day 34
Feeling a little lonely and bored in La Romana, Sophie’s boyfriend, Martin, decided to take me on a little trip over the weekend. We went to La Vega, a four hour drive from where I live to meet his friends and family. La Vega (not to be confused with Las Vegas) is a small city situated in the heart of the country. (NOTE: La Vega is both a city and a province, as is La Romana. In each case I am referring to the cities – and obviously they are each located in their respective provinces.)
Despite the fact that we were nearly killed on our way when Martin (in typical Dominican fashion) swerved violently to avoid a huge obstacle in the middle of the road at 140 km/h, the drive there was an enjoyable one. I got to know Martin a little better as we chatted about this and that and “oohed” and “aahed” at the contents of each other’s iPods. To my delight I found out he’s a fan of Guns n Roses which for a man who also likes Beyonce and 50 Cent surprised me somewhat.
We arrived late on Friday evening, stopped by his mother’s to say hello and immediately hit the town to meet his friends. We watched a local band play and drank God knows how many beers as I did my best to socialise. It’s always a bit awkward when you find yourself amongst a group of very close friends and you don’t know anybody, but they were all very friendly and after a couple of hours and many more beers I felt more at home than I have since I got here. Martin even plucked up the courage to sing a couple of songs with the band as I sneakily filmed from the wings, knowing full well it was perfect blog material.
Shortly after this eye-watering performance it started to rain so we headed indoors for a few more drinks and said our good byes (needless to say they love drinking in this country – must be weather or something). We slept the night at Martin’s mother’s house to avoid spending money in a hotel but – and he had warned me – there would be no hot water in the morning. I’ve never had such a cold shower in my life. It can’t have lasted more than 20 seconds, I joke not.
The following day we did a little shopping and booked a night in an air-conditioned hotel with hot water and free Wi-Fi. Before long the sun was setting and it was time to hit the town again. This time we went to a quiet little bar where things got a bit dull. We decided to go to Santiago, a city about 25 km away. We pigged out on some much needed KFC and looked for a pool hall. There were two that Martin knew of but one was full and the other was shut. “Bollocks,” we thought as we headed back to La Vega and instead went to a small club where men were expected to pay an entrance fee, which we somehow managed to avoid (I hope they didn’t confuse us for women!). In any case, any money I saved at the door was soon spent on a couple of Vodka Red Bulls and yet more beer. Dear oh dear, I thought I’d left my blow-all-your-money-and-drink-as-much-as-you-can days behind me.
All in all it was a fun weekend in which I got to practice my Spanish outside the classroom and got to know some interesting people.
clips ‘n flicks
I’ve uploaded photos from Florida on my Flickr page (accessible from here or the sidebar to the right). And, as you may already have noticed, I have updated my last post to include some videos of the weird and wonderful rides I did in various theme parks.
I’m afraid I’ve had to remove the sound so as to make the files small enough to upload relatively quickly. I do have a broadband connection but unfortunately Dominican broadband isn’t all that broad. In any case, you should all be able to view them as I’ve posted them on YouTube.
Enjoy!
notes from a big country [UPDATED]
I’m having a wonderful time in the US of A.
We flew to Miami last Friday and drove all the way to Orlando in our rental car. Before I go on, allow me to describe this so-called car. It is in fact a very spacious van that, from the outside, looks like your average American gas-guzzler. The inside, which is more like a small living room than the interior of any car I’ve ever seen, further confirms it’s greed for fossil fuels.
It comes equipped with leather seats (that look like they came out of the first class section of an airliner), a 25″ widescreen TV, a DVD player, heated seats, a vaccum cleaner (!), two head phone jacks per seat (TV or car radio/CD/tape deck – shame about the lack of vinyl and MiniDisc), and a back seat that reclines into a bed. It is also possible to plug a video iPod into the TV which – to get back on track – is what we did for most of the four hour trip to Orlando. We didn’t actually make it to Orlando that night as it was getting late so we checked in to a motel.
