Weekend in Sosua

After a long week of bank meetings, some better than others, Rachael and I headed to Sosua for a weekend at the beach. I think I’ve been taking for granted the fact that I am so close to some of the nicest beaches in the world. Sitting on Playa Alicia on Sunday morning, I realized I have less than three weeks left to enjoy this beautiful place!

 Alisha and I at Playa Alicia on Sunday!

In Sosua, we met up with two other American girls living in the DR for the summer, Alisha and Kelly. Kelly just graduated from Cali Politech and Alisha is going to be a sophomore at UR! We were forewarned by our handy Lonely Planet travel guidebooks that Sosua is the sex-tourism capital of the Dominican Republic. Our hotel was located in the center of the city, so after dinner on Saturday night, we decided to walk around.  I’ve read many articles on sex trafficking and seen countless documentaries on the worldwide sex industry through my global health classes, but nothing could have prepared me for seeing it first-hand. Women were lined up on the streets waiting for European travelers to appease. There were so many prostitutes that I can’t imagine any of them could make a living this way. Unemployment is a huge problem in the DR, and I felt for these women knowing that this was the only way they thought they could get by. I wanted to go up to the women and tell them there is so much in this world that they haven’t seen. But what good would that have done? I wouldn’t have even known where to tell them to start. We ended up going back to the hotel soon thereafter.

Despite the sad reality of the sex-tourism industry of Sosua, it really is a beautiful place. Alisha, Rachael, Kelly and I had a really wonderful time sharing our crazy Dominican stories with one another. I also took Alisha on her first motoconcho ride. I’ve gone from being totally petrified of them to hailing a concho at every possible opportunity!

After the Sunday evening church service last night, we went out with a bunch of the jovenes from the church. Sara, Emma, Carlos, and Noemí are my closest friends from the church, and I’m finally starting to feel welcome in their group. Noemí absolutely adores me. She’s only thirteen, but she is the most mature thirteen-year-old I’ve ever met. She’s also stunningly gorgeous and has no idea. The other day, I discovered a little nail salon up the street. Noemí and I are going to go together next Monday after work. Over the past six weeks, I’ve noticed that Dominican women put a lot of effort into looking nice. They go to the beauty salon to get their hair done once a week, and preserve it by wearing a hair net when they don’t have somewhere to be. They are also terrified of the rain for fear it will ruin their perfectly straightened hair (and who can blame them, really?). When it rains, you’re likely to see women running around with plastic grocery bags tied around their heads. Sara promised she’d take me to the hair salon before I leave. She wants to see if her hairdresser will have any idea what to do with my gringa hair...I’m sure it will be as entertaining for her as it will be for me!