After a scrumptious fresh caught fish lunch, I packed up my meager belongings and headed to the bus stop to catch a guagua to Samana. One leaves every 15 minutes and I happened to catch one just as it was pulling out of the "station."  I was the only passenger on the bus. 
This did't completely shock me, since I knew the chofe (chauffer/driver) would stop and pick up more passengers along the route. 
What did shock me though, was that he stopped to buy shoes.
Not even joking. 
A Haitian vendor was situated on the outskirts of town, and since I was still the only passenger, he thought it was cool to do a little shopping on the job. 
"Mometito," he called to me in the back, and then went to peruse the selection and haggle over prices.
5 minutes later we were on the road again.
My first inclination was to be perturbed by this personal errand, (after all I'd prefer to spend as little time in transport between destinations as possible) but then I decided I'd rather be amused. 
My amusement was not to stop there though. 
On our next stop out of town we picked up a gentleman outside of a colmado drinking a litro of beer. He brought the litro and 2 styrofoam cups along with him and hopped into the front seat, promptly pouring himself a cup and then pouring one for the driver. 
Amidst our other stops on the way to Samaná, the driver pulled over twice more and all the passengers had to wait while he picked up more litros of beer for himself and the front seat passengers to share. 
Just wish he would have passed some along to the back :)
Only in the Dominican Republic, haha. 

In Samaná I caught a bus to Las Terrenas, and another hour and fifteen minute bus trip later,  I was smiling next to Sydney and David and Sydney´s mom at our hostal, Casas del Mar y Neptunia. I have stayed there once before, but it bears repeating that the hostal is made up of some pretty darn cute little bungalows. 

Fast forward a little bit and we were all four walking to dinner at La Yuca Caliente...a classy little restaurante brushing up against the sea. 

We cheersed to the good fortune of being together in such a beautiful place, and then we got down to the business of eating. 

I mopped up every last bite of my clams marinera and sipped cool wine as the sunset. 
There is nothing better on a sultry seaside Dominican evening than good company, good food, and a beautiful view.

(My overall thoughts on La Yuca Caliente...nice atmosphere and very reasonably priced, especially compared to the other seafront restaurants. Just be sure to bring your own water since they charge 90 pesos for a bottle that you can find at a  colmado for 15)

The next morning, after a nice beach jog, Sydney and I headed back to enjoy our hostal´s free breakfast. Having nothing to do but enjoy the beautiful weather, I decided to just sip on my coffee and lounge with my computer most of the morning to get caught up on some blogging. Maybe you´ve noticed the increased number of posts lately?
In any case, it was glorious. The breakfast. The coffee. The weather. The relaxing. Everything. A perfectly beautiful way to spend a Saturday morning. 
But you know me, I can´t sit still for too long. And soon I was throwing on a swimsuit and headed to the beach. 

After some light reading, I took a little stroll, and who should I run into but Rolexis and their cousin Boli!
Boli and Rolando were having a ball with a stray beach pup. 
Im not sure who was having more fun, the pup or the boys. 

Alexis and I, having already soaked up a little too much sun, opted for the slightly cooler option of hanging out under the palms with piña coladas. 

We also had the pleasure of a serenade from a traveling musician. 
Note that weird ball strapped to his foot.....its actually a maraca! Perfect for tapping time while strumming out old Spanish love ballads. 

We sipped and sang until sunset, and then I meandered home to wash up and find something with a little more sustenance than pineapples and rum. 

After strolling up and down the beachfront, I finally settled on a little pizza joint with an open kitchen where you could see the pizzas being rolled and thrown into the fire. 

Although sorely tempted, I opted for a salad to stay on the healthy side.

To round out the evening, Alexis ditched her tuckered out man at the hotel and we headed out for gelato and a little girl time. What´s the fun in being too healthy after all?

The next morning, Sydney and I were up with the sunshine for a brisk stroll through town and lots of yoga. 
God bless that girl for always wanting to work out bright and early with me. 

