My Trip to DR 12/20/06 - 1/2/07 (MAY GET LONG)

[suitelady79]

Well, it's been a couple of weeks now since I've been back and I'm just getting around to posting about it.

Well, let me start by saying, I truely had a BLAST!

I flew into the Punta Cana Airport from Philadelphia. The flight was direct and was without delay which is always a good thing. I arrived at PUJ without problems. It took a while to get my luggage, but finally after a short waiting period and an ever so slight scare that my luggage hadn't made it on the plane, I got my luggage. I took about $50 with me on the plane in US$ and I had my traveler's cheques. I don't recommend cashing in your Traveler's cheques or your US$ at the airport as it is probably going to be a rip off. Just pay your $10 tourist card fee and make arrangements with a friend to meet you at the airport with pesos like I did. So once I found my friend, we walked off to wait on the street outside of the airport for the guagua to take us to Higuey. After about 20 minutes and endless honks from various cabs and regular cars offering rides, the guagua came. I think it was about 200 pesos per person. I'm not exactly sure because I didn't pay but I'm sure it wasn't much more than that. The ride from the PUJ airport to Higuey was about 40-45 minutes.

The ride was quite interesting. The road was potholey which as a traveler to the DR, you probably already know, but it's exacerbated 10x by the ricketyness of the guagua we were on. You could feel every bump and the old bus was rattling like it was going to fall apart. People zoomed by us sometimes like we weren't even moving. It was a fun and interesting ride, especially when we zoomed by the landfill that filled the bus with an unbearable funk that you wouldn't believe.

We arrived at the bus terminal in Higuey where we had to hail a taxi to take us the rest of the way to where I would be leaving my luggage for the two weeks while I was there. Yes, that's right folks, due to the size of my luggage and the type of hotel I would be staying in, it was not possible for me to take my luggage with me to my hotel. My friend and I decided this before hand that I would leave my luggage at the family's house and just take what I needed for the next day to the hotel every night. For this, I was prepared and had a small bag to pack my toiletries and enough clothes only for the next day to take to the hotel.

Since I let my friend make all of the arrangements, I had no idea how "nice" the hotel would be. When I got there, I was less than impressed but didn't really expect too much for 700 pesos per night. One of my criteria for being there was that I didn't want to stay at a super expensive hotel and that's what allowed me to stay as long as I did and do as much as I did. For the RD$700, the amenities of the room included: private bathroom (toilet and shower), 13'' color tv with basic cable, air conditioning, a small bureau with a small closet attached to it and a full size bed. There was also free water and coffee. It wasn't a sexy hotel by any stretch of the imagination, but at night they had an old guy with a big gun sit outside the entrance and "watch" (he was caught on more than one occasion falling asleep but who could blame him in the beautiful dominican night breeze).

The first night after settling in and meeting any and everyone who was available to be met, my friend and I went to a pizza restaurant right around the corner from the hotel. They don't just sell pizza but that was their main thing as they had a huge brick oven there. Of course, I didn't order pizza. I ordered chuletas and they were the bomb! (For those that don't know, that's a good thing!) I can't for the life of me remember the name of the restaurant. Sorry, on my next trip I will write more of these things down. We were interruped several times by poor haitian women and children who would come knocking on the window behind our table asking for pesos. The first couple we gave to...but after a while it got old and we stopped. We were then joined in the dining area by a rather unexpected guest. I cat came into the restaurant and made himself quite at home at one of the tables. No one said one word so other than remarking to my friend about it, I kept my mouth shut as well and in the words of m'frog "everything went it's caribbean way".

Day one was down and I was totally excited about the rest of the possibilities for this trip. I guess I should end this and start another post because I'm not sure how long I can go on in one post.

[suitelady79]

So to continue with my story, I visited Altagracia, which I expected to be a lot different than it was. I had heard about it and expected someting similar to a sistine chapel or something like that. It was not quite that glamorous but it was interesting. I had on an above the knee length dress so I was asked by the women to wrap a scarf (that she provided at the door) around my waist. I totally respect that and would suggest the women who want to visit to come maybe in some jeans or a longer skirt. The grounds of the church outside are lined with trees in perfect rows. It was quite pretty so naturally I had to take pictures in the beautiful setting.

