I?ve been wanting to write a report for a while but we?ve been swamped here at work with tons of files and things of that nature. I must say that it was one of the most fun trips to the DR since I was a kid. Warning: the report is looong??.
Anyways, this was what transpired during my trip: December 18th was the day to finish packing everything and get ready to leave early the next morning. But on the 19th I ran into problems up the ying-yang trying to get down to DR from Virginia, which I already knew was impossible but didn?t have a clue how bad this would turn. It just teaches me to never try to catch a ?hop? ever again. Anyways, after waiting at a airstrip to go to Puerto Rico from 4:00 AM until 6:30 PM, a group of people going down to Puerto Rico and myself decided to rent a car, drive to Ft. Lauderdale International Airport and catch a flight to Puerto Rico from there, which we had booked just in case and then I would catch another flight to Santo Domingo???but that only worked somewhat. We had all booked flights and were trying to figure out how we were gonna get down there in 12 hours since the flight was leaving at 8:30 AM on the 20th. Well, we manage to get on the flight and leave to Puerto Rico but down there I ran into some more problems, such as: Luis Mu?oz Marin Int?l Airport is like a city, you can?t go back in the same way you came out, and all the flights to Santo Domingo were booked??..so there goes another day, I imagined.
Well, as fate would have it, there was an available flight??.to Punta Cana. I had to figure this plan out before I left so I called up ?the man? and asked him to come to Higuey to pick me up but he had to work so he could only go to La Romana. Well, it?s a deal, I tell him. So off I go on my American Eagle flight to Punta Cana and it took longer to get the plane going than it took us to get to Punta Cana. The flight was short, the sky was beautiful, and I had already captured my first whiff of tropical air in two years when I stepped out of the air-conditioned airport in San Juan. So, on the plane there was a small group of people traveling together. Two sisters and their daughters, very nice people. Once the plane was in the air everyone started talking about their trips and when I told them mine, they actually offered me a ride from Punta Cana to Higuey, bought me a Presidente right after I got out of the airport cuz all I had was dollars, and actually gave me the money to get on a ?Expreso? bus to La Romana. It was a godsend after all the crap I went thru to get down there. My father, his best friend, and my sister were all waiting for waiting for me in front of the police precinct for La Romana. Before I left San Juan, my father ?suggested? that I use my military ID to get into the precinct if wasn?t there by the time I arrived, which I just laughed off J but when I got there and didn?t see them right away, it sure as hell sounded like a good idea at the time???damn, I should?ve listened to my old man, I started to think when all of a sudden, I heard a voice??
It was my father, waiting in his truck, calling my name out (as he always does) and next to him was my sister, telling me to ?hurry your ass up, we?ve been waiting? and his best friend, who was waiting for me to get there ?pa? comprarte una fria? which is what I wanted anyways???.hehe. Well, the first thing we do is to stop in a colmado before we get on the road to Santo Domingo and the people were making alotta noise on the streets, being that it was the holidays. Well, my father asked me what I wanted and by default I said ?dame una Presidente? but then my sister warned me about a outbreak of ?fiebre and diarrhea and all sorts of stuff because the Presidentes all went bad? so I asked for a Bohemia instead. Wow, it?s a pretty good beer, I thought after one cup. It was freezing cold, just how I like them. But after another cup, I had to stop. They still wanted to know about my oddisey and the beer had me all groggy so I told them to stop giving me beer??about 5 times before my father actually stopped serving beer. I started telling them about the trip and then I noticed, even though it was nighttime, that the highways were really nice, except for a stretch right past the sugar-cane fields by La Romana. They were lit (probably cuz it was the holidays), the roads were smooth and there were actual lines painted on the road! That was a shocker to me. Even the lunatics driving at night were in the correct lanes! A bigger shocker than the retail price for a Maybach 62!! Anyways we get to Santo Domingo and get home. That was the end of one long-ass journey to get there. All I could do was take a shower and go to sleep. I needed the sleep because the very next morning I had to go visit some family members who hadn?t seen me in two years and then I had to visit one of my best friends who was moving to Michigan the very next day, which sucked because we?re road-dogs and we would hit up all the clubs together but on this trip it was obvious it wasn?t gonna happen. So on Sunday I spent the day at my friend?s house and at my cousin?s house too. After that crazy weekend, Monday came around and I was already being asked to go pay some bills and to drop off one of the TVs at a repair shop in Arroyo Hondo. Man oh man, I was hoping that my vacation wouldn?t turn out like this and I wouldn?t do anything fun. Well, the first part of the week was uneventful, although it was boring??..I also wondered if there was any way to get the DR1 people together in time but I realized that the DR1 get-togethers are planned months ahead of time. Oh well, until next time, I said.