We got to see the sleepy town come to life on our stroll as shop keepers began brushing off the sidewalks and the smell of fresh-baked French bread wafted through the air. . 

A good stretch is just what I needed before the next leg of my journey: a long bus trip to Bayahibe on the next guagua out of town. 

I rolled out of bed with the sunshine and made a hop-skip-and-a-jump to the beach. The early morning sun was already warming up the sand between my toes and causing the tops of the rippling waves to glitter like diamonds. 
But I was on a mission. I was determined to make my way to Playa Frontón. 

The beach in Las Galeras is fine. The water is nice and shallow and great for a dip, but the shoreline is a bit rocky and the sandy parts are mostly covered in washed up seaweed. The real attraction of Las Galeras are the surrounding beaches: Playa Rincon, Playa Fronton, Playa Madam, Playa de Amantes, among others. Many of these surrounding beaches, like Playa Fronton, are virtually virgin. Unlike the other beaches throughout the D.R., you won´t find any beach-side restaurants, lounge chairs, piña coladas, or vendors disturbing your peace to sell you sea shell bracelets and massages. Nope, these beaches are relatively untouched. In the case of Playa Fronton, you can´t even get there by car, you must rent a lancha (small boat) or hike your way through the jungla (jungle). 
After chatting with some of the locals at the boat launch (there is always a gang of 8-10 guys hanging out at the beachfront waiting to take you wherever your heart desires), I was told that the next boat for Frontón would be leaving soon and it would cost me 800 pesos (20 dollars). 
Do NOT pay that much.
I bargained down to 600 pesos, although a sharper bargainer than I (and maybe one that doesn´t look quite so American) could probably get the price even lower. 
While waiting for the other passengers to arrive, I struck up a conversation with one of the boat guides to find out what was what at Playa Fronton. I asked him if I should be bringing along any food and water since I hadn´t packed any and hadn´t had breakfast. 
The next thing I knew he was leading me through town and back behind a row of shacks to an abandoned lot with a mata de mangos. We scoured the ground for the good fruit and then climbed up on top of the roof of the decrepit cement building to pick even more. By the time we were finished I had a bag full of mangos to make it through the day and plenty to share.  

I rinsed two of the mangos in the sea and ate them right there, the juice sopping all down my chin and fingers. There´s just no way to eat a fresh mango without getting a little messy, but that´s the beauty of it.  
Soon enough I was hopping into a boat and headed off for a jostling little ride on turquoise waves. 

And this is where I ended up. 

What I loved most about this beach is how the mountains meet the shoreline. Simply stunning. 
If you wander around behind the palm trees a little bit, you´ll find some stony ruins built alongside the cliffs. 

I was particularly lucky on this day because I found even more than that! I found a cliff-climbing couple from Spain scaling a vertical wall of rock with ropes and hooks. They were professional mountain climbers and took their gear with them wherever they went on vacation. 
And they let me strap up and give it a go!!
Regretfully, I don´t have any pictures to document this little escapade....so since there´s no photographic evidence, you´ll have to trust me when I say I climbed to a frightening height. Once I couldn´t feel my arms any more from clinging to the cliffside like a terrified spider, I decided it was time to let go. I unpried my fingers from their death grip and rappelled down the mountain to safety, wondering the whole time what I had been so scared about. 

After thanking my new friends for the adventure, I made my way back to the beach to cool off in the crystal water (mountain climbing is hard work!) and soak up the sun. 

One can only do so much soaking though, and soon I was ready for another adventure. One of the boat guides, Daniel, mentioned he was going to hike back to Las Galeras on foot. Seeing a chance for a little exercise and a nice trek through the jungla, I opted to join him. 

