SDQ to Bayahibe and back

[beano]

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

[beano]

7-10-06 continued

Okay, now here's where I have some time for myself to do what I like to do...just walk. Knowing the wife was safe, and being pampered back at the hotel, I took off, wandering towards the Colonial Zone. I enjoy sitting at the little corner stores, trying a 20peso Brahma (not too bad), and people watching. I had a couple of interesting experiences. I had a one-legged pigeon hop on my hand after I kicked it a crumb of cookie. I saw a man whom had either just been stabbed or had a serious infection on his stomach as he walked by the corner, but no one seemed to notice or care too much. I weaved myself further and further away from the hotel. Stopping every once in a while and drinking a beer. Sweating like hell, but enjoying every minute of it. I decided I would find something simple to take back to the hotel to eat... beans and rice. Well, with all of the places to eat in SD, I couldn't locate a simple little kitchen that would give me just beans and rice. They looked at me like I was crazy. But, just as I was about to give up, I found a place. The owner even asked me to follow her into the kitchen to point to her what I wanted just to make sure. Then, she dipped a ladle into a 5 gallon bucket of room-temperature beans, and did the same into a bucket of rice. Talk about a bacterial soup!! And I work in the health field. Oh well, you only live once.
I finally found my way back to the hotel, and meandered back up to the room. I was expecting the wife to be bouncing around, feeling fresh, and rejuvenated. Instead, she was sitting on the bed, staring blankly at the TV.
"What's wrong?", I asked. Then I heard one of the funniest stories ever..
Here's where having a "stronger" grasp of the language would be most handy. She had a 2pm appt. for an "exfoliation and skin elixir". Well, she said she showed up at the spa, and was immediately told to disrobe, and was given a towel. Then she was led into a room with 2 different saunas, but she didn't know which one she was supposed to go into, whether she was supposed to go in the buff, if the saunas were coed, etc. So, apparently, she just sat there until the attendant returned. Then she was taken into another room with a table in the center of the room, and told to get on the table. She was then told to remove her towel. She tried to keep it to cover up the nether regions, but the towel was taken away. So there she was, naked, with a large Dominican lady, whom spoke no english, about to work her down. First, the lady sprayed her down with a green waterhose, just like we have at home. Then the loofah came out. The loofah went everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE. My wife even had to assist the attendant in "holding her body" a certain way so that EVERYTHING got loofahed. Thinking that nothing could be more embarrassing, the lady then came out with a bowl of oatmeal and started to apply it generously, all over my wife. The same scenario occurred, and we think we found a piece of oatmeal just the other day. I nevered laughed as hard as I did when she told me the story. Of course, I asked "was she good looking, and do you think she would do it to me?"
Since it was our last night in the DR, we decided to try El Meson de la Cueva, which is located near Parque Mirador del Sur, I think. We took a cab over, and when the cab driver dropped us off, I didn't even see a restaurant, or a cave. But, he pointed down over the side of the sidewalk, and we saw the entrance. What an incredible place for a meal. I'm glad we got there early, b/c by the end of the meal, the place was really getting busy. We had a pulpo appetizer and bottle of red wine. I had one of the best filets with blue cheese sauce I've ever eaten, and my wife had the chef's special salmon stake poached on a plank of cedar. It was a great evening, and made for a wonderful memory as we would be leaving the DR the next day.

7-11-06

We woke late, and decided we would just grab breakfast at the hotel, since we had a 2 pm flight back to Dulles. So, we indulged in the breakfast buffet at the Jaragua. At $16US per person, it was a bit more than I would have wanted to pay, but it really was good, with all of the fresh fruits, juices, breads, cheeses, meats, omelets, etc. that I would have wanted.
After breakfast, we met our arranged taxi driver, who was even 15 minutes early, and we departed for the airport.
The drive to the airport always brings mixed emotions. I know it will be at least a year or more before we return to the DR, but we were beginning to miss our lives back at home as well. I enjoy returning to the civility and sanity of life in the Shenadoah Valley of VA. We really don't know how good we have it. We know we always have many friends and fond memories to be revisited in the Dominican Republic.

the end.

[bigbird]

Great report! Sounds like you and the Mrs. had a wonderful time.

[DavidZ]

Wow... I honestly couldnt stop reading... GREAT report!!