Scenes from Dominican Republic

This would be an electricians worst nighmare.

Here is a typical butcher shop. Flies buzzing around the meat, an old tree stump used as a cutting block, and 30 degree temps without humiduty added. This almost turned me vegetarian.

Curtis was so excited to have Coke in a glass bottle!

Touring in the capital city of Santo Domingo.

All in all we had a great time. Toilet seats are not common in this country except for in hotels. Sitting on the cold pocelin was not the best and toilet paper was not always available. So when we arrived back in the US, I was happy. The kidss missed us lots and have informed us that we are not allowed to go on a long holiday without them, just little ones. It was hard not having communication with them other than email. We sent pictures home almost every day which they loved to see.

We took a safari trip into the country. One of the best parts were these waterfalls. They are freshwater and after swimming in salt water, they were divine. The water was only chest deep and a little cold but refreshing.

On the same trip we stopped at this coffee plantation and there was cock fighting. I was not too interested. This was not the traditional cock fight because they did not let the roosters fight till death. I watched because I am sure it is something I will never see again.

When the safari vehicle stops in the villages, the kids come running and love to receive candy. Curtis would scout out the kids who were more shy and in the background to give them candy.

We rented scooters for a day once we had come accustomed to the rules of the road, there are none. It is OK to have 5 vehicles across on a 3 lane, one way road. It is OK to go the wrong way on a one way if you are on the shoulder of the road. If you miss your exit, just back up and turn around. I had to hide my eyes sometimes while we were in a taxi or a bus because they drive crazy. While we were on a road putzing along on our scooters, the police pulled us over. Not to sure what they wanted. They only spoke to Curtis because it is not normal for a white female to ride a scooter. The police asked Curtis for his driver's licence and to see if he had a helmet, not that you have wear it. After trying to understand each other they waved us one and we contined our journey.

How these women can carry things on their head is beyond me. This is only a job for females and you would not see men doing this. This lady was very nice and had great tasting oranges for sale.

Dominican Trip

Curtis being silly. The weather was great. This was not our beach but one down the road a few miles.

My body gaurd!! The hotel hire security gaurds that carry big guns. The police don't even carry guns like that.

Curtis having a great time with the underwater camera. The snorkling was beautiful. I think that is the best part.

The view from our hotel. It took awhile to get use to the sound of the ocean during the night. It sounds like vehicles driving through puddles and wet roads.

The most common method of transportation. We tried to catch a motorbike with more than 2 people on it but every time we seen one we did not have the camera. The most we had seen on a motorbike was 4 adults. Most of time the person on the back is carrying something like a propane tank, bags of food, or a baby.

Baby Briana

The kids were so excited to have Briana come and stay for a few hours. Now they can play baby with a real baby instead of pretend. Briana had so much fun following Chloe around and laughing at everything Chloe did.

My Dear Husband!!

This is Curtis with too much time on his hands. He is procrastinating working in the basement. The kids had a good laugh. He put in Russell's grain bins to make him have curves!