Sunday, March 30, 2008

A Nice Finale to My Cabarete Stay

I'm taking off for Jarabacoa this morning - just doing some last minute cleaning and packing. Yesterday I was able to spend an amazing day in the hills above Gasper Hernandez with the Gardiner, Esmiraldo, and his incredible family. I had actually planned to go on Friday, but I misunderstood the meeting place, so at 10 am yesterday morning Esmiraldo's daughter, Sobi, came to fetch me unexpectedly. I was just making my morning cafe con leche, so we drank a cup together upon her arrival, and then took a little car and then a motoconcho to the house up in the hills of Bejuco Blanco where I was promptly greeted with a fresh coconut to drink, and then introduced to the entire family, not just Esmiraldo's wife and daughters, but all of the aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews,
and even Abuela (grandma).
Sobi decided to braid my hair (which I swore I'd never have done) so I've attached the photo for your viewing and entertainment. We hung out, listened to music, and bathed/swam in the river.
It was interesting once again to return to my deluxe apt. in Cabarete with hot running water, a microwave, super soft Egyptian Cotton sheets, leather couches, and a flat screen TV with cable after spending the day in a beautifully tiny, bare, and basic house with a tiny tv, no running water, and an outhouse for a bathroom. I have felt spoiled the entire month, but never as spoiled as I felt today. It's time for me to leave Cabarete and experience real life in the Latin world.
Vamos a vivir!

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Soy Flaca

I find it warm and wonderful how the Dominicans refer to one another. You are often called 'Amor' on the street, meaning 'Love'. The best part about it is that there are no boundaries with this name. I hear guys calling girls, girls calling girls, and girls calling guys this name. It is a very typical way to refer to another person here in the DR when you don't know someone's name. My name apparently though, is Flaca, meaning skinny, not so much in a nice way. Delgada means thin and has a more beautiful connotation, but I am Flaca - plain old skinny. When my friends/acquaintances here are referring to me either directly or indirectly, they use Flaca - never my real name which they know. If they would let me choose, I'd choose Amor, Bonita or Delgada but I don't get to choose. That's the beautiful thing about the Latin culture, is that a name is automatically chosen for you that seems fitting, and that is what you are called. I'm Flaca.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Semana Santa

I made an amazing comeback (for me) from the gripe - and just in time for el fin de Semana Santa! Other than the nagging cough and some congestion, I'm feeling much better. Semana Santa is celebrated the week before Easter. Here in the Dominican Republic, there were festivities all week long, with most businesses shutting down after Wednesday. Friday night, after having been stuck inside the entire week, I decided to meet up with friends for some Bachata on the beach. As I walked from the apartments to the dance bars at about 9 pm, there were lots of people out and about celebrating. I was sad however when I got to our local dance spot and was informed that music was prohibited until midnight. What? But Friday night is Salsa night at 'Voy Voy' and dancing at all the establishments usually starts at 10 pm! Not tonight, I was told, being the Friday night before Easter, the music and festivities would not begin to play until midnight, and would then go until 9 AM. I decided to head to the country with friends for the weekend and then went home to bed. I woke up at 7 am to a down pour of rain which I assume sent the last of the party-goers to bed, packed a few things, and then headed back to the beach to find breakfast. Indeed the aftermath looked like something from a movie. There was party paraphernalia everywhere, with still a few all-nighters holding beer bottles in hand, but mostly just those out doing damage-control, raking up piles and piles of bottles, cups, trash, shoes, etc. in preparation for Saturday's 24-hour festivities to begin. I met my group at 10 am, and was pleasantly surprised to see a cute little white Jeep Wrangler awaiting as transportation just accross the street. As I walked toward the Jeep however, I heard the loudest, base-iest, latin music ever coming from the car. When I went to throw my bag in the back of the jeep, I was engulfed in the sound blasting from a huge array of speakers. The speaker system was so large in fact, that it took up the entire vehicle except for the two front seats. I learned that there would be four of us riding in the two front seats with the music playing as loud as it could go (words can't possibly describe how loud it truly was) the entire trip, with the back open for everyone else to enjoy the entire 1.5-hour journey to Nagua. I promptly pulled out my earplugs and inserted them with a smile - I never leave home without them (thank goodness!). Unfortunately, the earplugs had hardly any effect on the decibels coming from the enourmous sound system at our backs, and my body was rattling with the base the entire ride. My travel companions seemed to love the attention and the volume, while I was trying to hide my face and indescretely cover my ears. Upon arriving to the country, we were fed pork (remember, I began to eat sausage last week). Something about no red meat during holy week I think. I found the pork more difficult to eat once I saw a woman preparing the head of the animal in a bucket of bloody water, knowing that we'd eventually be served portions of this very head sometime over the next 24-hours of our visit. I reminded myself though, that my purpose for the trip to Nagua was to escape the tourism of Cabarete and experience Semana Santa as the locals do. It would be important for me to keep this in mind the entire weekend. Having no idea what was on the agenda, only knowing that I would be well protected by my friends, I was forced to lose my controlling nature and go with the flow the entire weekend. After lunch, we went to the beach were the fiesta was going on. There were at least a thousand people playing in the river, swimming in the ocean, hanging out on the beach, and at booths packed all along the beach, drinking, listening to music, and dancing. Amazingly, in the three or four hours we spent at the beach, I never saw another tourist - quite a change from my experiences to date in the DR and a welcomed change indeed. After the beach, we went back to the host house and ate the traditional 'night-before-easter-dinner' soup. I can't remember it's name, but I think it is an acquired taste. The all night party at the neighborhood supermarket, which then moved to the host's house, began around 9 pm. I retired at 11 pm, and was happy that I did, because I didn't get much sleep once people consistently made their way inside trying to find a space to crash out until morning - the last drunk person entered the house at 5:00 AM talking as loud as he could, cursing the lack of space to sleep, and then snored along with a couple of others, as loud as I've ever heard a trio of snorers snore in my life. Unfortunately, I left my earplugs in the jeep which never did make it's way back to the house so no sleep for me. For breakfast we had traditional Easter drink/cold soup made from beans, raisons, and other stuff that I'd never heard of. It was all blended together and some people drank from a cup or glass, while others ate it from a small sauce pan with a spoon. There were lots of little kids running around the whole time enjoying the festivities as well. It was an enjoyable Easter weekend in the country, and I felt fortunate that I got to experience it the Dominican way rather that the tourist way. Life is beautiful.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Day #3 of the Gripe