Then came the 24th of December, a time when we usually get together and act silly around the dinner table. But this time it would be different because I hadn?t been there in a few years, propane gas prices were high, and everyone in the house felt lazy and they didn?t want to cook too much. And to top it off, my father had been buggin? me to bring my Service Dress Uniform (Class A, for all other military personnel) and wear it that day because he wanted his employers to see me in it, he wanted my godfather (who I had never met before) to see me, and the whole family wanted to see me in it. Soooo???I conceded them a victory by wearing the uniform over there. Well, throughtout the day he keeps buggin me about it and telling me to ?be ready by 5:00 PM and to go to Ensanche Piantini to his boss? house. Well, I get to ?the mansion? and I?ve been going there since I was a little kid but it never ceases to amaze me. The house itself is almost half a block, and we?re talkin? NYC blocks here. Anyways, after all the hype and phone calls, me and the guy only talk for about two minutes and then we leave. Oh well, my father thought it was worth it and I did look sharp in the uniform. Then we head off to meet my godfather who is a Major in the DR Air Force down there but is on Reserve status so he flies jets for a few big companies. Nice guy, nice family. Well, we head on to Pola of Arroyo Hondo supermarket and every girl was looking at me (must be the uniform). So I know what to do for the next trip down there????..
After that, we had dinner and then I left to la Zona Colonial to hit up some clubs but no one was there, everyone seemed to be up on Lincoln Ave, just hangin? out with their friends. Then the following morning, me and my friends were set to leave to Jarabacoa and stay at the country house of one of the guys but then, my father?s truck started giving us problems so there goes that fun trip we were supposed to have. The weather was perfect for a day up in the mountains too. That was a bummer but hey, I still had fun that day. Then, on the 26th, my father had to go to Miami so that meant I kept his truck, which also meant party time!!!!! That very same day, I didn?t do anything but the following day I hit up the Zona Colonial, went into some place called Kubania (or something like that), it was alright. Then after that, I went down to Atarazana and also tried to get into Vanity but that didn't work because the club was absolutely packed!! Oh well, we went back to Atarazana and the music and drinks were good, it was a fun-filled night.
The 28th of December, there was a class reunion from El Dominico-Americano class of '01 so my friends from that group invited me to come along and join them for the get-together. It was alright, there were some pretty cool kids there and then there were some of the snotty, stuck-up kids there too...........One of the girls I was talking to happened to be the daughter of the director of the National Symphonic Orchestra, her last name I can't catch, but she was really fun to have around. Then, after that, we hit up la Zona Colonial again, there was nothing else to do. That was that day. I'll continue in the next installment............
Anyways, this was what transpired during my trip: December 18th was the day to finish packing everything and get ready to leave early the next morning. But on the 19th I ran into problems up the ying-yang trying to get down to DR from Virginia, which I already knew was impossible but didn?t have a clue how bad this would turn. It just teaches me to never try to catch a ?hop? ever again. Anyways, after waiting at a airstrip to go to Puerto Rico from 4:00 AM until 6:30 PM, a group of people going down to Puerto Rico and myself decided to rent a car, drive to Ft. Lauderdale International Airport and catch a flight to Puerto Rico from there, which we had booked just in case and then I would catch another flight to Santo Domingo???but that only worked somewhat. We had all booked flights and were trying to figure out how we were gonna get down there in 12 hours since the flight was leaving at 8:30 AM on the 20th. Well, we manage to get on the flight and leave to Puerto Rico but down there I ran into some more problems, such as: Luis Mu?oz Marin Int?l Airport is like a city, you can?t go back in the same way you came out, and all the flights to Santo Domingo were booked??..so there goes another day, I imagined.
Well, as fate would have it, there was an available flight??.to Punta Cana. I had to figure this plan out before I left so I called up ?the man? and asked him to come to Higuey to pick me up but he had to work so he could only go to La Romana. Well, it?s a deal, I tell him. So off I go on my American Eagle flight to Punta Cana and it took longer to get the plane going than it took us to get to Punta Cana. The flight was short, the sky was beautiful, and I had already captured my first whiff of tropical air in two years when I stepped out of the air-conditioned airport in San Juan. So, on the plane there was a small group of people traveling together. Two sisters and their daughters, very nice people. Once the plane was in the air everyone started talking about their trips and when I told them mine, they actually offered me a ride from Punta Cana to Higuey, bought me a Presidente right after I got out of the airport cuz all I had was dollars, and actually gave me the money to get on a ?Expreso? bus to La Romana. It was a godsend after all the crap I went thru to get down there. My father, his best friend, and my sister were all waiting for waiting for me in front of the police precinct for La Romana. Before I left San Juan, my father ?suggested? that I use my military ID to get into the precinct if wasn?t there by the time I arrived, which I just laughed off J but when I got there and didn?t see them right away, it sure as hell sounded like a good idea at the time???damn, I should?ve listened to my old man, I started to think when all of a sudden, I heard a voice??
