We made it home safely to New Mexico yesterday afternoon. What a long day of traveling! I didn't realize how exhausting sitting on the beach could be ;) We were all pretty worthless today. We were very sad to see Dad and Megan leave, and even more sad to have to get on the plane ourselves. We made some pretty good friends down there and they will truly be missed!

Two of our new friends, Tyler and Taylor. Both diving instructor interns. They had a lot to talk about with Dom. 

Saying 'good-bye' to Dad at the airport :(

Sunrise on the last day. Gorgeous.

Sunset. Much less gorgeous. Dang cloud cover!

Due to our pre-departure depression, we took LOTS of beach photos.

And our very last adventure was learning how to climb a palm tree.

Tyler. Pretty much rockin' it out. 

Maggie rocked it our a little less; but to be fair, she already tried like 10 times prior to this photo.

Truly an amazing and memorable trip. Beautiful area and amazing, happy people to be around (both family and locals included). I will be in Santa Fe with Maggie and Dom for the next couple of days and leave for France Saturday evening. I will keep you posted on my life there for the next 4 weeks, so check for updates. I love you all and will see you soon!

Dropped Megan and Dad off at the airport this morning. Sad day. We are absolutely not ready to leave! We are just starting to get the hang of life down here and its about to end. But I supposed I miss the states a little too, so Mag, Dom and I will be heading back to Santa Fe in the morning. 

So Saturday night we ventured out to a club called IMAGINE. It turned out to be a really large dance club, underground, with go-go dancers, and it was pretty amazing. We had a wonderful time dancing.

Meg and I at the entrance. 

Dom and Mag inside. You can see some of the cave in the background.

Sunday was spent at the Hard Rock Casino and Resort. Easily, the most fun we have had the entire vacation. It is a private, very expensive resort, but Dad had been to the casino a couple nights and was given day passes for all of us to enjoy the pools, food and drinks. Of course, as a business ploy to try and get us to purchase some time to spend at one of their resorts, but who cares. We spent a couple hours listening to the salesman's pitch and getting a tour and in return got to spend the entire day pretending to be rich :)

The resort offered like 'beginner diving' in the pool, so Megan and I tried it. Pretty cool. Of course, the actual ocean floor would probably be much more interesting.

Just a view of some of the resort area.

So this picture. We were all sitting by the pool and heard some 'contests' going on nearby. The first one we saw was an underwater contest, seeing who could hold their breath the longest. Dom could have easily one that one, but we figured out what was going on too late. So awhile later, they did another one. Asked for 8 girls to come up and do this contest. The catch is, you have no idea what its going to be. We just assumed it would have to deal with water, so Maggie convinced Dom that she had to go up and participate, then turned to me and said, "if this turns out to be a bikini contest, you have to go take her place because she's going to kill me". Well, I ended up going up anyway, to find out this is a Reggaeton dance contest. Don't know what that is? Look it up. Long story short, I am up here dancing some hip-hop latin style dance, ALONE in front of the entire pool population up against all Brazilian and Columbian girls, and I won. Go figure. As the black lady that stopped me later said, 'white girl can throw down!' haha. So, I won a bottle of rum for us. (Dom ducked out as soon as she heard 'dance') Can't blame her. I didn't think I had a chance up against that population.

Maggie playing volleyball in the pool. Free drinks and food all day was a pretty amazing and relaxing day.

Yesterday was spent reading and doing some souvenir shopping. I did end up getting a gorgeous Amber stone that is specific to the Dominican. It turns blue in the sunlight. And I got some gifts for you all too ;)

Time is going by so fast! We only have 3 more days here :( And I have ALOT to tell you!

Today was one of those epic disaster days that you cannot help but laugh at. Originally, we had all planned to go to an island on the Caribbean Sea, called Catalina. It is an hour an a half drive across part of the Dominican and then an easy boat-taxi ride to the island. Dom had planned to dive there, so we thought, what an easy way to get there! We will just follow the diving excursion down to the island and explore/do some snorkeling while Dom dives. Then, we found out we had to be up at 6 am....not so bad until you hear how last night was. You would have chosen to skip that sunrise nonsense too.

So, we decided us 5 female Americans were intelligent enough to find the island ourselves. Nevermind that we are in a foreign country where 1 of us speaks the local language....

We packed up and shipped out around 10 this morning. Not bad. But, imagine the 5 of us in a Hyundai Accent and you will soon see that this ride was not prime. It started with speed bumps. Have I told you about these? I can't recall. Least favorite thing about the Domincan....the speed bumps every 10 ft. As if we are going to gain enough speed in 10 feet to need another speed bump....and we aren't talking the logical-sized speed bumps you are used to. We are talking speed bumps on steroids. 5'8", in the middle of the backseat = headache.


