This is a 3rd person trip report for my dad who recently went with my husband Doug (GlowWorm) to stay at our villa in Casa Linda near Sosua. My son and his girlfriend also came with us, which was the first time for them on the north coast.
My dad is opinionated, unyielding, prejudiced against any minority, has steadfast eating habits, and hadn?t been out of the U.S. since World War II. Got the picture?
We were glad dad had agreed to go, but were very apprehensive on how high our stress level was going to be for 2 weeks.
Would I have to cook every night? Would he be pleasant to the local help? Would he even speak to anyone not from Heartland, USA?
He prepared for the trip by bringing a case of peanut butter crackers. Mom said he expected to lose 10 pounds because he doesn?t eat any ethnic food. She said he hates Mexican food. I smiled.
#1 Surprise: We got to the house. He absolutely loved it. Loved the ?Caribbean look? of the house and spent an hour looking at the tropical vegetation around the house. ?Hey, Jan, there?s baby bananas on this tree!!? He said he?d unpack later.
It was time to make the big grocery run to the supermarket. He wanted to come. I knew his breakfast consisted of half cornflakes, half cheerios with cutup grapes and bananas. The supermarket was packed; no one was speaking English, and everything was in Spanish. I gave him a list of what I wanted. I told him not to buy American brands ? he frowned.
#2 Surprise: I couldn?t get him out of the store. He was absorbing everything and was enjoying pantomiming to the help that he wanted bananas. We got out and he excitedly said he couldn?t believe the prices on the food. He loved picking out fresh bread that wasn?t packaged. He was fascinated that the butcher cut up pork chops right in front of you and didn?t even package them.
By the end of the week, he went on and on about the friendliness of the local people. I had previously told him over and over that he couldn?t compare Dominicans with other ethnic groups.
#3 surprise: My unyielding dad that has never tried to fit in with any culture, was saying ?Ooola? to every Dominican he passed. I had to keep telling him it was pronounced ?Ola?. No telling what ?oola? could mean. He took walks all around the neighborhood, stopping to talk to anyone that had knowledge about the area. He watched construction workers for an hour, amazed what they could do without ?modern? machinery.
By the second week, anyone at any time that was making a trip to Cabarete, he was ready to go. He shopped and shopped and watched and observed. By this time, he had watched enough Dominican families on the beaches and on the streets to conclude that Dominican families know how to rear their kids.
#4 surprise: Americans should learn from the Dominican families. In the days and days he sat in the shade on the beaches, he never saw one Dominican child misbehave. He saw a father tell his 3-yr old to sit in the chair, as a form of punishment for something. Dad said the little girl not once tried to get out of the chair, she didn?t hit, scream, or spit at him. The rest of the family saw her crying, but dad said they knew not to interfere. He said Dominicans appeared to rear their children like we use to do in the 50s and 60s. Damn Dr. Spock.
I was cooking every other night by then from recipes I printed from Aunt Clara?s Dominican Cooking website. I figured if he wouldn?t eat what I fixed, then he always had the peanut butter crackers he brought.
#5 surprise: The man ate and ate. He had never eaten a bean in his life. He scarfed down the black beans and rice I fixed. I fixed homemade chicken noodle soup with celery and spices. He loved it. I stewed chicken in a tomato sauce ? he couldn?t get enough. I fixed fried plantains one morning for breakfast. He ate so many, he almost got sick ? not use to fried foods. But after that, he asked for ?panteens? every day. We went to a German restaurant in Sosua. He said it was the best pork tenderloin he ever had. He drug me to the market and asked me to re-create the meal the next night. Dad eating something with mushrooms in it? God almighty.
He started walking to the Coastal station down the road because I wouldn?t take him often enough. I was apprehensive and told him to listen for traffic. He loved their deli and the employees. He loved watching attendants pump gas.
#6 surprise: Dominicans may be the poorest people he?s seen in a long time, but they are so clean and neat, friendly and helpful. Why can?t our minorities have the same attitude? (Again, he tries to compare them with African-Americans) He said he could eat off the floors of Coastal. He said he couldn?t walk around with 2 cans without an employee offering him a basket.
There is no way any Mini Mart in the states would have that caliber of employees. ?Jan, they haven?t discovered self-serve gas yet!?
Speaking of employees. Doug took him to a shop that sold pumps for washing machines. We needed a new one for the Italian brand we had. Dad said the shop guy knew very little English; Doug knows very little Spanish, but the employee took a painstakingly amount of time trying to help Doug. The employee finally went out in the street to find someone, anyone, that could help communicate. Yeah, the guy wanted to make the sale. But dad said, back in the states, you think someone would spend that much time? Heck no, they?d shrug their shoulders and say ?I don?t think we have that in the warehouse; go to Home Depot down the street.?
We took long drives in the country. He couldn?t get over the diverse vegetation, the farming techniques that reminded him of farms when he was a child. He asked a million questions, which we didn?t have all the answers to, as his nose was pressed to the glass in the car.
We went to a few parties while there and dad met our friends that were from different parts of the world. He thought they all were so interesting and intelligent. (I don?t know how he thought someone from England, e.g., was suppose to act or look.)
I could write a novella about dad?s eye-opening trip to the DR. He felt he had gone back in time ? anywhere from the turn of the century to the 60s. All in all, I wanted to relay the message that his love for the island were for the same reasons we chose the DR over all the other islands to call our second home: the culture, the people, the diversity, the cuisine, and of course, the great value for the dollar. If my dad could change his way of thinking at age 74, then anyone can. He is already planning a trip next year ? and this time, dragging mom kicking and screaming. Now, that will be another story!