Downtown Higuey is quite a bustling little city. There were people EVERYWHERE and there was bachata music (a few other forms could be heard here and there) blaring what seemed like 24/7. I absolutely loved it. The way people were driving, the traffic jams and the hustle and bustle of some areas reminded me of some parts of NYC. It was really an interesting sight to see. There are Casas de Cambio lining the main street down from altagracia and there was no problem cashing in my travelers cheques so that I could begin contributing to the dominican economy. I was not even asked for a copy of my passport. Just signed and got my money. The exchange rate then was RD$33.10. As the week passed and into the second week it was up to RD$33.30. I think that was pretty good and feel pretty confident that I wasn't being ripped off. I now had cash in hand so I was dangerous!

One day, we were walking through the market where people were selling various goods and food and whatever else people might be interested in buying. Laying in the street was a pile of what I guess was cow or horse skins. They were all bloody and laying in a huge heaping pile. There were about 3 or 4 stray dogs around it growling at each other trying to make sure they get their share of the bloody mess. That was one of the first crazy things I saw, other than the guy that I saw with a big @ss computer monitor on a motoconcho. This was not a slim, compact flat screen monitor. This was one of those big, huge, chunky old school monitors. I was like wow, they really do put any and everything on these motos!

So after passing all this one the way to the disco, we get to the disco and it's I would say about 1pm on a Thursday afternoon. We get in there and it's PACKED like it's Friday night! I couldn't believe it! I had to look at my clock to remember what time it was! So after I picked up my jaw off the floor, "everything went it's Caribbean way". I hit the dance floor and got a couple of drinks. I got into drinking Ciclones because I'm not a huge fan of beer. Presidente to me is disgusting and my friend drinks only Bohemian Especiale. I tasted some of his and it tasted like the perfect combination of urine and peanuts. Needless to say, I stuck with my Ciclones. Oh I also discovered Benedicta, which is also quite good. After umpteen Ciclones and Benedictas, nature began screaming my name. I went to the ladies room. The place was packed as aforementioned so needless to say, the ladies room was a wreck. It was a tiny one room bathroom with a broken sink and a toilet and a bucket. If you stoop over the toilet you can reach your arm out and touch all four walls. The door had no knob and didn't shut all the way. And of course there was 0 toilet paper. I went to this disco on more than one occasion and it was usually this way. One one such evening, I was standing in a line of women waiting to get in. I went up and peeked through the whole where the door knob should have been to see if anyone was in there. Someone was so I waited. While I was standing there, some girls behind me came up and went in. I'm standing there dumbfounded and wondering what is going on. I let them all go on. So they all came out and I went in and the girl behind me came in right behind me. By this time I'm kinda freaking out inside but trying not to let it show on the outside. I'm thinking to myself as I stand there and begin disrobing so that the festivities (of using the restroom can begin), I'm feeling a little funny because usually restrooms here in the US are one at a time. And this one was not that big so every butt pimple (if any) that I may have had that day, she saw! I couldn't believe it. She went next and I waited for her to finish before opening the door so as not to expose her naked bottom to the other women waiting outside. But I guess now that I think about it, she probably wouldn't have cared either way. On another occasion of going to this disco, this time knowing what the deal was, another girl came in behind me. This one happened to be a lesbian. GREAT!! So I not knowing this at the time go on and start to do my business. She pulls hers down and starts doing hers-- in the trash can! I guess when ya gotta go, ya gotta go! As she goes, she starts asking me about my nose stud. She had one as well. Then she strategically points out that she has a tongue ring and proceeds to show it to me in what I consider to be a somewhat suggestive manner. I smiled and nodded so as not to be rude and I pulled my pants up as fast as I could and ran out of that bathroom as fast as my size 8.5's could take me. I reported the incident to my friend who told me that she was indeed a lesbian. (Who knows how he knows for sure...he seems to know everybody and their grandmother.) When I saw her next she was hanging out with her girlfriend and they looked quite cozy together. I needed another drink!

[suitelady79]

The Saturday after I got there, we trekked off to Bani. This was a very interesting and LONG trip. It also meant that I would have to repack. I hate packing. But whatever. I did what I had to do. Packed my clothes for a three day stay there and off we went to the first bus to Santo Domingo. This bus was like a greyhound bus with a tv and dvd player so that the passengers could watch movies. We got there kind of late to the bus station and there was a long line of people waiting to get on the bus to SD. My friend decided that we were going to bust the line or else we would end up not getting there that day. So, I just went along with the flow. At first no one noticed us. Then when the line started moving, this lady started fussing. My spanish is not the greatest thing in the world especially when people are speaking fast and furious. I had no idea she was fussing at us so I went on and got on the bus totally oblivious that she was talking to me. My friend told me after we got on the bus...but by that point, I didn't care. Don't get me wrong, she had every right to be angry...but I was just following orders! I took lots of pictures and got a nice sleep while I was on the bus.


