Sometimes even we farmers need to take a trip to the big city. Don't get me wrong here, I love to be home in Cabrera more than anything else but sometimes we just need to get out.
Thursday morning we get up before dawn. Rosanne comes over early to watch the kids and we head off into the sunrise in search of adventure. OK, in search of a department store or something, whatever. After dodgeing a few potholes and a half tank of deisel we arrive in Santo Domingo ready for our big day.
First stop, Pricemart. Usually we load up a good sized pile in our cart but we restrained ourselves because this was only the first stop. We like to stock up on stuff like pancake mix, ramen soup, crayons and things for the kids etc. We can get all this stuff elsewhere for about the same price but sometimes I think we really go there because it reminds us of Costo back in the US.
I wrote a whole bunch of other stuff about our shopping trip here but I decided it was all boring and deleted it.
The highlite of the day was discovering Jade Express Chinese resturaunt. Please note the look of total contentment as I stuff my face with General Tso's Chicken for the first time in 11 months. This will definately be part of every trip to the city from now on.
After a good nights rest and a visit to Ferretarea Popular (nice place) we head back home. On the way back Felicita and I start thinking about all the wild things we see everyday here. The crazy, beautiful, unsafe, and unusual scenary is so common here that we who live here forget to notice it. Because I write this little site to amuse my friends and family I try to keep an eye open and a camera handy.
This picture tells more than I can possiblely write.
From left to right, here things to notice:
Pasola driver on the left shoulder, Cars turning around in the median, Car passing dangerously close and or driving down the "middle" lane,
Overloaded truck with passengers sleeping on top (see closeup below), Pedestrian walking on highway.
Things missing from photo:
Sport bikes passing traffic at 120 mph,
People selling fish, sweet potatoes etc on the shoulder,
car driving with passenger sitting on the window sill half asleep on the roof,
Junk pickup traveling at 15 mph in the left lane, loaded until the springs are inverted with aunts, uncles, cousins,
and every worldly possesion packed into oversized suitcases on the way to for from the airport.
This guy and his two friends (not visible in this picture) are sound asleep. It was pretty easy to tell because they were so limp their legs just flopped around at every bump.
Naturally, all this chaos leads to an occastional accident. Often seen with 15 people packed inside, bachatta blaring and driving with the doors open this little bus (guagua) is about the cheapest way to travel here. Note all the dazed people standing around and wandering about in the traffic.
While passing through the rice fields of San Francisco de Macaris it isn't unusual to pass a combine blocking the road. As per custom there is a man on top whose job it is to direct traffic around this monster. Thankfully the road is straight and flat but it is still and adventure. Notice the moped driver forced off the side of the road on the far left hand side.
Would you trust this bridge? It has been narrowed down to a single lane to reduce weight as rust isnt nearly as strong as steel. Thankfully the replacement bridge is nearly complete and was being paved as we drove past.
Last but not least, the scenary is amazing. In the second picture a yellow crop duster is visible parked out in the field. Almost everything in this country is beautiful and we love every bit of it.