Big Day

[Kip]

As a helpful tip for those who may some day visit here. Most prices you see on the shelf at a store are inclusive of all taxes. If you see 100 pesos on a price tag, you pay 100 pesos at the register. There is an 18% standard tax, but is added in before price tags are applied. However, restaurants have an additional 10% table tax that isn't commonly reflected until the receipt. This money is *supposed* to go to waitstaff, etc. - but it's pretty common that restaurants pocket the money and it doesn't go to the waiter. In places that commonly have American tourists, the expectation is an American tip...but in more off-the-beaten-path locales, tips are much smaller. 10% is generous in most of those spots, and perfectly acceptable.

All this being said, if you buy cigars in a shop that also serves food/drink they will often add the additional 10% whether or not you bought anything besides cigars. To avoid that, when you pay tell them you're buying "para llevar" (to go). Most will leave off the extra charge. They aren't supposed to charge it anyway, but will if you don't tell them otherwise. Some will still leave it on.

[Kip]

We've had a good bit of rain the past week. It's showing in the mosquito population. It's by far the worst it's been since we moved. I'm being slowly devoured. I'm afraid I'll be anemic by day's end....

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[Kip]

I hit - or better yet, was hit by - a Haitian pushing his vegetable cart a little while ago. His cart dipped off the sidewalk and scraped alongside the car, breaking the door handle off (I was stopped/nearly stopped, waiting for another car to pass). Worse thing is, it's my friends' car. I got out, knowing the guy had no money and would have absolutely no interest in fixing the damage if he did...but after a brief exchange he bolted. Awesome.

[jledou]

So now you also have a fruit cart?

[Kip]

This is a peculiar country. I've been served CORN in or on the following items: Pizza, Chicken Salad, Hot Dogs, and Salad (just regular ol' green salad). I'm certain there are other dishes I'm not remembering at the moment. These folks love their corn. It even appears in promos at the grocery store - buy a jug of oil, get a can of corn. I've even seen corn bundled as a promo with shampoo! Yet, there's not a corn tortilla to be found. I mean, a few restaurants that serve Mexican dishes have them, and they're occasionally seen on store shelves. But, they're not in common usage in households. That just strikes me as strange.

Earlier this week, we strayed from the norm and ordered a pizza. We ordered the local version of a "works." Not only did it come with corn, but also broccoli. Go figure.

[IWinchester]

Love broccoli on pizza, and an egg or two!

[jledou]

Flew over your house last night Kip. Down in Trinidad for the next couple of days on work. I will let you know if I spot any corn on my plate

For such a small place, I've met a particularly high number of folks from Trinidad (& Tobago) in my life. They've generally been some of the friendliest folks I've encountered. Odd that's never occurred to me until reading your post.

[Kip]

So...the elections here are Sunday. As I understand it, the whole country pretty much descends into chaos for a few days. The winners are celebrating; the losers are rioting. The government has declared all schools and businesses must close from Saturday afternoon through 6am Tuesday morning. No shopping, no gas stations, no school. We've been told by our Dominican friends not to stray too far & wide in the streets...but I reckon with everything closed we have no where to go anyway .

We've been having to dodge juelgas (the localized road blockages in protest) for weeks...tire fires, rocks, trees and debris in the roads. We haven't had to try and cross a line yet, because they tend to break out your car windows while you go by. The worst yet is on the road up the mountain. The people dug a very large ditch on the back side of a speed bump (Yes, there are speed bumps on dirt roads). You can't see it until it's too late and your car falls into it...

The only good thing is that politicians like to say "Look what I've been doing..." around election time. So, the amount of paving going on here is insane. Roads that have fallen into disrepair for years have been repaved. It's a virtual wonderland in comparison to the past 11 months.

[IWinchester]

that is the insane...ly funny!

[Kip]

Having omitted this in the CORN post, I'll also throw in the fact that this country has a SEVERE addiction to catsup (pronounced kah-CHEW). They put/serve it on every friggin' thing. I've never seen anything like it.

They also love to mix catsup & mayo to make a sauce to dip most anything in. I ordered what I thought would be something like chili fries...but it was fries topped with hamburger meat, catsup, and mayo. Mustard is nothing more than an afterthought that sometimes isn't even available. But catsup...that's everywhere. Fries (of course), tostones, empanadas, sandwiches of any kind, quipes...you name it.

It's also different here with Taco Bell. We went to the only Taco Bell in a city of 700,000 a couple weeks ago for the first time (we don't eat out much, and fast food from American chains is quite overpriced). All the meals came with fries. I don't see the connection, but the fries were good so I'm good with it