Well, we have arrived and the weather is great. Gloria has been writing since we arrived and I asked her to edit her journal so it could be put on the blog. The following are three days of inspiration and observation of our first week in the Dominican Republic.

Saturday Oct.15/11

   After landing in the DR, our trip to San Pedro de Macoris was somewhat exciting. Every town was full of lights, people and music. Although the roads are not the best our daughters mother in law and father in law Victor Hernandez his wife Ilda and their grandchild Angie took us on a tour through many cities and towns on the way to San Pedro.

   The apartment we rented from them is behind their Casa {house}   it was unfurnished - without - fridge, stove and kitchen cupboards but we knew this before we came. We had wired money previously to buy a used fridge and stove. The stove runs on propane and we have a bed so we are off to a good start.        

Gloria

Sunday,October 16/11

   Today, Angie, their grandaughter is teaching Espanol to us with her black board and chalk. We are also helping her learn English. Later Rick began showing her how to paint watercolors which she really enjoyed. That's all for today. Gloria

Monday, October 17/11

    Today there is a man painting the outside of Victor and Ildas Casa. He also had a capenter cut down a large old kitchen table to about half it's size. We are now the proud owners of that table which is in our small kitchen. Ilda provided a table cloth for the table and extra chairs. Our son Jon and his wife Dana called us through Skype which was good because we could not get it working properly from our end. They have supported us in our decision to spend time in the DR, they thought it would be actually good for us.

Gloria

Tuesday, October, 18/11

   Today we went to the Jumbo for groceries. It is the DR's answer to Walmart. We spent 4,800 pesos for our groceries, which is about $120 Cdn. On the return trip when were about a block or so from Victors Casa, two men on a motorcycle stopped beside us and said that the road was blocked. The people who regularly protest against the government had built a bonfire in the middle of our street by burning tires, we could not get through. Victor backtracked and tried other streets and alleys only to find every road blocked with debris of fires. Unable to drive home the truck was left at a police station, leaving the 5 of us to carry bags of groceries through narrow dark allies that still held dozens of protestors.

  I had no idea where we were let alone where we were going when suddenley a tall black lady appeared and led us safely through the alleys. The lady disappeared as quickly as she had appeared. We found that we were less than a block from Victors Casa.The bonfires were still burning and the smell of smoke still filled the air. We could still hear the voices of the protestors late into the night.

Gloria.

Dawn how do we keep this on top when we add more Rick.