Week 4 In a Nutshell

Week 4 was… awesome!

Here’s the scoop.

We first went to a different part of D.R. (can’t remember the name because I was so excited) and checked out a few gardens with plants of possible use. All along, the rain was threatening to strike and thunder was well under way. Then the professor decided to take us to a different garden far up ahead. To get there my friends we had to go up many mountains. However, crossing a stream with car has got to be the best part. After the stream was another and this one was rocky. After 5 tries it was decided that the bus that we were all holding on to dear life in was not fit to cross such a mountain. We had to walk up the mountain. Then it rained like I’ve never seen it rained before .We had to take shelter under a touristy stop where lots were being done! First thing we saw in the crowd was the snake man. Snakes were twirling around his neck like a dancing necklace. He was inviting people to put them around their necks and take picture. I was not sold … just yet. We quickly moved away and landed by the Mama Juana venders which was a well known Dominican drink and happened to be both medicinal and alcoholic beverage. After several tries to get us all to drink his free samples, the vender retreated to having us dance to the music that was booming from the back. While I was nervously swaying to the music I caught a glimpse of the tourists around and they were from all over the world. What followed was a mix of confusion and amusement. It was like a clash of the world and all I could here was a cacophony of French, English, Spanish, and a few that I could not quite recognize. It was like a room filled with people trying to mingle but the language barrier couldn’t let them, but not here understood or not people were talking away. A shout and next thing I knew all of the tourist were getting in the vans ready for the next adventure. We were left alone… with the snake guy. No, he did not take for an answer and everyone had to take pictures with my snakes today, he said. When it finally came to me the rain had stopped and it was time to move to the next top (Hew!). All I could remember from the next was doing these few things: eating coconut fruit, cocoa fruit (who knew these were so good), and drinking guava juice taking shelter from the rain at some random stranger’s house and holding the cutest baby in the world and riding back in a bus filled with happy and drenched kids on a flooded road.

Let’s see what next week holds!