Mountains and Beaches

Time is going by so fast! We only have 3 more days here :( And I have ALOT to tell you!

Today was one of those epic disaster days that you cannot help but laugh at. Originally, we had all planned to go to an island on the Caribbean Sea, called Catalina. It is an hour an a half drive across part of the Dominican and then an easy boat-taxi ride to the island. Dom had planned to dive there, so we thought, what an easy way to get there! We will just follow the diving excursion down to the island and explore/do some snorkeling while Dom dives. Then, we found out we had to be up at 6 am....not so bad until you hear how last night was. You would have chosen to skip that sunrise nonsense too.

So, we decided us 5 female Americans were intelligent enough to find the island ourselves. Nevermind that we are in a foreign country where 1 of us speaks the local language....

We packed up and shipped out around 10 this morning. Not bad. But, imagine the 5 of us in a Hyundai Accent and you will soon see that this ride was not prime. It started with speed bumps. Have I told you about these? I can't recall. Least favorite thing about the Domincan....the speed bumps every 10 ft. As if we are going to gain enough speed in 10 feet to need another speed bump....and we aren't talking the logical-sized speed bumps you are used to. We are talking speed bumps on steroids. 5'8", in the middle of the backseat = headache.

We spent the next 30 minutes listening to some kind of techno-mixed Spanish music and to Maggie laughing at a book that distinctly describes the mannerisms of my father. I recommend "Are You There Vodka, Its Me Chelsea" by Chelsea Handler. It is in this book that she describes the trip she took with her father to Costa Rica where she refers to him as "Bitch Tits". I will let you read the rest on your own. If you know my dad, it is well worth it.

45 minutes in:
We are right on track in a town called Higuey. My 2nd least favorite thing about the Dominican...Higuey. Its a hot mess, and did I mention there are no traffic laws enforced here? This means drivers make their own lanes while trying to avoid the millions of motorcycles swerving in and out, all while carrying several people/items on them. And by this I mean, we actually saw a tiny motorcycle carrying a couple and their two children, also including the driver. This town also contains a store entrance sign with the word COLON written very largely on it. I can only assume there is some alternative meaning to this in Spanish, but I think other languages should consider their word choices prior to displaying them for tourists. Anyhow.....I had to pee. Using public restrooms here is an awful idea. They are dark, have no windows, missing toilet seats, no water and 99% of the time have no toilet paper. These are the moments when I wish I had come out with other genitalia.

After this things got a little questionable. Our 1.5 hour ride turned into about 3.5 hours. It was at the point of laughable but was about to turn into an explosion of estrogen, so we stopped. No one could tell us how to get to Catalina, which is incredible odd considering all of these people live here! But what do I know, I don't speak Spanish. Maybe we weren't asking right. When we did find our way to an option for getting to Catalina, it was a 45-minute boat ride. No bueno. So we sat on the beach there and had some drinks and snorkeled before returning home to fry some yummy fish.

So let's back up. Two nights ago, we are all sitting on the patio relaxing after a long day of fishing (for Maggie and Dom). Oh...btw...they caught a Marlin! Dad was ecstatic. All he wanted was to catch a Marlin and it was a success. 6 feet long and 25 kilos (about 60 lbs). So Mag and Dom went to bed and Megan, Michelle and I decided to investigate some loud music we had been hearing for several previous nights. Unfortunately at the end of our walk through the streets of Bavaro, we found it to be a belly-dancing show that we were not allowed to watch. Bummer. But on the way home, Megan found herself a new dog (This is relevant later). There are wild dogs everywhere here. It is very sad, but this one had a collar. So obviously she belonged to someone at some point, but my suspicions are that she ran away or something. So, she followed us down the beach to our favorite bar here to have a drink, where she was scared off by the local dog of the bar. I won't bore you with another detailed story this round, but in sum, Megan got a mole bitten off her back by a bug, which I cleaned with vodka given to me by the bartender, Michelle cut her toe open on a log in the sand and I got to practice speaking french to Belgium Bartender Geoffrey.

Yesterday, Mag, Dom and Dad did some fishing on the reef, which was also a grand success. We got gelato and relaxed. Dad convinced Maggie and Michelle to take him to the casino, which he has been asking about since his arrival. We figured since he has dealt with the hormones of us all, he deserved a chance to play cards. In the meantime, Megan, Dom and I played on this inflatable playground in the ocean near our condo and sipped some rum and vodka in the pool. We also got to entertain Dom with some youtube blogs of Jenna Marbles, also a must see. Specifically, the one where she teaches you how to get rid of people you don't want to talk to. Very useful life-lesson. Our evening involved a short expedition to find pops at the casino and having a guest appearance by our dog-friend. She absolutely made herself at home on our patio furniture. If she revisits, you will know!

I think that covers the high-points and hopefully gave you some entertainment for your evening. Tonight includes a tentative itinerary of live music and visiting a cave-bar. I have no idea what that means but it MUST be fun, I assume.

6 ft. Marlin!! Way to go girls!

Reef Fishing

This was the inflatable playground. It was in about 3 ft of water and the deepest parts....so super unsafe.

Trampoline!

Slide (Me and Meg)

Attempting to climb the giant rock thing. It was not inflated enough, which pretty much meant every time we got higher, there was a huge shift of air underneath us. No bueno.

This is of me coming down from the mountain. Meg got really high tho!

Mini-mountain.

This we soon referred to as the 'giant condom'. My apologies to those pg-readers out there. But it was funny. We all 3 fit in here. It was also what I like to call a hot mess. Very slick and difficult to climb in.