Golf, Ladies Day & Medical Care DR Style

Before we arrived in the DR, Matt was busy searching for (affordable) golf courses.  There is one in Puerto Plato (45 minutes away), one in Santiago (1 1/2 hours away) and a very nice one about an hour east of us call Playa Grande.  The Playa Grande course was by far the nicest, and most picturesque, but also the most expensive.  Also not easy to get to without a car.  So Matt didn't even bring his clubs to the DR.

 

Well, after we won the fantasy football pool, Matt decided time to splurge.  He got together a foursome and arranged tee times.  Plus one of the guys he was playing with had a car!  So off he went Tuesday morning with David, Pat and Bob.  Bob and his wife Bea are staying in our condo complex for the month of January.  It was a beautiful course and by all reports a great day for the guys.

Well, sounded like a perfect excuse for a Ladies Day Out to me.  Louise suggested Ocean Village in Sosua and glad she did.  It was beautiful.  Bea and I walked over to Orilla Del Mar (the condo complex where the rest of the gals live) and caught a gua gua from there.  Bea is quite the trooper.  She always dresses great for any of our outings and then I have her picking our way through muddy streets covered with chicken and cow poop just so she can squeeze onto a crowded gua gua.  Ocean village is a complex about a 15 minute walk from the main road.  There are condos, a Gold's Gym, a water park and a really nice restaurant there....oh and some incredible views.  The place was not crowded at all.  No one in the pools or water park and maybe six or ten people on the little beach.  In the restaurant there was maybe about five other tables that were occupied.  Rumor is that it's Russian mob money that keeps this place afloat.  But no matter, we weren't complaining. There are two private cabanas at the the restaurant and we were able to snag one of them.  The ocean view from the cabana was jaw dropping.  Plus, the food was really good as well.

Bea, Wendy, Nancy, Louise, Robyn and me at Ocean Village

the view from our cabana

So Tuesday night both Matt and I were pretty wiped out.  This was our first day apart since November 2nd!  Pretty sure it was good for both of us.

This week we also got our first taste of Dominican health care.  I have had an issue with my left ear for so long that I can't remember when it first started.  I think I began having problems in November when we flew to Cancun.  It doesn't exactly hurt, but always feels like it's closed.  I have also noticed that my hearing is not so great in that ear.  I was ignoring it until we took our bus ride to Santo Domingo last week.  When we were in the mountains it really started to hurt and didn't subside right away.  So I decided time to get it checked.

Everyone has a different suggestion on where to go for medical care in this area.  There is the hospital in Puerto Plata where you can see specialists but not necessary for this problem.  There is a new clinic in Sosua that has 24 hour care plus a hospital.  And there are several small medical offices in Cabarete.  Louise (who is an RN in the summer months when she's back in Canada) recommended a medical office in Cabarete that she and David use;  The office is set back a bit from the main road between a farmacia and a fruit stand.  Louise says if the doctor isn't in, ask at the fruit stand.  In the U.S. this would sound crazy, but makes perfect sense here.

So Monday after lunch Matt and I took the gua gua into Cabarete to see the doctor.  We got there about 1:00 and no one in the office.  I asked at the fruit stand and she told me "doctora en la officina a un tres" or something like that.  Well, Matt and I had already eaten so didn't have much to do in Cabarete and it was looking like a gorgeous beach day, so we decided to go back home and try another day.  David and Louise actually had an appointment at the office on Wednesday at noon to get some test results.  She suggested we go at the same time as we knew the doctor would be there, and Louise wanted to look at my ear herself.

So Wednesday we take the gua gua back into Cabarete and got there a little after 11.  Hard to judge times here as you never know how long a wait you will have to catch a gua gua.  We went on to the clinic and it was closed.  I asked at the fruit stand an got the same reply -- the doctor would be there at 3.  Matt happened to see a guy near the clinic who offered to call the doctor.  So we sat and waited and she came in about 20 minutes later.  There was a problem with the lock on her door, so the guy (who turns out is her assistant) pulled out a screw driver and broke the lock.