I´m glad I did! It was a sweaty up and down climb, and Daniel wasn´t one to wait up for slackers, but it was fun trying to keep up. He really was an excellent guide though, and every time we passed a mango tree, which was a lot, he stopped to tell me the variety and point out the differences between one type of mango and another. And I tried them all! Big ones, little ones, round golf ball sized ones, flat football shaped ones, greenish blue, greenish pink, yellow, and sunset colored. The forest floor was littered with them. Each and every one delicious. 

Is there anything more beautiful than a mata de mangos?
I ate nothing but mangos the entire day and have never been so happy in my life. 

After about an hour the path diverged into two, and we had the option of heading up to the top of one of the tallest mountains in the area, or down to Las Galeras. 
Of course I chose to go up. 

The view was worth every step. 

I made it back to Las Galeras, tired to the bone and happy to the soul, just in time to see the sun sink beneath the sea. 
Soon, I myself was also doing some sinking...into the soft sheets of my bed, where visions of mango juice danced in my head. 

The next morning I sprung out of bed like a grasshopper at 6:30 a.m. I had spent part of my long trek home the day before arranging the details for my next quest.....

Harpoon fishing!!!

After rounding up the gear and ironing out some details (like going to the house of our sleeping harpooner to wake him up), I found myself  in a pair of flippers walking backwards into the sea through the shallow coral and trying not to step on any sea urchins. 
Jónaton (pronounced Joan-ah-tone), my guide, and I spent nearly 3 hours snorkeling and navigating our way through the coral reefs hidden below the glassy surface of el mar. 
Jonaton probably took me farther than a half mile from the shore line and we covered at least several miles of water in our journey. Surprisingly enough, I never got tired as the sea water was salty enough to keep me bouyant on the surface without too much effort. 
I wish I could put into words how absolutely amazing this experience was. I felt like the Little Mermaid. Except I was a little mermaid on a mission: to find and kill Nemo. Ok, that sounds pretty gruesome, but in all fairness, harpoon fishing is a pretty fair sport. The fishies have as much chance to escape capture as the harpooner has to catch them...knowing where they are and anticipating their movements is a practiced skill. Which is why I didn´t actually do any harpooning myself; I wanted to avoid any possible scenario in which I had to explain to my parents that I had accidentally harpooned my own leg. Maybe the next trip. For now, I left the tough stuff to Jonaton, who was an expert. Shy and sweet on land, he turned into a barracuda under the water. I trailed behind him, taking in the scenery and keeping a lookout for sharks (I don´t actually think there are any sharks in that water...but when you are in the middle of the ocean you can´t help thinking about it). The scenery, by the way, was breathtaking and I learned a few new vocab words along the way too. For example, the two giant sting rays sailing beneath me like kites I came to find out are called Manta Rayas...or in slang Cholos. The striped eel was appropriately nicknamed a pez machete. I also saw an inky black octopus, a blue crab the size of my hand feeding himself with his crabby claws, a vibrant orange star fish bigger than my head, tons of tiny jellyfish which lit up like they had live wires for veins and which I vigorously tried to avoid, and fish in every color imaginable, including the bright red pez cotorra (parrot fish) that Jonaton was stalking through the deep. 
In the end we ended up with 5 nice little red fish, a giant conch shell, and a lobster. Not a bad little catch. 

"Pero tu ´sta peligroso!"
"Wow, you´re dangerous!" That´s what the onlookers said to Jonaton as as we walked back along the beach to the boat launch with our prizes. Sweet, shy Jonaton just smiled, and I couldn´t stop smiling either.  

Look closely, you can still the scuba mask outline on my forehead. I know this because a little Dominican boy made fun of me for it when I was coming out of the water. 

One of Jonaton´s friends at the boat launch cleaned the conch shell for me as a souvenir and removed the critter (lambí in Spanish) still inside so we could cook him up with the rest of the catch.

