More photos!

I know im swamping you guys with photos but i just got this other lab up and running and it has super fast internet, so i am able to download things super fast, lol. These are from the med mission in Dajabon. One is of the border, the other is at the beach and the last is me at the clinic.

More photos from Pico!

Pico Duarte

So, i have climbed to the top of the tallest peak in the Caribbean! Pico Duarte (look it up).

It took 7 of us 4 days, 5 mules and 15 pounds of rice to reach the summit and come back down. It was the most physically demanding thing i think i have ever done, but definitely worth it and i cant wait to do it again!.

The first day we hiked 4 kms. to a cabin where we camped for the night. The next night we hiked 24 kms to the peak, but it was too cloudy to really see anything. The next day we hiked down 14 kms. to the Valle de Tetteros, which is a really cool valley with rivers on both sides, very picturesque. The next day we hiked down the nearly 20 kms. back to the base. We actually ran most of the way down the mountain, it was too steep to tiptoe down so to reduce the destruction of my knees we jogged down pico duarte, haha! So much fun it was like a video game, trying to keep our feet under us.

Each night we had rice and solomi for dinner, and each morning we had hot cocoa, boiled bananas and solomi. We had to drink out of the rivers, which means yes......i ....drank.....from...a....river. You would think that all the times that i got sick from merely looking at faucet water in this country would deter me from sticking my head under the river and sucking in all the bacteria, haha. We also bathed in the rivers....but we did not drink and bathe at the same time, we made sure to always drink up stream....lol.

All in all it was an incredible trip, im trying to attach some photos. Enjoy.

Dajabon

Sorry again for the massive gaps in between my posts. Activity is starting to pick up here and the next few weeks are looking pretty busy.

So, i just got back from Dajabon last weekend. Dajabon is a region located near the border of Haiti. I was there with a few other volunteers helping out at a medical mission. It was a really great town. The organization was called Waves of Health, they are a new non-profit that has been in the country for about 3 years. They are doing big things here. It was exciting to collaborate with them.

Towards the end of the trip they took to the Haitian border. Yes, the border. I know all the other 0 volunteers who read this are saying, noooo you will be fired if Peace Corps reads this blog! But as far as i know the border is in bounds, as long as i dont step across it. I could see Haitim though. We saw this Haitian guy carryign chickens across the border, the gate shuts, then all of a sudden there is this ruckus and up fly 50 chickens back to the DR. The Haitians were throwing the chickens back at us, it was the craziest thing i have ever witnessed. A people starving for food put their pride ahead of eating. Idiots. I dont know the whole story because i dont speak Patui or French, but thats the just of what i understood.

We also went to a national park in Monti Cristi, which is on the north coast. We climbed this really sweet hill and could see for miles in every direction. I hope to get a few of thosepictures up on this blog when i have some time.

Then when i get back on Friday we were being consolidated to a Hotel in Santiago because of Hurricane Tomas. So i enjoyed 2 nights of hot showers, and 24 hour electricity, and ESPN!!! Arrived back at my house on Sunday night and have been coming to the school trying to do some work since Monday. So, today im in the lab trying to fix these darned computers still.

Tomorrow i leave to climb the highest peak in the Carribbean, Pico Duarte. Look it up on google. Im pretty pumped, its a 3-day trek up the mountain, and we will be reaching the peack before the sunrises, i cant imagine how beautiful it will be! We will have pack mules, and a few guides with us. Pretty stoked about that! Wont be back until Sunday i imagine.

So thats whats going on, ill try to get better at updating this thing.

Miss you guys, and ill be seeing most of you in about a month!!!!!