My 49th Birthday

Well, as usual I'm behind on writing on my blog. Can you regular readers please forgive me (It's not easy when I'm this old to remember everything) and for the non-regular readers maybe you should become regular readers so you could accept this little apology with the regulars.

My daughter (I'm her second mom, we are not blood even though it seems like it sometimes), Janna and her mom Xio made me a little birthday party in the Parque San Jose in Colonial Zone. I'm not really into celebrating my birthday. In USA I usually went camping to hide from all the party people. But here there was just no place to hide and I didn't want to disapoint my Janna.

It was fun. I even got some pineapple upside down cake and little fancy sandwiches. Thanks Xio, Janna and my neighbors for the party.

I just cannot believe I'm 49. Almost 50! DAMN! I remember when my grandparents were 50 and I thought they were soooo old. Now that I'm almost there it just doesn't seem that old anymore. funny how perspective changes.

Las Mercedes Day Procession Sept. 24, 2008

The patron saint of Dominican Republic is Las Mercedes (their name for virgin Mary). this day most of the businesses are closed and most people make their way to the church. I am not Catholic so I do not know much of the customs of the Catholic religion but it is very interesting.

The day is celebrated by a pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Cerro atop a hill that is close to the city of La Vega. But those who cannot venture to La Vega go to their own church to notice this important religious day.

Here in Colonial Zone all head to the Iglesia y Convento de las Mercedes / The Church and Convent of Our Lady of Mercy (more information about the church here.


















I was waiting for the procession to start in front of the church. The people waiting to enter outside the church were all sort of solemn while just a few steps away it was almost a carnival type atmosphere with vendors selling ice cream and popcorn.


I got tired of waiting so I went home. Then about an hour later I heard the band in the street and got to view the procession from my own balcony.

This is the video I took. I tried to do some zooming in on the statue of Las Mercedes but just couldn't get close enough. Sorry for the camera movement. My video taking skills are not the best.

Neighborhood Vote San Jose Montecinos 2008

I learned another new thing about Dominican life this past weekend, neighborhoods vote for their own President. This vote is done neighborhood by neighborhood, the neighbors choosing who will represent them to the local government. This vote is called the "Junta de Vecinos".

I also discovered that each larger neighborhood is divided into smaller sections. (I'm trying to find out the exact information about Colonial Zone to place on the web site). I believe there are about 8 different sectors inside the Colonial Zone area. Each voting for their own President, Vice President, Secretary and so on.

I got to watch my old neighborhoods vote (I could not vote as I don't live in that section now. I hope to vote in the Parque Duarte elections coming up in a few weeks) and it was a serious matter indeed. There was even a policeman watching over the elections. There was a designated committee to take care of the voting table and to count these votes.

The first step is to go to the table where the committee sits, sign in and take the ballot. Go over to the table with the policeman and write your selection (this table was a dominoes board which I thought was very interesting and quite official looking). The next step is to go to the big box to deposit your vote. Then sit and wait for the results, conversing with the neighbors and maybe partaking of your liquid of choice.

At 5 the voting was finished. It started raining so the election board guys moved into the Colmado owned by one for these guys, Colmado Arca. The place got especially packed and loud as the votes were being counted. One of the counters had to even call for silence as this was a very critical moment in the electoral process.

I moved outside to wait for the results because there were just too many people inside the small Colmado. Soon after there was clapping and lots of commotion at the Colmado as the winner was announced. People were clapping and singing as they left the Colmado to share the results with everyone. It seems that the victors won by only 3 votes. Now lets hope her and her team will bring some good parties to the park and also do some good things for my old neighborhood.

Travelers Checks! Fat Chance!

Whatever you do DO NOT bring travelers checks to Dominican Republic!!
Maybe if you are in a large resort hotel or if you are lucky you can get a travelers check cashed and if you are really lucky it won't take you all day to do so.

My aunts came to visit and Jetta wanted to bring travelers checks. I asked my bank if that was an OK thing to do and , of course, they said "No problem". Well, it was a big problem.

Jetta signed the checks and handed over her passport. The girl behind the desk took the stuff to the teller and we waited. A friend of mine came into the bank so we talked a bit. And we waited.
Finally we asked what was going on and they said they had to clear the checks..."No problem". so we waited.
Another friend came into the bank and we chatted a bit. We were starting to get a bit annoyed after about an hour and a half and we were getting louder and hungry.

