the DR: bayahibe, isla catalina & las terrenas

(my pics so far are here)

i landed in santo domingo, got the car, and got the hell outta there. i went to bayahibe in the SE corner of the island; i want to save the big city for last. bayahibe is really only a few streets that are really 'usable' for the foreigner, the rest being residential and spread out quite a bit. it's kind of isolated, not much more than a store, a few restaurants for tourists, an internet place, a pirate ship and then just a bunch of beaches... BEAUtiful beaches! the people were very welcoming, i felt their caribbean vibe right when i got there. my hotel was RD$700, about US$27... a little more than i wanted, but still, i was just happy to start my trip!

there were plenty of snorkling and scuba diving opportunities, so i signed up right away. my second day we went to isla catalina, an island without inhabitants about 40 minutes away from bayahibe by boat. on my boat there were some americans, french, russians, argentinians, dutch & haitians (which i thought were on bad terms with the dominicans, but apparently not so much here!). la isla catalina has that pristine white sand one always imagines in the caribbean, plus this emerald-turquoise-aquamarine-sea blue blend that kept me in awe the whole time i was on the beach. i saw a bunch of cool fish while snorkling; my fav was this little guy no bigger than your hand that was coal black with glowing electric blue spots... he almost looked radioactive! (wish i had an underwater camera...) they served us a great meal on the island (a rice blend, salad, grilled chicken & steak) and even gave us rum! it was funny to see another boat of tourists with life jackets on, all strapped in as we were getting our second rum & coke on the house!

i also met this american family in which the girl (17ish, as white as can be, blue eyes, blonde hair, near albino) was volunteering at an orphanage in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Her parents were visiting here and had taken the bus from there. i mentioned how sad it was to see all the poverty here in the DR, and they said it was nothing like what they saw in Haiti... like there were actual buildings in the capital!! Her dad said that he had visited Haiti years before, mentioning how it was like that place had been "hit my an earthquake". Well, he really ate his words on that one; i can only imagine how it is now.

the day after catalina i headed for las terrenas, a beautiful beachtown in the NW state of samaná... but not after i had to replace a flat tire that i woke up with in bayahibe. this guy about my age pointed it out to me as i was in the car leaving, then he started to help me take the tire off... a great example of the good vibes here. i went to la romana on the way, a much bigger city, and got a replacement tire & it changed for RD$100 (about US$2.60), the same price i paid for half a broiled chicken on the way out of town. twas crazy! and the road on the way to las terrenas was ridiculous, as in i couldn't go more than 25mph and there was a 2x4 foot whole every few meters... but i made it.

anyways, i have spent the last 2 days in las terrenas. there are more tourists here, mostly french, but it isn't really overwhelmed with them. it's a classic beach town: narrow streets, colorful buildings (lots of light colors), plenty of chill island music, etc...

my hotel is right on the beach & run by this french lady and a bunch of haitians at night. they are incredibly friendly. it's fun to practice french and then be able to switch to spanish when i don't know what the fuck i'm saying in français. i even met a haitian guy who took me to get some weed, and i waited in this little hut with 8 other haitians and a dominican girl who wanted to dance with everyone. they were just chugging rum & energy drinks, totally a great atmosphere. the beaches are just as beautiful as in the south, and i don't even feel like the water is colder up here like i had heard. i have had a few good meals of rice, beans, salad & pork for really cheap, like RD$190 with a coke (US$5). i have noticed that saying "buenas", "qué pasa?" or "cómo te va?" is well-respected and appreciated by the dominicans/haitians who think i'm just a white guy who is here to shit on their island while on vacation... maybe it just puts me at ease to hear them respond back, but still...

i have basically been tanning, swimming, eating, reading kaleidoscopic grammar and walking the town. there seem to be wayyyy more stray dogs here than in bayahibe,

and plenty of motorcycles to go around; i get asked to rent on every hour it seems like. there is a plethora of beautiful art here, i would say more than 10 art stands that are full of colorful paintings done by the locals. today (monday) was much more alive and there were plenty of kids going to/from school, so the pics from that day of the streets are much more representative of how daily life is here, although it was sad to seem some of the homes they walked to...

a few surprises

• i don't feel like i'm going to be robbed anymore
• i'm actually starting to adjust to the caribbean dialect of spanish in the DR
• the dogs aren't grouchy
• so many frenchies!
• haitians aren't hated here

well, i'm off to the interior tomorrow, hope to end up in jarabacoa and then on the constanza. there i will also hope to do my interviews for my sociolinguistics class. i will either study the vocalization of their liquids (e.g. algo --> aigo) or there use of infinitives instead of the subjunctive... we'll see what kinds of things the interviewees do!! ok, hasta pronto....