A Dominican Republic Wedding. Part 2: The Country

I recognize that this blog is about my experiences, but when it came to my little sister’s wedding, I didn’t want to muddle it up with my issues in the previous post, not to mention a late omission on some of my roommate's shenanigans.  I mentioned how I had to leave to clear my head as the emotions were getting too great and I couldn’t bottle them in anymore.

My biggest regret and feeling of personal failure was I couldn’t find a job in time to be able to pay to have Ann come and join me on that trip in paradise.  I felt selfish for thinking that then, and I wasn’t going to let it dominate my little sister’s special day.  I hit the sauce hard to try and deal with it but it was just too much for me to handle once they were dancing again after cutting the cake.  I couldn’t let the night continue this way.

I went to the room, turned my MP3 player on to special music Ann and I shared together, and openly wept for a while.  I now understand how weddings can turn people into emotional messes.  Once my eyes were empty and the pain was out of my system, I changed into dry clothes and rejoined the party, better able to appreciate my little sister’s happy day.

The next day was the first time I had a hangover in a long time, and I could tell I wasn’t alone.  I really should try that “morning after beer” that I keep hearing about.  I already spent 2 whole days in the sun without a hint of a burn so I figured that sunscreen I was using was really awesome.  I joined many others out on the beach under the rays, reading a book, and waiting for my scuba excursion in the afternoon.

Maybe I didn’t get burnt because I was really careful about it, but that day it was different.  Of course you don’t know the damage until it’s too late and I turned quite red, but not before going scuba diving for the first time in 2 years.

The waves were a bit crazy as we went out, and my sister Patty has the pictures (that I don’t yet) as I borrowed her waterproof camera.  I went out with 6 others including Patty’s boyfriend Chad, who used to work as an underwater welder with the Navy.  To say he is skilled would be an understatement, as I watched him stand on his head on the sandy floor upside down while spinning circles, then later outperforming our dive master in blowing air rings (think smoke rings).

Since it had been so long for me, I had trouble relaxing when I got down there, coupled with the fact my buoyancy backpack was leaking a bit that was suppose to help me float at consistent depths.  I have to say though what I saw down there was fairly disappointing.  The reef looked brown and dead with very little going on, including fish.  That underwater current was crazy too, knocking us back and forth atleast 5 feet a blow.  When we went out on the boat, there was a slow moving wave coming straight at us that was atleast 1 meter above our heads and got our hearts racing.

What I tell myself now is that the rich beauty I found in Okinawa and Thailand, teeming with life and colours, has spoiled me.  I still had an enjoyable experience, and it was good getting my feet wet again with such an enjoyable sport.  That, and hanging out with Chad is always fun.

When we got back I had a cold shower, put on some Aloe Vera to fight the sunburn and had a short nap.  I probably shouldn’t have done that, as I felt absolutely sick when I got up.  I tried to go for supper, but I kept shivering and didn’t eat much.  I probably had sunstroke, but I was able to sleep it off with a good 12-hour night.

I don’t think I went out in the sun at all the next day, but we did try to find a mall for some shopping.  Up until then I felt kinda guilty for sitting in this 5 star city-of-awesome without experiencing anything of the culture or seeing any locals.  The van predictably took us out to a tourist mall and if you wanted to go elsewhere, they would chare you over $22 a person.  Alright, whatever, we can find our own taxi when we get there at a reasonable price.

Turns out that taxi/bus took us to yet another tourist mall, but this one was huge.  The prices were higher than back in Canada, and needless to say it was quite empty.  It was almost insulting being in such a ritzy place when you’re surrounded by poverty, and we had trouble just getting out to see something real.  This all took a while so we gave up and went back to the resort, knowing we had an awesome cultural tour coming up on Wednesday before we went home.

We later found out a couple in our group know some of the locals and spent a day with them doing real stuff.  They had a party and celebrated, and as a thank you they gave them some money.  The dad was so happy he started crying as he has 8 kids to feed and constant pressure from nearby resorts to get off his land.  We wish we could have joined them, but it was too late by the time we found out.

That night came and went with more drinking and parties.  Maybe that was the karaoke night, where hundreds of people were in queue, and Melissa felt like she was booed off stage so she only sang once.  I didn’t have many late nights on the trip, as the days were so beautiful you had to enjoy them.  Finally I was on a normal sleep schedule again eh?

They had a beach volleyball tournament the next day, but I didn’t sign up because of my burn.  Our group formed a couple teams, and one of the guys ended up dislocating his shoulder.  Apparently it’s a common problem for him, but he was still in a sling for the rest of the trip.

There were various tourist offerings going on, like people going around with parrots or iguanas to try and sell you your picture with them.  People selling cigars and rum on the beach, and even parasailing.  I had never done that before and Ken said he’d go with me so we signed up.  We were up there for 10 minutes or so, where I nervously tried not to look down, all while snapping shots with Patty’s waterproof camera again (sorry, she still has the pictures).

