Final post- the Real DR continued

This is the last of my vacation posts.  I am currently trying to pull myself out of depression and convince myself that I since I loved my job and life before this vacation, I will love it again.  So far - no success.  

On to our next destination - the Ranch.

I rode a horse.  Jon chickened out.

About mid-day we ate at at the Ranch - an authentic Dominican lunch.

 Took some pictures.

Fed bread to our new friends.

We saw how cigar are rolled:

And checked out some tourist traps souvenirs:

I swung on the home-made swings,

and then we moved on to our next destination.

But not before we saw a crocodile.  No, he wasn't fake.  We all thought he was fake, until one of the tourists threw a rock at him.  The little cuddle-bunny snapped his trap and jumped into the water.  I sat back down in my seat and decided to never ever go into the water again.  Unless it's a pool.

Our next stop was a school.

In DR the kids go to school in two shirts - morning and afternoon.  The younger grades attend the morning sessions, while the older grades go in the afternoons.  The kids all have to wear the same uniform of khaki pants or skirts and a blue shirt.

There are two classrooms - kids get divided into two groups.  This afternoon session had a second and third grade in one classroom and fourth and fifth in the other classroom.  All grades learn 3 languages - Spanish, French, and English.  In addition to those our guide also spoke Russian and Italian.  They're truly impressive.

Our last stop was the beach.

It was gorgeous, but dirty because of the storm they had a couple of days before.   We experienced the storm first-hand and it was not pretty.  Anyways, it washed all this dirt into the pretty ocean.

Everyone still enjoyed the ocean and the break from the bumpy truck.

Took some pictures and moved on.

Next stop - our hotel!  And after a long day, we were happy to be back and relax in a cabana by the beach.

The End.

PS- If any of you are currently planning a tropical vacation, I fit very well into a checked bag and whine minimally.