DR: Day 1 ~ Settling In, Country, and Beach

We arrived in the Dominican Republic shortly after noon. It was beautiful from the plane. So much different than many of the states I am used to visiting in the United States; it was so lush and so green! I couldn't wait to go explore this country!

Stalin's beautiful family was waiting for us at the airport when we arrived. It was so nice to see their smiling faces and be greeted with the ever formal hug and kiss on the cheek (I just love that tradition).

We rode to their home where we would be staying for a portion of the next week :)

We ate some yummy Dominican food that his mom had prepared for us (sorry no pics because we were just getting acquainted) and then we grabbed our beach gear, but first headed to their house in the country to see a different side of city.

It was really fun. Their land seems to stretch on forever. They have all kinds of fruit trees too. Cashew trees, Mango trees (I think if I understood the Spanish right there were 2 different types of Mango trees), Avacado trees, PineApple plants and probably others I am forgetting. Wow. The fresh fruit was delicious! I think that may be what I miss the most. They have these Dominican Cherries - they taste a lot like strawberries - Stalin's mom would make fresh juice for us each day and I'm pretty certain it was one of the highlights of my trip. Crazy thing too - they don't have juice machines like we have hear in America. They juice the berries with the hands - it's pretty intense and neat to witness.

Cashew Tree

Cashew Fruit (the nut comes from the top portion (in the shell))

Mango Tree

Enjoying a fresh Mango

Avacado Tree

We finally hit the beach. It was pretty close to the sunset, but that made it all the more fun. The water was still pretty warm which was surprising but great. I think we would have swam even if it was freezing just because we were so excited to be there.

 We stayed until dark and then we got out and ordered some food. We got coconut water and fish & chips (plantanes). It was a great way to celebrate our first night in the Dominican Republic.

Cracking the coconut open to eat the fresh stuff!