We gave the catch to the señoras at Restaurante Modesta, an authentic little thatch-roofed Dominican joint right on the beach, and run by a smiling, wrinkly Señora Modesta herself. They had everything cooked up in a matter of minutes and served it with tostones, arroz, and ensalada. Since Jonaton and I clearly did not need 5 fish to ourselves, we shared with the rest of the boys on the beach and made sure nothing went to waste. 

This was my first time trying real lobster! And nothing tastes better than the lobster you caught yourself. 
Ok, I didn´t actually "catch" it myself, don´t get so technical on me, mister. But I did make sure no sharks ate Jonaton while he was harpooning and that was an important job. Definitely worthy of a lobster

I would love to tell you exaclty how to go about finding your own harpooning expedition at Las Galeras, but all you really have to do is ask around. Find Jonaton if you can. The whole 3 hour excursion, including full rights to whatever we caught, only cost me 700 pesos. (plus I gave 200 to the ladies at El Restaurante Modesta for cooking the catch). If you went out to any restaurant and ordered lobster, it would probably cost you about that much, and you wouldn´t get the 3 hours of fun and the extra 5 fish and conch shell souvenir to boot). 
Best experience ever!

The Dominican transportation system can only be described as a blessing and a curse. On the blessing side, you can generally get to wherever you need to go for rather cheap. On the curse side, you will travel at snail pace. Case in point: I left at 9:30 in the morning from the Transporte Pepe bus stop in Santiago. I switched buses at Samana, and made it to my destination, the sleepy fishing village of Las Galeras, at 2:20 p.m. That's 4 hours and 50 minutes my friends. On the other hand, my traveling companions for this first leg of the trip, Rolexis (Alexis and Rolando! Rolexis is their celebrity status name. I just made it up. They don't know I'm calling them that yet.), left by car a little after 11 a.m. and ended up in Las Galeras just minutes before I did. 
Hrrrmmph
Moral of the story. Rent a car.
However, if that's not a viable option (you don't have enough money, you don't want the hassle of actually renting a car, you're just plain scared to drive in the crazy free-for-all that is the D.R.), a guagua is really your only choice.
So with that in mind, I've put together a few survival tips for you in case you find yourself dealing with the Dominican transportation system.
1. Don't expect to find bus times posted online. Or even bus services. Virtually the only way to find a bus stop is to ask a local, then you need to head to the station yourself to find out when the buses leave and where they go. 
2. Find a seat next to a window or door in the front, some place with air flow. Do NOT sit in the back. It looks like a nice spacious back seat, but it's a trap! The bus will definitely pick up more luggage and passengers than its capacity and the back is where most people will be squished. 
3. You will leave each city at a snail's pace. This is because the driver will pick up (or try to) more riders along the way. He must drive slowly so that anybody mildly considering jumping on the bus has the opportunity to do so. This will drive you crazy. Grin and bear it. 
4. If you are sitting next to a window or door for an extended period of time, make sure to cover yourself properly. You will get sunburned.
5. You are going to be mildly uncomfortable, accept that fact and focus on something more positive. The scenery is beautiful. The people are friendly. If you are willing and open, you can always have an interesting conversation. (my most entertaining conversations have taken place on buses) If not, there's always bachata or merengue on the radio to listen to. Or you can work on developing your ability to sleep in any position. This will serve you well for future trips. 
6. When you arrive in your destination town, you will begin dropping people off one by one randomly along the route. You can simply signal the driver wherever you want to be let off, and he will do so. Once again you will move at a snail's pace and once again, this will drive you crazy. Take a deep breath and smile though, you're almost there. 

And if you are lucky, you're final destination will look something like this...

A little slice of heaven. 
The last bus stop at Las Galeras almost literally drops you off in the sand on the beach. Which was quite lucky for me because that is exactly where Rolexis had decided to park their car minutes before my arrival. I flagged them down and we went to look for accomodations for the night. 
Since our first choice, El Cabito, was closed for the month of July (bummer!), we ended up staying at La Plantacion, which was where I stayed on my last visit. The major draw for this place being its close proximity to the beach and its beautiful pool, which I dove into first thing. 
Rolando and Alexis opted for a picture instead of a swim. 

