How to build a Casa in the Dominican Republic

It seems nearly everyone wants and are working toward building and owning a Casa in the Dominican Republic

Everywhere you look at least in our neighbourhood people are either clearing small plots of land or are building a small to medium size casa on land that has been recently cleared.

Here the land is usually cleared by burning which of course creates a great deal of smoke which sometimes is hard to take.

Many casa's begin with nothing more than a few small walls made of cinder blocks and a roof made with galvanised tin. Over time rooms are added either on the original site or because a lack of land they may add a second, third or even fourth story on the casa. Many also open some kind of small tienda (store) on the first floor. As they build the cinder blocks will be covered with a very fine  and smooth coating of cement and when most or all the casa is done the whole building will be painted a bright colour.

Follow along and I'll show how they build a casa in the Dominican. This casa is being renovated and being prepared to accept a second story on top of the existing structure.

Meet Victor and one of his workers. Victor is a civil engineer and making sure the re bar is exactly the way he wants it.

This is Ilda, Victors esposa (wife) she likes to keep an eye on him making sure that the work meets her expectations.

The original roof has been removed and the men have plywood forms to take concrete for a new roof which will eventually be the floor of a second story.

These workers are adding gravel to a concrete mix that will be moved to the second floor by hand

Mixing gravel, concrete, water and sand by hand. Back breaking work

The crew. Everyone here pulls their own weight. No slackers.

Here the whole crew is involved mixing and shovelling the mix up to the second story. It didn't take long but it has to be hard work. I like this picture. I waited until I could see that everyone was involved then took the picture.

Whew! I need a break

Not everyone shovels concrete. Gloria and Ilda watching with great admiration the hard work involved.

This fellow is the oldest worker next to his boss Victor on the crew. They said he 53 but he looks older. He never took a break until it was done. Interestingly he is one of the very few Dominicans we saw smoke. For some reason it doesn't seem to be a habit that they indulge in.

All that cement will find it's way to the roof. Four or five inches thick with re bar it will make a good strong foundation for the second story later this year. And that's how it's done.

Traveling from San Pedro to Santo Domingo

            A small catamaran off the west coast of the Dominican Republic

They still use some horses in both San Pedro and Santo Domingo. Fuel is free and they seem to get a lot of business, It seems strange to see a someone driving a horse drawn wagon and talking on a cell phone. That's how business is done here when you use horses.

One of the older building in San Pedro, actually two are somewhat joined together. Last time Gloria and I were downtown I noticed they were beginning to renovate a couple of the old buildings. These building are usually about 100 years old. Renovating the original area of San Pedro will certainly help the tourist industry.

 They love bright colours.  A fairly new apartment/business building near the center of San Pedro. People here work hard. Nearly everyone has something to do. Casas are in various states of construction. Everyone seems to have a real desire for a nice looking home. It may take them awhile but it gets done. 

One of the main employment opportunities for young men is the motorcycle taxi. Two on a bike is common. Gloria and I have our motorbike taxi that we try to use all the time. He is probably in his early 20's and a very careful driver. Some of the drivers must believe they are part of NASCAR the way they drive. You have to be careful who you choose to ride with. I think one of these girls must like the driver.

                                    On the highway to Santo Domingo

Coming or going this the first and last thing you remember about Santo Domingo. A very large flag flying over the free way.

The other thing you remember are the huge traffic jams. This picture doesn't really show how congested it can be. Laying the horns is a common practice however the horns all seem to have a more friendly tone than those in North America. 

Central Park, Santo Domingo. People were having lunch or reading. I was pleasantly surprised to see the amount of people sitting on park benches reading their Bibles,  both young and old.

High rises are becoming more and more common. Santo Domingo is a large city. There is poverty but most are working hard to get out of poverty. One thing I did notice was the generosity of the Dominican people. Those that can are not afraid to help their neighbours whether they know them or not. I often saw them slipping some money into their hand.



December 31, 2011 - New Years Eve



This day was spent much like the day before Christmas. Cleaning house and cooking the New Years supper. We ate very late - around midnight and watched all the fireworks which included setting prepared trees which were cut earlier and soaked in gas then set on fire. It is quite spectacular lighting up the night sending showers of sparks up into the sky.
At midnight we all wished each other Feliz Nuevo Ano - Happy New Year - with much hugging. It was around 2 am when we settles down for the night.


Jan.1/12
   We had planned on a quite day but Ilda invited us to go with them and meet her family. She comes from a family of 15 children.
Her mother has more than 70 grandchildren.
Ilda's mother prepared jugo natural, here in the Dominican women make tamarind, passion fruit, lime, orange, apple, strawberry, papaya, guava, and some I can,t name because I don't know the English name for the fruit.
Unfortunately, Daniel, Victors son apartment was broken in to, some items were taken. We are becoming more careful of our own security practises.


Jan.2/12


   Monday is our laundry day. I am up at 6 and, by 9:30 the clothes are outside on the clothes line and are dry by 12:30.

