12/10 - 12/21

[ArJay]

The point of this report is to relate what happened by chance recently in a far reach of the island.

My friends and I rented a van to see the island. We were 5 days out. a little tired, but it was Sat. night, and it was fiesta time. We found our way to the local disco that was headlining a special act. We made a go of it, sitting in the back of this open air disco. First thing that happened was a waitress came near, and looked me straight in the eye, challenging me.... , why I was looking at her. Granted I'm a dirty old man with an eye for the 20 year old ladies, but I didn't deserve the daggers she was pointing at me. ( I was getting over another close call, so I was probably paranoid ). Nonetheless she had the eye of the tiger and totally intimidated me. And she was probably closer to 16 or 18. So licking my wounds and trying to be low key, I'm sitting nursing my drink, when another lady is giving me the eye...... Soon she wants me to dance. I don't have a free will here, what Lola wants, Lola gets.....
I give myself up, and she hauls me up to the dance floor, pushing everyone aside until we are smack dab in the middle. She is having a good time, dancing bachata and rubbing me up real close. Soon it's very plain she wants to get erotic...! When I get back to my friends, they all agree, a live one has attached herself to me... What am I to do? I stick with it. She seems to like me and gets me up to dance some more. Ok... but she seems to be parading me around the audience too.... something's up.....

It turned out that this was one of the "chica Caliente's" that was performing there that night. Ok so that makes sense. She's trying to make a spectacle to drum up business... later , on her first dance, she comes off the dance floor to haul me up there and give her a big smootch, ( somewhere I can't mention ), but that's not all....
Another part of the act was that there was a feud with a rival chica nearby. ( I'm guessuing this, it may not have been an act....) This girl totally challenges a group of locals by instigating a fight with another girl who may or may not have been known to her, I have no idea). She's all over their faces, and here I am in the background, a lowly gringo, ( my friends are long gone ).... I decide to play it low key by moving over to the other side of the disco,... but my reputation follows me.... people express their approval of certain of my skills....etc.... so I stick with the girl and wade through a group of locals, just so I can sit with her. To be truthful, there are a few other white faces in the crowd, one of which is the hotel manager where i checked in, ( he's pretty wiped but manages to allay my fears by talking a bit of sense to me so I stick with it again ). After awhile things seem to calm down a bit, and I gain some confidence that I can really end up with this tigress. She kind of talks to herself sometimes but I chalk it up to just...... anyway after things have calmed down a lot, and it's apparent that I stand a chance with her, a sharp dressed guy comes out from the back, who has had something to do with the whole business from the start.... He was regarded as a chulo by the more knowledgeable one of our band at the beginning. I try to ignore him , but he soon is talking very forthrightly to me in espanol that I can understand... He tells me his name and he is a promoter of shows in Santo Domingo. Soon he relates to me that the girl is from a very poor family from Monte Cristi and if I could give her a place to sleep, he would very much appreciate it. I need to get her back early in the morning for the bus back to Santo Domingo... He spoke Spanish very slowly to me so I would understand. I could see by the look on his face that he bore no malice, and was in fact NOT a chulo but a simple show promoter with a lot on his hands.
It turned out that the girl's stage demenour was totally opposite of what she was about... She was shy, even to the point of almost being childlike due to an affliction. So needing some sleep after such a long perilous night, we walked back under the most brilliant starscape I'd ever seen, and I slept until the roosters crowed some 4 or 5 hours later.... end of story.....

[Keith&Cris]

You have a wonderful imagination, ArJay... and you weave a story in the first person so very well. Are you a fiction writer? What books have you written? Please let me know the title(s). I'd love to read more of your works.

[ArJay]

Thanks for the compliment. I am constantly honing my communication skills so as to be precise as well informative using the least amount of breath possible for my job as a software engineer. It was all true I assure you. There were many other details I could have included but brevity is the soul of wit, so...

It occured to me to include the various hotels I stayed at. All were $20 US per night or less. All had fans, no AC, no TV. Here they are:
Rio San Juan: Bahia Blanca, large helpful staff, bar, dining room, Sea view. Look for signs.
Las Terrenas: Cafe Nina, large helpful staff, very friendly, (very good) breakfast included, very quiet, can hear the surf breaking in the middle of the night. Around the corner on the main beach road. ( I will try to dig up the email address and post it later)
Las Galeras: Restaurant GriGri, rooms above the restaurant are little bit rustic ( when all others are filled ), cabanas across the street are better. On the main road before the beach, look for Restaurant GriGri on the left side, and ask for a room in there. Very friendly, and helpful.
Luperon: Casa del Sol, nice neat small hotel, friendly, run by a German lady, good restaurant and bar, on the main road to the beach, left side. casadelsol@codetel.net.do www.lacasadelsol.info
Luperon: pequeno mundo, a little farther down towards the beach, don't know their restaurant situation, when I needed a water, they couldn't change a 20 peso bill. The night view of the bay though I heard was very nice.
Last but not least, Puerto Plata: Aparta Hotel Lomar, AC, and TV included. close to downtown, and Long Beach area. Very large, and friendly staff. On the Malecon
That's all the news that's fit to print, enjoy.................

[ArJay]

Email address for hotel Casa Nina in Las terrenas is:
rosmeryfrias2000@yahoo.es

Tel. 809 240-5490
fax 809 240-6070

[ArJay]

Thanks for keeping my post up. I put a lot of effort into my trip and hope that some part of this thread may be helpful to someone.
Ray

[ArJay]

I'd like to post some pics. Can anyone tell me how?

[Keith&Cris]

go to www.virtualtourist.com and create a free website. You can upload pics with captions etc.
Check out www.virtualtourist.com/keith&cris for our pics.

[ArJay]

Thanks K&C, I'll give it a shot.......