Adorable

Soon it was time to eat, and we stumbled upon a stylish little restaurant/bar just steps from our hotel. 

The place had pizazz, with a carved wooden monkey guarding the entrance, a funky little parrot-filled lounge, and a bamboo trimmed bar. 

Free focaccia and veggies with dip tied us over until the main event. 

Alexis and I split a big garden salad. 

She ordered a pizza for one, which probably could have fed two...although that was perfect for the mama-to-be. 

Rolando and I both went for grilled fish.
I was trying to be healthy, but I'm pretty sure my orange sauce and mashed potatoes were high in butter content. Oh well, I tried, lol. 
Tummies full we headed back to the hotel to rest up. We each had big plans for the morning!

The big hill. Not to be confused with "la lomita," the little hill, or "la loma," the normal-sized hill. No sir, this was "La Lomota." And it had to be conquered. As with all of our adventures, we started off not really sure what we were getting ourselves into. All we knew was that there was a big hill and that we were going to climb it. We took a 20 minute bus ride outside of town to get to the starting point.
Except when we got there and started taking the road upward, we weren't really sure if we were at the starting point or merely on the road that would lead us to the start of the starting point.
All would be revealed in due time. 

For now, all we knew was that we were climbing uphill, and it was steep. But it was also beautiful, with lots to keep our minds and eyes busy along the way. 

Above, I'm standing with a coffee plant, ad below are cocoa beans laid out to dry in the sun.  We also came across plenty of matas (trees) de mangos, avocado, and chinola. 
It's hard not to wander what it would be like to live up in this relatively isolated rocky jungle. Tranquilo o aburrido? One thing's for sure, it would be una vida aparte. 

We hiked uphill for a good 5 miles before finally coming across an area that leveled out with a nice little colmado nearby. We bought water and gatorade and recuperated our strength while deciding what to do next. Turns out, we had made it to the top of a hill, but not the right one. The actual lomota remained further down the path.  We'd come in from the wrong direction.  

Too tired to trek further, we decided to rent some motoconchos for the rest of the journey, which took us on a windy, uphill-downhill road past La Lomota and on into the town of Navarrete. 
Regardless of whether or not we ended up in the right place, we still ended up with a lovely hike and nice workout. Once again proving that its not the destination, its the journey. 

It was Friday night and I made my way to Vinoabeber. As per my usual Friday night tradition, I was meeting up with Alexis and Sydney for dinner and drinks. This time, I got to choose the venue, and I selected my favorite watering hole since I´ve never really had the chance to try out the food menu.
I was looking forward to sharing some tasty tapas and a nice drink selection, but what I got was even better. 
I crossed through the restaurant and turned out onto the back patio, only to find all my dearest friends waiting for me with a big "Surprise!", complete with a flaming sparkler, balloons, a whole cake with my name on it, and huge smiles on their faces. 
In the whole wide world, I could not think of anything better. 

The balloons kept trying to escape! They did't want to hold still for a photo with me. 

After my heart finally stopped fluttering and I had hugged every one of my friends, we got down to the business of eating. We ordered rounds of beer and naughty little tapas...patatas bravas, arepas venezolanos, spicy sausages, fried calamari, and to assuage our consciences a little...some tomato-basil-mozarella pinchos...just to have something mildly healthy. 

Josh, the foot model here, coudn't resist sneaking his new suede shoes into the pic. Pretty snazzy! Whadya think?

Mira esas caras bonitas! I think they really enjoyed the tapas. 

Next up, a round of photos with all my favorite people.

I have such photogenic friends. Beautiful every one. 

Finally it was time to cut into the cake. 

We clinked our spoons for a final cheers and then dug in, with gusto!