Her office was very basic, an old desk and an exam table.  Her English was probably better than my Spanish....but not much.  She looked in my ear using a flashlight.  No ottoscope (sp?). She decided to clean out my ear so she pulled out her supplies, all new and sealed so very clean.  She flushed out my ear many times and nothing came out but this was starting to be uncomfortable.  Louise and David came in about then and Louise looked at my ear but couldn't see the ear drum just using the flashlight.  Finally the doctor stopped the flushing and decided I need antibiotics and eardrops.  She disappears and is gone about 15 minutes.  Turned out she went to the farmacia to buy the drugs.  When she returns she tells me that if I have any more problems to call her and gives me her office and cell phone numbers.  She also says that if I need to come back for a follow up, there is no charge.  The total charge for visit and prescriptions was $3000 pesos....or $75 USD so not so bad.  I was happy that we had the opportunity to check out this process when it was a non-emergency.   Also good to have the doctors cell phone number.  I understand she will make house calls if necessary.

Inside Pictures of Our Condo

Living Room and Balcony

Dining Room

 Several people have ask to see the inside of our Condo in Cabarete, Dominican Republic.  These first two are the Dining Room / Living Room and the the first Balcony.  This table is made out of local wood as are the chairs. This picture is of our Kitchen.  If any of you remember the kitchen in Overland Park, well Syd likes this

Kitchen

one and it has lots of space.  We just got the microwave from our friends Pat and Angie that live here full time in their house around the corner.  The picture below is of the master bedroom and our balcony off that room.                                                                                

Master Bedroom

Closets and Hallway to BR

Hallway to Bathroom
Lots of closet space

Master Shower

Second Bedroom

Second Bedroom

Enjoy Pictures, we really do enjoy this place.

Santo Domingo

On Thursday we headed to Santo Domingo for two nights.  Seemed to be a good time to hit the big city!

The bus system in this country is incredible.  From Sosua, Caribe Tours runs buses to Puerto Plata, Santiago and on to Santo Domingo every hour from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. for a very reasonable $12 per person.  Here's the group waiting in the Sosua bus station...I thought we looked like we were at the police station ready to get booked.

These buses are very nice and comfortable...but cold.  They do not spare the a/c.  The scenery was beautiful.  We went up into the mountains and down through the valley where they grow tobacco and citrus.  A lot of this countryside looks very prehistoric....think Jurassic Park which was actually filmed here.

We stayed at the beautiful Hotel Conde de Panalba.  Our room was the corner balcony just above the entrance to the restaurant.  It was a great spot to have morning coffee or a glass of wine and look out into the square. But actually our favorite spot for happy hour was the beautiful roof top terrace.   We would take our wine and beer up here and just hang out.

Lot of incredible historic sites in this city which was founded in 1502.  My favorite was the home of Christopher Columbus.

We took a walking tour of the city with Angel, our friend in Santo Domingo.  He hooked Matt up with  a great place to buy cigars...so made Matt VERY happy.

One morning Matt, Louise, David and I took a long walk along the malecon.  This statue is in the harbor and it's very impressive.  It's huge and dominates the skyline in the historic district.

We left Santo Domingo to come back to home to Cabarete.  Always good to get back hone after a long trip, and Cabarete does feel very much like home.  Benni and Nona took care of Hermann and he seemed very happy.  So might try and do this again....maybe a bus to Las Terrenas next time?

Benni

Something that has really made our stay here special and fostered our love and respect for the Dominican people, is the wonderful staff at our condominium who take such good care of us.  For our ten unit complex there is our property manager who is here intermittently, two housekeepers and the gardener Benni. 

Benni just recently turned 23 years old, so still very young.  He has a wife and young baby and helping to care for his 7 year old step son.  Benni works six days a week, like most Dominicans.  Although he is officially the gardener, he's also the jack of all trades.  If the housekeeping staff is short handed, he helps clean rooms.  He lugs the five gallon jugs of water to our condo when we need a replacement.  If the supply of water at the condo is out (which it has been for two weeks) he gets on his motorcycle and hauls some to us.  When he thinks our motorcycle needs to be washed, he takes care of it.  He takes care of the pool and helps us carry our pool chairs to the beach.  He also helps Matt with his beach clean-up project.  When we decided to buy a motorcycle, Benni went with us to Gaspar Hernandez, a nearby town, to help us negotiate and serve as interpreter.  The problem is Benni doesn't speak English, but he has the ability to  talk to me in Spanish slow enough and simply enough that I can usually understand.  And he does all of this with a sweet smile.   The housekeepers constantly lean over the balcony and call "Benni, Benni, Benni" when they need something.  Now that's the inside joke between Matt and me.  We are always calling "Benni, Benni, Benni" when we need anything, even when Benni isn't around.  Benni's standard saying is "esta bien" or "its ok" and that pretty much seems to sum up his attitude.

