Saturday, December 30, (sabado, 30 de diciembre)

Happy New Year ... There will be parties everywhere tomorrow. I am not sure where I am going. I think Ramonita is coming from Puerto Plata. Since I took her to a pig roast in the barrio on Christmas Eve (which I am sure was no big thrill for her), I will probably go to one of the better parties around Sosua. My friend Leif is going to the Scandanavian Bar. I may go along with him and his lady. The price is steep, but includes a really nice Scandinavian buffet and drinks.

Dominican Baseball Playoffs ... We are now four games into the 18-game round-robin semi-final playoff to determine the final two teams to play in the Island Championship. So far so good for my Aguilas. After losing to the Gigantes Thursday night, Aguilas de Cibaenas turned the tables on the team from San Francisco de Macoris last night 8-2. In the other game Licey kept the Toros winless with a 7-4 victory. The Gigantes and Aguilas are tied for first with 3 wins and 1 loss apiece. Licey is in 3rd at 2-2. The Toros de Azucareros are in last at 0-4. Tonight the Toros are in Santiago to play the Aguilas and Licey is in San Francisco de Macoris to play the Gigantes. After tonight the teams will break for two days for the New Year's Festivals.

This and That ... Today several pictures with no particular category documented.

I have this picture on the desktop of my computer right now. I took it the other day while walking on the beach.

Tom hard at work at the restaurant.

Dominicans love their music. This is a small band that walks around the beach playing their music.

Another picture of Yulissa at the tienda in Los Charamicos.

Sosua Beach from the Los Charamicos side.

A gua-gua or as we sometimes call them ... chicken bus.

Schools Out! The holiday vacation lasts until January 10 here in Sosua.

Rain clouds out to the west of Sosua Beach. These clouds will continue to move west and pour rain onto Puerto Plata. Rain seems to always come in from the southeast here.

Another picture of Esmeralda, her brother and his daughter at their tienda.

My next door neighbor Bessie. Straight across from the restaurant Hamburger Paradise there is an little open field. Two cows are kept there to graze. Not quite sure why we chose the name Bessie because Bessie is a he. Bessie is very docile and you can walk up and scratch his head (he loves that). The other one is not to go around. We take Bessie all sorts of goodies most days.

Sosua Beach.

Sugar cane ready to be cut near Montellano.

Word For The Day ... mariposa

mariposa = butterfly

Life Is Good ... ademas (more later)!

Thursday, December 28 (jueves, 28 de diciembre)

Dominican Baseball Playoffs ... Aquilas de Cibaenas defeated Licey 5-3 and Gigantes del Cibao won over Toros de Azucareros (sugar cane cutters) 8-3 Tuesday night in the 1st of 16 games in the semifinal 'round robin' round of the playoffs. I do not yet have last night's scores. Las Aguilas played the Toros in La Romana.

Los Charamicos ... Today's entry contains some of the pictures I have taken in my walks around Los Charamicos. If you are not familiar with Sosua, Los Charamicos is the mostly dominican area located on the other side of the beach. There are quite a few 'gringos' who live there, but Los Charamicos is much more dominican than here in El Batay.

It is very easy to get lost in Los Charamicos. The streets wind around with no particular grid to get used to. More than once, I have walked and walked and then not been able to find my way out. No problem, just wave down a motoconcho and ride out with him.

A street scene in Los Charamicos.

This is a small tienda located next to the bus station. I went in there one day for a bottle of water and stayed quite awhile. The lady is Esmeralda. She is pictured with her brother and his daughter. The brother spent quite a lot of time trying to get me interested in his sister. Esmeralda is...lets say, unusually well endowed and her brother spared no effort in making sure I was aware of this...like I could really miss them. Esmeralda was excited by all the attention ... but alas ... she is not my type. They were very nice and I enjoyed the hour or so I spent with them. Another example of living in la cultura de machismo.

La Restaurante Centro (pictured above) is probably the best seafood restaurant in Sosua. It is nothing fancy, but they have great conch, red snapper, octopus and much more. It is reasonably priced and the atmosphere is totally dominican.

This is my new friend Yulissa. Yuli works in a clothing store in Los Charamicos with my good friend Yomari. Yulissa es muy timida (teeee me da) (very timid) and I always find that quality appealing in a dominicana. I hope one day to find the time to take her to dinner.

