The flight over the islands as we neared the southern and Caribbean isles was pretty amazing.
Ryan was signing all the necessary paperwork to enter the Dominican Republic.
See, I told you the view was pretty amazing. We were so lucky that the skies were clear.
The welcome band. And the drive leaving the airpot
The first grocery store Ryan and I went to to buy drinking water and some food.
Here is a little tour of our time share that we stayed in. Pretty nice for just 2 people the first day, and then Carson Kofford joined us the 2nd day.
Day 2 Picking up Carson from the airport.
It was pouring rain so Ryan and I first stopped at "Jumbo" to buy to umbrellas. It wasn't supposed to rain the rest of our trip, but seriously it was pouring so hard that we didn't care if we bought them to use for one day.It may have poured, but the double rainbow made up for the sloshing around in a foreign land.
Day 3 Beach Day!
It's always gorgeous after the rain. We went down to the beach designated for our time share hotel. Every where you go there are armed guards that have to let you through to any condo, complex, or beach.
Ryan, Carson and I met up with the rest of our cousins and their friends at Huracan Cafe. After parking on the street, we walked down this alley to the street entrance to the cafe. It was a trendy restaurant that most certainly turns into a swanky night club after dark.
We all sat at tables that faced the ocean. The view wasn't too shabby. This is definitely the party side of the Dominican Republic.
Heather Georgiana was a fun familiar companion in the group. She and James decided to come 2 days before everyone left for this trip. And we were all so grateful James was there because he became to designated interpreter. He was the only one out of the 18 people we were with that spoke fluent Spanish. He served a mission in Chile and said the spanish was slightly different, but it was better than the rest of us who were dear in headlights trying to communicate with the Dominicans.
Ryan, I, Carson, Heather and James left out group to do a little souvenir shopping. However we felt there wasn't much a difference in dominican souvenirs than mexico souvenirs. So we didn't buy much. Just enjoyed the markets.
Jumbo was a southern islands treat. We couldn't figure out why this section of the grocery store smelled so bad, till we noticed the pig legs hanging here. I love Carson's reaction.
Day 4 Carson's Birthday
The big service day also happened to be Carson's 20th birthday. So Ryan found a cheesy song to play for him before we left our apartment to meet up with the rest of the group.After driving for miles and miles, thank heavens James Georgiana was with us because he was the only fluent Spanish speaker who jumped out of the van every time we needed to stop to ask for directions to the school we were told needed the water filters. These two men told James that there was a small housing group that could use the filters, so we ventured to find them first. And we did.
Dinner
When in the Dominican... We had to see Justin Bieber. I can't believe all the die hard fans. At the end of the show there were girls leaning over the tables to get the last of the merchandise sold inside the outdoor venue.
Getting into Santo Domingo
Walking the mile to get Sushi. I had to document that my hair was quite tame, but still blowing everywhere. You'll see what I mean if you keep reading.
Just some hotel atmosphere photos
The second to last day we rented a car so we could drive around the whole island.
So basically the whole trip my hair has had a mind of its own. It has been frizzy and blown every direction it can, especially in my face. most days I tried to braid it or put it up in a bun just to keep it from doing the second picture below.
The last day, trying to soak up as much clear water and amazing views as possible before we headed to the airport to fly home.
During a layover in Atlanta, we had some amazing "american food."