The next day we were up bright and early and got to Orlando only to find that most hotels were fully booked. We went to a travel agent that phoned 40 hotels and eventually found us the one and only available hotel in the area, needless to say that it was the most expensive five star in the whole of Orlando.
Once again I was astonished by the size of the place. The drive from the main road up to the front door of the hotel was a few hundred metres. The hotel itself was enormous – but enormous on a ridiculous scale. The kind of need-to-stand-on-the-moon-with-a-wide-angle-lens-to-get-it-all-in-one-shot ENORMOUS.
Moving on, the rooms were pretty roomy and stunning. Ours came with a 40″ flat panel widescreen, IP phone, two double beds, A/C, black-out curtains and an impressive view of the city.
I realise that so far I’ve hardly mentioned anything about my trip apart from the size of things and the technology I’ve encountered along the way but that’s really what I’m trying to emphasize. Everything is so big and so vast over here, especially when compared to the Dominican Republic. Roads, cars, rooms, burgers, theme parks, TVs, drinks, buildings, people. You name it, it’s at least twice as big as anywhere else in the world. So that’s really the first thing that struck me upon arrival in this country.
Since then I’ve been spending my days shopping and going to theme parks. We went to Busch Gardens where I took a ride (or three) on the most amazing roller coaster I’ve ever had the good fortune to go on. It is called Sheikra (although I’ve been calling it Shakira because that’s easier to remember) and has two 90 degree drops. Here’s a clip of it that I found on YouTube (ignore crappy music).
Sheikra
I also went to Epcot which is less of a theme park and more of an interactive learning experience but still a lot of a fun. There I had the chance to fly in to space on a virtual mission to mars. I also went on an attraction called “Test Track” which takes you on a simulation of a car road test. These tests are supposed to be very close to the real thing except that the car travels on a rail. The last test, in which you are driven around a circuit in excess of 200km/h, is definitely the most impressive. We stayed at Epcot until 9pm that day to watch a very impressive firework display.
I’ve also been a to a few other places where I’ve tried a number of adrenaline-pumping activities including go-karts, airboats, and three particularly impressive rides called G-Force Drag Race, SlingShot and SkyCoaster.
Drage Race is a race between two cars on a rail. When the light goes green you press the accelerator and “wooosh”, you get thrown forward and accelerate to 270km/h in two seconds. The first person to hit the accelerator wins. I did it twice. Lost the first time, won the second. Here are two clips of the the ride; one from the outside, the other from the inside.
Drag Race – from outside
Drag Race – from inside
SlingShot is fairly self-explanatory. You are strapped into a seat that is attached on each side by two hefty looking cables. These cables are in turn connected to two large masts/cranes (whatever you want to call them). You are pulled down then released at high speed. It is the equivalent of putting an elastic band between your thumb and index finger, attaching an ant, pulling the elastic down and then letting go to see what happens. Very exhilarating. And here it is. (God bless YouTube, eh!)
Sling Shot
SkyCoaster is very similar to an attraction that already exists in Walibi (for those who have been in the past year or so) and which I’d already done before trying it over here but it was still an experience worth noting here.
It is like a bungee jump in the sense that you are released from a considerable height (roughly 100m) with a harness attached to the industrial equivalent of an elastic band. The difference is you are strapped in at ground level then pulled up. You then pull a string on your harness which releases you (much like on a parachute). You free fall for 20 or 30 metres until the elastic kicks in and you swing between the two cranes to which the elastic is attached.
SkyCoaster
Driving back to Miami tomorrow and flying back to the D.R. on Friday. Will keep you posted.
u.s.a. today
At long last I have finished my exams and although they’re not perfect they’re certainly an improvement on the last batch.
It’s 4am and I have to be up in a little over two hours to go to school. Luckily I’m only there half a day as we’ll be leaving to the airport around noon. Very much looking forward to Florida. Hope to be able to keep you posted while I’m there.
Apart from that I don’t have much else to report. It’s been raining non-stop for about a week. Exams have stressed me out quite a lot but on the other hand my writing has improved. The end of the school year is approaching fast. It’s still three months away but I have a feeling the time will fly by what with revision, exams and corrections.
