Class Beach Trip

About three weekends ago (February 17th) my class took a trip the beach! It was such an awesome time with my class. I felt like I really got connected to them and really bonded with the girls. Although my friend Lissette wasn't with us, it really helped me to branch out and to get to know the other girls a lot better. I became more independent.

Our teachers Mr. and Mrs. McCalister and their family were so brave to take 8 teenagers for a weekend to the beach. Their nick names are mama and papa for a reason :) They have 3 little boys who also go to Doulos. We went to Puerta Plata which is in the northern part of the country and is absolutely gorgeous. It was a bumpy drive with lots of sharp turns up and over moutains. But that didn't really matter because we were all singing the whole entire car ride. Well, mostly the girls. I don't think I have ever seen so many donkeys on the side of the road before. Every time we past one, eveyone would go, "EEYY PEPE!" For all who don't know, when I lived in the DR we had a donkey named Pepe so everyone jokes about that. When we arrived in the town we were staying in we got some pizza. 6 pizzas to be exact :) I love being with people to love to pig out :) The guys had about 12 pieces each while the girls had at least 5. As my friend Mariana told me, "This is why Latino woman are curvy, and Americanos are sticks." After we finished off ALL 6 pizzas, we walked to our hotel. Our hotel was built out onto the water so there were 2 beaches, one on each side of the hotel. We had the whole top floor to outselves too :) When it was dark, we all went out onto the beach and chilled, played tag and drew in the sand. But the best part was sitting in an old abandoned row boat, Sarah and I playing the guitar and our whole class sang worship songs together. One of the most memorable moments so far. It was awesome just being together and praising God, even the guys. My class is very special, and I couldn't ask to be with better people.

Dominicans aren't afraid to be close so four girls sleeping in one bed wasn't a big deal. Like most teens we didn't go to bed until 1 am. Laughing, talking, being silly. Although I sort of ditched my roomate who was sleeping in another room. The next morning she reminded me and teased me, "You hate me! You let me sleep all alone in a room by myself!" Melissa is probably one of the most funniest girls I have ever met. She makes me laugh at everything she does. We spent the whole day at the beach swimming in the ocean, snorkiling, laying out in the sun, and of course we had to barry someone in the sand. We ate on the beach too; fried plantain, rice, chicken, fish, shrimp, and salad. I got a pina colada (no alcohol) that was in a carved out pineapple. It looked really cool, but it was moslty just crushed pineapple inside. It was still good though.

On our drive back home we stopped in Cabarette which is another town by the beach. Mr. Mac was going to be doing a triatholon the next day. We ended up driving in a neighborhood with a bunch of white people. It was very strange. So, Melissa and I decided to call it Gringo Town. There were lots of gringos in little Gringo Town. Daniel had asked me if I would like to liver there but I told him no, "My skin maybe white, but I'm Dominican at heart". Gringo Town really isn't for me. Driving back me and Melissa had some pretty cool dance offs. We were all exaughsted by the time we got back to Jarabacoa....and full of sand. This weekend was such a great time with my classmates. They are such a blessing in my life.