Thursday & Friday March 8 & 9, 2012
Yesterday was Fred’s birthday. Happy Birthday sweetheart! We started the day dinking it to the Marina to meet Rosa Van Sant and were on our way to Puerto Plata. WOW! Even though the mountain tops were surrounded with dark clouds, the sun managed to sneak peeks down to the valleys from time to time. I have always believed everyday is a sunny day, sometimes we just happen to be on the wrong side of the clouds. The first thing I noticed different as we left town were the paved streets. I wouldn’t call them highways for fear of giving the impression of more than two lanes. These were more like one wide lane with directions shared by oncoming vehicles. That may be a car, a truck, cows or a motor conch which is a motor bike, sometimes loaded with enough sacks of stuff to make it as wide as a car or possibly a small truck. There is no middle. No yellow or white lines marking territories. I think the vehicle with the highest speed wins control of choosing the imaginary center line. A few times I had doubts we were going to win but we did. Anyone who has a drivers license here certainly earns it...I think. Not the license but the prize for the bravest. Fred and I discussed in the car the possibility of renting a car to go to Santo Domingo to pick up Rod from the airport on Monday (it would be more honest to say I had the conversation) because Fred gave me this look that spoke volumes...like I was out of my creative mind to think he was getting behind the wheel of anything around here in this country besides the helm. No smile, no expression at all, just in his eyes saying words he is not allow to say around me. I understood that language and sucked it all back in, hoping he had a better solution in mind. I was clear what he was thinking as I looked at the sideless sides of the roads with deep 4’ wide by 4’ deep canals or something for water drainage (I think). It did dawn on me that this would be a perfect way to keep drunk drivers off the roads in the US. The swerving car thief, which keeps drunks on the narrow path, instantly, right there on both sides of the road. Now that would save a few lives...maybe. The country was again, lush and green. In some ways it reminded me of Western North Carolina country except there were a lot of palm trees dotting the hills and valleys. I saw evidence of sugar cane but learned that they no longer grow that here for income or export. I did see a man in town pushing a wheel barrel around the streets with sugar cane it it, selling it. I couldn’t pass up something sweet and local so I bought a stalk. He whipped out his shiny sharp machete and proceeded to peel that 3 foot stalk on each side with one swoop from top to bottom until it was clean and inviting. Cut it into 6” pieces and let me tell you. The art of peeling a stalk of sugar cane in less than 30 seconds was worth the cost alone, not to mention I got to eat it too. I just had to support the economy! I can’t wait to do that again! The town was a town, full of shops and buildings and all of the sudden I didn’t feel like I was on vacation. Not the kind I had been on since December anyway. It was a lot like Mexico. None of the islands reminded me of Mexico before, but this did. Everything was for sale. I hardly got a chance, actually, to see much of the town. I somehow felt an obligation to be a silent seat clinching back seat driver constantly checking my seatbelt to make sure it was still fastened. Everyone was in a hurry there. I couldn’t understand why...the town was not that big and it didn’t seem to take much time to get anywhere. I don’t think time clocks or appointments would be any issue because siesta seemed to be from 8 am until 5 pm. They just like the darting game on the roads I guess. They ignore red lights and just sit there gazing around when the light is green. Go figure. I am not sure that is even safe because those motor conchos just speed by your passing car missing it within inches. Maybe that’s why they are so loud, so you don’t hear them scraping your car when they ride along side of you. Hummm...now I get it. I must tell this one part though…(please forgive me Rosa if you read this)...I was in the passenger seat and Rosa was driving, through these streets, which were very narrow, at blazing speed. You see, Rosa is from Puerto Plata so she knows the streets. I assume that includes the drivers also, but I couldn’t wrap my brain around what exactly that all meant. All I knew is that would barely pass for a one way single lane street and varoom we went. I was at that time hoping I was thinner because she was so close to parked cars I know my hand would not fit between them if dangled out of the window. “Poowhop”. Rosa kept her eyes on the road as I looked to see what caused that horrible sound on “my side”. It all happened so fast we were already on the next block when Rosa said “what was that”? I looked left and saw her right side view mirror completely folded in. “I don’t know” I answered, which was the truth. I didn’t know but had a pretty good idea. ‘Wow’, I thought…’she hit that car...I think, maybe the left side view mirror...I don’t know’, we were already a block away. She said “Oh...I don’t know what that was either. I sure don’t want to mess my car up with dents or scratches” as she continued driving. ‘Interesting’ I thought. I hope she didn’t hit anyone and I missed that part. When in Rome...forget it! I was crystal clear we were not renting a car to go to the airport.
