February is Vacation Month

We love it when we have to take a vacation! Most of the Idaho Walker family (Randy, Susan, Alyssa, Rachel and Lydia) spent a week with us at the beginning of February. Sarah vacationed with the Evans family. They enjoyed her company but most of the clan spent most of the week with the flu. The week was not a vacation for Nancy. Or the rest of you either I suppose. We had enough fun for you all. The weather was kind, the Walkers were easy to please, and everyone loved the beach.

A Christmas present arrived with the Walkers. Thank you so much for the wonderful book! My favorite subject so beautifully presented. Thank you Nancy for putting it together. I will show it to all of you when we return.

The beach was the favored destination. We live very close to the ocean but a beach with sand where you can enter the water is 45 minutes away. We spent two days, four hours away at the north east corner of our island on the peninsula called Samaná. We went to Las Terrenas and stayed in a rental vacation condo. It was great. There was a beautiful pool with a hot tub and the beach was just across a dirt road. The water was less clear and there were fewer shells than at Juan Dolio but it had palm trees for the girls to climb (harder than they thought) warmer water than California beaches (even in the summer) and a lot less crowded, even though this is the busy season. The Atlantic Ocean is on the north side of our island so now the Walkers have visited both the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans. We walked around the town, visited several gift shops, watched a man make peanut brittle, talked to the parrots that were for sale (they didn´t talk back) and bought fresh bread to eat for breakfast. It was a beautiful setting in which to play Dominos and Take 2 and spend time together.

The next morning we went to the small town of Limon and rode horses to see an amazing waterfall. Two men and two boys went with us. I was grateful that they took such good care of us. The two young men rode behind the saddles with Lydia and Alyssa. Lydia would need help during the journey and Alyssa’s horse was able to carry them both. We first rode at the edge of the highway along a steep curve and I was fearful that cars would not be able to see us but we made it safely. Then we rode through a neighborhood of tiny wooden houses and down to the river. Obviously this path is used a great deal by people going to see the waterfall but it was a bit tricky. It was very steep going up and down and very rocky as well as muddy. We crossed the river in two places. I got wet way past my ankles even on horseback. I was glad Lydia had someone with her but everyone did very well. I found that it was impossible to take focused photos on horseback but my camera survived the experience and I have a few shots worth keeping. Grandpa and I declined the last leg of the journey walking down to the face of the waterfall. When they returned I was very glad that I stayed put because the teenager carried everyone across the river except Randy. It was an extremely steep and slippery climb. The two men walked the entire way in their tall rubber boots. I hope they received decent pay for their labor. There are not a lot of jobs available in this area. I suppose it is a good opportunity to make money for their family. The boys said that they go to school in the afternoons. Of course there was an opportunity to purchase souvenirs at the top and Randy bought his girls each a necklace.

Turned out that the favorite beach was the closest to home. The southern side of the island faces the Caribbean Sea. Juan Dolio Beach is where the Arellanos visited as well. We were a bit further east this time and found fewer sea anemones (better for your feet) and more shells (fun to take home and share). No one in our group was interested in fresh seafood but we saw a boat pull up and the man clean and cut his catch. No one came by with horses but we had had our fill of horseback riding at Limon. Danae had shared her snorkeling equipment so everyone could see the underwater sea life and find a few medium sized shells and some broken large shells. We found lots and lots of small shells. The sun was hot and the breeze was cool and the water was refreshing. We went on three different days. Not many beach opportunities are available in Idaho.

We enjoyed visiting the Botanical Gardens in Santo Domingo. We rode a “train” and found that the gardens are pretty extensive. We saw a bride and groom having their photos taken in the Japanese Garden and Alyssa and Rachel did their gymnastic routine for me. They are both brave and strong and coordinated.

The girls were pleased that their Primary teacher on Sunday spoke both English and Spanish. She grew up in Blackfoot with Spanish speaking parents, went to Guatemala as a teacher and married there. His work brought their family to the Dominican Republic last year. One of our first weeks here she was giving a talk in church and had her husband read a scripture for her. I couldn’t understand why someone who sounded like a native Spanish speaker had someone else read for her. She told me later that she never learned the verb forms that are in the scriptures in Spanish and wasn’t sure she would pronounce them correctly. I didn’t know whether I should feel comforted or even more frustrated with Spanish verbs. So Alyssa, Rachel and Lydia got to listen to their class lesson in both English and Spanish so everyone could understand.

When Susan and Randy went to the temple we went to the park across the street. No beautiful lawns in this park, no grass at all, but there are trees with vines strong enough to swing from. I haven't seen jungle vines in a park before. There was also a stage that the girls put to good use with an impromptu play about a brave mouse.

Another thing we enjoyed was going to El Canuco Restaurant. The food is typically Dominican, rice, chicken, pork, bread, fruit. Good but not exciting. But the music and dancing are very fun. There is a drum and a scrapey thing that are traditional instruments. I suppose that it was the Meringue that they were dancing most of the time. The highlight is when one of the girls plants the ball of her foot on the top of the narrow neck of a bottle and the guy spins her around and around and around. It is quite impressive. All of the dancers involve the diners. Lydia loved the dancing and her Dad danced with her for several numbers until the performers wanted a turn and danced with her as well. All of the girls participated and were taught some new dance steps and took turns playing the guira. The drum is called a tombora. We had a great time and stayed long enough to watch the bottle dance for the second time.

We have worked really hard to get stuff done and are ready for our second vacation beginning Sunday evening. We welcome Dan and Beverly and Jessica! Hope they will enjoy their week with us and also go home with good memories of this beautiful country and the lovely people who live here.

Love, Grandma Pettingill