It was really something being up that high.  We could see the whole resort and resorts near us.  Over the horizon we could even see some mountains.  There was a large structure not far from our beach that we’ve been wondering about, and later found out it’s actually a ship wreck that came in too close to the coral.  That explained a bit to me why the coral looked so dead, also whenever the boat sped up that we were tethered to, it would leave a slick of oil on the water.  It’s a shame really.

Back on the beach I hung out in the shade reading books.  When John wasn’t checking out the bikinis walking by, he was sun tanning and posing for pictures with his sculpted ‘beach body.’  He was complaining about the lack of topless ladies Europeans he was promised, and many of them were old.  A babe walked by that day though, so I snapped a picture for him and that made his day.

We later went out on a mini sailboat (I forget its name) and had an hour to float around.  As we circled the designated swimming area, the sand gave way to piles of rock, explaining why the waters were so calm.  Another boat went out with Patty and others, and we all got in the same trouble once we turned the bend.  We only rented to boats for an hour, but suddenly we were fighting head wind and currents pushing us further away.

We figured we should mimic how Patty’s boat was sailing, but later discovered they weren’t making progress as much as we were floating backwards.  We took it to shore and went for help.  A dude from a nearby resort slowly helped us sail back to our resort, but even then it was really hard going.  After a motorboat tugged Patty’s boat, we too got a tug.  They asked for a $30 tip for each boat, so maybe that was a tourist trap of their own.   It kinda left a sour taste in the mouth, but everything is an experience I guess; the sailing was still fun.

That night a bunch of us tried some lobster by the beach, but I wasn’t a big fan on how it was prepared.  This was my first real lobster meal, but I hear it’s suppose to be better.  They cut the lobster in half, grilled it and didn’t have butter on the side, so maybe sometime I’ll have to get an expensive one to see what the fuss is about.

I got up early the next day to see the sunrise over the beach.  I thought I was alone until my mom came by shortly after, telling me about all the people working out their ‘beach bodies’ on the sand.  We enjoyed the crimson skyline and soothing waves a while, until the sky turned a sufficient shade of yellow to tell me the sun was hiding behind that suspected streak of clouds on the horizon.  This kind of reminded me of the time I was on top of Fuji, watching the sky brighten behind a tiny patch of clouds.

I really don’t have many pictures from this day, but it looks like I spent most of it in the pool and/or reading my books again.  I finally finished “Brave New World” and started on “Sock”, the one I bought at the Pen & Teller show in Vegas. 

More competitions were held by the pool bar again, one being a pen tied to your waist by a string that you had to try and lower into a bottle’s narrow mouth.  Melissa won that competition.  Another one had you race a Kayak around a small island in the pool.  One girl from Montreal was so drunk she started racing off in the wrong direction.

Ken would joke how that part of the pool was a “lagoon.”  You’d watch many people drink dozens of beers, but you’d never see them get out to use the washroom.  I think the girls had a large chicken fight that day, and the competition was fierce.  Naturally it was couples mostly, but it was still funny when Melissa tried to rip Patty’s top off.  Girls know how to play dirty. (Note all the cups in the picture)

Later on in the trip it really started to feel like a couple’s retreat.  I’m ok with that for the most part, though 7 days straight was starting to make it tough continually being the 5th, 7th, or more wheel.  Very few people were single or ‘alone’ like I was, and most of them were out doing their own thing as I hardly saw them around.

Now it was the final day of our trip and we were going on a tour Kurt booked for us.  The agent assured him we would get a special trip since we were such a large crowd, but of course we ended up getting lumped with other people and doing things he specifically asked to change, in particular the horseback riding.  I found out my brother also had a dislike of horses since he was bucked off one at a young age.

Anyways while we were on this trip, we rode on the back of these huge monster trucks, getting free drinks naturally.  There were 2 trucks and both of them got flat tires during the trip, which baffled John and I.  They were like tractor tires and they didn’t seem to be too old, so they must have been cheap or something.

Anyways, this was one of the best tours I’ve ever been on; we finally got to see how the locals live.  We drove through mostly small towns, and it helped me understand how we had trouble finding a ‘mall.’  This wasn’t a large area like Bangkok, it’s mostly small mom & pop shops where you haggle for your goods.  We saw how they hang their meat from a rack in the open air while the guide joked how the flies weren’t included.

We were instructed not to throw candy or money to the children, as not only is it illegal, but it encourages them to be beggars.  I was still surprised how many kids would stop and wave at us when we drove by, as if the tour organizer planned it.  Even more shocking were their schools, as they were open window naturally with the heat. 

No, what shocked me was how close they were to the noisy road, literally a meter or two away, breathing in those fumes the passing traffic shot in their direction.  By the first stop I had a dull headache myself, but maybe it was just because of our monster truck.  That first stop was at a liquor and tobacco store, where we watched a dude make some cigars for us.

Like the next stop, it was largely a show and not the real factory, as they stopped working once we left.  It was still neat watching him roll the tobacco leaves and how he cut out the shapes needed to make them look so neat.  Chad and I debated getting a box for “celebratory occasions”, but once I found out the cigars go bad after a while we couldn’t justify the (already low?) price.

