Music of Dominican Republic, Rock-DominicanoWatch this video. It's great. It shows so much of the city of Santo Domingo.
Ok..let me see, what story to tell...
There was this bar I really liked going to. It's called Parado 77. Its sort of a younger people bar but all ages are there. They play all sorts of music and people sign their names to the walls. On the weekend its packed full with people spilling out onto the streets and taking the party there with them.
One night I woke at about 2AM. I decided I'd take a walk and go to that bar. It was about 8 blocks, more of less away. Maybe about a 15 min. brisk walk. I didn't want to spend the money on a taxi so I took the walk.
On the weekends its not lonely walking and not that dangerous since there are so many people out in the Zone. I made the trek and when I got there went in and got my beer. It was so crowded inside so I went outside to have my refreshing beverage after the hot walk there. Trying to get myself ready to talk Spanish (Sometimes it took me a little time to get my brain out of the English mode into the Spanish language mode).
I was outside looking around and saying hi to the people I knew when 2 big flat bed trucks came pulling up to the bar. These trucks were filled with army looking men in camo wardrobe with guns. A few cars followed these trucks and a man jumped out with a large TV camera and a lady from the TV got out with him. The army guys on the truck all jumped down, there were at least 25 to 30 of them.
Everyone started putting their hands on the walls, assuming the position. All the people in the street and in the bar were face to the walls with hands on them.
I had no clue what was going on so I did what everyone else was doing. One of the army guys said n to me that I did not have to do that. I guess he thought I was a tourist. But I didn't want to look like I was a snotty American so I stayed and kept my hands on the walls.
There was a guy standing next to me and I asked him what was happening. He spoke English! Junior was his name and he told me it was the DEA..I think that's it, the drug enforcement agency. They were searching for drugs.
I got nervous cause I heard that if you were in a place where anyone had drugs and someone got arrested that everyone in the place could be arrested also. Jeez..I had just woke up less than an hour before and now I was amongst the frisked!
I was watching and they had some peoples sitting on the curb making them take off their shoes, removing jackets, hats and such. The army guys were checking purses and pockets. I saw some guns. But they were returned to the people. I was not shocked to see the guns but I was shocked seeing them being returned. It seemed that they were not looking for weapons.
The TV camera was there filming it all. The lady, which I found out later was a TV reporter. She was talking to the camera I guess about what was going on.
The army guys finished and found nothing. When they were finished the crowd had thinned out drastically and the whole party mood had fizzled away. Most of the people were gone. I wasn't ready to go yet! I just got there and was still on my first beer! I walked all that way. So I had a few more beers with Junior. We talked for a while and when the bar closed cause there were no more humans in the place I said bye and started walking home.
Junior had a car and offered me a ride. I gladly took it cause by that time the streets were empty and I remembered the last time I walked home late (it was a week day) and some bum in the park asked me for a cig. He grabbed My hand when I gave him one and he squeezed it hard. He wouldn't let me go. He was hurting my hand. I was getting ready to do the old twist release hand thingy when this man came out of nowhere and kicked the cig guy in the butt, yelled at him. Then he walked me home. He was a man I said hi to when we passed in the streets many times and it did me good. He accompanied me to my home and was very polite.
Anyhow..back to Junior taking me home. We got to my place and the bar downstairs was open still and I was not ready to go home yet. So I went there. Junior parked and came in also. It was lively in there. Cafe de Toi. Odalis, the owner lady is a really nice person. She was busy doing the Dance of the Bottle. which is a must see. All the people make a circle around a bottle sitting on the floor. The song is playing. One person enters the center of the circle and dances over the bottle going down as low as they can to the bottle while dancing and gyrating the hips and butt over the bottle. It is fun to watch. Everyone it wahooing and hooting (sounds like those old western movie bars on the movies). I can't do the dance, my body and knees don't work that way but it is fun to watch.
Anyhow..Odalis was busy entertaining so I had to mix drinks falling back on my old waitress bartending skills. I was serving the whole bar and cleaning up dirty glasses. Which was fine. From that time on when Odalis needed help she'd call up to me to come down. When she needed to run to the store or something I took over when there was noone else. It was fine, in return I never paid for a drink there. So it affected me just fine.
Junior and I became friends. He used to come and visit Mamita and I at the galeria and he even came to Mamitas home sometimes. All was good and noone went to jail and I never even got frisked!