We spent the next 30 minutes listening to some kind of techno-mixed Spanish music and to Maggie laughing at a book that distinctly describes the mannerisms of my father. I recommend "Are You There Vodka, Its Me Chelsea" by Chelsea Handler. It is in this book that she describes the trip she took with her father to Costa Rica where she refers to him as "Bitch Tits". I will let you read the rest on your own. If you know my dad, it is well worth it.

45 minutes in:
We are right on track in a town called Higuey. My 2nd least favorite thing about the Dominican...Higuey. Its a hot mess, and did I mention there are no traffic laws enforced here? This means drivers make their own lanes while trying to avoid the millions of motorcycles swerving in and out, all while carrying several people/items on them. And by this I mean, we actually saw a tiny motorcycle carrying a couple and their two children, also including the driver. This town also contains a store entrance sign with the word COLON written very largely on it. I can only assume there is some alternative meaning to this in Spanish, but I think other languages should consider their word choices prior to displaying them for tourists. Anyhow.....I had to pee. Using public restrooms here is an awful idea. They are dark, have no windows, missing toilet seats, no water and 99% of the time have no toilet paper. These are the moments when I wish I had come out with other genitalia.

After this things got a little questionable. Our 1.5 hour ride turned into about 3.5 hours. It was at the point of laughable but was about to turn into an explosion of estrogen, so we stopped. No one could tell us how to get to Catalina, which is incredible odd considering all of these people live here! But what do I know, I don't speak Spanish. Maybe we weren't asking right. When we did find our way to an option for getting to Catalina, it was a 45-minute boat ride. No bueno. So we sat on the beach there and had some drinks and snorkeled before returning home to fry some yummy fish.

So let's back up. Two nights ago, we are all sitting on the patio relaxing after a long day of fishing (for Maggie and Dom). Oh...btw...they caught a Marlin! Dad was ecstatic. All he wanted was to catch a Marlin and it was a success. 6 feet long and 25 kilos (about 60 lbs). So Mag and Dom went to bed and Megan, Michelle and I decided to investigate some loud music we had been hearing for several previous nights. Unfortunately at the end of our walk through the streets of Bavaro, we found it to be a belly-dancing show that we were not allowed to watch. Bummer. But on the way home, Megan found herself a new dog (This is relevant later). There are wild dogs everywhere here. It is very sad, but this one had a collar. So obviously she belonged to someone at some point, but my suspicions are that she ran away or something. So, she followed us down the beach to our favorite bar here to have a drink, where she was scared off by the local dog of the bar. I won't bore you with another detailed story this round, but in sum, Megan got a mole bitten off her back by a bug, which I cleaned with vodka given to me by the bartender, Michelle cut her toe open on a log in the sand and I got to practice speaking french to Belgium Bartender Geoffrey.

Yesterday, Mag, Dom and Dad did some fishing on the reef, which was also a grand success. We got gelato and relaxed. Dad convinced Maggie and Michelle to take him to the casino, which he has been asking about since his arrival. We figured since he has dealt with the hormones of us all, he deserved a chance to play cards. In the meantime, Megan, Dom and I played on this inflatable playground in the ocean near our condo and sipped some rum and vodka in the pool. We also got to entertain Dom with some youtube blogs of Jenna Marbles, also a must see. Specifically, the one where she teaches you how to get rid of people you don't want to talk to. Very useful life-lesson. Our evening involved a short expedition to find pops at the casino and having a guest appearance by our dog-friend. She absolutely made herself at home on our patio furniture. If she revisits, you will know!

I think that covers the high-points and hopefully gave you some entertainment for your evening. Tonight includes a tentative itinerary of live music and visiting a cave-bar. I have no idea what that means but it MUST be fun, I assume.

6 ft. Marlin!! Way to go girls!

Reef Fishing

This was the inflatable playground. It was in about 3 ft of water and the deepest parts....so super unsafe.

Trampoline!

Slide (Me and Meg)

Attempting to climb the giant rock thing. It was not inflated enough, which pretty much meant every time we got higher, there was a huge shift of air underneath us. No bueno.

This is of me coming down from the mountain. Meg got really high tho!

Mini-mountain. 

This we soon referred to as the 'giant condom'. My apologies to those pg-readers out there. But it was funny. We all 3 fit in here. It was also what I like to call a hot mess. Very slick and difficult to climb in.

Action shot of the mountain!

Teeter-totter

Swimming on the beach today.

Just gettin' our tan on!

