F is for una Fria. Fria means cold in Spanish, so when you ask for a cold one, you mean cold beer. Not just a cold beer but an ice cold beer. Dominicans will not drink their beer warm, nor even cold. It has to be ice cold. They say it has to be covered in ashes (cenizas) or wearing a wedding dress (una vestida de novia) to describe the white frosting on the outside of the bottle.
There are three main brands of beer; Presidente, Bohemia and Brahma but by far the most popular is Presidente. You can buy it in all of the colmados and bars and everyone will always check it is cold enough before buying it. They come in three sizes, small, large and jumbo. The large one costs a pound or US$1.50 (or it did in 2012 when I wrote this!)
There is a bit of a performance when you buy the beer. The top is flipped off, usually using the counter top, and then out come the serviettes. The first one is used to wrap around the top of the bottle. I was told that there was always a chance that rats might have peed on the bottles when they were in the warehouse or stacked up in the colmado, so it is used to wipe the top of the bottle. The second serviette is wrapped around the bottle to stop your hands getting too cold, and to absorb the water from the ice. Alternatively the bottle is put in a brown paper bag.
I am not a beer drinker, but there is nothing like an ice cold presidente on a hot day.
My second F is for Fiao. It means credit and is a way of life here. The majority of Dominicans do not save money and so if they want to buy anything they buy on credit. This applies to cars, motorbikes, clothes. The interest rates are exorbitant and if you miss a payment they are even more terrible. If you do not pay for a few months the item is repossessed. There is a major network of loan sharks who will lend cash for whatever you need. They will often take your bank ATM card and when the wages are paid it, they take out your wages, collect their dues and then pay you what is left. On pay days, the first and the fifteenth of the month, you do not want to go to the ATM machine, as you always get stuck behind the 'prestamitas' with a massive stack of cards withdrawing money.
Not everyone charges interest. In the colmado the vast majority of people have credit. It is very well organised in that you are given a piece of cardboard torn off from a box of something. Every time you buy something it is written on your piece of cardboard. Then when you have money you pay some of it or all of it.
The system seems to work well, but the colmado owner has to know who is likely to pay and who not!
What is your F?
There are three main brands of beer; Presidente, Bohemia and Brahma but by far the most popular is Presidente. You can buy it in all of the colmados and bars and everyone will always check it is cold enough before buying it. They come in three sizes, small, large and jumbo. The large one costs a pound or US$1.50 (or it did in 2012 when I wrote this!)
There is a bit of a performance when you buy the beer. The top is flipped off, usually using the counter top, and then out come the serviettes. The first one is used to wrap around the top of the bottle. I was told that there was always a chance that rats might have peed on the bottles when they were in the warehouse or stacked up in the colmado, so it is used to wipe the top of the bottle. The second serviette is wrapped around the bottle to stop your hands getting too cold, and to absorb the water from the ice. Alternatively the bottle is put in a brown paper bag.
I am not a beer drinker, but there is nothing like an ice cold presidente on a hot day.
My second F is for Fiao. It means credit and is a way of life here. The majority of Dominicans do not save money and so if they want to buy anything they buy on credit. This applies to cars, motorbikes, clothes. The interest rates are exorbitant and if you miss a payment they are even more terrible. If you do not pay for a few months the item is repossessed. There is a major network of loan sharks who will lend cash for whatever you need. They will often take your bank ATM card and when the wages are paid it, they take out your wages, collect their dues and then pay you what is left. On pay days, the first and the fifteenth of the month, you do not want to go to the ATM machine, as you always get stuck behind the 'prestamitas' with a massive stack of cards withdrawing money.
Not everyone charges interest. In the colmado the vast majority of people have credit. It is very well organised in that you are given a piece of cardboard torn off from a box of something. Every time you buy something it is written on your piece of cardboard. Then when you have money you pay some of it or all of it.
The system seems to work well, but the colmado owner has to know who is likely to pay and who not!
What is your F?