to burn or not to burn
Jennifer and I went to the beach at Bayahibe today and I came back with legs like boiled lobsters. I’m hoping that they’re not so burnt they’ll peel, but that’s probably just wishful thinking on my part. In any case my arms and chest are nicely toasted and my face is somewhere in between (not literally). And yes, I was wearing sun cream. Factor 50, I’ll have you know. Didn’t make a blind bit of difference though, especially in the early afternoon sun.
Met a couple of my students on the beach and had my first proper conversation in Spanish. To be honest it was more an Anglo-Franco-Hispanico conversation as it was with a student of mine who knows next to no English and very little French. As a result, I was doing my best in Spanish while she struggled to understand and did her best to help me with the occasional word here and there. In any case, I was pretty chuffed with myself and it has boosted my confidence a little for my Spanish lessons which start on Monday.
On an unrelated note, I noticed that I haven’t yet mentioned something about this country, and that is the way people drive. One word: ridiculous! People overtake whenever and wherever. Traffic lights are nearly always red for everyone which means negotiating junctions is tricky (to say the least) and an absolute nightmare on main roads when there’s lots of traffic. Honking your horn in the city is not only legal, it’s a way of life. What’s more, little kids stand in the middle of the road selling top-up cards for mobiles and cleaning windscreens, which causes everyone, and in paticular moto conchos, to slalom round them. The other day I saw a little kid get knocked over by a scooter and no one batted an eyelid. It really is unbelievable. Luckily the kid was fine and he just got up and got out of the way while the guy on the scooter gave him an apologetic glance and rode off (with a very distressed looking passenger on the back). If you consider the same scenario in Europe you can imagine that heads would turn, the police would be called, insurance policies called into question, etc. I was truly shocked by that but at the same time not in the least bit surprised.
Anyway, tomorrow we’re back off to the beach when we go to pick up Sarah from Punta Cana, east of La Romana. Apparently the beaches there are even more spectacular than those at Bayahibe so I’m looking forward to that. Must take it easy though as I don’t want to self combust, catch sun stroke, or die of skin cancer.
