The history just doesn't end....

We began our tourist stint, as do most visitors, at Parque Colon, or Columbus Park. At the centre of the park, just to the right of this photo, is an imposing statue of Christopher Columbus (Cristobal Colon). As you can see, lots of clever tourists are taking photos of this wonder. 

I, apparently, did not.

But, behind me, you can see the magnificent Catedral Santa Maria, the oldest cathedral in the Americas. Built between 1514 and 1540, the cathedral is believed to have been the (almost final) resting place of the great explorer. His supposed remains were moved to the Columbus Lighthouse about twenty years ago.

We sat for a while on one of the many benches in the plaza, after being accosted by several tour guides and vendors wanting to relieve us of our pesos. 

Before we started on our Monday adventure, we had given ourselves a little pep talk. Lisa hates to shop and didn't want to buy anything. I love to shop, but all I wanted to buy was some Haitian art. 

How's that for irony? You can't find Haitian art in Haiti, you have to go to the DR to find it.

So, we urged each other to be strong and brushed up on our bargaining skills. Which was just as well, because the plaza abounded with shoe-shine guys, taxi drivers, tour guides, necklace and music vendors, and solicitors for the restaurants and stores that edge the square. 

There must have been a European cruise ship in port, because none of the foreigners were speaking English.

I love this tree.

It didn't ask us to buy anything, just offered its cooling shade to our already overheated bodies.
On the left of the photo is a cigar factory.
We managed to resist the temptation of a tour.
But only just.

After succumbing to the purchase of some CD's of Dominican music (for which I am totally blaming Lisa) we entered the cathedral.

Which was surprisingly and thankfully air-conditioned.

Oh Jenny, you would have died for the arches and the buttresses.

I cannot even imagine how this domed ceiling was built. The photo doesn't come close to revealing the height and size of the structure. 

More arches and whatever for those of us who swoon at such things.

They were rather impressive, even for such an architecturally-challenged person as myself.

The edge of the building contains many small chapels and shrines to different saints and religious figures.

Inhaling all the cultured air made us hungry, so we decided to eat before embarking on our mission to find art and ancient edifices. Walking down Calle El Conde, we were enticed by many stores displaying art, but Lisa kept me strong until we found a likely-looking restaurant...

...where our table looked right at, you guessed it, an art store.

And on the menu, you guessed it again, el pollo y el arroz.

Perfect.

After lunch, which was very tasty, I asked the concierge of the hotel if the Alcazar de Colon was open on Mondays. You see, we had discovered that museums owned and operated by the government aare closed on Mondays. She assured me that it was.

So we set off down the Calle with two remaining missions on our minds.

1. Find me some art work, which meant finding the Mercado Modelo, a huge building containing all kids of vendors.

2. Find the castle.

And that story will have to wait for later, but let me tell you, it involves scary streets and our very own Dominican gigolo.

So, till then, may your breath be bated and your imagination work overtime!

Another history lesson

Monday was our only day to play tourist, so we set off on foot in the morning with a vengeance. Our destination was Zona Colonial, or Colonial Zone, for all you Gringos.

Christopher Columbus landed in Hispaniola on December 5, 1492. The native Tainos are believed to have numbered around 600,000 and to have migrated to the island by canoe from South America. They almost disappeared in the next few decades. Some were massacred by the Conquistadors, some fell prey to disease, and some were worked and starved to death. Although there are some who claim to be descended from the Taino (who interbred with the Spanish and African slaves) there are certainly no full-blooded Tainos left today.

The DR, because of its strategic location, has been invaded and controlled at different times by Spain, France, England, Simon Bolivar's Gran Colombia, Haiti, and the United States. It became an independent nation in 1844, when a group of revolutionaries seized power from the ruling Haitians.Seventy-three percent of the population is of mixed race, combining Spaniards and other Europeans, West African slaves and natives. Sixteen percent is white and 11 percent black, including Haitians. The mixed ethnicity gives Dominicans an interesting diversity of skin colour and facial characteristics.