This picture just makes me laugh. Look at their faces-- the exact same expression! haha

 They say that everyone comes into your life for a reason, some as a blessing, some as a lesson. But for me, my friends have been both. They have been my wisdom when I needed it, my shoulder to lean on, my wild adventures, and my fellow wandering spirits. I will carry a piece of each of them always in my heart. They make it really hard to say goodbye!

I’m not a sentimental person.  Feelings? Bleh, those are things I don’t generally talk about unless absolutely forced to. So without getting too mushy gushy on you all, I have to say this: I have loved, with my whole heart, every single breath of every single moment of every single day I have lived in this tropical wonderland. Even when I have hated it I have loved it.  And it breaks my heart to leave. Living here has made me come alive.  Alive in the fact that I have loved waking up each morning. Alive in that each day is a new adventure. Alive in that every single moment is an opportunity to learn.  Alive in that the mere act of walking to school always leaves me thinking, "Wow, this place is beautiful." I know that sounds sappy and I'm almost embarrassed to write it here, but it's true. Sometimes I look out across the city or past the mountains, and I wander, who could have even dreamed up a place so beautiful?  

Part of me wishes I could stay living this semi-gypsy lifestyle forever. Part of me knows I still have more world to discover, more truths to learn, more roads not taken to travel.  If there is one thing in life that is certain, it is change. So now it's on to the next big adventure.

I've got two weeks left on the island. Time to make the most of it!

So you´ve got leftover chinola juice from those chinola mojitos you whipped up the other night. Now what are you going to do? Well I´m not about to tell you how to use that liquid gold, but if I were......I would tell you to bake up a pan of these world famous chinola bars. 
Ok, I lied. They are not world famous.....yet. But one bite and I PROMISE you´ll think you bit into a ray of sunshine. That´s a pretty hefty promise there, but it´s one I´m willing to make. It´s like you´re EATING THE SUN. How could you not try it? 

So ignore my humble photography skills, which do not do justice to these deliciously gooey little treats, and give it a go for yourself. 

Chinola Bars (recipe adapted from Margaritas in the Rain)

Crust Ingredients:
1 stick (8 oz) butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/8 tsp course salt

Filling Ingredients:
6 large eggs
2 cups sugar (although I think you could easily cut this dow to 1 or 1 1/2 cups)
2 T grated lemon zest (optional)
1 cup fresh squeezed passion fruit juice (chinola)
1/2 cup powdered sugar for finish

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. For the crust, cream the butter and sugar. Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Dough will appear dry and crumbly. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into a 9 x 13 baking dish. Chill, and then bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on while making the filling. 

Whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, chinola juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature. If you want to be able to cut nice, pretty bars, you´ll need to pop the whole thing in the fridge for about and hour to let them set up even more. But if you don´t mind your bars a bit gooey, well then, dig in!

Buen provecho!

Mangos and coffee for breakfast

Sunshine
That feeling of excitement when you buy your bus ticket to the beach
Occasional spontaneous motorcycle rides
Winding trails through tropical mountains

Roadside fruit stands
Guanábana
Bargaining for pineapples

Waving hello to everyone I see walking down the street
Fresh-squeezed fruit juice
Getting lost
Kisses for greetings
Kisses for goodbyes
Coconut carts

Morning yoga 

Merengue and bachata
Someone always wanting to dance with me

Hiking through tropical forests
Avocados
Diving into waterfalls

Homemade pina coladas in a pineapple and fresh mojitos

Clothes hanging on the line to dry
The smell of pica pollo when passing a comedor
Long walks to school 

Stray puppies

Mariposas

Food with friends

Blue that's bluer than blue

The world in color

My students
Perfect sunsets
Sundresses and Flip Flops

So what inspired this rather nostalgic list? Well, I bought my plane ticket home. I´ll leave it at that for now.

