My Daughter Rachel

I had a wonderful evening Tuesday evening. Isn’t it amazing what you can accomplish with a computer. Tuesday evening my daughter Rachel in Charleston, S.C, my son John in Miami, FL, John’s fiancée Sherry in Edmonton, Alberta and ole dad (ME) in Columbia, MO, all were online at the same time, hooked into a four-way conversation. We actually spent the entire evening together, talking, laughing, sharing pictures. I enjoyed it just as much as if we had all been sitting in the same room together. The computer is such a wonderful instrument for families that are spread apart by great distances.

It was not something uncommon for John, Sherry and I to talk through the evening, but last night was the first time that my daughter Rachel joined in.

These are some pictures Rachel shared with me last night. Rachel’s boyfriend Tim appears in most of the pictures. Also present is Rachel’s long-time best friend Liz. Liz, who lives in Charleston, was the reason that Rachel went there in the first place.

I will always remember the night Rachel was born. It was a stormy night in April with tornado warnings all about. Soon after she was born, the siren went off in the hospital and all the patients, staff, nurses and doctors were in the hallways of the hospital and so was was 15-minute old Rachel Marie.

Tom & Sofia

My good friend Tom is shown here with his new bride Sofia. I was honored to be Tom’s Best Man at his wedding recently. Tom is from Denmark and like myself and my friend Ed, he is a retired teacher. Tom is the owner/operator of a comfortable little outdoor restaurant on Pedro Clisante Avenue in Sosua called Hamburger Paradise. I spend time almost every day, as do many other expatriates living there, sitting at one of the tables either having lunch, a snack, a cup of coffee or a coke. There is always lots of laughing and telling stories about our latest experiences. I value Tom’s friendship very much and miss him. I will be glad to be sitting at the restaurant again.

Lisette

While I am introducing you to Tom, I would also like to post a picture of my Dominicana friend Lisette. Lisette is one of Tom’s employees and she has become a great friend. Lisette is a very nice girl who divides her time between attending the university in Puerto Plata, working at the restaurant, studying English and time with her family. She is just a very sweet girl.

How Is Your Spanish?

This is a picture I took of a sign above a store doorway in downtown Sosua. Can you read it?

Let’s take a look at it from the top down. At the top is the name of the store; Tienda (Store) Damaris (which could be a family name though the word dama means lady) … so top line is the name of the store … Damaris Store.

Second line … Ropas y Calzados. Ropas of course means clothes. The letter y in spanish means and. Calzados means footwear. The second line says Clothes and Footwear.

Third Line … Para Damas means For Ladies. Further to the right Pelo, Colas y Pelucas. Pelo is hair. Colas means tail or appendage. Pelucas means wig. In Sosua the wearing of wigs , hairpieces etc. is very popular. Pelo, Colas y Pelucas basically says Hairpieces and Wigs.

Fourth Line … Caballeros y Niños. That’s an easy one. It says Gentlemen and Children. To the right is Pelo 100/Natural. Also easy. It says the hairpieces, wigs are 100% natural.

Fifth Line … Cosmeticos y Acesorios. Even if you can’t speak Spanish you can figure that out … Cosmetics and Accessories. To the right is Niña . Primiun. Niña means girl. Primiun is a tough one and may be misspelled which isn’t unusual for public signs in the Dominican Republic. It may mean Premium clothes for girls or it may be some sort of slang. If anyone knows please tell me.

Sixth Line … At the bottom of course is the telephone number or numero de telefono.

Transportation In The Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a 3rd World Country. Almost none of the people own automobiles and the great majority of the population depend totally on public transportation.

Before you take to the roads in the Dominican Republic you should understand there are no driving laws or rules and regulations. At least if there are, they are not complied with.

You will never see an American-style police presence patrolling the roads and keeping order. The police have no automobiles. I realize that seems hard to believe but it is true. The Sosua police have one car that I know about and it looks like it just finished a Saturday Night Demolition Derby.

Sooooo it is basically everyone for themselves on the road. Add to that the roads are usually not lined, marked or lighted and often are full of potholes and especially dangerous to travel after dark. Traveling about can take awhile to get used to.

For short trips around town most people travel on the back of motorcycle taxis. They are called motoconchos or motos. They are literally everywhere. For every automobile there are 25 motos on the road.

These are mostly small Yamaha 100s with two-stroke engines. Like a lawnmower you mix the gas and the oil in the same tank at the pump. Consequently they are loud like a lawnmower and spew smoke into the air as they buzz around.

The streets are literally filled with them. I have seen 6 people riding on one moto. I have seen motoconchos carrying everything from stoves and refrigerators to animals to multiple gasoline cans (rolling bombs) and anything else you can think of.

In November when I return, I am going to photograph motoconcho oddities. I think this will be a great time-filler and you will just not believe the strange things you see being ferried about in this manner.

For trips town-to-town within the region, the people usually choose one of two forms of transportation. People move about in taxi’s (old dilapidated compact-sized automobiles). It is not unusual to be in an automobile like this with as many 8 or 9 people.

The other popular form of transportation are the gua-guas. Gua-guas are old, old minivans, for the most part very dilapidated. The most people I have counted in a gua-gua in which I have ridden is 27 (that’s the truth so help me). Believe me the taxi and the gua-gua are not comfortable rides. Cheap yes … comfortable no … educational yes ... wild and crazy driving you bet.

For longer trips the Dominican Republic does have an excellent bus system (Caribe Tours) with new, modern, comfortable buses that travel throughout the country for prices that are affordable for Dominicans and a total bargain for expatriates. The buses are large and air conditioned (always take a sweater or long sleeve shirt). You can take the bus from Sosua to Santiago for 70 pesos ($2.15).

Book Recommendation

A friend of mine gave me the book Monkeewrench by PJ Tracy when I was in Sosua. What a great book!

PJ Tracy is actually a mother-daughter team that have now had three books released and a fourth due for release August 3. Their books are mystery who-done-its, but it is not so much the plot as it is the way the books are written that makes them so interesting.

Two things make the books stand out to me. First they really get into the characters in the book and before long you begin to totally identify with them. Since the characters pretty much move from book to book, it doesn’t take long before you feel like you know them. The second thing I like about their books is the humor. The books are serious in the plot and direction the book takes, but the humor is there as well on every page and you find yourself laughing out loud while you read them.

After I returned to the states in April, I went straight to the bookstore and purchased the other two books … Live Bait and Dead Run. As mentioned the next release, Snow Blind will be August 3 and I am anxious to read it as well.

These books are definite can’t-put-me-down books and I highly recommend them.

Link of the Day

http://www.deadspin.com

Tired of getting all your sports news on ESPN, Sportsline, Fox Sports and all the traditional web sites. Try Deadspin, I like it a lot.