The, always busy, basketball court in Los Charamicos.

Super Santo colmado.

Two ladies working in a fresh fruit stand very near the Los Charamicos entrance to la playa.

Another street scene in Los Charamicos.

There are always many kids to take pictures of when I am out on my walks.

This tienda sells mostly furniture. I found a desk that I really want for my apartment in this store. But, it is expensive ... $3800 pesos (approximately $115 USD) and I am going to have to wait. Am considering putting together a 'make do' desk made out of Presidente beer cases and a big sheet of plywood to use on a temporary basis. I seriously need a computer desk in my apartment.

Yomari! She is so awesome and a great friend. I have known her for over a year. She always has this big smile and her hugs are the best. I am also friends with her sister, who is now in la capital (Santo Domingo). I never go to Los Charamicos without stopping to see Yomari. Talk about finding the perfect dominican wife...this girl would be the best...but I am not looking for that...at least not now.

A mother and her two daughters sitting outside their casa. I stopped to talk to them for awhile and they were happy to pose for me.

A fruit stand in Los Charamicos.

Word for the day ... decir (to say) ... Learning to conjugate this verb is necessary to speak spanish.

Yo digo (dee go) = I said
Ella dice (dee say) = She said
diga mi (dee ga) = Tell me

Life Is Good ... Ademas (more later)!

Tuesday, December 26, (martes, 26 de diciembre)

Well Christmas was ... pretty much just a regular day for those of us who live here with the Dominicans. I learned a lot though. I was fortunate enough to be invited to a traditional Christmas Eve dinner in the barrio with my dominican friends.

Today's entry is all about that. But, outside of that, I found it very difficult to feel any kind of Christmas spirit. I have grown up associating Christmas with cold weather. Experiencing Christmas when it is 85 degrees is very different.

The traditional Christmas Eve meal is a pig roast. I celebrated with several families who live near one another in el barrio Policlinica.

For the past several weeks I have seen this pig tethered here and there in the neighborhood. At first, I assumed Mr. Puerco (pig) was a family pet (animal domestico). But, noooooooooo, Mr Puerco was the Christmas Eve feast.

I hate it that I did not get a picture of Mr. Puerco before his demise on the 23rd, but just failed to do so. It is hard to make a picture of a pig a priority. Anyway...this entry should begin with a nice picture of Mr. Puerco sniffing around, unaware of his fate. However, you will have to imagine that picture.

Angela and a neighborhood girl preparing the seasoning for Mr. Puerco, on the evening of the 23rd.

Angela crushing ajo (garlic).

This is the daughter of Claudia, who works at Hamburger Paradise in the evenings for Tom. She is preparing the cilantro for the meal. Cilantro is an important part of most dominican meals and I have learned to really like food that is seasoned with it. Little girls in the barrio learn very early in life how to cook.

All the neighborhood kids are interested in the preparing of Mr. Puerco on the evening of the 23rd.

Taken the afternoon of the 24th. You can see how the men prepared the pit and the fire for the roasting. There are actually two pigs being roasted.

The men turn the pig over the fire all day long. I made several trips up to the colmado for beer to keep them fortified during the process.

Almost ready!

Christmas is about kids and so is the barrio. They are everywhere.

While the men roasted Mr. Puerco, the children toasted bread over the fire. Kind of the equivalent of an American marshmallow (malvavisco) roast I guess.

Whenever I am seen in the barrio, the kids rush up to have their pictures taken. They are such 'hams.' Hmmmm no pun intended.

Cutting the pig into small pieces for dinner, just an hour or so away.

The Christmas meal ready to eat. Tons of Presidentes not pictured, but definitely present.

The women scurry around making sure that the men and the children are fed first. Then they fix plates for themselves and join in. Kind of like old times long gone in my culture. God, how I love the machismo culture.

This is my Christmas Eve guest, Ramonita. I think she thought I would be taking her to some kind of upscale restaurant for the evening, but she was happy enough to go with me to the barrio. I will treat her with a meal at a nice restaurant, perhaps New Year's Eve if she is with me that night.