It was my father, waiting in his truck, calling my name out (as he always does) and next to him was my sister, telling me to ?hurry your ass up, we?ve been waiting? and his best friend, who was waiting for me to get there ?pa? comprarte una fria? which is what I wanted anyways???.hehe. Well, the first thing we do is to stop in a colmado before we get on the road to Santo Domingo and the people were making alotta noise on the streets, being that it was the holidays. Well, my father asked me what I wanted and by default I said ?dame una Presidente? but then my sister warned me about a outbreak of ?fiebre and diarrhea and all sorts of stuff because the Presidentes all went bad? so I asked for a Bohemia instead. Wow, it?s a pretty good beer, I thought after one cup. It was freezing cold, just how I like them. But after another cup, I had to stop. They still wanted to know about my oddisey and the beer had me all groggy so I told them to stop giving me beer??about 5 times before my father actually stopped serving beer. I started telling them about the trip and then I noticed, even though it was nighttime, that the highways were really nice, except for a stretch right past the sugar-cane fields by La Romana. They were lit (probably cuz it was the holidays), the roads were smooth and there were actual lines painted on the road! That was a shocker to me. Even the lunatics driving at night were in the correct lanes! A bigger shocker than the retail price for a Maybach 62!! Anyways we get to Santo Domingo and get home. That was the end of one long-ass journey to get there. All I could do was take a shower and go to sleep. I needed the sleep because the very next morning I had to go visit some family members who hadn?t seen me in two years and then I had to visit one of my best friends who was moving to Michigan the very next day, which sucked because we?re road-dogs and we would hit up all the clubs together but on this trip it was obvious it wasn?t gonna happen. So on Sunday I spent the day at my friend?s house and at my cousin?s house too. After that crazy weekend, Monday came around and I was already being asked to go pay some bills and to drop off one of the TVs at a repair shop in Arroyo Hondo. Man oh man, I was hoping that my vacation wouldn?t turn out like this and I wouldn?t do anything fun. Well, the first part of the week was uneventful, although it was boring??..I also wondered if there was any way to get the DR1 people together in time but I realized that the DR1 get-togethers are planned months ahead of time. Oh well, until next time, I said.
Then came the 24th of December, a time when we usually get together and act silly around the dinner table. But this time it would be different because I hadn?t been there in a few years, propane gas prices were high, and everyone in the house felt lazy and they didn?t want to cook too much. And to top it off, my father had been buggin? me to bring my Service Dress Uniform (Class A, for all other military personnel) and wear it that day because he wanted his employers to see me in it, he wanted my godfather (who I had never met before) to see me, and the whole family wanted to see me in it. Soooo???I conceded them a victory by wearing the uniform over there. Well, throughtout the day he keeps buggin me about it and telling me to ?be ready by 5:00 PM and to go to Ensanche Piantini to his boss? house. Well, I get to ?the mansion? and I?ve been going there since I was a little kid but it never ceases to amaze me. The house itself is almost half a block, and we?re talkin? NYC blocks here. Anyways, after all the hype and phone calls, me and the guy only talk for about two minutes and then we leave. Oh well, my father thought it was worth it and I did look sharp in the uniform. Then we head off to meet my godfather who is a Major in the DR Air Force down there but is on Reserve status so he flies jets for a few big companies. Nice guy, nice family. Well, we head on to Pola of Arroyo Hondo supermarket and every girl was looking at me (must be the uniform). So I know what to do for the next trip down there????..
After that, we had dinner and then I left to la Zona Colonial to hit up some clubs but no one was there, everyone seemed to be up on Lincoln Ave, just hangin? out with their friends. Then the following morning, me and my friends were set to leave to Jarabacoa and stay at the country house of one of the guys but then, my father?s truck started giving us problems so there goes that fun trip we were supposed to have. The weather was perfect for a day up in the mountains too. That was a bummer but hey, I still had fun that day. Then, on the 26th, my father had to go to Miami so that meant I kept his truck, which also meant party time!!!!! That very same day, I didn?t do anything but the following day I hit up the Zona Colonial, went into some place called Kubania (or something like that), it was alright. Then after that, I went down to Atarazana and also tried to get into Vanity but that didn't work because the club was absolutely packed!! Oh well, we went back to Atarazana and the music and drinks were good, it was a fun-filled night.
The 28th of December, there was a class reunion from El Dominico-Americano class of '01 so my friends from that group invited me to come along and join them for the get-together. It was alright, there were some pretty cool kids there and then there were some of the snotty, stuck-up kids there too...........One of the girls I was talking to happened to be the daughter of the director of the National Symphonic Orchestra, her last name I can't catch, but she was really fun to have around. Then, after that, we hit up la Zona Colonial again, there was nothing else to do. That was that day. I'll continue in the next installment............
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