Full Circle

Where to start... 

Well it has been a crazy week and a half with my dad coming and going. My dad gave me a run for my money for the first half of the week running all over the place but by the end of the week I had him on island time; sleeping in, going to the beach and being lazy. I was so happy he came and would love to share every detail but I fear that would take me all day, so here are the highlights (trust me this IS the brief version). 

I met my dad at the airport and when I saw him I started crying I was so happy that he was here! He rented a little car for the week and, while I had known for a while, I wasn’t sure I wanted him to drive. It’s a little crazy here with more motos than cars and very few signs or rules, motos can pass you on either side at any time. So I drove, all week long, and I am proud of how well I did and even he was happy to have such a good chauffer.  

To set the tone for the week on the first night my dad was here he became best friends with the owners of my two favourite bars Manny’s and Drink Together and needless to say we went to each several times during the week. My dad was living the vacation lifestyle drinking all the time and eating well at restaurants, I think I was just along for the ride. Let’s be honest though, it was a vacation for me too, taking a break from traditional Dominican food, cooking a little for us, buying groceries and eating out were all exciting stuff for me.  

 

The first full day my dad was here he woke me up really early (8:15, ugh!) We made breakfast and then took a little hike to the sualtadaro (a waterfall near my house) and further to La Hotel Catalina. Though not a huge hike to the sualtadaro we climbed down the hill and walked up the river to reach the waterfall where we went swimming at the bottom of the waterfall. Then we hiked up the rocky terrain mountain side to the hotel where we had a drink and went swimming. Then we hiked down and went to Orchid Bay a nearby beach and meet up with the Lauren (the fulltime teacher) and her friends that were here on vacation for the week Marie and Jude (also Canadian!) and hung out with them for the rest of the night. 

The next day we (I) drove to Puerto Plata and we went to 27 Waterfalls. This is a tourist attraction that I had been dying to do and there is no better time than when you have a car and someone else’s wallet (thanks dad!). This is just what it sounds like, there are 27 waterfalls that you jump, slide and swim down. My dad not big on swimming and always afraid of getting hurt was not so gung-hoe about it but we did 12 of the 27 we both loved it. It was amazing it looked like something out of a movie. We had our own private tour guide and really didn’t run into any other tourists while we were there which was nice. The tour guide took our camera, kept it dry and took all the pictures for us; it was really nice because we didn’t have to worry about.  It was so fun and not scary at all. On our way back to Cabrera we stopped in Cabrete which is an up and coming tourist spot for young people with tons of water sports and bars on the beach. It was nice to go to the big city and see the lights (not that big, really just more hotels and tourists) as a mix up from what I am used to, but I like my little town just fine thanks.

The next day was really great! As I had mentioned before I felt that I could be doing more here and I found another organization to work with. Shawn and Kelly are two of the nicest people here; they have their own organization which works with extremely poor people and they do sustainability projects. So Shawn and Kelly had some missionaries down volunteering for a few days and we teamed up with them for the day to help them with their chicken coop projects. The 5 Missionaries that were here are the biggest guys in all of Cabrera and my dad (6.3 feet and no slim Jim) looked small next to them. We all toured around to work on some chicken coops doing some painting. It was really eye opening for me but I was really glad I could share the experience with my dad because I have always had a passion to help people and it has been really misunderstood in my family. Having my dad with me on this dad was great and I only hope he understands better now why I want to help people having seen poverty in this way. Our encounter with seeing how one family in particular lives in someone else’s abandoned house with no doors, windows floors or anything, no chairs, no beds nothing. Yet despite the despairing conditions the happiness and the laughter that they all have amazes me, and it was a fun day. 

The next day we went to Dudu a lagoon not far from where I live. At Dudu you can jump off the cliff or zip line into the water but to be honest neither looked safe and I had heard horror stories about other volunteers getting really injured. Needless to say, we passed with neither of us being good swimmers (and lifejackets being a crazy thing to ask for) but we did watched Marie and Jude jump. Then we went to a goodbye party which turned into everyone wanting to go out that night in the park. So yes I went to a nightclub with my dad (that would be a bad never have I ever question haha) but it was all in good fun. I watched my dad fail at dancing the bachacha (which made my night).

Ah finally, the old man let me relax (he even slept past me)! We had breakfast at noon and went to the beach at one with the new volunteer Dominique who had just arrived. On Monday it rained all day so we watched two movies on my little computer and went to the school for an hour to paint some tables. Oh how I love the island life!

On Tuesday it was goodbye day. We got up and drove to the airport with Marie and Jude who happened to be on the same flight as my dad. My tears at the beginning of the week in excitement to see my dad were long forgotten as we went to say goodbye and my dad cried like I had never seen him cry. We had come full circle. I wasn’t sad to see him go because having him here and being able to show him everything I have learned, everything I have done, all the good people I have met and all the Spanish I know, I realized just how much it all was. I don’t think I have ever made him this proud and I don’t think he can deny that I am not a little girl anymore; I am all grown up now. Having him here somehow made me a lot more confident in everything I am doing here. So I wasn’t sad that he was leaving because I know he is proud of me being here and knowing that makes everything a little easier.

Thanks for everything this week dad, I love you.