Thursday, November 2

Today was a blur.

I slept okay, not great, my first night in my new apartment and new bed. It will not take long to get used to it. Got up early, showered, walked across the street to my good friend Tom's little outdoor restaurant for coffee. Tom is from Denmark and is also a retired teacher. He and I have been friends for a long time. He has appeared in the blog before, but more pictures of Tom and his restaurant, Hamburger Paradise coming soon.

Tom was busy getting the restaurant opened for the day. I had coffee with my good friend Klaus (pictured above). Klaus and I have also been friends since I first began spending a lot of my time here in Sosua. Klaus lives three doors down from me in the same apartment area. Klaus and I have a very unique friendship. Klaus is German, having spent most of his life in the former East Berlin. Klaus has lived here in Sosua for many years, but has never bothered to learn to speak espanol. He also does not speak English and I do not speak German. But, over time we have learned to communicate (don't ask me how, it's complicated), but he is a great guy and a good friend.

After coffee, it was time to get busy. Tons of things to do.

The first thing on my list was to get a phone so I could establish communication with family back home and also my friends here. Pictured above is the Orange Telephone Company office. There are three phone companies in the Dominican Republic; Orange, Verizon and Centennial. I have always used Orange and I know the people in the office very well (it is German run). I wanted to buy the same Nokia cell phone I have been using in the states the past several months, but it was not available. I settled on a very nice phone, a Siemans. So far it is smarter than I am, but I am gaining on it. This is my first cell phone with a camera though I have no idea yet how to make it work.

The next stop was at the company that carries my health insurance here on the island. Full health insurance coverage including dental here in the DR costs $60 for three month's coverage. Does anyone think health insurance is a rip off in the United States? Well it is! American health insurance is a joke down here among the Canadians and the Europeans who all have government subsidized medical care and 100% of their citizens have health care. Froka, (the name of the health insurance company), is also German run and the ladies had been expecting me to come in as it was time to pay my premium.

Then a stop at the farmacia (pharmacy) to get medicine for my chronic ear infections. Here you don't have to have a subscription to get medicine of this type (another rip off in the states).

Then a quick trip to the local colmado (neighborhood grocery store) to get a big bottle of water for the apartment. If you visit the Dominican Republic always remember, DO NOT DRINK THE WATER!

Then a trip to the ferreteria (hardware store) to purchase a pump that goes on the top of the bottled water and acts as a dispenser.

All of these jobs were done on foot and by noon I was getting tired. It will take me a few days to get my walking legs back, but already with the heat and the walking, I can feel all that weight I gained the past five months in Missouri starting to fall off me.

Next, a walk to the Super Playero (pictured above). The Super Playero is the best super market in Sosua. They also have a nice hardware section where you can buy kitchen supplies and all sorts of basic things for your apartment. I had several things on my list to include a big trash can, liner, coffee cups, big juice drinking containers, juice pitchers and numerous other odds and ends. I love the fresh juice down here and that is about all I drink besides coffee in the morning.

In the afternoon I went across the street to the apartment complex that my friends Ed and Billy live at and we spent the biggest part of the afternoon around the pool talking, reading, napping etc. It is hot down here with the day time temperatures ranging in the mid to high 80s.


In the evening Ed, Billy and I went to Rocky's Blues Bar (http://www.rockysbar.com/) for some of their famous ribs. I have posted pictures of Rocky's previously and it is a favorite place for most of us. It is an internet cafe, restaurant, bar, meeting place etc. I love the ribs at Rocky's and they are very moderately priced. I had six ribs, garlic and cheese mashed potatoes and salad.

After dinner, we stopped at two or three of the bars on our way home. There were lots of people out so it was fun. I saw several people that I know. When I got back to the apartment I couldn't believe it was 11:30. I slept a lot better the second night than I did the first night.