I will be taking my phone to the US but I’m doubtful that it’ll actually work over there. In any case I don’t think any of you will be phoning me. As usual you can get in touch by email or blog. If it’s urgent leave a message on my Belgian voicemail. Back on Friday 6th.
Off to bed now.
P.S.
Happy birthday on Saturday, Nat! Have a good one and I’m sorry I can’t be there to join in the celebrations.
cryptic script
It’s that time of the year again when one must think about preparing one’s exams and practicing one’s handwriting. In case you were “one-dering”, I am referring to myself in the third person. Laughably crap joke, I do apologise.
Exams start in June but we must have them ready for Friday in order to have them copied and bound in good time. I have finished my draft copies but that was the easy bit because I did them on the computer. I now have to write them in that cryptic script they call calligraphy.
As those of you who read about the Christmas exams will know, I failed miserably to impress the school with my abominable handwriting that time round and it looks like I’m heading for another knock out in round 2.
Don’t get me wrong, I have practiced over the past few months but no matter how hard I try and how good my letters look individually, it all ends up becoming one big mess when I join them all up.
Anyway, I’m giving it my best shot and looking forward to the Easter break when I will be spending a week in Florida. I will try and get my hands on a camera for the occasion as we will be visiting Disney World!! Very much looking forward to that and I will try and give you an update while I’m there.
plane plight
After an enjoyable and relaxing two weeks in Belgium, I’m back in the D.R. It was very nice to see you all again and I’m sorry I couldn’t stay longer or at least leave at a more convenient time. Leaving at 3am on new year’s eve is, to say the least, a pain in the ass.
My flight from Brussels to the D.R. went smoothly until our stopover in Puerto Plata (final destination Punta Cana) where the plane experienced technical difficulties. At first we were allowed to stay on the plane as they tried to solve the problem but after an hour or so they announced that we should get off and wait in the airport terminal while they addressed the as yet unknown technical issue preventing us from taking off again. I can’t say I was surprised by the delay given that it was a cheap Jetair flight and especially after my recent transatlantic travelling troubles.
Following a two hour wait in the airport terminal in which we were given no information whatsoever as to what the problem was and when we might be allowed to board the flight again, they announced that the flight had been cancelled and that we should go downstairs to collect our luggage.
I found my case amongst a swarm of disgruntled Belgian tourists, many of whom had complaining youngsters to deal with. Having collected our luggage we all made a lunge at the Jetair rep dealing with our predicament. The poor woman had no one to help her and spent a good hour dealing with four hundred plus passengers on a case by case basis. Most wanted to go to Punta Cana but a surprising number wanted to go elsewhere (myself included). Those with very young kids were demanding to stay the night in a hotel and travel to Punta Cana the following day. All in all everybody seemed to have a different agenda and the woman was overwhelmed with complaints, requests and accusations as if it was her fault that our flight had been delayed.
After much waiting around I decided to go outside and check how much a cross-country taxi would cost. The sign by the waiting area claimed an exorbitant 8000 pesos but after much negotiation (in my best Spanish) with the woman in charge I got the price down to 6500 pesos. However, i decided this was still a rip-off and went back to the rep for any news on the bus they were trying to arrange that would drive us accross the country to where we wanted to go. I decided to take the bus and we left an hour later. The drive lasted six hours and I finally arrived in La Romana at 11pm.
Today, by pure chance or cosmic coincidence, I came across a Belgian news site that had an article about a delayed flight at Zaventem. As i read, I realised the flight in question sounded strangely like the one I’d been on just a few days earlier. The article describes a delayed Jetair flight coming from the Dominican Republic that got a rabbit stuck in on of its engines. The passengers in Brussels had been waiting two days for their flight to arrive.
I am pretty convinced that the plane described in the article is the one I was on because during my wait in the airport terminal I saw technicians opening up the right-hand jet engine for inspection – suggesting, of course, that there was problem somewhere in there. I also noticed the pilot showing the fight crew something stuck in the engine but at the time I couldn’t tell what that thing was. I have a photo which I will post next time I have my camera with me.
Here is the link to the article.
