The Simple Life

We spent Easter weekend in a typical country casita (little home) made of wood in Jarabacoa.  Boyfriend's sister, her fiancé, boyfriend, and I relaxed all weekend, listening to the gushing water of the nearby river, roosters or crickets (depending on the hour of the day), and the heavy downpour of rain splashing against our tin roof - there was always perfect background noise for our mid-day naps.

Washing dishes with a headlight

As expected in el campo, we only had the luxuries of running water and electricity about half the time, so we made due by taking baths in the river.  I even washed my hair by standing in the rain, and I absolutely loved it.

We spent our time playing games like Phase 10 and Domino (a popular Dominican past time), watching movies, listening to music, and when we we felt extra motivated, we hiked halfway up a mountain that had what felt like an 80% incline!  The views of the very green landscape were definitely worth the sore legs we all had on Sunday. 

Surrounded by GREEN

The weather was chilly for us, so we ate lots of warm comfort food like homemade lasagna, potato casseroles, and toasty ham & cheese sandwiches.  We drank rum mixed with fresh coconut water - a much better version of coconut rum!

It baffles me how different of a lifestyle people have while living so relatively close to the capital.  I keep thinking of The Hunger Games and how the characters felt when arriving in the developed futuristic capital after growing up in their more primitive district - I wonder if Santo Domingo provokes these same feelings for many local visitors?