sorry that took so long...
So, here we are in middle of a barrio's nightly version of "Dance Fever" when a Belgian guy appears, with a towel wrapped around his neck, and looking like Nick Nolte, in that infamous mug shot. He would precede to corner my wife, and talk with her for about an hour. He was starting an English/French school in Los Conucos, and wanted to talke about it....extensively. He chastised us for giving rings to the kids, telling us that it only made them expect thing for free. Well, the way I saw it, we were enjoying "their" party, uninvited, and we were just sharing in some cheap fun. This so called teacher even asked my wife, who happens to be a high school English teacher, to translate some phrases into Spanish for him. So, if you're in Los Conucos, and you're approached by Nick Nolte, don't ask him to teach you're children.
Well, after being a little put off, we shared one more beer and asked Phillip to take us back to Don Pedro. I could have stayed longer. Now we know how those kids grow up to dance like Shakira!!
7-9-06
Well, this was the day that we decided that we were going to move on to SD for some pampering, at least for the wife. After some consultation, we decided on the ultra touristy Jaragua. I think it was around $180US a night, and we were expecting all of the bells and whistles. The Lonely Planet spoke of TV's in the bathroom, champagne upon arrival, etc. Well, when we reached room 528, we weren't terribly impressed, but it was nice all the same. A spacious room, king sized bed, mini-bar (which I resisted, but the wife couldn't and had 2 $5US candy bars), large bathroom, and a limited view of the Malecon. I really wish the water facing south was cleaner there, but that's another discussion all together. After settling in, we decided to walk down to El Conde for some people watching, and some lunch. It was a long hot walk, and I got us a little lost, since we decided not to follow the Malecon, and weave back across Ave Indepencia. We were harrassed by money exchangers, hungry shoe shine boys, old women, you name it, but we finally made it to El Conde. Yep, there is was, just as I had remembered. Busy, busy, busy. We walked down, almost back to the Malecon, and stopped to have a drink. Some more people watching, and then we turned up the next street for lunch. I can't remember the name of the place, but it was excellent. The waiter at the little cafe we were sitting at walked us up to the place. My wife had grilled chicken, and I had chicken creole style, extra spicy. It was delicious. Now with a belly full of food, we decided to walk back to the Jaragua.
My wife took a nap, and made an appointment for some spa treatment the following day, and I decided to hit the casino. Now, I've alot of comments about gambling in the DR, and some of them definitely rang true. I figured I would just play roulette and enjoy some free drinks. Well, I started off with $50US, and played in dollars. I won a few spins, lost a few, and cashed out up about $25. I had to beg the waitresses for drinks, and tipped them a dollar each time. They looked like they could care less. No one else was tipping, but I figured if I tipped that they would remember me, and keep me in mind. Go figure.
So, after the wife came down, we had some appetizers in the overpriced sports bar there at the hotel, and went back to play a bit more. Same thing, win a little, lose a little, until I had $5 on 33 black. Damn if she didn't try to swipe my chips off without paying up. Now, I don't speak Spanish well at all, but I was sounding off in some kind of gibberish, enough to garner some help from some Dominican players around me. Finally, without even looking up at me, she calmly payed me $165US. I tipped her $3 and left. I slept a little better that night, knowing they would have plenty of time to take my money back the next day.
7-10-06
We woke relatively early, watched some CNN, and planned the day's activities out. We decided to go to the Nacional Aquarium early, grab some lunch, hit the pool, my wife would catch her spa "treatment", and I would do what I love to do....wander the streets aimlessly.
We took a cab to the Aquarium. We met a great cab driver, one whom we would use the next day to take us to the airport. But, the aquarium was a complete let down. I mean this is the National Aquarium, and the DR is an island with Caribbean and Atlantic waters?! Every fish, turtle, and iguana in the small park had "just shoot me" eyes. It was very sad, especially seeing the sea turtles in something the size of a child's wading pool. They were clammering on each other's backs, and covered with algae. The iguanas were crawling through trash and it was just sad. We walked through the rest of the park, and the reality of the DR just really sank in. I think we were a little used to seeing trash in the countryside, and city, but this was the National Park. Anyways..
We cabbed back to the Jaragua, and my wife set off down to the spa room for a true adventure.
to be continued.... still at work
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