I'm going crazy stuck inside with this gripe. However, I'm getting lots of time for self-reflection! Today, my horoscope revealed that I need to "expand [my] social network, and make connections with influences that will motivate [me] to grow smarter and stronger. Good advice by Rob Brezsny. Last week I was informed via my horoscope that I have too much emotional baggage (about 500 lbs of it in fact) and it's time to rid myself of it, because 500 lbs is too much for a 100 lb-er to be trying to lug around. More great advice. Very well then, since I can't go outside and expand my social network, I'm trying to dispose of all this baggage inside. OK, now for a list of things I like about the DR:
  • It's OK to hang out at the beach and swim in your underwear - everyone else is doing it.
  • It's also OK to go naked or topless - whichever you choose - no one cares.
  • The Most Common Pickup Line: I was having a conversation with God just last week, asking him to send a beautiful, nice, funny, smart girl to be my girlfriend, and he sent you - I can't believe it, I am so lucky that he heard me! (one of my personal favorites)
  • Anyone can honk at any time, for as long as they like, and as many times as they like, at anything they like. It's ok, just go ahead and honk. If traffic is at a complete stand still, honk even longer and louder - it helps things to move right along.
  • If you have to use the bathroom, just zip down the fly and do it regardless of how many poeple or cars are around. It also doesn't matter how indiscrete - a guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do, right?
  • More Pickup Conversations: Always ask first about a girl's age and whether or not she has kids - then, if she doesn't yet have kids, go ahead and tell her that she needs to have some with you. These items should always come before finding out if she is interested in you or wants kids, and don't bother making small talk such as interests or profession - it's all unspoken yet understood. Also, even if she tells you that she has a boyfriend, tell her that it doesn't matter because you are better than her boyfriend anyway.
  • Speedos are absolutely in, Baby! If you choose not to go naked, then wear a sexy speedo. Oh, and the tighter the better. Seriously, why can't we all just wear good old fashioned baggy board shorts?

