Running in the DR or "Unexpected Sprints"

So going for a jog in the DR is far different than running in the US. I used to get annoyed on occasion when people would honk at me, but that's nothing compared to trying to run here.

So I went for a job yesterday with another volunteer Barbara. First, we needed to find somewhere that we could run without excessive potholes. That's an adventure in itself, since the road I live on it paved with rocks and dirt. We decided to go and run on a road where another volunteer, Arthur, lives. It's paved and more residential so it's more private. Then, once we were actually running, we had some fun things to avoid. First, we had to avoid vehicles - cars and motorcycles. Traffic laws are not the same here as they are in the US, and pedestrians don't have right-of-way. Second, we had to avoid dogs. Dogs think it's a challenge to keep up! We didn't really have many problems, but one dog followed us for about 5 minutes before it got distracted by a car. Finally, we had to avoid guys yelling "piropos" or compliments at us. That led to a few unexpected sprints!

All in all, it was really nice to get a run in, and we probably ran about 2 miles, plus about a mile of walking to and from the area. I loved getting a bit of a workout in, and I'm sure I will have more interesting running stories soon!