Our Adventure

Our adventure in the Dominican Republic only was possible because Mr. Bluth has a very kind uncle that allowed us to use a buddy pass to fly standby. THANK YOU!

We flew out Monday evening and were grounded for two hours in Chicago due to ice and snow and finally arrived to JFK Airport to find out that we had missed our connecting flight. We then used our backpacks as pillows and slept in the airport until we flew out at 5:45 the next morning.

We flew into Santo Domingo, rejoiced at being back in humidity, and made our way to the temple. We both had slept at the temple housing before during our internships and while it is a blessing to attend the temple, we felt even more blessed to stay the night there. After dropping our stuff off in our room we headed to the employment center and spent time visiting with many friends of Mr. Bluth, eating a delicious dominican lunch, and walking around the historic parts of the capitol. Due to the fact that we both had visited the sites, we didn't spend money to go into Christopher Columbus' home or other events for tourist. We walked, talked, and thought of our wonderful memories and the memories we were currently making. We attended the temple, visited another friend and ended the night by visiting the grocery store to get breakfast which of course was pineapple and mangos. As we were leaving the store, a man stopped us and asked if we were members. And that was the beginning of our friendship with los Jimenez. They are from Costa Rica and Sister Jimenez was working in Santo Domingo for a short time and this month they were spending time visiting different parts of the island before they went back home. It just so happened that they were planning on going to Cabarette the next day, which was also our destination.

Wednesday we awoke to warm air and devoured our pineapple and mango before our friends picked us up. The drive was long, but filled with beautiful scenery. Mrs. Bluth started to come down with a nasty cold so she slept for a while. Upon arriving to Cabarette, our friends INSISTED that we stay with them and when we told them that their resort was not in our budget, they demanded that we pay what we were planning on paying and that they would pay the rest. After a few minutes of going back and forth, it was agreed that we would stay with them. It was a fun resort where we not only had the beach, but a pool with unlimited pina coladas and evening entertainment of Karaoke. Mrs. Bluth regrets not filming Mr. Bluth when he stole the show with the classic of Don't Stop Believing. To sum up his award winning performance,he performed with such style as Michael Jackson while being as powerful as Whitney Houston.

Thursday we spent most of the day on our favorite adventure. As you travel into the mountains just outside of Cabarette, you find an excursion called 27 Waterfalls. Now just imagine climbing up waterfalls and many times being thrown up by the guides that are so muscular and athletic. While climbing, your adrenaline is rising and yet your mind wants to explode because it can't take in all the beauty that your eyes are beholding. Mrs. Bluth had done all 27 and Mr. Bluth had done the first 12 waterfalls and both fell in love with this activity so they had to go again but together. Along with climbing and jumping off waterfalls, they also got a complete tour where they saw how Dominicans make chocolate and coffee, a cockfight, and man using machetes to make beautiful sculptures. To end the evening Mrs. Bluth was able to show Mr. Bluth the school she worked in, where she lived, and la loma where all the families live.

Friday we took a guagua (a bus) and were the only white people aboard and headed to Samana which is the land of palm trees. The hostel was exactly what we payed for at $25, but that was not our cheapest night. We took a boat ride to an island where we were finally able to get some much needed beach time. Beach time meaning just laying out in the sun and taking a swim to cool off. The most exhiliarating part of this day was that we took a motoconcho. Motorcycles are everywhere in the DR and they are a main source of transportation. It is not uncommon to see an entire family on one little motorcycle and men just drive around looking for people to give rides to for their form of work. Mr. Bluth is an experienced motoconcho rider, but Mrs. Bluth was not allowed to ride them due to BYU rules. If you understand the driving in the DR than it makes perfect sense why BYU would not want their internship students riding them around. Riding a motoconcho was more exhilarating than jumping 20 feet off a waterfall. It does feel so good to check things off your to do list.

Saturday came too quickly with the morning spent at the beach, the world's fastest shower and a taxi ride to the Samana airport. It was the smallest airport either of us had ever been to with only one room for passengers and everyone just walked outside to the plane. After arriving in JFK we spent the night in the airport and made it home Sunday morning to a frigid Chicago, but our stomachs were full of habichuelas, we had some color on our skin, and most importantly we were able to visit the DR TOGETHER.