Big Day

[kurtdesign1]

Absolutely knocked sideways by a stomach bug. I've been this sick *very* few times in my life. Ugh.

Hope the Conch was good...

[TomD]

Absolutely knocked sideways by a stomach bug. I've been this sick *very* few times in my life. Ugh.

Hope the Conch was good...

Lol

[Kip]

It was delicious.

.... and Bite Me

[TomD]

Kip's new weight loss miracle. No exercize required. We can ship a batch of conch anywhere. Just eat and watch the pounds dissapear.

Put me down for two. My fat pants are snug.

[Kip]

I don't remember if I mentioned it, but we managed to buy a vehicle in the form of a 13 year old Nissan Frontier pickup truck. We got a good deal on it from a missionary who was moving back to the states. Well....a deal by Dominican standards. Used cars run double to triple their US counterparts' prices here. Anyway, I'm finding the insane driving habits to be liberating. Once you begin to put yourself in the other drivers' heads and ask "What's the absolute most self-serving move that driver can make?", you can guess what is about to happen. It's fully expected. At all times. If you DON'T drive like a crazy person you screw up the whole system. No one knows what to do.

.....and, it's OK. I've yet to see a single incident of road rage. No one gets angry - because they *expect* the behavior. Both comedy and tragedy are measures of the difference between reality and expectation, and nowhere is that more visible than Dominican driving.

Need to drive the wrong way on a one way street? No problem....you're only driving one way. Park in the middle of a busy roadway? Why not....the City Cars do it everywhere. Drive through a red light? It's OK as long as you don't hit anyone. Make a 2 Lane road into 7 lanes when traffic stops then drag race trying to be the first off the line when it's clear? Giddyup. Pass going up the mountain....on double yellow....in a curve....from a near standstill? People will move over. They don't want to hit you, anyway. We were frequently stacked 3-4 cars wide on the drive over the mountains last weekend. The paved road is about 2 car widths. Kristi was puckered the whole time

Its really liberating to know that your response to others' driving has no rules. You can do just about anything you like on the road. There are a few things that will get you into trouble, but I haven't learned them yet.

Oh....I also learned the reason for all the horn blowing. We've long believed it was secretly the national anthem of this country. Turns out it's predominantly a liability thing. If you're in an accident and witnesses say you DIDN'T blow your horn, you're going to be faulted with it. So, horns are incessant background noise here. Of course, as a gringo, it's well known that any accident I'm a part of will be my fault anyway.

[Kip]

It occurs to me that I *should* have been using the "Minute Musings" on the website for much of this thread. You might (read: will) see some of these recycled into posts over there....you can ignore 'em. There don't seem to be too many folks around the ol' forum lately to have already read it anyway. In the meantime, check out these guys from Sosua....

[IWinchester]

Nice!

[Kip]

I haven't posted anything besides beach info about Sosua for reasons that will be obvious momentarily. It's a small little tourist outpost on the northern coast of the country. It actually has an interesting history in that it was, for the most part, formed when the DR accepted a large number of Jewish refugees during WWII and set them up with some land, livestock and a loan. Still today, there is a large Jewish contingent in the population. The beach is lovely, and the area has a typical "Caribbean" flavor with good local seafood from shacks on the beach, gregarious vendors selling their artwork, etc. However, just further down the beach from where we have visited is a concentration of prostitution. So, at any given time you see creepy old white dudes (European & American in about equal parts) hanging with pretty young Dominican girls.

It's easy to think "That's peculiar," or dismiss it altogether - but after making a few trips to the area over my years of visiting the country it's really heartbreaking to know these girls are brought into this because there are few/no other options. They have families who are hungry and no other viable means of income...and a pretty face. The progression is logical. Many of them end up with several kids and die young leaving them behind to fend for themselves. I've never been one who felt particularly driven to lots of contemplation or action with organizations that fought this kind of thing, but it's really bothering me right now. Project Mañana doesn't have a project of this type, and I don't know who here does to be honest.

Last weekend, we had a group of guys at a table nearby our little corner of the beach that were hammered and loudly boasting of their whoremongering around the planet. They were Jersey guys who worked for an airline and liked to fly to wherever they could get the best bang for the buck in girls. They were clearly uneducated douchebags based on their extremely limited vocabulary. The further I get from that hour spent overhearing their "discussion," the more it really eats at my core. I was embarrassed for our country as a whole. I don't know where I'm even going with this post - and sorry for the downer - but it's on my mind this morning. There's always a dark underbelly, even on beautiful beaches.

[Steve D.]

Kip, you are there to help people, maybe not with this focus, but helping people is contageous. I, for one, am in favor of you posting your observations. The cigar community is full of good, caring people (especially the HalfAshers). You never know who you will inspire to follow your path.

[Kip]

I believe my process of grandfathering-in a bit of cigar smoking in the house has been fully accepted now. Kristi noticed the ashtray in the window by my desk and asked, "Have you been smoking in the house while I've been at school?" I replied, "Yes...for a week....and if you had to notice by sight alone, it's apparently not a problem." She thought that made sense, and has since even asked if I was going to do the show from the living room.