Santo Domingo is the capital of the Dominican Republic and was founded in 1496 by Don Bartolome Colon, the younger brother of Christopher. It is the oldest city in the New World. As we entered the Zone, the streets became narrow and  walking on the paths somewhat perilous.

One gets a feeling of history and immense age; these houses and streets must be several hundred years old.

The closer we got to the centre of the Zone, the more picturesque and winding the streets.

The walk to the Zone took us about an hour. 

Lucky I had my Skechers Shape-up sandals on my little feet, or I'd have died.

Tomorrow, more juicy bits from the Zona Colonial.

Tender mercies

I still have some photos and a few stories to tell you about our Dominican Republic adventure, but I wanted to tell you about a slightly freaky thing that happened to me yesterday.

There has been a lot of talk lately, in the circles of my universe, about the tender mercies of the Lord. I think the following incident may have been one of them.

I've been trying to build up my music therapy business with elderly groups, so I was in Canby, a small town about 20 miles away. Upon leaving for home, my mind wandered a little (not an unusual occurrence) as I was negotiating the streets of Canby and I missed my turn. I switched on TomTom and started following his commands. He took me through some tiny residential streets and it didn't seem like I was getting any closer to my goal. One last turn into what looked like a cul-de-sac and I began to silently curse my Cockney friend.

As I approached what I thought was the end of the short road and just as I was thinking Oh, I guess it curves to the right, a white Jeep-like vehicle careened around the corner towards me. It was going much too fast for the narrow road, maybe 40 or 45 mph, and the car was obviously out of control. Brakes screeched and the car veered around the outside of the corner and smacked into the back of a small red wagon that was parked about ten feet away from me. The sound of the crash reverberated through the formerly quiet little street.  The white car's hood crumpled and flew open, glass shattered and rained onto the road. The red car's rear end took a mighty dent from the impact. The whole incident took less than two seconds and I didn't even have time to think Help, he's going to hit me!


I stopped my car to see how the occupants of the car had fared. There were two or three 20-something-looking young men in the car and they quickly exited the car to inspect the damage.  Within seconds a young couple ran out of the house, to see their poor car looking decidedly totaled. I started to drive slowly away, all the time watching them in my rear-view mirror and figuring that they had it under control. Then I stopped, because I realized that I was the only witness to the accident. I backed up and asked the young woman if I could do anything to help. She walked over to me and I could see that she was distraught and trembling. She asked me how fast the car had been going and I told her Very fast. We talked for a few seconds and I gave her my business card and told her to call me if I could help in any way. Then I left, as I had to get back to Newberg for piano lessons.

As I drove home, a tad subdued by how close I had come to being the one with the totaled car and perhaps some major injuries, I thought about serendipity. How did I just happen to be victim of a TomTom distraction so that I was turning that corner at the exact moment that the crash happened? In my book, it was more than coincidence. I may never get a phone call about the incident, but the drivers of that car know that there was an eye witness and that they will be held accountable for the truth. So maybe I was God's instrument for taking care of the young couple who owned the red car.

I like to think so, anyway.

A reminder of the good things

In light of all of the chaos in the world right now, I am taking a break from travel blogging and posting a little piece that my Canadian-Aussie-Qatar-resident friend Mark wrote for me a few months ago. I thought we could use a reminder of all of the good things for which America stands.
It's the first of two parts, hence the abrupt ending.


A non-Americans’ view on American exceptionalism.

I was born in Canada, the national pastime of which is finding ways to define oneself as not American. So for example, in Canada, unlike America we have; Celine Dion, Shania Twain and free health care while Fox News and other hate mongering programs are banned as a matter of national pride and decency. In spite of the daily brainwashing on the evils of America, many thousands of Canadians visit the United States, work there, shop there etc. Some even marry Americans and secretly many of us know that the US is not really all that bad. In fact, we kind of like it.

The United States of America stands alone in many ways. There is the strength and size of the US economy and military. Add to this the cultural influence that America has in areas as diverse as feature films, automotive styling, sports and even cable TV and it becomes clear that the USA simply cannot be ignored.