Monday, June 26, 2006
Friday, June 02, 2006
My phone and my Ladrone
Colonial Zone Santo Domingo Dominican Republic pictures
This picture is what I saw from my balcony. There was a big tree in the way but I could still see the statue when I was on the balcony.I was content.
There was a problem with the phone after I moved in. I was so excited that I had the phone and internet and electric all connected before I moved in. Mamita kept saying that I was sooo lucky. Well, my luck ran out fast. The phone disconnected 2 days after I moved in.
I called Codetel (now Verizon) and told them the phone went out. They said they didn't understand and wanted to know the name of my business. I told them I didn't have a business (I didn't want to pay higher rates for a business phone anyhow). They kept telling me that I had a business number. I can't help that's the number they gave me! So they came back out and connected the phone. It was good for maybe a week then it went out again.
I went through the same crap again. Not a business phone. They connected the phone again. # mre times this happened. Then People were talking on my line. They said that the number was not mine. Its the number they gave me and it worked at my home for a month, at least when the phone was working.
Then they said they would look into it. They came back that since I didn't have a business that they didn't have a line for me and I would have to wait until they put more lines in and assigned new numbers to the area. I told them why couldn't they just give me the line I had with a regular number. They told me they already gave that to someone else! In one day they gave that connection to another person. I paid for it. It was mine.
I couldn't fight about it. It wouldn't do any good so I had to wait for about a month to get the phone hooked back up but I did get a phone bill for the entire time I didn't have a phone. I marked on the calendar everyday I didn't have a phone and fought to get the bill fixed. They ended up giving me a half month free. I couldn't believe it!
So I was happy in my new place. I only had water half the day. In the morning there was water. I could adjust to that.
I got my wash machine ready but there was no place to run the drain. Later I relieved that I should have just ran it into the hall and down the outside steps like everyone else did. But I was still thinking like an American. I got my trusty hammer and my chisel and started whacking away at the thick cement wall to put a hole in it to put the drain pipe through. So it could go into the drain.
I pounded away for probably 2 hours and made a nice hole where the hose fit into prefect. Calked around the hose when I found that the water was leaking through back into the kitchen floor. I did good!
There was what I called the hole outside the kitchen window. It was the size of 2 refrigerator boxes in width and opened to the sky. I have no idea what it was for. But that's where the drain was for the washer. I got a big garbage can and put it out there with water for the times I didn't have water. That was my stash. Anyhow...I usually forgot to shut that window. I didn't think anyone could get in there anyhow. I was wrong.
One night Sniffy (the blind dog) and I went out to the neighbors Colmado to have a few beers. I had gotten to know some of the people around the area a little now. There was this guy, Victor. He was a guy that did the errands for the Colmado and also did stuff for the people living around the area. He also worked at the ship yard when they needed him. He could speak English fairly well. He was a nice human. A little obnoxious sometimes, especially when he got drunk. (little story...One night Victor was drinking a lot and I told him he should go home. He was so worried about walking me home. I told him I would take him to his home. Can't talk to a drunk. He started walking me through the park. I had to stop and talk to someone. When I turned around he was sprawled out on the ground. I tried to get him up but he wasn't moving. Since many of the neighbors were out I told them to watch out for him. I went home. Next afternoon Victor came to me laughing. Someone stole one of his shoes when he was out! Just one shoe. I was laughing so hard when he told me this. He was laughing too. It was too funny)
So back to the story. I went home and realized I locked my key in the apartment. I brought the front gate key but forgot the door to my apartment key. Just wasn't used to all the keys yet I guess. So I went back to the Colmado. I was just going to hang out until morning and when Mamita and Jimmy went to work get my spare key off them.
Anyhow, Victor said he might be able to help me. He looked at the door and then he realized the kitchen window was open. He climbed up the neighbors gate covering their patio onto the roof. Then he went to the hole. But it was really high for him to jump. So he went and got a ladder. He took the ladder onto the roof but it was too short. So he left again and got a rope. He tied the rope onto the ladder. Lowered the ladder down to the ground in the hole. Lowered himself down so he could drop onto the top rung of the ladder. Then he climbed down and into my apartment and unlocked the door!
I'm happy I left the window open but I never did that again and I never forgot my keys again. Victor got the name My Ladrone (Robber). He was so happy to have helped. He spent about 2 hours getting into my place. Thank goodness everytime he returned he brought me a grande beer! Sniffy and I were content.