My dad is opinionated, unyielding, prejudiced against any minority, has steadfast eating habits, and hadn?t been out of the U.S. since World War II. Got the picture?
We were glad dad had agreed to go, but were very apprehensive on how high our stress level was going to be for 2 weeks.
Would I have to cook every night? Would he be pleasant to the local help? Would he even speak to anyone not from Heartland, USA?
He prepared for the trip by bringing a case of peanut butter crackers. Mom said he expected to lose 10 pounds because he doesn?t eat any ethnic food. She said he hates Mexican food. I smiled.
#1 Surprise: We got to the house. He absolutely loved it. Loved the ?Caribbean look? of the house and spent an hour looking at the tropical vegetation around the house. ?Hey, Jan, there?s baby bananas on this tree!!? He said he?d unpack later.
It was time to make the big grocery run to the supermarket. He wanted to come. I knew his breakfast consisted of half cornflakes, half cheerios with cutup grapes and bananas. The supermarket was packed; no one was speaking English, and everything was in Spanish. I gave him a list of what I wanted. I told him not to buy American brands ? he frowned.
#2 Surprise: I couldn?t get him out of the store. He was absorbing everything and was enjoying pantomiming to the help that he wanted bananas. We got out and he excitedly said he couldn?t believe the prices on the food. He loved picking out fresh bread that wasn?t packaged. He was fascinated that the butcher cut up pork chops right in front of you and didn?t even package them.
By the end of the week, he went on and on about the friendliness of the local people. I had previously told him over and over that he couldn?t compare Dominicans with other ethnic groups.
#3 surprise: My unyielding dad that has never tried to fit in with any culture, was saying ?Ooola? to every Dominican he passed. I had to keep telling him it was pronounced ?Ola?. No telling what ?oola? could mean. He took walks all around the neighborhood, stopping to talk to anyone that had knowledge about the area. He watched construction workers for an hour, amazed what they could do without ?modern? machinery.
By the second week, anyone at any time that was making a trip to Cabarete, he was ready to go. He shopped and shopped and watched and observed. By this time, he had watched enough Dominican families on the beaches and on the streets to conclude that Dominican families know how to rear their kids.
#4 surprise: Americans should learn from the Dominican families. In the days and days he sat in the shade on the beaches, he never saw one Dominican child misbehave. He saw a father tell his 3-yr old to sit in the chair, as a form of punishment for something. Dad said the little girl not once tried to get out of the chair, she didn?t hit, scream, or spit at him. The rest of the family saw her crying, but dad said they knew not to interfere. He said Dominicans appeared to rear their children like we use to do in the 50s and 60s. Damn Dr. Spock.
I was cooking every other night by then from recipes I printed from Aunt Clara?s Dominican Cooking website. I figured if he wouldn?t eat what I fixed, then he always had the peanut butter crackers he brought.
#5 surprise: The man ate and ate. He had never eaten a bean in his life. He scarfed down the black beans and rice I fixed. I fixed homemade chicken noodle soup with celery and spices. He loved it. I stewed chicken in a tomato sauce ? he couldn?t get enough. I fixed fried plantains one morning for breakfast. He ate so many, he almost got sick ? not use to fried foods. But after that, he asked for ?panteens? every day. We went to a German restaurant in Sosua. He said it was the best pork tenderloin he ever had. He drug me to the market and asked me to re-create the meal the next night. Dad eating something with mushrooms in it? God almighty.
He started walking to the Coastal station down the road because I wouldn?t take him often enough. I was apprehensive and told him to listen for traffic. He loved their deli and the employees. He loved watching attendants pump gas.
#6 surprise: Dominicans may be the poorest people he?s seen in a long time, but they are so clean and neat, friendly and helpful. Why can?t our minorities have the same attitude? (Again, he tries to compare them with African-Americans) He said he could eat off the floors of Coastal. He said he couldn?t walk around with 2 cans without an employee offering him a basket.
There is no way any Mini Mart in the states would have that caliber of employees. ?Jan, they haven?t discovered self-serve gas yet!?
Speaking of employees. Doug took him to a shop that sold pumps for washing machines. We needed a new one for the Italian brand we had. Dad said the shop guy knew very little English; Doug knows very little Spanish, but the employee took a painstakingly amount of time trying to help Doug. The employee finally went out in the street to find someone, anyone, that could help communicate. Yeah, the guy wanted to make the sale. But dad said, back in the states, you think someone would spend that much time? Heck no, they?d shrug their shoulders and say ?I don?t think we have that in the warehouse; go to Home Depot down the street.?
We took long drives in the country. He couldn?t get over the diverse vegetation, the farming techniques that reminded him of farms when he was a child. He asked a million questions, which we didn?t have all the answers to, as his nose was pressed to the glass in the car.
We went to a few parties while there and dad met our friends that were from different parts of the world. He thought they all were so interesting and intelligent. (I don?t know how he thought someone from England, e.g., was suppose to act or look.)
I could write a novella about dad?s eye-opening trip to the DR. He felt he had gone back in time ? anywhere from the turn of the century to the 60s. All in all, I wanted to relay the message that his love for the island were for the same reasons we chose the DR over all the other islands to call our second home: the culture, the people, the diversity, the cuisine, and of course, the great value for the dollar. If my dad could change his way of thinking at age 74, then anyone can. He is already planning a trip next year ? and this time, dragging mom kicking and screaming. Now, that will be another story!
