Back in the USA

Well, I am back from my international adventures. The DR was very frustrating at times, but also very rewarding at times. I met a lot of great people but also had to endure the constant harrassment from Dominican men (one actually said "I like your ass" in English to me when I was walking by one day). But I was there 39 days without getting sick (didn't take any Imodium or Pepto at all!) and with the exception of 2 falls, both of which were the results of my stupidity taking over, I was perfectly healthy.

Ludy has the absolute cutest 6 yr old boy named Leonardo. I taught him my dad's famous "honk" and how to high five, as well as some English too. We watched lots of cartoons in Spanish ("The Fairly Oddparents," which btw I just discovered the pun while I was down there, is called "Los Padrinos Magicos"). Here is a pic of the 2 of us at his cousin's 15th bday party. Let me tell you, that party was a huge deal. Cake, food, alcohol, dancing (aka grinding)...and all of it in excess. The fact that there was that much booty dancing going on at a family function really blew my mind, and I was glad to learn that Ludy's mother and sister thought the same thing I did. I just cannot imagine grinding against some guy with my parents and grandparents standing there watching. Maybe I'm just old fashioned. ;)

I will tell you one thing though, I really really really missed warm, running water. I spent many nights when my body temperature was perfectly comfortable and I had to dump buckets of COLD water on myself. Some nights I had running water, but it was still cold. Of course, when there was no running water, the toilets didn't flush, so you had to use the water you were saving for the shower to flush the toilet. Everytime I walked in the bathroom I checked 2 things before sitting on the toilet: if there was TP and if the toilet flushed. I always had travel packs of Kleenex with me in case there was no TP. Oh, and thank God Crucita, the woman I stayed with, always bought bottled water to drink and didn't just drink from the tap. That's probably why I managed to avoid getting sick. So the "Don't drink the water, there seems to be something ailing everyone" (Indigo Girls) advice more or less applied and I guess I obeyed it since I drank bottled water the whole time.

One of the real interesting stories about daily life is that I slept under a "mosquitero" or bed net to prevent mosquitos that may carry malaria from biting me during the night. Btw, malaria is transmitted at night whereas dengue is transmitted during the day in case you were curious. This is a nice picture of my bednet in the room I stayed in. Notice also that my room was PINK. But I guess beggers can't be choosers can they. One of the legs of my bed decided to just not work a couple nights before I left, so I had the bed propped up with my lotion bottle for my last 2 nights. They made sure I had a padlock on the door so I could lock the door to my room when I left the house. I didn't anticipate this, but it made me feel a little more secure leaving my passport and money and stuff behind. The windows could open and shut. At night I usually had the bottom set of shutters closed and the top open. This was to try to prevent some noise from getting in but still let in enough air so I didn't sweat all night. Most nights I went to bed hot and then got cold in the middle of the night and pulled the sheet up. My room was right at the front of the house, so I heard every single car that went by. Oh, and there is no such thing as a noise ordinance down there, so there would be music blasting at all hours of the day and night.

There is so much more I could write and many more pics I could post. But I will stop for now and leave you with the lyrics of Chuck Berry.

Oh well, oh well, I feel so good today,
We touched ground on an international runway
Jet propelled back home, from over the seas to the u. s. a.
New york, los angeles, oh, how I yearned for you
Detroit, chicago, chattanooga, baton rouge
Let alone just to be at my home back in ol’ st. lou.
Did I miss the skyscrapers, did I miss the long freeway?
From the coast of california to the shores of delaware bay
You can bet your life I did, till I got back to the u. s. a.
Looking hard for a drive-in, searching for a corner café
Where hamburgers sizzle on an open grill night and day
Yeah, and a juke-box jumping with records like in the u.s.a.
Well, I’m so glad I’m livin’ in the u.s.a.
Yes. I’m so glad I’m livin’ in the u.s.a.
Anything you want, we got right here in the u.s.a.
-"Back in the USA" Chuck Berry