This picture is what I saw from my balcony. There was a big tree in the way but I could still see the statue when I was on the balcony.I was content.
There was a problem with the phone after I moved in. I was so excited that I had the phone and internet and electric all connected before I moved in. Mamita kept saying that I was sooo lucky. Well, my luck ran out fast. The phone disconnected 2 days after I moved in.
I called Codetel (now Verizon) and told them the phone went out. They said they didn't understand and wanted to know the name of my business. I told them I didn't have a business (I didn't want to pay higher rates for a business phone anyhow). They kept telling me that I had a business number. I can't help that's the number they gave me! So they came back out and connected the phone. It was good for maybe a week then it went out again.
I went through the same crap again. Not a business phone. They connected the phone again. # mre times this happened. Then People were talking on my line. They said that the number was not mine. Its the number they gave me and it worked at my home for a month, at least when the phone was working.
Then they said they would look into it. They came back that since I didn't have a business that they didn't have a line for me and I would have to wait until they put more lines in and assigned new numbers to the area. I told them why couldn't they just give me the line I had with a regular number. They told me they already gave that to someone else! In one day they gave that connection to another person. I paid for it. It was mine.
I couldn't fight about it. It wouldn't do any good so I had to wait for about a month to get the phone hooked back up but I did get a phone bill for the entire time I didn't have a phone. I marked on the calendar everyday I didn't have a phone and fought to get the bill fixed. They ended up giving me a half month free. I couldn't believe it!
So I was happy in my new place. I only had water half the day. In the morning there was water. I could adjust to that.
I got my wash machine ready but there was no place to run the drain. Later I relieved that I should have just ran it into the hall and down the outside steps like everyone else did. But I was still thinking like an American. I got my trusty hammer and my chisel and started whacking away at the thick cement wall to put a hole in it to put the drain pipe through. So it could go into the drain.
I pounded away for probably 2 hours and made a nice hole where the hose fit into prefect. Calked around the hose when I found that the water was leaking through back into the kitchen floor. I did good!
There was what I called the hole outside the kitchen window. It was the size of 2 refrigerator boxes in width and opened to the sky. I have no idea what it was for. But that's where the drain was for the washer. I got a big garbage can and put it out there with water for the times I didn't have water. That was my stash. Anyhow...I usually forgot to shut that window. I didn't think anyone could get in there anyhow. I was wrong.
One night Sniffy (the blind dog) and I went out to the neighbors Colmado to have a few beers. I had gotten to know some of the people around the area a little now. There was this guy, Victor. He was a guy that did the errands for the Colmado and also did stuff for the people living around the area. He also worked at the ship yard when they needed him. He could speak English fairly well. He was a nice human. A little obnoxious sometimes, especially when he got drunk. (little story...One night Victor was drinking a lot and I told him he should go home. He was so worried about walking me home. I told him I would take him to his home. Can't talk to a drunk. He started walking me through the park. I had to stop and talk to someone. When I turned around he was sprawled out on the ground. I tried to get him up but he wasn't moving. Since many of the neighbors were out I told them to watch out for him. I went home. Next afternoon Victor came to me laughing. Someone stole one of his shoes when he was out! Just one shoe. I was laughing so hard when he told me this. He was laughing too. It was too funny)
So back to the story. I went home and realized I locked my key in the apartment. I brought the front gate key but forgot the door to my apartment key. Just wasn't used to all the keys yet I guess. So I went back to the Colmado. I was just going to hang out until morning and when Mamita and Jimmy went to work get my spare key off them.
Anyhow, Victor said he might be able to help me. He looked at the door and then he realized the kitchen window was open. He climbed up the neighbors gate covering their patio onto the roof. Then he went to the hole. But it was really high for him to jump. So he went and got a ladder. He took the ladder onto the roof but it was too short. So he left again and got a rope. He tied the rope onto the ladder. Lowered the ladder down to the ground in the hole. Lowered himself down so he could drop onto the top rung of the ladder. Then he climbed down and into my apartment and unlocked the door!
I'm happy I left the window open but I never did that again and I never forgot my keys again. Victor got the name My Ladrone (Robber). He was so happy to have helped. He spent about 2 hours getting into my place. Thank goodness everytime he returned he brought me a grande beer! Sniffy and I were content.
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