Some other friends entered the bank and they spent about an hour hanging out with Lois, Jetta and I. We made up a song called "Fat Chance". The 5 of us were making up verses (my friends have a band and sing really well...my family and I don't sing at all) for the song like "We have been waiting in the bank 2 hours. Trying to get our money. Will we ever get out money? FAT CHANCE". We wanted to take a walk about of the Colonial Zone. Wanted to see the sights. Will it ever happen? FAT CHANCE!". We wanted to get some beans and rice. Go to a typical cafeteria. Will we ever get to eat? FAT CHANCE!". The 5 of us were singing away. entertaining ourselves.

The friends finally had to leave and guess where we were? Still in the bank! One of the workers kept telling us we had to be quiet because it was a bank. Another brought us coffee. But we kept getting louder and more annoyed. I finally lost it and got angry. We got the bank manager lady out of her office to see what was happening and I called my friend Mamita to see if she could help.

We couldn't go to another bank as the travelers checks were already signed. They told us we could leave and return..Yea, right. Leave the travelers checks and passport in the bank. When we returned they would probably say they didn't know us and there was no travelers checks or passport. FAT CHANCE!

After 3 hours they finally said that the system was working again and they gave us the money! I finally got to take the aunts on their little tour to Mangito. We didn't get to eat la bandera that day but we did get some great roast chicken in the street later. So even though we spent 3 hours in the bank we tried to look at the positive side. We had 3 hours of air conditioning. They met some of my friends. We made the Fat Chance song. We had some good laughs and another interesting story to tell.

The moral of the story is if you think travelers checks are accepted worldwide and you will get them changed easily and fast. Remember...FAT CHANCE!!

Going to Samana and Back

I finally got to try out the new highway and visit Samana.
The new highway from Santo Domingo to Samana made the trip really fast but it just seemed to me that the road could have been designed a little better. When they cut through the hills in Los Haitises National Park, in my opinion, they should have cut the hills at an angel. When you drive through they are straight up and down leaving lots of room for them to slide into the road (which did happen after the tormenta Fay went through. But all in all the road was a real relief as it cut the driving time way down making the trip much easier when visiting the other side of the island.We even caught a rainbow on the return trip.













My friend Xiomara, her daughter Jana and I went for a 5 day trip. When we got to Samana it was nothing like I expected. It was too touristy. It was beautiful but it lost its Dominican flair. There were very little Colmados which is a very important thing for me when I travel.
We drove around a while, not knowing that the storm Fay was on top of us. there was an interesting dirt road so we took it. It ended up at some local type beach bar called on Playa Padel called Rincon d' Julio. There were no cars only motorbikes and then later about 12 horses (and their riders). It was one of the highlights of the trip. We were enjoying and talking. A man took Jana for a little ride on a horse. But during this time the waves were starting to get little white caps and the wind was picking up. The second time a big stack of Presidente beer cases fell over is when they said they were closing because of the storm ("What storm?" we stupidly asked). So we all had to get out of there.













We went to our hotel, the cheapest we could find, and took a nap while the worst of the storm passed. when we woke the rains turned to drizzle and it was past. We had no TV to see what happened so we just went out for a bit.
There weren't many people out as Dominicans don't usually go out when it's raining but we had a good time. When we got back to the hotel we found that we were locked out and Jana was locked in. We banged on the door and no one came. So we had to figure out someway to get in. There was a window,,ahhh. We could climb through. It was just wide enough for the big butts to fit through. The problem was all the trees in front. We had to really squirm to get through the trees, work our way into the window. Then Jana had to push the sofa up to the window so we could drop onto. We were laughing all the time and when it was over we were quite muddy as was the floor and wall (we had to hold onto the wall to pull ourselves in) of the hotel. All this time onnoe from the hotel came to see what was going on. But we got to sleep in our little beds.
Next day Xiomara drove to Las Terrenas so Jana could ride a horse with some guy they rented horses from a few years ago. The entire place changed. The horse guy was gone and in his place was a hotel. there were hotels everywhere. Very few Dominican places existed. It was all touristy. We were disappointed so we left for Cabrera and then on to Rio San Juan.
We got a great hotel along the sea called Bahia Blanca, which I would refer to anyone traveling. Not too expensive, clean, nice owners (Lise Pineau) and staff and it's got a nice little beach. Their phone number is 809-589-2563 and 2562. We ended up staying there 2 nights.We hung out at the beach then were headig to another beach when we took a wrong turn onto some dirt road. We decided to keep going and see where the road took us. We drove for 2 1/2 hours on this road all through little farms, lots of cows and farm animals. Great little houses and some nice farms also. It was another highlight of the trip.













