This reminds me of a time a few years back on Carretera Mella and Charles De Gaulle in Santo Domingo. I had just left a friend's house after sharing a Presidente grande, and a Miguel Vargas rally broke out. After half an hour in the same spot I was pretty happy with the lackadaisical attitude toward peeing in the street.
- Thread starter Ken
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Be Warned: Don't "Pipi" In The Street
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I agree. And hey, maybe they can start with actual health care facilities!
Today I went for the first and last time ever to a clinica in Barahona to get some simple lab tests done in hopes of avoiding a trip to SD. They gave me my specimen cups, directed me to the bathroom...I opened the door and...imaginate. I wasn't expecting much, but really didn't expect it to be THAT bad. Needless to say, I refused to use the bathroom, asked to talk to the administrator of the clinic. She spent 30 minutes making excuses and defending the state of the bathrooms (filthy dirty, with no TP or a single slice of soap), saying that the clinic could not keep up with the people dirtying or stealing. I'm not a germaphobe...but really? A laboratory bathroom, where dozens of really sick people go every day, with no soap? But the doctor told me that Haiti and the frontera were breeding grounds for epidemics and I could have gotten sick there...
Finally I just said 'suerte con la lucha' but that I would not be returning, nor would I recommend that anyone go there (not that I ever did/would anyway). Response? 'I don't care, you can go to SD but all the other poor people will keep coming here anyway.' Sorry, poor people, no basic hygiene conditions for you at Clinica Santo Tomas.
I have seen latrines at the houses of very poor families in the campo so clean you could sleep on the floor, and simple campo bars with impeccable bathrooms. There is no excuse for having such nasty bathrooms...people just have no pride, and no one complains. I say put your money where your bladder is and if you don't like how the bathroom is say something and take your biz elsewhere. I did the same with a bar that I used to go to a lot in a campo after I got tired of drunk women pi$$ing on my shoes and feet. :bunny:
oh, sorry, my post was missing some
i did not take offence
as a woman i sometimes have fits of desparation in DR when it comes to the state of toilets. but luckily i was born with no shame; i will squat in the middle of the street should there be no option. and a visit to some of the loos here makes a great email to my friends Just because you can't "pipi" in the street, doesn't mean you can't "poopie" on the beach, right????????????
When I used to live in Sosua, I made a point of knowing exactly which establishments had the clean restrooms, in case of urgent need, depending on where I was in town, I always had a place to go. Same on the beach most of the bars on the beach didn't have clean facilities, if they had any facilities at all. I never tried the public ones, that I think you had to pay 10 pesos for, they may have been fine, after all they have workers there that collected the pesos, and I assume they were also suppose to make sure that they remained clean. My favorite bathroom on the beach was Tom's place, I think he called it the Scandanavian Bar, with the pictures of the Beatles. That man made sure his bathroom was immaculate. Always made sure I bought a drink from his place when on the beach, because when the need came up, I wanted to use his facilities, and they were only for customers.
Go to haiti and the women squat while a puddle runs out down the street; the men pull it out in front of who"s in the area---if their well endowed. When their ready to go it doesn't matter where it is, they go.
Do what I do when in the DR: Get an old coffee can, drill a couple holes in it, attach some string to said holes, the wear it around your neck for emergencies.......et voila!!! Your own personal porta-potty......I got this handy-dandy tip from "Hints from Heloise!"
So if you see a gringo with a coffee can around his neck, it might not be me.........
So if you see a gringo with a coffee can around his neck, it might not be me.........
and remember the holes go in the sides for string, not in the bottom. You will be hard to miss Frito . lol
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