Then Rick made a call to Wagner our mototaxi driver. We use him all the time now, he doesn't speed, he signals, slows down for speed bumps and will come back to pick us up wherever we are at. He is a very considerate and careful driver.
   This afternoon just as we were leaving the bike dropped to the left, checking it out he discovered a missing nut caused the left shock to separate from the frame. A buddy of his was just passing by so he took us the rest of the way while Wagner went to find another nut. His friends name was Lindo which means pretty.  or lovely.
   Last Friday we were out walking. During our walk we met a young Evangelist who invited us to his street meetings to be held January 23 to the 26, he asked us to pray for these meetings. He and a missionary also introduced us to Pastor of an Apostolic church. The 5 of us had a long visit on his patio deck.

   Yesterday Ilda's sister took us to her church, a Baptist church. We listened to an American evangelist from Arkansas. The church was small but packed and one man went forward at the end and accepted Jesus as his saviour.

   Our mototaxi

Navidad - Christmas in the Dominican

A very nice lady we met in the neighbourhood. Her tree has been up since the beginning of November

Dec.14/11
   There an abundance of dogs in San Pedro, some are peoples pets but  most are strays. Some nights the sound of barking dogs keeps us from having a decent sleep.
   Before we left Canada, Rick and I had a meeting with our new Pastor who is originally from Mexico. He was a great help filling us in on the culture of Latin Countries. There are an abundance of insects here so far we have encountered large leggy wasps (long back legs).
black bees the size of cherries, cockroaches from tiny to 3 inches long,
little tiny ants black, brown and red. Mosquito nets are a necessity if you live or stay in the Dominican.
   December is the month that flowers bloom. Every colour of the rainbow seem to in Ildas balcony garden. We even have some of her flowers on our balcony.
  There are tiny black humming birds that visit our flowers everyday, Rick tried to get a picture but they are too small and too fast.

A beautiful palm tree in the commercial district downtown

 

This flower was in front of the only McDonalds in San Pedro.

There were quite a few of them and they bloom all year

One of Ilda's balcony flowers. They will grow into a small tree if allowed to. This one is on our balcony and is about 15 inches high. It also has thorns about an inch or so long

  
Margarita came by last night with her little boy, families here are very close. Most evening after work she comes by and spends some time with her Mom and Dad. People here are very respectful of others they never enter a home without acknowledging everyone with a greeting or a hug and a kiss on the cheek. On our street most people great us with hello or "como esta ?" and we reply, "bien gracias." It's been two months and people are used to seeing us go to the corner store and for walks.

  Everyone here seems to have fruit trees growing in their back yard.

Vendors go up and down our street with megaphones announcing what they have to sell and the stores blast out music while cars with four foot speakers let the whole neighbourhood know what the stores are selling.

   Between the thousands of motorcycles, barking dogs and loud street vendors it is easy to understand why it is called the second loudest country in the world.

   Most people here live on very modest incomes. If a family wishes to build a home quite often they will move in before it finished. The wages are very low so it could take years to complete a home.

   Education in the Dominican for their citizens is free and so is the University. They usually cannot find work in their chosen field so they usually take menial jobs.

   Food is quite cheap if you buy it from the locals. One of neighbours next door has a tree that produces passion fruit, she sold me 5 passion fruit for 18 pesos which is under 50 cents Canadian.

Dec16/11

Here is a picture of a young mom with her baby who live in our neighbourhood. We had prayed for the baby previously because she was sick.

  Yesterday Ilda said,"We are going for a long walk." Along the way she pointed out some beautiful homes and flower gardens and at on point she said Navidad, I looked and saw the largest poinsettia I had ever seen. It was at least 7 feet tall by 7 feet wide.

   We finally arrived at one of our Church members home. The owner of the house went into one of his rooms and brought out 10 bundles of tracts. Ilda took one bundle and I took another. On the way to Ilda's sisters home we probably handed out close to 500 tracts to people.

   Navidad eve supper (feast) prepared by all of us

Dec.24/11

   The whole day was spent cleaning. By the time they were done the house was spotless, the rest of the day was taken up by preparing the Navidad eve supper. It was close to midnight by the time we ate.

   Afterwards Margarita asked us to go and see her cousin. She had recently lost her mother. We asked Rick who was outside keeping an eye on the younger siblings to come and pray for her. He did in english but nevertheless it seemed to lift her spirit. We arrived home at 2 am in the morning very tired.

The Hernandez family. The older gentleman in the middle is Ilda's dad. He is a farmer and a Dominican evangelist. He is 84

This is the second Christmas celebration that we attended. This one was in the country. They were the Sanchez family.

Dec.25/11

   We are usually awake by 6 or 7 am however today we slept until 9 am. We were tired.

   Today was a day to rest and reflect on the meaning of Christmas. How God broke through the night and gave light to a suffering hurting world. He Himself gave us His only Son, born to a young Jewish couple who at that time did not know what it would cost to redeem mankind.

   Later in the day we went into the country to the Sanchez family farm, to a huge celebration for Navidad. Once again we observed Christmas with another Dominican family.

  We met a young couple at the celebration. The young man spoke english and we were able to share the message of salvation with them. all in all Christmas this year for us was unique and educational. Oh yeah one more thing, it was warm, there was no snow.