Finally we ended up at the beach (can't remember it's name) and had a well deserved swim. I think we were the only white skinned people there, which is the type of places we were looking for. We swam around a bit, talked to some people then went back to the hotel to rest for our night out.
We went to some little bar in Rio San Juan. It was packed full. People dancing and enjoying. Xiomara took Jana back to the hotel to sleep and she was to return. I waited and waited. Danced a few dances, sat with some other people and she never returned. Finally it was time to go and I didn't have all the money to pay the bill so the guys I was sitting with paid. I was getting ready to walk back to the hotel when Xiomara showed up. She laid down with Jana for a little bit and fell asleep. she gave the guys their money, we all had a good laugh and we went back to the hotel to sleep.
Next day we left for home stopping and checking out different stuff on the way. It was a great trip. I love seeing my new country. Discovering new things and meeting new people. All while having some good laughs and a few cold beers. Life couldn't be better.

Got My Cedula

First I may need to explain what a Cedula is. It's a Dominican identification card. It has a number, your number for everything you do here in DR. Sort of like a Social Security card in USA, but not really.

I have been waiting to save up my centavos to get the $1200 pesos I needed to get my cedula and thus finish my permanent residency process. So I finally got the monies and also the taxi fare that I needed to get to the place to get my little plastic card with my number.

I called in the morning to make sure what documents I needed to bring with me. Some man got on the phone. He spoke a little English which is always much better for me to communicate because I don't have to think as much and sometimes I really hate to think. So anyhow, I got the information and said thanks. He responds with "Sure baby". Too funny. A government office and the man calls me baby. I knew this was going to be an interesting day.

I got all the stuff I needed and, I don't like carrying my passport because if it does get stolen it's a real pain to replace. So I stuck all the documents and passport down the front of my pants. Most people will never go there if they are going for a quick rob job. I called the taxi. Got in the front seat (I usually always go for the front seat, I don't like riding in the back unless I really have to do so)and was off.

When I got there I asked where I was to go and someone directed me to an office but it was the wrong one. So I finally got to the right place and went in. All the people were there with their lawyers. I was alone. The guy greeting people asked me for my passport (which I had already removed from my pants because I didn't want to do that in front of people and it was a bit wet from sweating so I wanted to try and get it a little dry). The man took my passport and looked at how wet it was. Me using my mouth before thinking (remember I said I didn't like to think much) said it was sweat because I had it in my pants. He laughed and smelt my passport! He held it to his nose and breathed deep! He said it smelled good. I was in shock and responded "At least it didn't smell like fish". He was laughing hard and his face turned red. Well, he started it trying to be cute with me so I had to give it back,,,correct?

Well, after he returned my wet sweet smelling passport I had to go and pay the taxes and return to the office for my picture. I was all sweaty and my picture looked bad but I didn't care. I hate getting pictures taken. But I got my cedual. It was really fast. Not like the last time I went and the computers went down and I ended up waiting for about 2 hours.

Got the taxi outside of the building for the ride home. Thank goodness that taxi was air conditioned.