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

La Gripe

I have the gripe today. That's the cold/flu that I woke up with yesterday morning. Yick. Although I had to smile this morning when I noticed this cute little frog peering in my window as if to say "buenos dias, rise and shine Senorita, you'll feel better soon". Then the gardner brought me some medicina from the farmacia for my sore throat, congestion, headache, and body aches, and my sweet Canadian neighbors cooked me up a German sausage for lunch! Yep, I eat sausage now (since today) and I'm being well taken care of.
The craziest things happen when you're out and about in the world. The sweet neighbors while cooking the lunch sausage, also informed me that one of our upstairs neighbors (also from Montreal) died yesterday morning. He was hanging out here by the pool the day before, and died that night on the way to the hospital of a fatal stroke. My nieghbor told me that he had a great last day, and reminded me that's what matters. Life is sometimes short and we must live each and every day in a way that fulfills us completely. I heard somewhere that happiness is a gift available to all, and it is our job to find it! More good words of wisdom.
Back to dinking my lemon water, resting, and admiring the beauties that lay just outside my door.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Hit by the Gua-Gua

Another good day at surf - yay! I was sleepy this morning from dancing the Merengue last night until 1 am, but still made it out. After surf, however I had to run errands - store and water refills. The store went ok and I amazingly made it back with three heavy grocery bags hanging off my right arm while driving my moto from Sosua, but when I went to refill water, not so good. I had to go to four different places to get my refill, and while driving around with my 5-gallon bottle resting on the gas tank, I was actaully 'bumped' into by a gua-gua! I couldn't believe he hit me as I was just cruising along my side of the road in search of water. All is well though and I luckily came out of it fine with no major crash - driving here is absolutely nuts!!!!! I've decided to use the moto more sparingly from now on.......

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Police Stories and Crazy Happenings

Hi All. I had to laugh at the comment made on yesterday's blog - apparently, as long as I can look good on the beach, I don't need to worry about knowing how to surf? OK then, there were a couple of crazy happenings yesterday to report. Crazy Happening #1: Cosmo witnessed a police ordeal on his park walk yesterday! Police ended an hour-long chase of an ex-con driving his SUV right at Cossie's park during his afternoon walk with the neighbor! Check it out at: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=2848875 Apparently, the police made Cossie and nieghbor jump in one of their cars to get them out of the park since it all happened right in front of them and the guy had a gun he'd been holding his ex-wife at gunpoint with. I wondered if Cossie, after riding in a police car, has been wanting to join the crime-fighting force as a police K-9. I'm still waiting for a response from neighbor on it. Crazy Happening #2: If you are family, please do not read Crazy Happening #2. While waiting for my gua-gua yesterday, I met a 23-year old, father of three, Dominicano also heading to Puerto Plata via gua-gua. We exited at the same location, and he asked if I'd like to accompany him to the hospital to look at the babies in the nursery. I said 'sure', having no huge plans in P.P, and the hospital located just accross the street. We walked around the hospital and looked at the different rooms with patients crammed inside, and saw the Pediatric room where there were lots of sick tiny children with little I.V.'s in their arm. Pobrecitos -they were adorable. We both agreed that it was educational for me to see what Dominican hospitals are like, and fun to see the tiny little babies newly born with their tired mommies. We then took a motoconcho to another hospital but couldn't have a look inside - they were much tighter on the security there. I ate some lunch, we walked around town a bit, and then headed back to the first hospital, where my new friend was put on a list to see a lady in an office which read "Mujeres", meaning 'Women'. There were also signs reading "Hombres", "Familias" etc. so I wasn't really sure why we were waiting for him to enter the Women's office. While waiting, I decided that I was ready to go back to Cabarete, and he said that was ok, but wanted to ride back together if I didn't mind waiting. I said 'sure' I'd wait, since he had gone to great lengths to find me a bathroom when the hospital bathrooms were too discusting to use - he payed a motoconcho to drive me a few doors down to use the bathroom in a restaraunt while waiting for the doctor. On the way back to Cabarete, I noted 21 people crammed into our gua-gua, which is designed to comfortably hold seven or eight. My new young friend and I were squeezed into the very back corner with me next to the window. This was not a problem for me, as I've packed into hundreds of overly crowded subways, trains, and buses during my travels where I had to cram in tighter than yesterday's ride, and I was happy to have a window seat. I was alarmed however, when we were stopped by the police during a routine roadside check, and they asked where we were coming from and going to. At first I thought they were talking to me, being the sole Gringa in the bunch, but as my friend continued to answer for me (us, him?), another policeman came over to the window I was sitting next to, and I could both see and hear that he meant business and was definitely talking to my friend and not to me. They asked him to get out of the gua-gua and step to the opposite side from where I was sitting. From what I could see, they called over another policeman and continued to question him even further. As I was trying to squeeze a peek at what was going on outside, the gua-gua started driving away with everyone staring at me while I was still trying to see what was happening to my young friend out the back window. No one said anything when I looked curiously at them, they only gave me not-so-nice looks, and I figured that as a foreigner, I'd better not ask the obvious, or I'd probably be guilty by association. We continued to zoom away and I got out at the same stop as we entered, only this time alone and concerned. Having made plans with his tour operator friend to take me up the mountain at 10 am this morning to see the waterfall and forest, when no one showed up to meet me, I was glad that I didn't insist on getting out of the gua-gua to wait for, or unknowingly try to defend my new friend who may have been arrested. What a crazy day! The good news is that I had a great time out surfing this morning. I had fun, and the waves had mellowed out a ton over the past couple of days so I didn't get rolled too hard and even caught a few. Woo hoo!