     The National game/pastime in the Dominican. Dominoes

  

How many people can you fit on one motorbike?
How many can you count?

Nov. 25/11 

   Today we walked to a bueno (good) cafeteria which is on the edge of San Pedro, on the La Romana highway.

It is listed as a top 10 place to eat in the Samana Peninsula.

   Rick and I along with Margarita and her husband Andy attended a baseball game at the stadium in San Pedro. Andy loves baseball and wanted us to go. It was a wonderful experience, exciting and the crowd was unbelievable, they were, enthusiastic, loud and some were even dancing in the stands.

   The final score in this crazy game was 11 to 1 for San Pedro. Many of the players are professional baseball players from the United States so these teams in the Dominican play to a very high standard of baseball.

However it was a Dominican player, Felix Pie that played above and beyond everyone else driving in 6 runs including a grand slam home run at the end.

  After the game we went for hamburgers and hot dogs at one of the many small food vendors, they were delicious and Rick said it was the best hot dog he had ever eaten.

  They cook them and load them with peppers, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, bacon, cheese, mustard mayonnaise and ketchup.

Nov.26/11

   No water, no shower, no power, no Internet and no sleep. The stray dogs barked most of the night.

   Ilda went to a neighbour next door to get some water. She came back carrying a huge container (a garbage can) of water on her head.

   Water, power and the Internet was restored this afternoon.


Nov.29/11
   Today a friend of the family took us on tour of San Pedro de Macoris. It was great. He filled us in on a lot of history and stories of the Dominican Republic.

One of the stops, a cigar manufacturing store.

   

This old fellow is blind but Doggie our guide says he walks downtown every day. It must be about 5 or 6 miles

The old area are full of colonial type buildings, some in good shape some in poor shape. There are also a number that have been restored. For an artist it is an ideal site to go through and sketch and take photos.

Rick

A great old buiding or what is left of it. I took a dozen pictures from different angles.

















Nov.30/11

   Today was quiet and we spent most of the day studying our Spanish. Our friends from Edmonton Skyped us we had a marvelous visit.


Dec.14/11
   Well, Christmas is just around the corner we are curious to how they will celebrate the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
   On the 20th of December the whole family, including us, will be going to Santo Domingo to help celebrate Victors mom's birthday.
   The weather is becoming cooler. This is the Dominican winter, the temperature during the day is about 29 celcius and at night it's about 20 degrees which makes sleeping easier.
  We have two glass windows and three louvered windows which can be opened or closed. They are usually left open to help cool the apartment.
  

Our tiny home away from. Small but comfortable most days.

Dominicans walk to end violence against women

Waiting for the military band to lead the march

                                      The Three Martyred Sisters

   Women activists and the United Nations have marked November 25 as The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The date also commemorates in the Dominican Republic the brutal slaying of three sisters who opposed the rule of Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo. The sisters, Patria, Minerva and Maria Teresa Mirabal were murdered in 1960. Most historians agree that Trujillo ordered their murders because the sisters continually opposed corruption and violence Trujillo used to keep himself in power.

   However, it also led to the dictators own death six months later when seven men ambushed  Trujillo  killing him as he was being driven to see one of his many mistresses.

 Of the seven men involved in the killing of the dictator, two of the conspirators were later shot and killed, four were captured and executed.

   There was one sole survivor who managed to escape and is living in the Dominican Republic. He is in his nineties. A fourth sister is also still living in the Dominican.

Rick

       

      Marching for Women in the Dominican

   

Ilda, Margarita and Gloria  walking through San Pedro de Macoris  

   It was a perfect day for the march. Just a light sprinkle of rain, not too hot and a slight cloud cover.  The turnout was excellent. 

   The march began at 3;30 pm, headed up by the military band followed by policemen and women, the red cross, the firemen, school children in their school uniforms and about 1500 people participating in the march.

It was a perfect day to take photos of downtown San Pedro and some of the historic buildings along the way.

We took a picture of the modern Cancer Clinic baseball player Sammy Sosa built for the people of the Dominican Republic

   All traffic stops for a march. Most of these young men are what they call motorcycle taxis. They had to wait about 15 minutes for the marchers to pass by. By their smiles they didn't seem to mind. The army and police were always posted at the intersections to make sure it was safe.

   Notice the kids on the balcony. This is a Catholic girls school.  I'm sure the teachers taught them the reason for this  demonstration. There was also a large contingent of various school children in the march.

                                Someone we met on the way

Looking back along the parade route

  

  Finally we can see the end of the march. The beautifully restored Catholic Church San Pedro the Apostle. This was the end of the march, which was not the end. There was another hour and a half of speeches from organizers and politicans. All in all it was quite successful. Although this day was declared official by the United Nations, I think in 1999. It really began much earlier in the Dominican. It began shortley  after the deaths of the three Dominican women more than 50 years ago and has continued ever since.

Rick

The camera I used was nothing special. I had planned to use my G11 but because of the rain I used my wifes Kodak video camer which will also take snapshots. At only 5 migapixals I was surprised it did so well and water does not affect it.