Sunday Walkabout - Fighting Fish

I took my usual Sunday walk about and decided to cross the floating bridge and see what was on the other side that I had missed being in a car. I ended up walking on Avenida Espana pass the Naval base (after I was back home and looked at the map I realized I could have taken a much shorter route to someplace). It was a long walk going past the Naval base at there was only a long wall most of the way and the highway on the other side. Thank goodness I put a little sun block on my face and shoulders or I would have probably been quite burnt as there wasn't any shade.
The first place available to get of that smoldering hot highway I turned and went on my little exploring trip. I was looking for a good Colmado to have a nice cold beer and wipe the dripping sweat of my brow.
There was a large group of men surrounding a pick-up truck welling and jumping around so I decided that I'd stop and see what the commotion was.
If I had my camera there would be a few pictures one of which I will try and explain. A small sized red pick-up truck with about 15 men of various ages all surrounding it. There were about 3 young boys standing in the bed of the truck. there was a nice looking family sitting on the bumper of the car parked in front of the truck. A mom, dad and 3 small children. All were very animated and watching the top of the cab of the truck. On the cab was a large gallon sized jar. In this jar was two small black fish, beta fish. The fighting ones. Everyone was watching intently as these fish were preparing for battle. This is the description of the picture, if there was one.
So I stood near by observing this event. People were betting, just like at a cock fight. These fish were bighting each other. It looked like they were going at each others tails (my glasses need replacing so I couldn't make out exactly what part the fishies were biting).
This went on for over an hour. When the fish seemed to stop going at each other one of the men would pick up the jar and shake is ferociously. up and down (poor fishies heads getting banged around that way), then in a circular motion as to create a whirlpool in the water. then the jar was placed on the top of the truck and the people waited for the swirling fish to get their senses about them to start eating at each other. Then as the fish fighting slowed down the poor fish were put in another shaking and whirlpool.
this went on for ever. Many of the people seemed to get tired of the fight. The family left. the 3 boys were gone. Just the die hard men that bet their pesos on the death of a fish remained.
It rained two times, hard, and they grabbed the jar and went inside the Colmado to continue the fight. When the rain stopped they went back to the truck.
I was tired of waiting to see the outcome of this fight so I walked on. the rain made some big puddles, small pools, in the street so it took me a while getting around some of them. I could just imaging me walking near a puddle and some fun loving person decides to get the Gringa wet (I remember this happening when I was young and daring in USA when I was hitchhiking to Massachusetts). So I waited until the road was clear to pass by the larger puddles.
Finally I came to a cross road area and asked at a tire place which was the best road to take to get back to Colonial Zone. stupid me, they said it was really far and I forgot that to many Dominicans a few blocks is far. The moto concho offered to take me to the Zone for $100 pesos. I said no way. Did he think my head screwed on (lol!). So I finally got him down to $40 pesos and I hopped on. I never took a moto concho in the city before and reminded him that I like my flesh attached to my body and not spread across the street so he drove really slow for me. We passed a few people I knew and of course they all had to yell out their car windows about seeing me on a motorcycle.
Then to top it off, the zone was only about 10 minutes ride on the moto! I could have walked that, but oh well, it was refreshing on the bike. Which was the climax to another successful and eventful Sunday walk here in Santo Domingo.

Camera Stolen

No more new pictures for a while. My camera is gone and have to save up my centavos to get another so it may be a while before I have new pictures.

I was at the Puerta de la Misericordia taking pictures Saturday evening during the big street party for Lionel winning the presidency again. There was lots of people everywhere. The purple flags were waving and all the political campaign music was playing (I had a great video but oh well). I had my camera guarded in my pants but I was taking a video of the street party when some guy came up behind me. He grabbed the camera from my hand and threw it with all his might into the air. I turned around and he was standing there. I thought he was joking and checked behind his back asking "OK, where's my camera?" He said it's gone and laughed. Well, needless to say, I got angry. I gave him a full force slap across his face! He still had that shitty smile on his face and that really pissed me off. I grabbed my drink and threw it in his face and the next thing I knew I was in the fighting mode. I punched him straight on in the face! I can't believe I really punched a man in the face! I think I was as shocked with myself as he was. He put his hand on my neck (I thought he just put his hand on my neck, but the next day a large bruise appeared on my neck so I guess it was more than him just putting his hand on my neck but when the adrenalin flows I didn't feel the pain...until later). This made me more aggressive and I punched him in the side of his head two times! By this time the 2 acquaintances I was talking to saw what was happening and one grabbed me and the other stepped between us. They didn't know the guy threw my camera. It was so fast no one saw it happen. When the guys came to stop the fight the camera thrower ran away. By the time I explained what the thief did he was gone.

The friends and I went to the houses across the street to see if they would let me check their roofs and balconies. Only 1 person was home and we checked the entire roof and balcony and the camera was not there. I left my number with him and his wife in case they found the camera.

I had some really good videos and some great pictures of the days events on my camera. but oh well, what can I do? Just accept it. At least I stood up for myself, what ever good that did. Maybe the camera thrower was hurting for a few days (my punching shoulder and hand hurt for a few days) after and he'll think twice the next time he wants to mess with a Gringa!