Words of Wisdom on Surf

Good Morning All. I've decided to take a break from surfing today and take my very first 'gua-gua' (small passenger van hauling people from town to town) into Puerto Plata. I'm so excited! I recieved a great email this morning reminding me: "thats the great thing about surfing, is that it is not you against anybody, just you improving yourself,... and as long as you are having a good time doing it, thats all that matters" This is so true! I had a terrible time with the waves yesterday, in fact I got rolled so hard, that I had water spontaneously pouring out my nose the entire day! The morning before yesterday, while putting my board, leash, wetsuit, and booties away, a seasoned surfer who has lived here for 30 years, asked me how it was going. I told him I had been feeling really discouraged and he told me not to worry - to just get out there and paddle, to work on beefing up my muscles first, try to catch a wave or two, and eventually it will just come. I'm loving this excellent advice, so if anyone else has any..........please send it my way! Namaste.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Cockroaches, Relationships, and Other Scary Things

Uh oh. I'm afraid that I unintentionally invited a visitor into my Cabarete apartment sometime over the past week. He was so inconspicuous that I hardly even noticed him until I opened the bottom cupboard to reach for a tupperware container for my leftover dinner, and saw a very very large bug. Of course my reaction was to freak out, forget about the tupperware for the food, and instead toss my leftover dinner out with the trash. I hadn't seen him again until Stephen, the owner's friend stopped by last night to check out my broken water pump which used to provide me water from a 5-gallon container stored in the cupboard under the stove. My cockroach appeared once again when Stephen was removing the water container from the cabinet in to try a 'spare' pump. Stephen promptly informed me that the owner had never housed cockroaches before, and implied that he wouldn't be happy about it. Oh shit! Could I have just welcomed a colony of enourmous cockroaches into this beautiful, new, clean apartment that I've been allowed the pleasure of staying in for an entire month? This morning before and after surf, I looked all over for the intimidating insect, but he was nowhere to be found. I then decided that I must take whatever necessary actions and remove the small beast from the apt. so I stopped by the market, and bought roach poison. When I got home, I decided to make one last thourough search before having to deliberately poison the insect, and to my surprise I found him! He wasn't very happy about it, but I trapped him in a tupperware container (one which I'm sure he'd been hiding in), took him for a stroll down the beach in the opposite direction as Stephen's apt., and set him free. I don't know if this was the right location to set him free, but I figured that he'd probably find a nice new home somehow. He seemed very resourceful to me. While walking along the beach together, I decided that if I were not staying in someone else's place, I could indeed live with the beetle-bug-looking guy easily enough. Why did I freak out when I saw him for the first time anyway? He certainly wasn't harming me in any way, right?
I decided that it's the same reason some humans are uncomfortable with relationships, some of being alone, some of change, or trying something that we've never tried before. It's the fear of being out of our comfort zone - of changing the way we have been trained to perceive situations or things throughout our lives.
My question then is this (and know that at least a portion of this inquiry has been sparked by my interest is seeing Gov. Spitzer's wife standing by his side as he resigned due to his recent 'mishap' with a prostitute): Why is it easier to eliminate the 'pest' - the cockroach hiding in the cupboard, an intimidating wave, the mistrust, the personality trait which happens to be trying our patience, or perhaps the public appearance beside a cheating husband knowing that your life partner has deceived and publicly embarassed you by soliciting the services of one or more young prostitutes (this courageous act is certainly not for the wishy-washy or weak at heart!) which makes us uncomfortable, rather than just accepting that it's there, and respecting it for what it is, knowing it's intention is not to harm us? Bug or beau....