There are many in the world like myself who welcome this influence wherever it is found. But there are others from whom it seems nothing good can be said of America.

Hence the American embassy here in Doha Qatar, is the most heavily guarded complex in the city, with the possible exception of the Emir’s palace. There is an on-going low level war with those who hate America for being, in their eyes, the embodiment of everything decadent and unholy. Although, it seems that America’s main crimes are that it allows people to say and do, come and go, buy and sell, basically whatever they like as long as no one is injured. Worse still, these freedoms which date back to the time of George Washington, are now extended to both genders.

If George Washington did not exist he would have to have been invented. The reluctant President was eager to serve but reluctant to take and hold title. Much to the dismay of the European aristocracy, Washington shunned suggestions that he become the “King of America”. No doubt influenced by Thomas Payne, the last thing Washington wanted for America was a monarchy. Washington set the pattern for the American way. That is a nation that does not shrink to take on responsibility and leadership in the world but at the same time does not seek to rule and dominate other nations. Washington and his colleagues, the founding fathers, sought to create a ‘light on the hill” to inspire the world.

So it is not surprising that the USA, having arrived at a point of military and economic supremacy at the end of World War 2, sought no opportunity to colonize the world but rather implemented the Marshall plan in Europe, and set conditions and provided support in Japan and Germany so that they could develop into powerful trading partners. It is also no surprise that the United Nations would be based in New York and to a very large extent funded by the USA.

The United States has come a long way from the time of George Washington and even from World War 2. Many of the incidents in American history are not so inspiring as the gentleman president and the light on the hill. During a period of expansionist European colonization, the USA also expanded, displacing Native Americans. During a time when slavery was practiced worldwide, it was legal in America. When European powers were warring with each other for foreign territory, America went to war with Mexico and later Spain and annexed large territories including most of the western USA, but also Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines.

But somehow America has always seen its way through, justice through rule of law and the will of the people have prevailed. So that now the Native Americans have land rights, and legal recognition, the slaves were freed and given voting rights and Cuba and the Philippines were given independence (notably before most European countries gave independence to their colonies).

In the stillness of the night

Upon arriving at the bus station in Santo Domingo, we negotiated with a cab driver to take us to the temple. We got him down to about US$5, which we thought seemed pretty reasonable. Until we rolled up to the temple gates, about 2 minutes from the station. Crikey, we'd have walked if we'd known it was that close! But we did talk him into stopping at McDonald's on the way so that Lisa could get her Coke fix, so all was not in vain.

We stayed at the temple motels, a whopping $4 each a night. It was pure luxury, with unlimited hot water and laundry and kitchen facilities available for use, and nice people everywhere. There were a few panicky moments when we arrived, because our names were not on the reservation list. Apparently dear Bernardo, the concierge, had gotten the dates mixed up, which turned out to be a fairly common phenomenon. But we were soon settled into a comfortable room and then off for a walk around the temple, which was, by then, closed for the evening.

For those of you who wonder about Mormon temples, here is a link where you can read more.

Meanwhile, enjoy the photos, as we enjoyed the beautiful views of the temple and the balmy night air. 

It is a very photogenic temple.

Let me in, let me in!

Those are coconut palms, in case you're wondering.

The temple president and his wife, Larry and JoAnn Bair, are from Lisa's area in Washington, so we said hello to them and made arrangements to catch a ride to church with them in the morning. We walked to the grocery store (just past McDonald's, if you're wondering) and stocked up on a few groceries for the next few days. Then we sat on a wall outside the motel building and talked until we were tired enough for bed. 

Something about the journey we had just taken, the warmth of the evening, and the peace of the temple grounds made us both feel immensely contented.

Seven hours on a bus, with new video

Early Saturday morning we left MBH in a hired taptap. Taptaps are usually packed with people, as a fare is very cheap. I couldn't get past Martin's story of being squished inside a taptap with his face in the unshaved, smelly armpit of the woman next to him. So I didn't feel a bit guilty as people saw the deliciously empty taptap and tried to flag down the driver. Well, maybe a bit. The whole rich arrogant American thing, don't you know?