Benni struggles sometimes to get to work on his motorcycle.  It's "muy viejo" (very old) he tells me.  But nothing seems to get him down.   If it does, he never shows anger, irritation or impatience.


Yesterday we had the pleasure of meeting Benni's beautiful family. This is Benni with his wife Tanila, step son Feli and beautiful little LiBeni.  Cute family, huh?

Oh, and Matt couldn't taking a pic of me with sweet little LiBeni.  Matt thinks I have a "what do I do with this thing" expression on my face...

Jane, Toni & Me Getting Ready to Ride

The "Mississippi Girls" left on Saturday after a three week stay.  Jane and Toni were my horseback riding buds so probably won't be doing that again for a while.

Feliz Anu Nuevo!

Our first New Year's Eve in retirement....and in the DR!

Every restaurant and bar in Cabarete offered a New Year's Eve package but that didn't sound like us.  Matt has been busy with his beach clean up project and we have plenty of wood available, so he and Pat cooked up the idea to do a beach bonfire.  We were a little nervous about the weather forecast as there was a chance for rain, but it appeared we were going to be able to give it a go.

Matt collected a beautiful stack of wood for the bonfire.  By the looks of his woodstack you would have thought he'd been doing bonfires all his life.


He also wrote a couple of New Year greetings in the sand. 

 

 

The weather actually turned out ok and we had a great time.  There were about 20 of us there.....not counting the dogs!  Pat set up his grill and we cooked hot dogs, sausages and lobster.  Was a great time.  Seemed to be sand in everything, but that didn't dampen the fun.  We lasted until nearly 11:00 when a rain storm blew in.  So we had to dismantle everything quickly and call it quits.  We had intended on a "mature" celebration anyway, so not surprised we didn't make it until midnight. 

 

 

 

Now, on another subject, on Sunday night we had gone into Cabarete for happy hour.  We were coming back after dark so we split a cab with two other couples who lived at a condo on the way to ours.  Well, the cab got to their condo and left them off, then the driver got out.  We had a flat tire.  Nothing for us to do except walk home.  So we had a 30 minute walk on a pitch black road.....no street lights at all.  We made it home safe and sound but learned from this experience, in the DR it always pays to be prepared!  We won't leave the house again without a flashlight! 

 

 



 

 





Never Pet a Dominican Dog!

Never, never, pet another Dominican dog.  That’s what Matt tells me.  Well I agree….I shouldn’t ever, ever, ever pet another one.  And here’s why.

First, some of my observations about Dominican dogs.  They will break your heart.  There are Dominican beach dogs, street dogs and village dogs.  By far, the beach dogs are the best off.  They wander the beach where there are plenty of bars and restaurants, and many people offer them the leftovers from their plate.  They generally get plenty to eat, but they are very particular.  They want protein, and maybe some pasta, but NEVER potatoes!  They won’t eat them.  The street dogs aren’t quite as well off, but they can generally find something to eat.  Dominicans seem to be very generous.  If all they have for breakfast is a small baguette of bread and there is a hungry dog around, they share with the dog.  Village dogs don’t seem to do as well, there are just too many of them.  I need to stay out of the villages.

There seems to be a very good program to attempt to care for homeless dogs.  They have clinics every six weeks or so that they will provide spaying free of charge.  Dominicans don’t neuter the males, but they don’t usually object to spaying the females.  Once the dogs are spayed they are eligible for a monthly oral treatment that takes care of fleas, ticks and parasites.  Volunteers in each neighborhood are responsible for treating the dogs in their area.  Dogs have a tattoo in their ear identifying them and the volunteers also have photos.  So that’s a very good thing.

When you offer food to a Dominican dog, it doesn’t matter if they haven’t eaten in a week, they will very gently take the food from you, they never snap or gobble it.  They also love to have attention, any show of affection will seem to spark some hope that they will have someone to care for them.  So that is why you should never pet a Dominican dog!

Here is Scruffy Puppy.  As Juan says, “ella is muy contenta”.  She is always very happy and after I petted her once while I was out walking Hermann, we seem to be friends for life.  She actually seems to have a home with a Dominican family that lives just at the end of the drive way to our condo.  She’ll wait till she sees me walking Herm and then she’ll come bounding toward us.  She loves to have her tummy scratched, so she’ll always roll on her back for a good scratching.  I’ll oblige and then start to walk away, so she’ll run in front of me and throw herself in the driveway in front of me and roll on her back.  She’ll usually do that about 4 or 5 times until I finally just step over her and head for home.  When that happens she’ll very dramatically continue to lay on her back and follow me all the way home with her eyes.  She is very well behaved and although she starts to follow me when I head out to the main road, someone at her home will call her and she stops and goes home.