Site from snorkeling today. 

Attempting to dance where we had some drinks.

View of the ocean from today, note the little hummingbird on the tree branch!

Since I last wrote, we have added one more traveler to our group, my bestie Miss Megan! She has proven to be quite an excellent addition to our vacation.

Her first day here, yesterday, was our first excursion doing some deep sea fishing. The goal was an 8-hour trip in this semi-large boat to catch Mahi Mahi (dorado) and Marlin fish. Megan and I made it about an hour in. The waves, again, were less than agreeable and frying our skin in the sun seemed much more appealing. So we left the others out in the ocean to enjoy the soothing teeter-tottering of the boat and the fish. They returned with a 50 lb Mahi Mahi that was machetied (new verb?) for dinner.  A team effort this time, Dom grilled up the fish, Megs sauteed some cabbage and onions and I chopped some things. Who needs to eat out when we can cook like this?! Plus, we have enough fish for about 4 more meals :)

Mags and Dad. He told me he never moved from this chair ALL day long.

Dom, Me, Megs and Mags on the upper deck

The Mahi Mahi!!

Maggie and Dom SUCCESSFULLY using a machete to filet the fish. 

After a long and exhausting day, we hit the hay pretty early. Today, I made pancakes for breakfast, which turned out more like crepes/tortillas because we have no baking powder. And no liverwurst :( This was followed by some yoga on the beach. Mags said she is pretty sure we made some guy's day today.

We also did some zip-lining, which was awesome. We were up the side of a mountain about 1200 feet-ish and did 8 different zip-lines. About half-way through, mother nature decided it would be much more fun if she made it rain. She was right.

Prior to our departure.

Two geckos we saw on the trail between lines. one is inside the hole in the rock. The guide told us these are some of the biggest geckos in the Dominican. 

Up high! Me, Mag, Dom, Meg.

Maggie's first time! She was a trooper with that 'scared of heights' thing she has going on. As you can see, we were harnessed in and connected to these lines. We were also given a hand-brake to slow us down toward the end of the line. Mom...this would not have been your thing!

Me

Scaling the side of a rock to reach our final zipline. It is pouring now.

This last line was 463 meters, I think? And it was pouring down rain. Super fun. and fast. 

We made it to the end!

I just love this photo. Its precious. Mag and Dom.

Meg and I. Shortly following this, one of my favorite moments of the day: Older Dominican man approaches us for a cigarette....proceeds to try to sell us cocaine and marijuana. When Megan says 'no', he assumes she is pregnant. Slight communication barrier. 

Tomorrow is another full fishing day for our troopers, Maggie, Dad and Dom. Lets all wish them good luck at catching that Marlin and hope the sea-sickness spares them! Megan and I will be at the beach!

Well...today I learned to say "no me gusta les ondas" (or something similar). This means....I don't like the waves! Dom went diving again today and I thought I'd ride along and do some snorkeling. Great idea, right? Not today. Today, it was rainy and cold, which also meant the wind was more insane and the waves were even higher. No bueno. However, aside from that, snorkeling was AMAZING. The water here is so clear; you can see the bottom of the ocean. Its incredible.

Snorkeling!

Maggie's friend Michelle

Yesterday morning we drove to a surfer's beach. Not that entertaining and rainy :( But a good adventure nonetheless. Scored ourselves a dozen mangos for about $2.00. Hence, dessert tonight? Mango Crisp...new invention. We also got to see some horses and their new foals!

Dad got in last night. What a great Father's Day present! We went out for a gorgeous dinner. Calamari, shrimp, lobster and steak. Delicious. 

Dad thought he should buy aviators for this trip. lmao. cool lookin' dude!!

Megan got in tonight as well. Dom made a delicious dinner of grilled Red Snapper. Tomorrow entails a full day of fishing! 

I was also forced to put this in here. I decided to make mango crisp, as you know. While at the store this evening, I decided to also purchase some ice cream. Since the HaagenDaz was super overpriced, I decided to go with the local Spanish brand. Sooo our conversation went a little like this:

Maggie: I'm having dessert. With milk. Anyone want some?

Mollie: Yes. I also potentially bought vanilla ice cream for it!

Maggie: Potentially?

Mollie: Well...I picked the one that looked like it had the most vanilla scoops on the front. So I assumed it was vanilla.

Few minutes later we all go into the kitchen...

Maggie: Mollie?

Mollie: Yea?

Maggie: You bought prune ice cream.

Mollie: Yea..well...that is what happens when you send someone who doesn't speak Spanish to the store.

Maggie: Umm...it says its prune on the container.....

Love! Talk to you soon!