As my pictures below can attest, I climbed a “loma” (mountain/large hill) last Saturday! These lomas border our backyards and our volunteer group is pretty outdoorsy, so we decided we wanted to climb one. The lomas are used as grazing grounds for peoples’ goats but not much else so there aren’t “trails” per say. One volunteer asked her neighbor if he would be our guide, and he agreed. So yesterday at 6am (it was still night here), we rendezvoused at Eva’s house with water and our breakfasts and set out. It was about a 30 minute hike from our houses to the base of the loma. From there it was up, up, up as there were NO trails/paths. Our guide, an old man with a large machete, was cutting down branches and bushes left and right. Seemingly every plant on this loma had thorns, it was uncanny. It was a cool morning and we had absolutely breathtaking views of the Dominican land from various points on the loma. We made it to the summit in about 2.5 hours (so clearly it wasn’t THAT high) and luckily it was cloudy so we weren’t dead from the heat. However going down was definitely more tricky than going up, and our guide did not know the way down, although he pretended. So, we basically bushwacked our way down the loma, getting stuck by cacti every 4 feet and consistently creating mini rock slides as we half-fell down the mountain. It was quite a time! A little Dominican boy (couldn’t have been older than 10) came on the climb and impressed us with his 1 handed hiking (he was carrying a bushel of wild oregano in the other). Overall, a hilarious and typical Dominican experience.

Yesterday, as every Sunday, we beached it up. However it was cloudy and somehow not warm. We met some Dominican construction workers from Baltimore.
My Sunday ended with the weekly dancing/party at the colmado. Around 10pm the local “dance team” came to perform. One of these dance teams is composed of 8-10 year olds who basically dance in their underwear to popular songs (think: little girls with fros wearing fruit of the loom and BOOTY SHAKING). Their risqué moves (and little faces with nonchalant expressions) made me feel awkward…however everyone else enjoyed it!

Other Updates:
• I’ve recently been notified that people with high standards/self-named elitists have been reading my blog and enjoying (i.e. Rebecca Reichardt and Daniel Kasbohm). Thanks!
• I sleep a lot. Like probably 10+ hours a day (including afternoon siestas). I think I’m slowly catching up for all of college.