Fiesta en la playa! More from Miches!

I cannot believe that it was only three weeks ago that I set out once again for the Dominican Republic.  Time is such a strange thing.  It is so odd to me, but I have such little connection to Montana three weeks ago.  The events that happened in January could have been months ago.  Even looking back through these pictures from my first day here in the D.R. are somehow like distant memories.

Anyway, enough about my struggle with time...

Yimmy picked me up at the airport and we headed to his house.  Then, I quickly changed, packed my backpack and we called a taxi to take us to the bus station.  We didn't make the 2:00 p.m. bus directly to Miches, so we hoofed it over to the other bus stop for El Seibo.  This is sometimes the faster way to go anyway, but it involves changing buses in El Seibo.  And, that is what we did.  We made it to Wil's office and he was with a group of friends, his Dad, and his youngest brother, Jorfree (sounds like Joel-fre).  The friends came to celebrate one of Wil's childhood best friend's birthday.

Wil and the group made it back to the office and some dinner was prepared.  It was more delicious fried fish that is so popular in the beach towns.  Then we, late in the night, made our way to the beach for a bonfire.  I had met the birthday girl only once or twice before (at the hospital when Wil's Dad was there), but she was so sweet on her birthday she kept trying to include me in the fun.  Very kind!  Speaking of Wil's Dad, he has made unbelievable progress.  He came to Miches that weekend with Jorfree because he had not seen Wil in awhile, and he did great!  Many of his memory issues are improved; it was really amazing to see him like that!

Anyway, we made it to the beach.  Wil, his brother, Imperla's (the cook/housekeeper) son, and I worked on gathering burnables and building the fire. 

I found Sandy, Imperla, and Yimmy relaxing on the dock.

With perseverance, Wil got the fire going!  Yay, Wil!!!!

Jorfree was supervising...

It ended up to be a fun night.  We even played "I Never" around the campfire.  Some people "never" did some pretty naughty things.

Sunday, Wil was taken away with some work issues once again.  Sandy, Yimmy and I made it to the beautiful hotel just up the street from Wil's work, La Loma.

The lighting was terrible...but you get the idea.

We saw an interesting trick.  The owners had procured a painting on canvas, hung it and then continued the painting on the wall...

Sandy and Yimmy on the back side of La Loma.  There is a lush valley and a different bay.

Looking toward the other bay...

The rolling hills and green valley.

Sandy and I squint for the camera :)

The hotel is lovely, and it even has a pool.

Later in the day, we made it to the beach for a little while.  On the way, I finally took a couple of pictures of the interesting cemetery in Miches.  I'm always interested in how different cultures use cemeteries.

Some of the monuments were quite lovely there.

When we returned to Wil's office, I found out that his little brother had never been in the water at the beach before. I hadn't thought of taking him with us since he was playing with some little friends when we left. So, next time I'll be sure he gets to play in the water.

Yimmy, Wil's Dad, Jorfree, and I gathered up our belongings and left for Santo Domingo at 4:00 that day. It was a long trip to the Capital. We finally got to Yimmy's apartment at almost 9:00!!! I didn't get to spend too much time with Wil, but when we were together it was nice. I'm glad I'm here!