbye to them. Julie put it best, they should either stay here with me (which would be my vote) or I should go home with them. That’s what it’s really all about.

When I feel sad I find it’s the best time to gage just how I’m really doing. There were moments on my (long but not terrible) trip home when I felt disappointed to be leaving such luxury to be coming home to a bucket with which to bathe, to a home that had Julie in it last time I was there, and to wonder if I’d have power to use to drown my sorrows by watching DVDs. But, when I pulled into town and saw one of the kids from my youth group I felt a lot better and have felt okay since. And of course, picking Lina up helped a lot.