We were very glad that Hurricane Earl passed by with only a whisper of impact on us…a little bit of rain, some wind, and that’s about it. Whew – dodged that one! Thanks to all who sent emails to check on us. It was a good “practice” run and we feel pretty confident that we’re prepared should another storm come by our area soon. Of course we check the NOAA site daily to keep apprised of any new developments!Early in the week, we had stopped by the puertos y ventanas shop (doors and windows) to ask Senor Rodriquez about having a screen door made for the door in the back bedroom, which also serves as our home office. He came out Tuesday to measure and give us a price. Again – very reasonable and he told us he’d be back later in the day to install it – but called later to reschedule for Wednesday. (Heck, we were impressed that he called…that seems to be a problem here – just don’t show up when you say you will and then show up when it’s convenient).
Wednesday was another sunny, warm day, so we were glad to have the new screen door. Now we can open it and get more air and light into our work area. Sierra likes to be able to lay by the door and survey the backyard from the office as well!
We also found a workbench on what is the DR equivalent of craigslist (on a very small scale!). Since we had planned on building one anyway, we were happy to find one that was priced reasonably in the area. We’d talked about getting some pegboard to hang on the wall – and this tool bench actually had that too! So we went and bought it…one more step closer to getting the casita organized.
On Thursday, we headed to Encuentro Beach with Max and Richard. The guys were scheduled to take a surfing lesson. That's Max standing in front of the surf school – a bunch of fun little shacks in the trees right on the beach.
We watched the guys take their “land lesson” and took a few pictures, then walked along the beach and visited.
I spotted this little sand crab as we were walking. In the first picture, if you look to the left, that is a dog’s paw print – which gives you a perspective of the crab’s size.
He let me take a couple of pictures, then decided to make a run for it. Isn’t he cute?!
And yes, both Steve and Richard got up on their boards – several times. See – even pictures to prove it! I’m guessing that with more practice, their form will get better and we can give them more style points…but for only the 2nd time out ever for both of them, I’m impressed that they are even standing up!
Antonio, the instructor, said they did great - even for a couple of “old” guys (not sure that thrilled either of them) and remarked that they were both in great shape which made a big difference (that made them feel better). They agreed that they were hooked and wanted to come back again. Antonio told them about a “locals” deal that they offer – a fixed price that includes 30 days of surfing with use of all of the equipment plus 5 or 6 lessons. It’s basically like a punch card and they can use the days over any period of time – they don’t expire.
Then Max and I asked Antonio why it seemed like the women in the class had easier time. He wasn’t sure why, but said that it’s very typical. He asked us if we had surfed – which neither of us have. He told us if the guys decided to do the package deal, he’d throw in a free lesson for both of us. Then we could try it – and if we didn’t like it, no worries…and if we did, then we could decide if we wanted to do more. We decided we couldn’t pass up that offer – and of course the guys are psyched about doing more surfing as well. So we’re set to go again next Tuesday!
The guys took their boards back and Max and I grabbed the boogie boards. We played around in the waves for a while, then we decided it was time for lunch! We headed to a place called Arsenio’s at Hideaway Beach and had a nice lunch and enjoyed visiting with Max and Richard some more. We’re glad to have found another couple around our ages who are interested in doing many of the same things we are. And we’re set to go surfing again – next Tuesday.
Unfortunately we had to get home and get cleaned up so we could meet a potential client that afternoon. When we got home, the power was out…which means our water pump doesn’t work. So we had to make do with what I affectionately call “bucket showers”…where we bring buckets of water in from the cistern and use a cup to rinse off. Amazing how creative you can get down here!!
The client we were meeting was looking for an apartment to rent in Sosua – for 6 to 12 months. I had done some research and found a few options for him – but none of the property owners wanted to pay a commission. Carl, the client, agreed that if we would make arrangements to see the places and he rented one, he would pay us a flat rate fee – and since the places I had found were renting for considerably less than what he said his maximum budget was, it wasn’t a bad deal for him. We told him we’d try to get things set up for 2 p.m. on Saturday and we’d confirm as soon as everything was set.
On Friday, we had made plans to go volunteer at AAA Sosua – which is the local animal shelter. It’s run by an American woman, Judy, who also runs Judy’s Pet Lodge – which offers pet boarding and grooming. She is the one who helped us get Sierra and Dusty through customs when we arrived – and delivered them right to our door. Judy is a US-trained vet tech who has dedicated her life to helping the 4-legged residents of the DR lead better lives.
She is always looking for vets from other countries who are interested in volunteering some time (perhaps while on vacation?) to assist with spay and neuter clinics. She will even provide or make arrangements for low or no-cost living quarters for the vets while they are here. If you know of any veterinarians who might be interested in donating some time, please spread the word. Of course, they can always use donations for supplies, food, vaccines, etc. as well. Check out their website if you get a chance: http://www.aaasosua.com/index.html.