The bus trip was fairly uneventful. We were given breakfast about an hour into the ride. Pasta. With little shriveled bits of chicken (I think) and a good-sized dollop of ketchup on top.

Yum.

I ate about half of it, all the while ignoring the little voice in my head that was telling me to leave it alone.

I regretted it later, if you know what I mean!

Crossing the border was a hoot. The Dominicans are terrified of a cholera outbreak, so they make sure that precautions are taken at the cholera prevention station. We were all told to get off the bus and were directed to some outdoor sinks. We washed our hands, using communal bars of soap, and then we got back on the bus.
What?
That was wrong in so many ways!
Then we drove to the customs shed. Bags were duly inspected, interrupted for a few minutes while the customs official checked and answered some phone texts.
Ho hum.

And I will say nothing about trying to go to the toilet in the back of a speeding bus on rocky, winding roads. Or about the lack of tp provided in said facility. Lucky I had Kleenex, that's all I will say about that!

I made a little slideshow for you. I have so many photos, taken through the window of the moving bus, that I couldn't put them all into a post.
Here's the deal. The first video has my preferred music, the second has better picture quality. YouTube has copyright issues with my music.
So, first, mute the sound on the YouTube video. Unless you really like Mozart, in which case ignore the following.
2. Press play and then pause on the first video and let it fully load. This might take a few minutes, so go check your facebook page or something.
3. Then, press play on the first video and click the YouTube icon on the second one. Make sure the sound is still muted.
Take that, YouTube and Sony music!

Then, come take a little trip with me.

Hope you enjoy it.

A final errand

First of all, thank you to those of my readers who have left comments. I am mostly writing for my own satisfaction at this point, but comments are always encouraging.

Also, Lisa has written a thoughtful piece here, if you would like her perspective.

Friday was our last full day in Haiti. We wanted to finish up our garden and were hoping to take some supplies to a nearby orphanage. Unfortunately, we couldn't find out the location of the orphanage and we didn't have a car anyway, so we gave up on the idea.

I had also heard about seven orphans who were living with their grandma and had very little food. The doctors thought it would be okay if we gave her some money for food and a few supplies, but said we would need to be circumspect because if her neighbours found out about it they would also want money. So we sent Lucien to exchange some of our American dollars and later in the afternoon, a little contingent from MBH set off along the road.

This is a common sight, as are women carrying heavy loads on their heads. I didn't get any  photos of that because pointing the camera at such close range seemed to be a bit intrusive.

More heavy equipment, this time with a woman driving.

Little boys always want their photo taken.

Not sure what was being built here, but it's something big. 

Of course, it may not get finished for ten years!

Haitian beauty.

Here is the house, in a much poorer part of the village. It is tiny, about as big as our family room. I imagine that most of the children sleep outside. Notice the succulent hedge. Most houses that don't have walls around their property have these. In the Dominican Republic, they surrounded whole farms.

The dog and chicken looked pretty healthy. 

The baby was, however, malnourished.

Such a pretty rooster.

I haven't figured out how everyone keeps track of their chickens, because they wander freely.

The house is crudely constructed. I wonder how well it keeps out the omnipresent rain.

We gathered tightly around Grandma and the baby so that no one could see as we slipped her the money. We didn't give her any supplies because it was impossible to do so discreetly, so the doctors told her to come to the clinic next week.

It is a thorny issue in Haiti, deciding who to help, because almost everyone is in dire need of some kind of help. And then the aggressiveness of the people who see help being given and want it for themselves is kind of off-putting, even though I can understand why they are so. It also makes interacting with any Haitians quite tricky, because at some point they will always ask you for something. Then, you wonder to yourself, are they only (helping me with the garden, walking with me, talking to me, etc, etc) so that they can get something from me? And in most cases, I think the answer is yes. 

More on this topic later.

Some Haitians love to have their photos taken and others are adamantly against it.

Guess which category these fall into.