Dominican Baseball ... is switching into "high gear" now that it is time for the playoffs. I love baseball and after following my Cardinals all summer, I switch to the Dominican Winter League once I get down here. Of course, I am a big fan of Aguilas de Cibaenas, the Santigo team as most people in Sosua are.

It is a 6-team league and league play takes place from the end of October until Christmas. The top 4 teams qualify for the next round, which is "round robin" play between each other until the 16th of January. Then the top two teams, I believe, qualify for a best 5 of 9 playoff to determine the Dominican Champion, who will play in the Caribbean World Series against the winners from Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela.

The "round robin" playoff will feature games between Aguilas de Cibaenas (Santiago), Tigres del Licey (Santo Domingo), Gigantes de Cibao (San Francisco de Macoris) and Toros de Azucareros (La Romana).

Many thanks to Renato for sending out the "round robin" schedule. I hope to get to Santiago to watch a game. What an experience that will be. Baseball games here are much different than in the states. It is like a huge party with cheerleaders, whistles, flags, dancing etc. That should not surprise anyone. Dominicanos are such happy people and they do love to party!

Word for the day ... ademas

ademas = in addition to ... or ... besides ... or ... more later

Life is Good ... Stay Tuned!

Saturday, December 23 (sabado, 23 de diciembre)

MERRY CHRISTMAS (FELIZ NAVIDAD)
A heartfelt Merry Christmas to all who happen by this site. For me, it is not going to seem much like Christmas. This is the first time in 35 years I have not spent Christmas in Missouri. But, since my children are currently spread far and wide, I chose to be down here for the holidays. I do have a couple of parties I may drop in, but for the most part it will be el dia de regular aqui. I am finding it very difficult to get into any sort of Christmas spirit and will be glad to get past it and New Year's and into January.

The Finger ... I take lots of pictures of my friends while I am down here and so I get flashed 'the bird' regularly by them. Here are a few.

My buddy Tom saying good morning.

Yesi swears this was not meant for me. Hmmmm whatever!

Leif saying hello.

Claudia giving me the double whammy.

Word for the day ... tos and garganta

tos = cough
garganta = throat

Mi novia esta gripe (My girlfriend has a cold). The other day she was coughing and hacking big time and I was trying to ask her about her cough, but didn't know the word. She also indicated she had a sore throat (dolor en la garganta). Soooo we went to the farmacia (pharmacy) for medicina (medicine).

Stay Tuned ... Life is Good!

Thursday, December 21, (jueves, 21 de diciembre)

Tristan Wayne ... Today I am must step away from Sosua pictures and post pictures of my new grandson. Tristan Wayne was born Monday, December 18 at 11:41 pm in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Tristan weighed in at 6 pounds and 12 ounces. It was a natural childbirth. Both Tristan and his mother Sherry are doing well.

I am a very proud grandpa. This is my 4th grandchild, but the first from my oldest son, John.

My son reports that Tristan is an excellent baby, very quiet and contented.

I am very excited that he was given the name Wayne as his middle name. This is a family name that now carries on four generations. Sherry ... words cannot express how pleased I am that you allowed this precious new child to carry on our family name. My father, who passed away last April, would be very proud.

The first thing on my agenda, when I return in early April, will be to hold and spoil this new child.

Tristan Wayne peering out at the world for the first time.

Proud parents. It is going to take some getting used to see my son as a father.

I owe you a big hug Sherry. You are a beautiful mom.

Interesting, as this whole process of Tristan coming into the world was taking place ... the family is currently spread far and wide, yet the telephone calls and the internet chats and the e-mails were flying around. Everyone was so anxious to hear what was taking place and we were all asking each other ... "have you heard anything yet."

All that was replaced with huge smiles when the word went around that Tristan was born and doing well.

I am envious of my ex-wife Patti and my youngest daughter Rachel, who are flying out to Edmonton on the 24th to spend Tristan's first Christmas with him. But, I will have to wait patiently and then it will be grandpa's chance to spoil him.

Childbirth is hard work for the dad too isn't it John?

Words for the day ...

born ... nacido (naaa see doe)

birth ... nacimiento (naa see me in toe)

grandson ... nieto (knee a toe)

grandfather ... abuelo (ahh boo el o)

Life Is Good ... Stay Tuned!