Now this is my Angel.  One time about two weeks ago I was out scratching Scruffy Puppy, and I saw this skinny, pitiful white dog lurking near us.  I called her and she timidly came up to me and I scratched her head.  She has a delicate, beautiful face - almost deer-like.  That one scratch was all it took, she seemed to be mine after that one scratch.  The next day Matt and I were walking to the market which is about 45 minutes from the condo and most of it along the busy main road.  She immediately started following us.  I tried and tried to shoo her away, but she wouldn’t stop following us.  She went to the market with us but it was very crowded and she was terrified.  She disappeared eventually.  Matt and I caught a guagua to Sosua beach after the market and came home late in the day.  She was back at the condo waiting for us.  This started a pattern, she would always follow us until we got to where we were going and then she’d disappear and be waiting for us back at the condo.  This did not make Matt very happy. 

Angel appeared to have recently had a litter of puppies, but I assumed she lost them since she never had puppies with her.  This past Friday we hosted a happy hour at our pool.  Some of the friends we had over were much more familiar with dogs than me, and I soon learned that, no, she hadn’t recently had puppies – she was about to have a litter, and probably very soon.   Well the very next day I got out for my early morning beach walk and she was not acting right.  She still went with us, but it was hard for her  She seemed to be very fretful and restless.  When we got back from our walk she immediately crawled under the floor of the gazebo and wouldn’t come out.  Matt and I had to leave and when we came back she was still under the gazebo.  The gardener at our condo said she needed to move from there, she needed a place “mas sacado” (drier) to have her puppies.  So they pulled her out and she immediately headed to a neighborhood near us.  About two or three hours later she came back, after having her puppies, and found me at the pool.  I petted her and then she left.  A bit later I was at the beach and she came out to the beach, barked at me and than ran off.   About 30 minutes later she did this again.  That time I followed her.  She seemed to want me to know where she was and that all was ok. Matt and I had always noticed a house near us that appeared to be vacant, and that’s where she went.   She squeezed through the iron gate of this house and waited for me to follow.  Obviously I couldn’t, so she gave up and ran into a thick stand of shrubs at the edge of the property.  I thought she had chosen a good spot to have these pups .  Even though Matt said I needed to leave her alone, I went back to leave her some food at the gate.  Well, when I came back there was a car in front of the house and a vicious Doberman in the yard.  I knew this didn’t bode well for the puppies. 

About 3:00 a.m. I had to take Hermann out (he’s had too many handouts himself) and there was Angel waiting for me….with no puppies.  I’m going to take her to get her spayed and get her on the program for monthly flea/tick/parasite treatments.  Not letting her go through this again.

So that’s why you shouldn’t ever pet a Dominican dog.  They will very quickly work their way into your heart…..and maybe break it.  And whatever you do - Don't Name Them!

Our First Cabarete Christmas

Had a wonderful holiday!  We started out at Nancy and Arvid's for a traditional Christmas eve dinner.....traditional except we all had on flip flops and check out the palm trees outside the patio door.  After dinner, we went over to David and Louise's condo for dessert.  There were about 15 of us there....and it was a wonderful time.  Always hard to be away from family and old friends at the holidays, but all these new friends make it much easier.

Today we spent our Christmas on the beach.....surrounded with our beach dogs.  Hermann always goes with us, and the two "security" dogs at the condo as well.  I've managed to pick up the sweetest little Dominican dog who waits outside the condo for me each day and she loves the beach as well.  Matt was talking to a lady on the beach today while I was walking.  I was headed back and Matt said she looked up and saw me coming with these four dogs following me and she turned and decided to go the other way.  I guess we look a little intimidating....especially the two chow security dogs.

Pat and Angie, along with their daughter and granddaughter, joined us at the beach....and brought their little dog Oreo.  So great day for us and the dogs.

For our actual Christmas dinner today we had spaghetti;  Not very traditional, but simple.  BTW, looks like Matt's second batch of fudge turned out great!

We were able to get the magic jack work well enough to get calls through to most of our kids and Matt's mom.  I wasn't able to talk with Ryan though.....he tried to call and we missed him.  I tried to call back but he has his phone turned off as they are in Grand Cayman this week.  Haven't been able to personally tell him "happy 30th birthday" yet!