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We continued on to the coast taking our time. After we passed Oviedo We stopped at several of the roadside stands and bought some honey and several varieties of locally grown vegatables. The views on the way back were just as spectacular as our first trip through this strip of road. When we arrived at he Pontevedre and had checked in we saw a good size bus pull in. It was full of a group of nursing students and teachers (women and men) from Northeastern University outside Boston. After they got settled they all started drifting down to the pool and beach, obviously ready for some R & R. They had been working for two weeks in a clinic in Las Matas which is just outside San Juan, about 11 miles from the Hatian border. This was thier first time off since they had entered the country and they were ready to relax. Some of the teachers had been here before but it was a new experiance for the rest of them. I was suprised at how little they new about the Dominican Republic but they had been busy and way out in the country. We spent the rest of the day sitting around the pool sipping drinks and discussing things Dominican. After dinner they convinced the bartender Youcandi (SP) to help them learn some Dominican dance steps and I think the whole bus full of them had a good time. After I told them that the city of San Juan was known as Ciudad de los Brujos (City of the Witches) one of the teachers explained that she was from Salem Massachusetts, and that that is also known as the City of Witches. My girlfriend looked very serious for a while and then asked if the woman was a witch. This got a good laugh out of the Americans but my girlfriend was still puzzled until I explained about the history of Salem MA. We went through all of thier ice and most of thier beer and ran up quite a bill. I'm sure the Pontevedre was glad for the business as most times this hotel is half empty. In the morning we said our goodbyes and I wished them luck and thanked them for trying to do some good in the DR. On our trip back east we ran into a festival (Patronelli?) in downtown Barahona but could not stay. We were headed for Palenque and Cocolandia and were getting tired of all the driving. We stopped to take a break at a half a dozen fruit and vegatable stands along the road and stocked up for her family back in San Cristobal. Her father says that the platanos from Barahona are the best in the country and he was thrilled when we returned with a good size rack of them. There were a lot of mangos for sale everywhere but her family has two trees in the yard so we skipped those. We spent the next few days staying at the Hotel Playa Palenque. Don Pedro was glad to see us as by now I am a frequent guest there several times a year. It was quiet and relaxing. The rooms are only 1200 pesos a night though his excellent restaurant/bar is a little expensive. Who would have thought you would find chataubrian, wienesnitzl and beef stogonoff out here, but he has it every night. He also has a pretty good selection of imported liquor and wine. I was told that he has put the place up for sale and if I hit the lottery I surely will buy it. That will be my next story.
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