We arrived a little after 10:30 and Judy quickly put us to “work” – playing with a bunch of puppies! Making sure the dogs get socialized is very important to helping get them adopted, so we settled in and had a great time petting, tussling and loving all of them. At times we had 4 or 5 of them vying for our attention. They also had 6 little kittens – but they were sleeping, so we didn’t play with them. But we did get a picture of 4 of the 6:
She had told us that the shelter was in need of publicity – so we offered to take pictures of the puppies and work on getting some ads out on the local websites as well as assist with fliers and anything else that might help them find good homes. Here are just a few of the pictures we took:
There were also two very small puppies who had been rescued just that morning from a dumpster. A woman had heard them crying, got them out and brought them to AAA. They were in pretty good health although one of them had several bites on its tummy – presumably from ants. Hopefully with some nursing and support, they will survive and be ready for adoption in the next few weeks. It’s very sad to think that anyone could dump two sweet babies who look like this:
And for those of you who are wondering…no, we did not bring any of them home – although it was tempting! Of course our two puppies were very curious about who we had been to see when we did get home full of “other dog” smells. We tried to explain that we were trying to help puppies who aren’t nearly as lucky as them – not sure they understood, but they didn’t seem too upset!
Friday afternoon, I confirmed the arrangements with Carl. We were set to meet him on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the local grocery store and he would follow us to the apartment to take a look. So we were set…or so we thought!
Friday evening – cows again! Sierra and Dusty were having a fit on the front porch, so we went to investigate. There were about 10 cows in the lot across from us – just munching away at the grass – and down past Tony and Linda’s, another 20 or so. We grabbed some dried palm branches (they get brown and drop off regularly) and started herding them down toward where they had broken in the last time. Richard and Max came out to help as well. We sure didn’t want them eating or trampling our newly planted shrubs in the front yard!!
We got them down to the end of the development, but this time they stopped rather than heading for any opening in the fence. Steve walked along the fence where they’d gotten in before, but it was intact. So we were at a loss as to where they had come in. About that time, two guys who we assume are the “farmers” that take care of the cows came to the fence in another area – and magically found the opening (we think they intentionally let them in, then pulled the barbed wire back across). They brought their dog and got them herded back into the pasture where they belonged. We walked back up to the house – and saw that there were 3 escapees – who must have been hiding behind some of the taller grass. I ran back down to the end of the street and got the farmer’s attention. He came back with me and with the assistance of the dog, got the stragglers out too. If the darn things wouldn’t eat our flowers and shrubs, none of us would mind them being in here to get the grass in the empty lots mowed down, but they aren’t that well-behaved.
That was our excitement for Friday night.
We had planned to do some work on the casita Saturday – me painting and Steve cutting a hole in the wall for an air intake for the generator. But it rained Friday night (after the cattle drive) and was wet enough Saturday a.m. still that I was able to make a good excuse not to paint. I really have to be in the right frame of mind to paint…and wasn’t…so I was happy that the rain took care of that for me! I WILL get the painting finished – someday!
Steve had set to work on cutting an 8” x 8” hole through the concrete wall. The casita was built with cinder block – but we weren’t sure if Raphael had filled in the blocks and how much rebar was used, so we didn’t know exactly what we were up against. Also, the only power tools we had that we could use to do the job were a 4” angle grinder and a drill with a 12” masonry bit. We also had our masonry chisel and hammers. It took some doing, with both of us taking turns running the grinder and pounding away with the hammer, but we got it done! Of course we needed about 20 minutes more to finish up when it was time to get cleaned up to go meet Carl & see the apartment. Luckily this time the electricity WAS on because we both had so much cement dust on us that it would have taken about 10 buckets each to get it all off – and we didn’t have that much time!
We got to Playero, the grocery store, with about 3 minutes to spare. We waited, and waited, and finally about 5 minutes before 2, we headed for the apartment. Just because Carl stood us up, we weren’t going to do the same with the apartment owner! It’s too bad he didn’t show (or call!) because the place was very nice – clean, roomy, and well within his budget and had almost everything he was looking for. Needless to say, if Carl even has the guts to call us at this point, he’s been officially fired as our client. We can’t afford to spend any more time to have him flake out on us again.
Since we were at Playero already, we went in and did our shopping, then headed back home to finish up the casita project. We got the vent installed and all of the dust and chunks of concrete cleaned up – then got busy organizing. The workbench fits perfectly between the two ventanas and the shelves we bought in Santiago provide great storage. We emptied out the spare bedroom closet and the dining room – which to this point had served as our tool shed! Finally at about 6:45, we decided we would call it a day. We were both starving since we hadn’t stopped for lunch – eating only a snack after we returned from the store. Steve cooked a nice dinner and we relaxed on the patio for what was left of the evening.
Today we slept in – until rumbles of thunder and rain woke us up around 8. It was a cool, cloudy morning. We hadn’t planned to do much other than putting a few more things out in the casita, but had talked about swimming. We were glad when the sun started peeking out later. But about the time we were ready to swim, the clouds had moved in again, so we canceled our swimming plans. We were also wondering if the BBQ we Pam and Dennis invited us to would be rained out.
Fortunately the weather held for the BBQ. Pam and Dennis had asked if we could come a little early to help set up – so we did. We moved furniture, helped prepare food, etc. We had a nice time – meeting several people we hadn’t met before and visiting with a few we did know already. The crowd was dwindling around 6:30, so we helped with some of the clean up and headed home. Al and Glenda were out for a walk when we got home so we visited with them for a few minutes. And now it’s about time to call it a day!
And the good news…it doesn’t look like we need to worry about any hurricanes – for the next few days at least! Hopefully everyone is having a nice, safe Labor Day weekend. Take care and enjoy the rest of it!
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