Think the cabin, but smaller, and a little light and cold running water. Oh, complete with dried palm tree leaves for roof decor! After spending the whole day trying to get to rancho wendy I have now arrived 7 hours behind schedule and I must say...this place smells like mold!
hehehe...oh, will the girl ever be satisfied? Hey, i'm just happy i'm alive with all my working parts and all my stuff. For a second there I thought, oh, this is why everyone was worried. I got off with a friend that I had meant on the bus to embrake on finding the other bus that I needed to transfer onto to get to Bonao, my mountain town...very close to Pico Duarte, which now that i'm here am very tempted to give it a go...i could always ride my donkey if i get tired:)
I must say the bathrooms in Dominica leave something to be desired. I now understand how disease spreads so badly in "developing" countries. No soap, half the time no toilet paper, you can't actually put the toilet papper in the toilet so theres this very attractive recepticle that just screams don't touch me if you life depended on it. You should have seen the womens bathroom...i mean toilets at the rest stop on the way to the capital...you walk in, women scattered everywhere, cutting in front of everyone, wondering around trying to find the best place to pop a sqate...and so many choices. The random ones that are just in the middle of the room with no walls or anything, then there the ones with low walls and no doors, and then if your really lucky like me you get one that leaking water two walls and one door that doesn't close. Eww. And no washed there hands and i constently think about how much gross stuff is on everything i touch (thanks shu).
shu, you would love it here. Everyone drives in the middle of the road, like a crazy maniac, really fast, beeping whenever at whatever. maybe in a past life you were Dominican? Also they love there styrofoam here and wrap everything in it from there meat, to cheese to veggies. Everything, drinks, to go boxes (of coarse) and then the put it in the nearest river/random field or like i saw in the capital today, right in the gutter...thats what that little gully's there for ain't it?
Luckily people have been really nice and accomadating to this llienda(?) grenga and when I feel lost there has always been some nice guy that knows just enough, if not a lot to help me figure out what the hell everyone is saying. My poco espaniol going goes so far. But i get to know if the people i meant are married, have kids, where they live and if they like there jobs....thats about all the questions i have down pat, ressuracted from my old high school spanish days with my ex flight attendent alcoholic teacher who had a special place in her heart for me...ah, yeah...
any way, i am safe (woosh) and i'm going to retire soon to my humble room to hopefully sleep like a log and wake up tomorrow and get amazed by the natural beauty. Right now its dark and all i can see is my musky old shack that looks like its been left out in the rain one too many times. But i've done it before and I'll do it again.
So well see how this goes. Free internet, so thats cool...if it sucks i can always move onto to my next rustic hotel, that i think will be just a little different then this one. You guys should bring you camping stuff (and the rest of mine too) and we should rent so donkeys and hike up this big beautiful mountain and see all of the carribean...then go to the beach and drink pina coladas until our heads spin:)
ok, so I'm safe sound and ready for bed. A bonfire rages, kids that are hiking the mountain play tonight. Shall i venture? I'm afraid i'm not one for speaking write now, too much effort and challenege for one day. no sleep makes for a trying day, not to mention my taxi not showing up, missing the second bus and then watching the sun go down and all i could hear..."just don't go out alone at night and you'll be safe.." thanks for putting that onein my head kids!
ok, sleep then awake to stunning naturally beauty that makes the whole trip worth it;)
And so has begun my portion of my tropical adventure, and it was...a very trying day to say the lest. But i got here, and really it could have been a lot worse.
I love you and miss you and the south sends you hugs and kisses.
Full moon tonight, don't go crazy!
love
Amalea(how my name's pronouced in Dominican, I've now adopted it full heartedly! ah, dominicana...:)