One Friday, gabbing over a pair of juicy burgers at Tio Pappy's, Alexis and I looked at each other and decided, we should do this EVERY Friday. And from there a tradition was born.  Since then Alexis and I have been taking Santiago by storm, testing out a new restaurant every week and playing food critics. Besides being a nifty little way to get to know more about our fair city, it was also a great way to wind down after a long work week, and catch up with one of my favorite ladies. So every Friday for the past 2 months I´ve been callin´ it a day at 8 p.m. when my last class finishes, and then callin´ up a taxi to head out into the night.
And now that the semester has come to a close, I can share with you the final round up. So without further ado, the Molexis (Molly and Alexis) Foodie Tour of Santiago!!

First up, Bené, an upscale restaurant lounge. 
The food is a bit underwhelming, but the service is good, and the atmosphere is great,  nice and chill with low lights, comfy couches in the back, groovy music and a large selection of fancy schmancy drinks and wine to keep you happy. 

We ordered the taquitos appetizer to share, and for the main course I chose a pesto pizza while Alexis went for steak with tostones. 

Second, Ristorante Trinacria.
This was a little Italian gem. We opted to sit outside and enjoy the perfect Santiago night air, but I regret not taking pictures of the interior which was decorated with funky art work in odd shapes and bright colors, adding a bit of magic to the place. Very cirque de soleil-esque. 

We were joined by the lovely Sydney on this particular night.

The menu consists of all different types of pastas and sauces, and you get to mix and match to create your favorite dish. 
I opted for the Gnocchi in Vino Rosso sauce and it was TOP NOTCH. I ate the whole thing up...hence there is no picture of the actual dish. 

Sydney went for a traditional spaghetti with tomato sauce and Alexis opted for the grilled salmon and salad. 

Take 1!

Take 2!

The dessert menu was too tempting not to try. Especially since one of the items listed was "Peach egg and chocolate sausage." What?! It had to be ordered. True to its word, we received part of a peach surrounded by whip cream and soft chocolate cookies resembling sliced sausage. 
We also ordered tiramisu, but it came out still a little frozen. 

Overall, it was a bit pricey (by Dominican standards), but the atmosphere was charming and the main courses were great. 

Our next stop: El Zócalo, a trendy little Mexican restaurant. 

We decided to sit inside since Alexis was all dolled up for a wedding later, but there is a fantastic outside patio that intersects with several other bars: very lively and a great place to people watch on a Friday night. 

Just take a look at that heartstopper: choriza and cheese dip with fresh fried tortilla chips. 

I ordered Gorditas with Chicken Molé filling. 

Alexis had a super scrumptious Pozole soup. I´d say you can´t really go wrong with anything you order here. 

Final Score: The food is delish and very authentic (the owners being from Mexico), the service is sub par, and the price is right. 

We also visited Sushi Ya and a little outdoor (literally, all the seats are located under a tent) Arabic place whose name I forget, although sadly I forgot my camera at home those two nights. Rookie mistake. Anyways, to break it down,  once I figured out that Sushi Ya delivered, they went onto my speed dial button. As far as sushi goes, its the best quality you´ll find in Santiago. (Having now burned through almost the entire menu, I can safely say, go for the yuyito roll and the elf roll, the specialty dishes are also good). As for the Arabian place, it was cute, but the portions were small and the food pricey. If you are looking for Middle Easter fare, I´d go for Shawarma King.

So there you have it folks, a tour of Santiago in food. But as with all things in life, it´s not where you are or where you go, but who you´re with that´s most important. I couldn´t have chose a better partner in crime..er...food ¡Que les aprovechen!

The semester ended last Thursday and many of us are going our separate ways for the month-long summer holiday...back to our homes in the U.S., Canada, Brussels, and France, some of us permanently. So it was only fitting that we have a last hoorah to celebrate the end of the school year and all the good times we've had together over the past months. Being the last hoorah, we had to make things special, no average potluck would do. No, this was going to be a Dominican Barbecue, Bobby Flay Throw-Down style. 