Saturday, March 8, 2008

San Felipe Fortress in Puerta Plata March 8, 2008

I took a quick trip into Puerta Plata after the airport today to see the San Felipe Fortress. I not only found a very cool, ancient fort lying on the edge of the port, built to deter marauding pirates in the 16th century, but to my surprise I also found six of the funniest little Dominicanitos I've encountered yet! They first started out asking me for money, and then turned into these hilarious little posers, as you can see from the photo yourself. We got solo photos, group photos, photos in front of the Fort, photos in front of a statue, photos overlooking the ocean, and they even took photos of us. They finally said 'no mas', and we all enjoyed ice cream together sitting by the ocean. As I drove off, they chased after my car, waving hands and running their little piernas as fast as they could. It was a delightful parting and even though I was denied a tour of the 1880's Brugal Rum Factory (not open on weekends) afterward, my experience in P.P. sent me back to Cabarete with a big smile.

Humpback Whale Migration to Samana Bay

Drove down to Samana with a friend to see the fascinating humpback whale, which has been coming to the Dominican Republic every winter for centuries to mate, give birth, and nurse newborn calves. They say that 1500 or more whales visit Samana Bay for varying lengths of time, with up to 300 present during mid-February, and therefore the World Wildlife fund considers it one of the best places to watch whales. We signed up for a tour with Kim Beddall (founder of whale watching in the bay, and has been doing tours since 1984-85) on the Victoria II, and caught some great views of several different whales; particularly one active male which we spent most of our time observing. I didn't snap any photos, because they spout, then either flipper, breach, tail lob, spyhop or dive, then dissappear before ever getting a great photo opp and absorbing the action for oneself. I chose to take in every single morsel of action, rather than continue to desperately try to get a photo (although it would have been more exciting for my blog readers to see! Please know that I actually did try a couple of times, but then decided it was not happening). Great photos can be viewed however at the links listed below - they are much better than I could have done! I was both amazed and moved by the beauty of these enourmous creatures in their natural setting. Did you know that the migration of the humpback whale is one of the longest of any mammal, and consists of feeding off the coast of New England, Newfoundland, Greenland, and Iceland, then heading south to the Dominican for the winter? This is approximately 3,000 miles that these creatures swim one way! They don't eat for five or six months while they are in the West Indies, and therefore lose up to 1/5 of their body weight. If you'd like to learn more about these amazing sea creatures, feel free to jump onto the following websites: http://www.samana.org.do/whales.htm, http://whale.wheelock.edu/Welcome.html, www.howstuffworks.com/whale, and http://csiwhalesalive.org/csigallery01.html

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Beautiful Playa Grande and Playa Preciosa

Took a little journey down to Playa Grande yesterday by car with the board. Had hoped to do a little surfing, but the surf thought otherwise, so instead, just hung out on the beautiful Playa Preciosa (shown in photo). On the way back, stopped to get some lunch in one of the road side cafes, and when asking to eat, the woman said "Pescado?" meaning "fish?", directed one of the boys to disappear down some stairs toward the beach, who returned ten minutes later with a huge round tub full of different types of fish all piled on top of each other in the tub. I was then handed a fork and prompted to stab my fish of choice, however there were so many flies on and around the fish inside the tub, that the server had to shew them away in order to view and select one of the tasty fish. Decided to skip lunch and just wait for dinner on the beach.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Sweet Bike Man!

I just finished finalizing my transaction for both my motorcycle and surfboard for the entire month! OK, so niether are in perfect condition, but the bike looks sweet! I first talked to the guy at the surf shop, who said he'd keep his eye out for one, then I asked the moto driver who brought me home from the surf shop on his bike, and he took me to a guy, who led me to another contact, which led me to two young with cool bikes (both of which they let me ride - I'm pretty sure just to see a girl ride), who then introduced me to the guy I actually got the motorcycle from. Now while the bike may not be perfect (no lights, front brake, barely any back brake, and a clutch that only works part time, and really bent handle bars), it looks sweet! I've posted a photo for your enjoyment and hopefully entertainment. It goes really fast when I can get it to shift into the higher gears, and I sure get lots of stares, being pretty much the only girl flying down the road on a motorcyle.
I can sleep soundly tonight knowing that my surfboard and motorcycle mission is now accomplished, and I'm ready to roll for the next month
Take care for now all.