I noticed that every time the bus stops for any period of time and there are people waiting on it, Dominicans see that as an opportunity to seel them something. So we were stopped at a stop light in San Pedro. A guy comes up knocking on the windows selling chinos (oranges). We bought some. Those were the best oranges I have ever had in my life. I kid you not!! They were sweet, juicy, already peeled and already cut. What more could a lazy person ask for? More! We shared some with the folks on the bus around us. Anything that good is worth sharing with others!


I finally saw that McDonalds that I was asking about before in one of my posts. It was in San Pedro. I didn't get to eat any McDonald's but did wonder if the food was any different than it is here. I remember when I went to Chicago, I was surprised to see Hot Dogs on the Menu. I wonder if they had rice on the menu in the McD's in the DR. Just a thought. We finally arrive in Santo Domingo and have to get off the bus to get onto the guagua that will take us to Bani. I think that ride was another hour or so and that guagua was busting at the seams with all the people on it. We had a suitcase and my friend got off the bus to relieve himself around some corner (which is another thing I observed--men were just whipping it out any and everywhere! When ya gotta go, ya gotta go!). So he told me to hold his seat and the seat where he had the suitcase. The bus was getting more and more packed. Some guy tried to sell me some sunglasses. More people got on the bus. Some guy tried to sell me some cookies. More people got on the bus. Finally there are about 3 seats left. His seat, and the two seats where the suitcase is sitting. I'm feeling a little guilty and helpless because I know we weren't planning on paying for that extra seat and my spanish still sucks. So this lady gets on and asks me if that was my suitcase (I think). I told her yes. She asked me if she could sit there (I think). I moved the suitcase into my friend's seat and told her yes. I couldn't hold the seat any longer and have someone yelling at me in spanish later. So I figured we might be uncomfortable for an hour or so, but we'll just have to hold it. When he finally gets back, he says to me a sarcastic "Gracias". I told him, "nobody told you to get off the bus!" We had a little laugh as we rode almost all the way to Bani mashed by our suitcase. We arrived in Bani, FINALLY! We then had to catch ANOTHER cab, to take us to our final destination. No problem! We've been on 5 other busses/vans/guaguas to get here, one more will not kill us! We get to our final destination. I met EVERYONE and their grandmother--literally! This was also the first night that I got some real Dominican home cooked food. My friends dads wife put together a meal that you would not believe. I was sucking on bones and licking my fingers by the end. She can cook her @$& off!! One of the guys I met was so funny. Extremely thin. Approximately 45. Heavy drinker but LOVES to talk. Kept asking me if I wanted this or that. He was the funniest thing. Such a sweet guy. He lives next door to the Dad and they, from what I'm told have a love/hate relationship. The dad has said on more than one occasion that he's not going to talk to this guy anymore but they always end up talking again. I think they're probably best friends. This guy was over every day!

[suitelady79]

After that long bus ride and meeting everyone, I was tired so we make our way out of the barrio into the city where we'll be staying. We get to the hotel where we are greeted by a very inquisitive Senora. I tended to be pretty quiet when we were trying to get our hotel room and things like that so as not to be overcharged. You see, no one knows I'm not dominican until I open my mouth and start speaking "gringo". So my friend was the conductor of all business. So the nosey Senora asked him "Does she talk?" He told her yes, but she speaks English. Nosey Senora: "Where is she from?" Estados Unidos. Nosey Senora: "I didn't know there were black people in Estados Unidos." I thought that was pretty darn hilarious! Every time we went there they were sitting in the "hotel lobby" watching TV, so I'm surprised they have not turned on american TV at one point or another and seen some black people. But anyway, after the third degree was finished, we got our room. This room was a lot nicer, but still had a nice amount of ants. But whatever...I'd rather see ants than roaches. I went into the bathroom and what did I see? A roach. But it was cool. It was only one. All the days we stayed there (well it was only 2 nights), I only saw the one...thank God! The TV was bigger, we still had cable and AC. HOWEVER the windows were made of some sort of shudder. So everymorning, whenever the cocks crowed or someone woke up and decided they wanted to hear some Franky Ruiz, I was also awakened. Alarm clocks are not necessary in the DR. The cocks or the neighbors will gladly wake you up and keep you entertained all day. If I lived in the DR, I wouldn't need a radio or stereo. The neighbors always seem to provide the soundtrack of the day and "everything goes it's Caribbean way."



