Monte Cristi!

It was Saturday, and you know what that means—beach day! We were going to Monte Cristi, a beach on the northwest coast of the island. On the way, we stopped at Salinas, where salt, o sal en espanol, is produced for the country. If there were a sign that said Salinas, I totally would have taken a picture by it. But I did take plenty of other pictures there :] It was interesting to see men harvesting salt and pouring barrels of it into a huge shed, creating mountains of salt! It looked like snow. That’s quite the mirage in the desert. You don’t want to take a mouthful of that. There were actually a couple people that tasted some of the salt, and they said it was so strong, that it burnt their tongue. Goes to show how many preservatives and such go into our table salt. Walking back to the bus, I notice some movement in the mud and water below a small bridge, and I stood there for a bit to see what it was. I continued to see little movements in different places, and I realized they were crabs! The salty water enabled them to survive here. But how did they get there in the first place?

We were back on the road shortly after our stop at Salinas. Once we arrived, it was a short hike to the beach. Huge cliffs protruded into the ocean on either side, forming the infamous crescent-moon-shape. It was hotter here than Sosua, and the water was not as blue, but definitely more salty! A few people, myself included, had to get out at one point because it burned their eyes, throat or nose. Other than that, it was great. The water temperature could not have been better and it’s always nice to spend time with the group. There was a group of older men there, probably in their forties, wearing only tighty whiteys. It was slightly uncomfortable, but we just made an effort not to look in their direction. This effort became impossible when one of then sat directly in front of us, laying on his side and pouring wet sand all over his body. -_- really? Despite this awkward episode, we had a great time.

Sunday was hard. This weekend at church, there was an event called Twelve hours with the Holy Spirit. There was a service the night before, from 4-10pm, but fortunately my family left for church before I got home from Monti Cristi. We got to church at 9am that morning and didn’t leave until 3pm. Six hours of sitting in the heat without fans all while listening to something I didn’t understand = not a fun situation. When I got to Bri’s house I was just emotional. I was frustrated that I still didn’t have internet, even though my mom said we would have it on Friday, I hadn’t been able to post any pictures, or even update my blog. Sitting in church for six hours was just the icing on the cake. It had been a week since my last breakdown, and I couldn’t hold it in any longer. Bri’s mom came in and comforted me, and shortly after she left, Phoebe, Bri’s sister, she came in and invited me over to her home for dinner. After she left the room, I composed myself, and we started working on homework. About 15 minutes later my mom walks in and climbs on the bed, asking me why I was so sad and I start crying—again. Not only am I embarrassed for crying in front of three people I have only known for about a week, but I feel bad because I don’t want them to think I’m upset because of anything they have done. Bri and I got some homework done and went with Aibid and her boyfriend, Isaac, to Phoebe’s house. The power goes out very often at her house, so there were candles lit all throughout the house. Isaac and Pheobe’s husband Audi taught Bri and I how to play dominoes. After couple games, dinner was ready. Italian sausage and pepper sandwiches. Yum. After dinner, we had Bon, kind of like a Baskin Robins/21 Flavors in the US, but way better. I spent the night at Bri’s house, so that means internet! I was able to post pictures, update my blog, and skype con mi novio :] A nice ending to my day was just what I needed.