Day 186 - Samana, Dominican Republic

A tender port today, Valentina had her first small boat ride. She handled it well & didn't even get seasick! They say to keep a fully belly in order to prevent seasickness... I guess she was planning ahead! :o)


I visited the Dominican Republic in December of 1999 with my Mom. It was our first trip together. We went to Puerta Plata with my college group & we had a riot. There were 2 charming firefighters from Red Deer & Winnipeg that we spent a lot of our time with. Adding to that, the Dominicans were wonderful people. They are very friendly & helpful. Lucky for Jaco, I said no every time, but I've never had so many marriage proposals! It was tempting! The men have mulatto skin, but the most beautiful sea green/blue eyes you've ever seen. They are hypnotizing! The last night we were there, a bunch of us stayed up the whole night. We were in a convenience store getting some snacks, when Jose, our translator, told me about a guy who wanted to marry me. He said I should take this one. His father was a Diplomat & they were very wealthy. Ha! How charming! Obviously I said no. 


Anyhow, it didn't take more than 10 minutes ashore to remember the warm hospitality of the Dominicans. They were stopped to talk to me about the dog & asking me if I wanted a tour. When I said no, they kept socializing, rather than moving on to the next guest...


There was a wonderful walkway along the ocean, so Valentina had a nice long walk. There were a few stray dogs, but I quickly popped her back into her carrier & nobody noticed a thing! She charmed a trio from the UK resting on a bench while we made our way into town.


We walked as far as the craft market, which they were starting to pack up. I bought a bottle of water for Valentina & we made our way back. While I walked around the market, I met more people, who only reinforced the friendly, helpful belief I carry about the Dominican Republic. I would love to come back here again.


The D.R. shares its western border with Haiti. I was thinking of Haiti today & wondering how they are doing. We all thought of them when the earthquake happened. But now what? We've all moved on with our lives in our warm, cozy homes with internet & electricity & running water, but they are still picking up the pieces. I can't imagine what it would be like. And here I sit on a luxury cruise ship dotting around the Caribbean. Hmm. Looks like I'll have to figure out something to do to help. Any suggestions out there?


While we stood in line waiting for the tender back to the ship, a few crew gathered around to see Valentina. Eddie was there & of course, helped himself to her. One of the passengers nearby quipped, 'I didn't know you could bring pets onboard.' When I said she was a service dog, she replied, 'I should get my cat on as a service cat.' Oh my. 


Valentina was happy to have some air conditioning once we were back in the room. She ran straight to the bathroom & sprawled out her belly on the cool tiles. Too cute. 


Have a wonderful night wherever your are & don't be shy to leave a comment! I know it's a pain, but you just follow these three easy steps:
1. At the bottom of the post, click on '0 comments'
2. Type your comments in the 'Post Comments' box
3. Select your 'Comment As:' either google, anonymous or otherwise
4. Click on 'Post Comment'
5. Usually it will give you an error & say it couldn't post the comments, click it again
6. Enter in the gobbledy gook letters
7. Voila!


Sunshiny kisses to you!
Maria, Jaco & Valentina
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Her first tender ride!

Think Enya - '...Sailaway, sailaway, sailaway...'

Boats & a beautiful bridge

Mmm, mangoes ripe for the pickin'!

Wonderful walkway along the water's edge

A pier along the way

Artwork along the ocean

Day 164 - Holy S**t!!!! It's An Earthquake!

Today was a wonderful day. I slept in! I thought I might go out for a bit, but in the end, I stayed put. I slept until 1100 & took my time getting rolling. I cleaned the new blender & made a yummy green smoothie - spinach, mint, mango, banana & pineapple. 


I rolled out my yoga mat with good intentions. I lasted 8 minutes in a 43 minute routine. Pooh. Well, here's to 10 minutes next time! I then decided to wash a few things by hand. 


Valentina had wee'd on the new pillow cover I put in her kennel. Argh. I put her on her pad every 15-20 minutes & then she goes in her kennel! So, I decided to wash the cover, along with my clothes, along with Valentina & then me! 


I had washed the dark clothes & was in the middle of washing the lights, squatting in the tub, naked as a jaybird, ready for my shower, scrubbing a shirt, when I felt like I was rocking back & forth. I steadied myself in the tub, but then I realized the tub was rocking! OH MY GOSH! IT'S AN EARTHQUAKE! CRAP! WHAT DO I DO?


I've never been in an earthquake! I ran out into the passage way & just stood there, feeling the entire hotel room rock back & forth. What do I do? Where do I go? I shouldn't stand here - what if the roof falls on me? Maybe I should hide under something - but what if it collapses? Maybe I should go outside - clothes! Clothes would be good! I could see the curtains swaying back & forth in the room - I went to the curtains & peeked out the window. People were standing by the fence next to the pool. The waves in the pool were splashing over the edges. Sheesh! This is crazy! When I didn't see the people by the pool panicking, I thought I didn't need to either! I'm guessing it lasted about a minute or so before I couldn't notice it anymore. I shakily entered a Facebook status about the quake. I certainly didn't think today would be the day I would experience an earthquake. I guess I never thought I would experience one! The epicentre was 108 miles away from San Diego near Mexicali, Mexico. It registered 7.2 on the Richter scale. 


I went back to washing & I had no sooner bathed Valentina, cleaned her ears & teeth, when I left the bathroom to get something. I returned to the bathroom to find her having pee'd all over the bath mat. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!? ARGH! Well, now I was going to have to go out. I needed stain remover or bleach! Or both!


I took Valentina outside with her pad with the hopes that she would do #2 on the pad. After a failed first attempt, I managed to catch her half way through the act & picked her up & put her on the pad. I look over & there were two ladies from the clinic in their car, watching me praise my dog as she pooped on a piece of astro-turf. 


Okay, so the earthquake was strange for this foreigner, but I'm sure what they just saw, was just as strange for them! They offered to take me to the grocery store, so I jumped at the chance to get my stain remover! 


I've never used bleach before, so I was very happy when the towels looked 'white' again! 


I managed to catch up on the blog, while I watched some crazy American TV. Have you ever seen America's Worst Drivers? I was literally choking I was laughing so hard! They were terrible! How did they even get their license? Too funny! Then I saw a bit of a show called something like 'Rehab Room' or something like that. A bunch of crazy addicts just out of rehab - including Dennis Rodman. It was pretty pathetic. Then I managed to see Jessica Simpson in India doing some Aruvedic spa treatments. She & her friends did a neti pot, hot oil treatments & then drank a herbal tea to get rid of excess gases in the body. Needless to say, I've never heard belching like that before! It was pretty funny too! Maybe I'll ask around for some! :o) Then they helped a girl get a cleft pallet operation. In India 1 in 5 children are born with a cleft pallet! If you go to Smiles for Smiles, they will donate $1 for every smile photo received towards the surgeries! I did it & it only takes 30 seconds!


Anyhow, I'm off to bed... It's been a big day! Shake, rattle & roll... Shaken, not stirred... Just roll with it... :o)


Maria & Valentina
xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Tweet Pea naps.

The drying rack!