Back to the dad's the next day. Met some more people. There were CHILDREN and DOGS everywhere! Those are two things DR will not run out of anytime soon! It was funny when I went into one house and walked out the back and saw the men out playing craps. I thought that was funny. I said to myself, "hmm, they do that here too?" I was also told of a little boy who can't be more than 5 or 6 who smokes marijuana and his brother who's 11 does the same. I was shocked. Apparently their mother isn't around much so they just do their own thing. It's sad. They are the cutest things you ever did see. Both of them are adorable.



The evening was coming and there was some bustle about a cock fight going on that night. I needed to get washed up and stuff because after the fight, we were going to go back into the city to find a disco and dance the rest of the night away. My friend is like I'm going to shower. I'm like yeah? Where? He points to me this little shack in the back of the house. Now I'm familiar with it because I had used it on occasion for obvious reasons. I'm like "yeah, ok, knock yourself out!" He grabs a bucket of water, a towel, some soap and a scooper thing and heads for the outhouse. I'm like yeah, more power too ya! The day goes on and it's hot and I'm sweating and I don't want to put on my other clothes without showering. So, folks, I went out to the outhouse and "showered". The water was COLD. I was outside and I had to walk back to the house in my towel. It was truely a humbling experience! I got dressed and off we went to the cock fight. Now I'm not a big proponent of cruelty to animals but my curiousity got the best of me so I paid the RD$100 to go...what he hell, right? It was myself and probably about two other women in the joint. The room was filled with yelling and banging and testosterone! The festivities get underway some cocks won, others died, others were alive but will also be turned into chicken soup. Money was being passed around for the people who won and lost bests. It was interesting. Men don't get as hype as these men were about football here in the states, and guys here LOVE american football. I think you have to see it to believe it.

[suitelady79]

I was challenged earlier by the friend of the dad to a dancing contest--who can dance the longest. Apparently he's supposed to be good or something. I saw him getting all dressed up like we were going to meet up at the disco and he was going to dance circles around me. It didn't happen folks. He didn't go into the city with us so it remains to be seen who will be the champion. My money's on me, hands down! I'm young and I love to shake my tail feathers. As I stated before, he's 45 or so...so he can't handle me. I already know it. We'll have to see for sure on the next trip.


After many goodbyes and promises to call and come back soon, we head back to Higuey. I was actually sad leaving Bani! I had a really good time there and I was comfortable with the people and I loved the kids! That night when we got back, the night after Christmas, there was a free concert of the Rosario Brothers. It was a nice little crowd gathered and there were fireworks. They sang, they danced. The dominicans sang and danced. It was a good time. It was a party in the street. I loved it!


There was another night, I think a couple of nights before New Year's where Raulin Rodriguez performed a free street concert! This concert was even more packed. People were blowing up condoms and batting them around in the air and onto the stage. It was cute. Hopefully they didn't waste them all on that. This one crazy lady and her boyfriend decided that they would bring their moto into the crowd and park it there. The lady got mad in a crowd of thousands of people when anyone was touching her or the moto she was on. She starts pushing me because I brushed her a little bit when someone was trying to pass by me. She's yelling and bitching (oops, can I say that word?) the whole time she's hitting me. My friend and her exchange some angry words in spanish. I exchanged my angry words in Spanglish. So as not to cause any further problems, we moved to a better location. We left this concert a little early because he said if we wait till it's over, there might be problems with everyone trying to move at the same time. We went and got some grub and my favorite Pica Pollo. Pica Pollo Melo. It's open 24 hours a day. They had the best selection of food and you could tell them how much you wanted and they would give it to you and it wouldn't be any extra charge. I ate myself silly in this place. They had food like my mom used to make! I ate pigs feet! I haven't had pigs feet in ages and they were good too! I said to myself, "this is just like home!" As you can see, I did quite a bit of talking to myself. But I think I was the only one that really understood me 100%. We ate at this place almost every day.

[suitelady79]

I went to the beach in Bavaro. It was lined with tourists so we had to walk a long way to find a spot that we could settle. We bought fish on a hook from a guy on the beach. It was about 7 or 8 fish of all sizes. They were pretty! I wondered how we were going to get back to Higuey on the bus with these fish (the man did not provide a bag) and whether it would be fresh and edible by the time we got it home and into the refridgerator--and hell would the damn refriderator even be on when we got back or would it be out due to a black out. All was well. My friend got a bag from one of the beach shops. The fish was fine when we got back and we cooked them bad boys the next day and they were GOOOOOOOOD!!

