Monday-Wednesday, November 6-8

Things are starting to settle down and I find myself approaching a routine.

I am still customizing on my apartment. Tomorrow my friend Bruce and I are going to Puerto Plata. I have several things on my list to purchase there to include a computer chair, another pillow, a bath mat, another vertical four-drawer set and some curtains. I am starting to purchase art for the walls. I really enjoy the unique Haitian tropical art on sale here. Also am starting to get all the family pictures up. Things are coming along.

Yesterday Bruce and I had lunch together at Restaurante Centro in los Charamicos. Los Charamicos is the part of Sosua where most of the dominicans live. Restaurante Centro has very good seafood. Bruce had the sea bass and I had conch, salad and french fries. Good food! Good conversation!

Above is the restaurant Hamburger Paradise. This little outdoor restaurant is owned and operated by my good friend Tom. Tom is a retired teacher from Denmark. Tom and I have been friends for almost two years now. Tom's place is across and just down the street from my apartment.

The food is good, the beer is cold and the companionship is excellent. Tom's is a hangout of sorts for a lot of the guys. I usually manage to spend two or three hours of each day hanging out there with my friends.

Last night Ed and I were sitting there with another friend, Alex from Great Britain when a guy from Long Island named Sid showed up. This is Sid's first visit to Sosua and he had tons of questions about where things are and how things work here. Ed and I offered to show him around town ... so we took him downtown to the clubs. Sid was very appreciative of the attention and graciously picked up the beer tab for the evening.

Usually in the afternoon I go across the street to Club Residencia where Ed lives. We hang out reading and napping and just living life the way it should be lived.

My big apartment purchase yesterday was a new coffee maker. It is not every blogger who takes a picture of his coffee maker! I'm not sure that is a good thing. Anyway this is a picture of my little kitchen nook. No I do not have cooking facilities. I could buy a counter top stove and a microwave, but I don't like to nor want to cook. It is much cheaper and easier to go to some of the little restaurants up and down the street. I am definitely not into washing dishes.

This morning I took some pictures of the area outside my apartment. This building is a lawyer's (abogado in espanol) office. The apartments are around behind this building.

This is the apartment area. The larger apartments are on the left. Eventually, when one opens up, I will move into one of those. That is the door to my little apartment.

Another picture of the door to my apartment.

There are four small studios in the building. My neighbors are German and Hungarian.

These are some of the Club Residencia apartments directly across the street from my building.

The final two pictures are taken from the steet in front of my building. This is the main street in Sosua, Pedro Clisante. In this picture we are looking toward downtown and the beach.

This picture is taken from the same place, but the other direction away from downtown Sosua.