Is anything really "breath-taking"?

YES! I discovered this as I was taking a moto-concho back to Piedra Blanca from Jarabacoa in the rain. It's a winding road that goes up and down through a wooded area and then breaks out into a valley and all you see is green valleys and hills with fog-covered mountains in the background and the occasional Dominican-style home. The closest way I could describe it to someone whose never seen it is that it looks like a scene straight out of Lord of the Rings. The rains made it absolutely beautiful and it was breath-taking, however, that may have been partially due to the higher altitude...all the same, this was just one of those things that I couldn't possibly capture on film but could only be experienced and remembered.

So, I spent the weekend in Jarabacoa. The first night I stayed at the YWAM base where I did my DTS. It was so strange to be back there, seeing at how lived there for 5 months and that place completely changed my life, not to mention it's been a year since I've been there. It was cool to see the staff again, but the person I was most looking forward to seeing was my small group leader, Kristen. It was soo good to see her again.

The next day Kristen and I and this awesome girl I met from Jamaica (who was attending the Community development school with Kristen) took moto-conchos up the hill to visit another YWAM family. This family was great. The whole family is bilingual and there are 5 kids under the age of 9. They were so much fun. Also, later in the evening we went to this place outside a cockfighting arena where there were pool tables and played some pool. It was a good time. There I met this awesome guy from Nicaragua and another guy from Jamaica. It was really fun.

On Sunday we went to church in the mourning and then the family that we stayed with took us out to eat. It was a good ol' (big) Dominican meal. (I'm still full)

Right now I am back at Pedro and Nicole's. We had a pretty fun night. We went out for Chimmi's (aks the best hamburger-type things you will EVER have) and pica pollo (fried chicken) and we laughed SO hard the whole night. It was great.

Nicole and I are leaving tomorrow at 5:00am for Sosua with Pedro's sister who lives up there. We are going to spend a day at the beach and then on Tuesday I leave for the capital. Sosua is supposed to have some of the best beaches in the Dominican so it should be a pretty fun day. I'm hoping that I can catch some sun to go with the black hair that I now have and so that I can look a little less "white-American" for my bus ride to Port-au-Prince. However, I have a ways to go.

Well, I leave in a couple hours for Sosua so I better start getting ready. I didn't get any pictures of this weekend but I hope to take some tomorrow.

God Bless and peace out!

Lauren McConkey
La Vega, Dominican Republic

P.S. I guess I do have a picture. This is what the weather's been like lately...