| The Chiri Chronicles |
Comments are now disabled on this blog.9:15 PM - Mar. 24, 2009 - comments {0}Curtains on the ChroniclesI think it is time to call it a day on this blog. If I return to blogging it will be under a new title, as the Chiri Chronicles catalogued a phase in my life that is now over - our life in the capital Santo Domingo.Looking back over the four years of entries, it was a mainly happy and eventful time for me and for my family. We are now in a new, less eventful phase, living in a quieter, safer part of the country - Punta Cana. It's not just the change of scene that has led to the decline and eventual demise of my blogging habit - I am sure that the rise of Facebook has contributed to this. Facebook is a much more sound-bitey and interactive way of sharing and exchanging opinions, news, information and photos. The difference is that unlike a blog, you control who can read your information. (I know there are invite-only blogs but I don't plan to go down that route.) All that remains to say is thank you for reading and commenting over the years. 10:53 AM - Mar. 16, 2009 - comments {3}Codetel defies logic - yet againIn other news, bear shits in woods. Or the Pope. Or whatever. I know.One of the good things about moving to Punta Cana was the chance to liberate ourselves from the yoke of Codetel. For the last four months we've been relying on cellphones and wireless internet for communications. But, as some may have noticed it hasn't been all plain sailing, so we thought, what the hell, and in the spirit of seasonal goodwill and forgiveness we went to the local Codetel office to apply for a residential phone line with a view to ditching our wireless provider and adding their broadband service once this is available. First of all we're welcomed by their 'receptionist' who has clearly been to a training course, probably called something like "Customer Relations for Automatons". When we get called to our counter, we just about manage to explain our needs when the employee serving us turns away and starts helping the customer who is supposedly being served by her colleague at the next counter. Meanwhile, said colleague is busy looking at Christmas party photos. Reception lady also gets involved in helping the other client, trying out all the useful phrases that she learned on her course: - "please feedback to me, I didn't quite understand what you said". All very amusing, but meanwhile we are feeling a little ruffled at being so rudely ignored. Once we have her attention once again, she asks me to fill in a form. I do so, and when she sees our address, she says: - oh, no, there's no service there yet. - OK, so when will there be service? - maybe like... uurrmm... January? - OK, we can wait. - no, you have to come back and apply again. I realised there was no point in arguing, but what in the world stops them from receiving applications now? January (if indeed it is January, I guess it is likely she just plucked the date out of her fat arse) is less than three weeks away! Maybe they ceremonially burn all application forms every week as part of a ritual sacrifice to the telecoms gods? I get the feeling that their computer system exists for the sole purpose of enabling employees to display cutesy screen savers and pics of their kiddies. Have a nice day! 10:41 AM - Dec. 6, 2008 - comments {2}Yes, it's still hereAnd so am I.If you've been wondering, I've been thinking about "parking" this blog and starting a new one, called Living in Punta Cana or something of the sort. Suggestions from readers and/or advice from blogging gurus welcome. Meanwhile, we're still getting used to our new routine here in Punta Cana and this has taken me away from blogging. Some of the things I thought would be difficult to adapt to have not proved a huge challenge. We feared that the lack of shops - especially for food - compared to the capital would be a real test. This has not been the case. Although we've made two or three trips to La Romana and the capital and stocked up in the supermarkets there, we've only done this when we've had some other reason to go there, like Chirimoyito's ongoing orthodontic treatment. The Punta Cana-Bávaro area is not too bad for food shopping. There is a good frutero in Verón, Aladino, where we stock up on bananas, lechoza, pineapple etc. Every Saturday morning the Punta Cana Ecological Foundation organises a small organic vegetable and fruit market in Punta Cana village, in the little shaded patio next to MovieMax. You can also buy organic veg, honey and other products all week long, directly from the Foundation's shop on their premises, across from the Punta Cana Resort and Club. The supermarkets in the area are OK, and probably because of the presence of expats in the area, they cater for international tastes as well as the standard fare: you can get things like pitta bread, basmati rice, couscous, pesto sauce, tahini, health foods, etc. The small supermarkets like La Marqueta (on the highway near Pueblo Bávaro) and Caribe (near Friusa gas station, past Ferreteria Americana) are more expensive than the large chains, but not excessively so. The supermarkets in Verón feature much lower prices but a more standard selection. Manzanillo, for example, is clean and well-organised. What has been difficult for me has been the lack of books. I can only order so many books from Amazon and the cost of sending books here is higher than via the capital. I miss being able to stock up on books from the Helen Kellogg Library, or borrow from my friends. There is a Book Club here in Punta Cana but it is not active at the moment. Maybe things will improve when it gets going again. 