The grocery markets were a bit of a treat. I saw things I have not seen in 4 months and wanted to grab them but hey, I went 4 months without it so why now, after all, that would spoil the fun of the adventure. So, I bought a two mangos and papaya to make this great salsa they make here with it. Bought a slab of filet (justified because I don’t buy it in the states...too pricy), along with another cut of meat Rosa told me how to prepare. I am not sure what it
was but the recipe sounded good. Then I saw a package of all kinds of goodies put together, almost like a gift basket of stuff without the basket. I had to ask. Rosa during Easter time they make something called sweet beans. I looked at the ingredients in the “everything you need to make sweet beans package” and made a mental note to google it and see what it was first. I will make it, although it may be something to do at home so I can share it. It looks quite unappetizing but sounds mighty tasty and sweet! They sell oregano by bulk, although I didn’t get any, I may before I leave. Paprika...had to get some of that, it needs to be ground and I considered that another adventure since I had no idea how paprika came except in a powder. Mercy, as the saying goes, when you think you know it all, it’s time to hit the books again. I love Google! It’s faster and to the point. I may change that saying. Nutmeg, yep, it was cheap here and I bought about a dozen nutmegs. I should have purchased more, I use it for a lot of my cooking, but 12 is enough for now. My major find was saffron. Man, is it cheap here! That may be something I will consider getting another package of to share with my cooking friends, the ones who ask me for dinner and I know love to cook! The ones who know the value of saffron and how to use it. The markets are fun here, local and lend to the local cuisine. I rarely turn down food, especially when it is ethnic but I bypassed the fish section. I felt like I would be cheating if I bought a fish. Barracuda seem to be the only thing that bites a line for me and giving up on that adventure of catching an edible fish would be defeating the purpose of my hand line! If God wanted me to have a fish, he would lead it to the end of my line. During one of the crossings our friend ended up with a few fish on their deck and a squid. So there you go...a gift from the sea. I don’t care for fish on my plate that much anyway. It’s the thrill of the hunt for me. The trip home was eventful. We were running late, well, Fred and I weren’t, we are on island time but Rosa was. As luck would have it going through a section of what they may call a rural town, there, in the middle of the road, bigger than a cow’s behind were at least 20 cow’s tails, wagging back and forth daring us to come one more inch closer if we wanted the car washed...after they did their business. I do believe there is island time and cow time. Cow time is much slower. And it is to be respected. They would move when they felt like it and we were under their control. We need cows on Market Street and College Road in Wilmington, NC. Then we would have “Southern time and cow time” there also! No need to rush, the day is going to end up the same anyway. By about 6:00 or so, I am guessing but the sun was still up, Fred was lying down on the settee. I started dinner and noticed the pressure cooker was not making the usual noise they make. We were out of propane, mid preparation of this fabulous dinner I was preparing for Fred’s birthday. He was still lying down and I said, how about dinner out, we have no propane. This was the first ime we ran out but not unexpected, we knew we were low...instinct was telling us that. I just never expected it on his birthday. He said he was too tired to go out and rolled over. He was really not feeling good. I foraged the boat the rest of the evening while he slept and I googled things I was curious about. Rod Skyped him but the connection was so bad, most likely interruption from the solar flares, and he laid back down and Rod and I messaged each other for a bit. I finally woke Fred up and said, hey...guess what time it is...11:30 am. I was not pushing him to get up, just making sure he was okay. He slept some more. It’s okay, he had a birthday yesterday and is convinced he is old. Guess that’s what old people do, but I wouldn’t know, I am not old...yet! He said that yesterday was the first time he ever thought he was going to be car sick. He never gets sea sick. No more trips like that for him, I bet. It’s nearly 3:00 in the afternoon, he just got up about an hour ago and it is so windy out there I think we should wait to get propane and pick up our laundry or everything will be soaked by the time we get back. It was a wonderful day yesterday. I like Luperon better.
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