We drove by many pastures and saw many locals.  We even drove by a large field where a dude was spreading out coffee beans to dry under the sun.  We passed by many motorcades of presumably tourists driving go-karts and buggies.  There were even wanted signs along the side of the road, one for a “Antony Santos” for some dollar amount I couldn’t understand and so on.  Once we had to slow down for a cattle crossing as a real-life cowboy herded his cows along the road like they were the go-karts from earlier.

It was neat to see people hanging their laundry to dry on their barb-wired cattle fences.  It was interesting to see the poverty by some, living by obviously well off others; one mansion we saw was built on top of a distant mountain range much like what I saw in Japan.  It was strange to see little shacks acting as gas stations using jugs I would normally recognize for containing vegetable oil or vinegar.

Our tour guide even told us about “Car Washes.”  We later discovered these places are like whore houses, where you find girls and rent rooms by the hour.  We ended up driving by one that most people missed, and there was a girl waiting/advertising herself on the roof.  One thing I’ve noticed is many Dominican girls are quite curvy.  There are hardly any road signs to speak of in the country, but this place was situated by the first and only set of traffic lights we had seen, and those lights weren’t on.

We learnt how the area is prone to blackouts at certain hours of the day.  We found out their education is very limited, and private options far outweigh the public ones.  Tourism makes up around 45% of their country’s income, and inflation has made the prices of everything double in the last 4-6 years.  It was simply a wealth in interesting information he poured over us, and I’m sure I’m missing most of it as I tell you now.

One thing that came up was Haiti.  A lot of migrants have come to work the cheap jobs that Dominican people don’t want to work, like the sugar cane crops that we visited.  He would explain the physical differences of the two peoples, and more.

Another stop we made was at a shop selling crafted rocks.  They showed how they would slowly shape them over time with sandpaper, water, and whatever.  It was fairly interesting but everyone was so willing to buy that the owners weren’t coming down on their prices much.  It’s a weird day to have the shopkeeper walk away on you and not the other way around.

Our next stop was at a little farmhouse, surrounded by a plethora of flora.  We saw native grapefruit, oranges, cinnamon tress, coffee trees, sugar canes, weird stuff I forget the name of and more.  The owners opened their house to us so we could see how they live.  It was a cozy little place, and they had a cute little daughter who was anxious to show us her toys and whatever.  The mom gave us a sample of her fresh coffee, which was some of the best coffee I’ve had.

They led us to an outdoor setup, where we had one of the most educational infomercials ever.  They went through the steps of harvesting and processing coffee, cinnamon sticks, coconut oil and its benefits, ‘Mama Juana’ which is the Dominican ‘Viagra’, pure sugar and more.  Needless to say people were jumping to buy when it was over and I don’t blame them; great deals for high quality stuff.

Our truck adventure was pretty interesting as well, going down steep one-lane roads and over mud bridges.   Chad was in the truck in front of us at one point and decided to moon us.  It wasn’t as funny as how much his white hairy butt amused our driver.  It was around this time we stopped for a Dominican Lunch.  Surprisingly it wasn’t very spicy, but I guess they have their audience in mind; you can’t really serve food that people can’t eat, unless it really isn’t spicy there. 

While one group was eating, the other would take their turns riding the horses in a very small/safe course designed for anyone.  I was surprised a couple people felt insulted at how dumbed-down it was, but I can’t blame them even with the safety forms we had to sign before getting on board.

Our next stop was at a school where we stayed longer because that second tire had to be changed.  After the first one, the guy took off his shirt to cool down, and his sweat blew in John’s face.  The school was pretty interesting, but I took some objection to photographing the children like they were animals.  Because of the little funding, they only go to school for ½ the day, and switch with other groups of children.

Our last stop was at a beautiful beach in a little cove.  We were only there for 10 minutes or so, and I was surprised just how shallow it was for a good while.  I suppose the one guy was out there watching for sharks so they try and keep it as safe as possible.  Further up the beach though they had actually waves, and there were surfboards readily available.  We tried out some boogey boards for a bit, and got on the truck for the ride back.

Surprisingly, it was a very low-key night.  We hung out in Melissa’s amazing room for a bit, where her Jacuzzi was on the roof.  We played a couple rounds of Patty’s truth-or-dare Jenga game where some of the rules were weird considering the number of siblings.  For example the men had to switch pants with each other a couple times.

I fully expected it to be a rich night, but everyone wanted to go to bed.  Amazingly it didn’t occur to me why all the couples wanted to be in bed early until it was pointed out to me.  In the end I don’t think I stayed up late anyways, but felt satisfied about the fulfilling vacation.

Our trip home was good and had smoother landings than our arrival in Punta Cana.  Some of the groups separated in the large Toronto airport, and we got home alright with little fuss from customs.

While I initially had my doubts about such a venture, but I’m sure this amazing trip planted the seeds of inspiration for many others to replicate for their own special days in the future.

"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows." -Helen Keller 

tnoy