On New Year's Eve, we went to a club that was across from Disney. I forget what it was called. It was RD$100 to get in. It was pretty fun there. The DJ was pretty good and we danced into the wee hours of the morning. We left there and went to where else? Pica Pollo! I had a really great time in the DR. Despite any minor things that I had to get used to such as black outs, lack of privacy in public restrooms, ants, lack of hot water, news programs showing actual dead bodies and nudity (yeah, I was blown away by this...but I can talk about that later), I had a wonderful time and would do it all over again in a heart beat.


Other little tidbits that I want to share with people is that if you want to use your credit card at an ATM it is fine and you will get a pretty good rate. I got a rate slightly better than the rate that I got when I went to the Casa de Cambio. However be aware that there might be fees assessed. Mine were $5.00 per transaction by my credit card company. I only got sick one time with stomach ache. That was one night. The other days I was fine. I was able to brush my teeth with the water in the hotel. No problems there. I was not robbed, I was not mugged. I survived and had the time of my life in the process.

I think I've posted and babbled enough! That's the end of my story!

[BettyB2]

Great review! I Love all the wonderful details...made for great reading after dinner tonight.....if you have more to add would love to hear all about it.

BTW, I am in the 40ISH YO range and can probably outdance my 22 YO daughter!!
Tell us more......

[Mr_DR]

Originally Posted by BettyB2

Great review! I Love all the wonderful details...made for great reading after dinner tonight.....if you have more to add would love to hear all about it.

BTW, I am in the 40ISH YO range and can probably outdance my 22 YO daughter!!
Tell us more......

That's because 40s is the new 20s specially if you avoid sodas, french fries and do lots of dancing.

[Mr_DR]

Originally Posted by suitelady79

I went to the beach in Bavaro. It was lined with tourists so we had to walk a long way to find a spot that we could settle. We bought fish on a hook from a guy on the beach. It was about 7 or 8 fish of all sizes. They were pretty! I wondered how we were going to get back to Higuey on the bus with these fish (the man did not provide a bag) and whether it would be fresh and edible by the time we got it home and into the refridgerator--and hell would the damn refriderator even be on when we got back or would it be out due to a black out. All was well. My friend got a bag from one of the beach shops. The fish was fine when we got back and we cooked them bad boys the next day and they were GOOOOOOOOD!!

On New Year's Eve, we went to a club that was across from Disney. I forget what it was called. It was RD$100 to get in. It was pretty fun there. The DJ was pretty good and we danced into the wee hours of the morning. We left there and went to where else? Pica Pollo! I had a really great time in the DR. Despite any minor things that I had to get used to such as black outs, lack of privacy in public restrooms, ants, lack of hot water, news programs showing actual dead bodies and nudity (yeah, I was blown away by this...but I can talk about that later), I had a wonderful time and would do it all over again in a heart beat.


Other little tidbits that I want to share with people is that if you want to use your credit card at an ATM it is fine and you will get a pretty good rate. I got a rate slightly better than the rate that I got when I went to the Casa de Cambio. However be aware that there might be fees assessed. Mine were $5.00 per transaction by my credit card company. I only got sick one time with stomach ache. That was one night. The other days I was fine. I was able to brush my teeth with the water in the hotel. No problems there. I was not robbed, I was not mugged. I survived and had the time of my life in the process.

I think I've posted and babbled enough! That's the end of my story!

Nice story suitlady,

That's what I am talking about.

You sat down and told the story about your trip,
unlike those crazy canadian and white american
females that their stories is more about how they
are crazily in love with some sankies.

[tk toronto]

Hey, that was great, suitelady!!

I can't believe you saw a cock fight!! That's crazy, and what's even crazier is that the nosy lady at the hotel didn't know that black people lived in the US!
I remember that cold water experience. I was at my host family's house trying to adjust the water for like 5 whole minutes like an ass. LOL!

A moto in the middle of the crowd? Craziness, I can't believe that you got into a Spanglish argument, that happened to me too and I didn't even bother, I just looked at her like she was crazy yelling in Spanish and spoke to her in English till she got frustrated and stormed off.

And that disco bathroom thing?? Sketch.

I remember being told to always walk around with toilet paper in your purse or pocket because a lot of the times, bathrooms will not have toilet paper.

Your story brings me back so many memories. I remember when I went to to Bon store in downtown Santiago and bought this little kid a popsicle and when I stepped outside (no lie), there were 15 kids and some adults with their hand out. I felt so bad I just had to run away, it was terrible.

As well, nice to get a story on the guagua, as on my trip I may have to take one.

Great stroy, when I come back I'll probably write one too!