The night started, like all good nights, with homemade mojitos and appetizers. 

These little mofonguitos were a cinch to put together and a huge hit. You can find the recipe to make your own at Tia Clara's website.

No fiesta is complete without a good bottle of wine!

After a few drinks and some snackity-snacks, everyone's tummies were rumbling. Luckily, Davíd was manning the grill. 

Oh my! I´m pretty sure Bobby Flay has nothing on Davíd. 

Just look at those smiling faces, they agree. 

One last glance at that gorgeous stack of manly meat, just for kicks. YUM!

Next up, passion fruit (chinola) mousse, and my mom´s world famous cookie bars (recipe coming soon). 

With happy tummies, we spent the rest of the night laughing and chatting and reminiscing.

I´m gonna miss these crazy kids!

Hey kiddos, I'm back and comin' atcha with a can't-miss make-ahead mojito mix. (Try saying that 3 times fast!) Now we're not messing around here so I'm going to keep this short and sweet. Here's what you'll need. 

2 1/2 cups water
2 cups sugar
1 bunch of fresh mint
1 cup of lime juice
2 cups light rum
Club soda
Extra sliced limes and mint for garnish


Flavor Variations: Chinola, Strawberry, Blackberry, Mango

Step 1: Minty Simple Syrup: Toss the sugar, water, and mint in a pot and bring it to a boil. Let it boil for 2-3 minutes and then turn off the burner, cover the pot, and let the mint steep in the simple syrup for a half hour. 

While your simple syrup and mint are getting all cozy together, you can start in on the next step. 
Step 2: Limes: Grab about 10-12 limes and get to squeezing. You need 1 cup of lime juice. Sure, you can buy the pre-bottled stuff, but where's the fun in that? Plus you'll be missing out on a serious flavor punch. Squeeze the limes fresh, trust me on this one. 
Step 3: Put the Lime in the Coconut and Shake it All Up: Ok, I lied, there is no coconut....maybe a pina colada will be my next drink attempt. In any case, strain the mint out of your simple syrup and toss the syrup into a pitcher. Add in your 1 cup of lime and 2 cups of rum. Pop it all in the freezer until you are ready to serve. It shouldn't freeze, on account of the alcohol, but it may get kind of slushy. You can keep it there for several months in an air tight container and it will stay good. 
Step 4: Serve: Here you've got two options: Pitcher style or Individual. If you are going pitcher style, simply toss some extra lime slices and mint leaves for garnish into your pitcher full of mojito mix, and top the whole thing off with a good dose of club soda and some ice. 
If you prefer to serve the mojitos individually, you can set up a nice little bar cart or drink station where your guests can make their own. Just set out the limes, mint, club soda, ice, and mojito mix and let everyone assemble according to their own preference.
But if you want to blow everyone's socks out of the water....read on! (Or if you want to knock their socks off and blow them in out of the water)

If you are feeling super adventurous...and really, truly want the best mojito ever, you're going to need chinola, LOTS of chinola. (That's passion fruit to the folks back home. You might be able to find the pulp at a whole foods store.) About 15 should do the trick. Crack em' open and scoop out the goopy yellow frog eggs inside. Wait, did I just say frog eggs? I mean pulp, scoop out the chinola pulp. Can you blame me though? Chinola pulp DOES look like yellow frog eggs (and I should know, I spent half my childhood wading through a creek trying to catch frogs and raise tadpoles). Very tasty frog eggs though! Nature is weird. 

Toss the chinola pulp into your blender and give it a quick whiz. Then just strain the mixture to get rid of the seeds, and you'll end up with a beautiful canary yellow liquid, speckled with little flecks of black. Just gorgeous darling. Throw it in the fridge until you are ready to serve. Then when you are ready, toss the juice into your mojito pitcher or set it out for guests to add to their individual mojitos. 

If that smile doesn't convince you that she just made the best chinola mojito ever, I don't know what will. 
Cheers!