8:17 AM - Oct. 31, 2008 - comments {2}Quick updateIt's finally happened, one whole month and two tropical storms later - we moved into the new apartment on Saturday, just in time for Chirimoyito to get ready for his first day at school on Monday.Still a lot of unpacking and sorting out to be done, including the internet connection. For the time being, breakfast at the wonderful Le Four a Pain in Punta Cana Village is the only time I can go online to check my e-mail. 8:45 AM - Sep. 2, 2008 - comments {0}Forced vacationAlmost four weeks since we moved out of our apartment in Santo Domingo and made our way to our new life in Punta Cana, we are still waiting to move into our new apartment here.This situation of suspended animation has enabled us to explore the area and do all sorts of things like set up a P O Box account, locate banks and businesses, and find the less expensive eateries. Punta Cana Village is a little heavy on the Italian options, the two most popular places being the Italian restaurant Mama Luisa and a branch of Dominican pizza chain Pizzarelli. The bakery, Le Four a Pain, is an excellent alternative for a light meal - but beware those desserts - they are wicked and wonderful. There is also Guano (cue sniggers from Chirimoyito) that does no-nonsense Dominican food at lunchtime and two servicios are more than enough for two adults and a child. The good (or not so good news if like me, you're concerned about your weight) is that a bagel restaurant is opening in the next couple of weeks. Beyond Punta Cana Village we like the plato del día at La Esquina del Pollo, the chicken restaurant in Pueblo Bavaro, and the Mexican restaurant El Burrito is good value for money. Pricier places like La Tasca (Spanish) and AKAI (sushi) are to be found in Palma Real shopping centre further up the road as well as Noah in Pueblo Bavaro itself - international. As I mentioned in the previous entry we were very lucky to be put up in a hotel for however long it took for the apartment to be completed, but this situation does have its downsides. Living out of a suitcase in one hotel room does get wearing after a while, and having to pay for laundry and two meals a day in restaurants is proving to be expensive, as well as having a worrying effect on our formerly slim son's waistline. Mr C and I are more likely to choose the healthy option in restaurants, although we are far from saintly when faced with the dessert menu, but for a child for whom occasional visits to restaurants = treats, it's difficult to enforce healthy eating disciplines. After the first few days we banned refrescos but the solid options are still not that great. I'm threatening an austere regime of vegetable soups and lentil stews to redress the balance when we are finally settled in the apartment. That is, if I can remember how to shop for food, cook, wash up... I did say the situation wasn't totally bleak. But with any luck, all this will be coming to an end soon. We are on the final stretch and I hope to make the next post from our new home, internet connection permitting. And much as I love Italian food, it'll be a long time before I eat another ensalada capresa. 7:34 AM - Aug. 23, 2008 - comments {0}Blogging the moveWhoever said that moving house was up there along with bereavement and divorce as far as stress levels are concerned was a teeny weeny bit of a drama queen, I suspect. If I handle bereavement and divorce as well as this I'll be more or less OK.I concede, however, that neither bereavement or divorce are likely to be as physically exhausting. Having said that, this move has not been without its stressful moments: like arriving at the new apartment after the three+-hour drive from the capital with a large removal van, only to find that the building is still a dusty building site and the apartment itself, although more or less complete, was not habitable. The outcome is that we're being put up at the hotel for as long as it takes. So, while we'll be living out of suitcases for the next couple of weeks, and all our worldly goods are packed in boxes and stored in the new apartment, we're not really complaining. In a way it's a relief not to have to unpack right away, and thanks to the wonders of modern telecommunications we can continue doing what we do from the hotel, as well as making all the last minute adjustments to the apartment itself without having to live in an unfinished apartment. Chirimoyito of course is overjoyed at the prospect of an unscheduled holiday. 6:59 AM - Jul. 31, 2008 - comments {3}The DeporteeYesterday, as Chirimoyito and I were about to board our Air France flight from Paris back to Santo Domingo, we were held up for a good while because a deportee was being put on our plane.Watched by hundreds of passengers, two or three security officials marched a Dominican man through the gate. He was restrained in a sort of modified straightjacket consisting of hand and ankle-cuffs, and shouting out 'No criminal! No criminal!' as he walked past the gawping onlookers. As he entered the door into the tunnel, he must have tried to resist. At that point his escorts had him face down on the floor, and a few moments later he was carried by the arms and legs towards the plane. The passengers looked at each other in disbelief. I, like many others, wondered where they would put the guy. Would we turn up at our allocated seats, 32 D and E, to find him seated in F, complete with straightjacket and Hannibal Lecter grin? Would he make a Hollywood style break for freedom during the flight, duping his escorts and downing the plane? I have no idea whether he was simply an illegal being repatriated or a dangerous criminal being extradited. I hadn't thought of it before, but it makes sense that while the deportees from the US are sent by the planeload in special flights, the numbers from Europe do not merit this and so our deportees are put on commercial flights together with everyone else. It was a strange way of going about it, I thought: wouldn't it have been a little more discreet to get him onto the plane after the passengers had finished boarding? This little incident delayed boarding by about 30 minutes, followed by a two-hour delay when the terminal was evacuated mid-way through boarding thanks to a bomb scare (the boy and I were already on the plane). We got back safe and sound, but I do look forward to tomorrow when, jetlag permitting, I will feel normal again. 10:45 AM - Jul. 25, 2008 - comments {2}
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Description "Properly cosmo with a dash of aplatanado". Home User Profile Archives Links Chiri Chronicles FAQ Dominican Cooking DR1 Dominican Bookshop Ginnie Bedggood Mr C's photos Expat Women Blog Directory DR Blogs Blogwork Orange Changing Perspectives DR1's Green Team Steps and Stories from Puerto Plata Tomando en cuenta Other Blogs Amity, etc. (USA) An American Between Worlds Anglofille (England) anglosaxy (Israel) Expat Mama (Spain) Separated by a Common Language Temas Blog on Green Issues TheCandidacy Recent Entries - Comments are now disabled on this blog. - Curtains on the Chronicles - Codetel defies logic - yet again - Yes, it's still here - Quick update - Forced vacation - Blogging the move - The Deportee  
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