Friday June 20, 2014 at 11:04 p.m. Travis and I boarded a plane bound for Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Actually.... Our first plane was headed toward a 6 hour layover at JFK International Airport. At one point during our layover Travis made a trip to the bathroom. When he came back he had a boarding pass to Cancun in his hand. Someone had left it in the bathroom. As he's showing it to me we hear an announcement that a flight to Cancun was boarding. He found the gate and was able to turn in the missing boarding pass. We watched closely and saw the man who had lost the pass be reunited with it and board his flight. I was so proud of Travis and his honesty and desire to help someone he didn't know.
As we landed in Santo Domingo at 2:30 p.m. June 21, 2014 the Dominicans on the plane erupted in clapping and cheers of "We have arrived!" It made me so much more excited to be there. Travis and I traveled to Dominican Republic for our honeymoon a year and a half ago and I couldn't wait to return. I love the island, I love the people, and I love being there! I was so ready for another adventure.
We rented a car and then made the 30 minute drive to the Barceló Hotel in Santo Domingo.
We unloaded our bags in our beautiful room and then headed to the grocery store to stock up on bottled water. For dinner we really went out on a limb... Pizza Hut. :) Just as on our honeymoon, Travis was very concerned about what I was eating and drinking. He didn't want me getting sick, and I am grateful for that.
Because we were worn out from traveling we went to bed early and slept in the next morning.
June 22, 2014 we explored the capitol. I love El Conde, so we found some parking near there and explored some of the older buildings nearby. Columbus landed on that island and the Dominicans have great pride in that. Many things we saw in Santo Domingo were featuring Columbus.
The last time we were there it was January. The end of June is slightly different weatherwise, either that or I was a bigger baby about it. But, it was HOT and HUMID! 88 degrees doesn't sound so bad, but the humidity made the air heavy and sticky. Thank goodness for skirts and shorts.
The handsomest husband.
Isn't it just beautiful?! I love this place!!
After exploring and wandering through the shops at El Conde we ate lunch. I love Dominican food. For lunch I ate my very favorite, Sancocho and lime juice. Of course I had to have some sips of Travis' chinola as well. I don't even know how to describe Sancocho except it's a Dominican soup and it's delicious! And seriously, lime juice is where it's at!
We hopped in the car to explore a little more. One of our favorite things is to just drive and see what we can find. We found an area that can only be described as a farmers' market set up, except it was under a freeway underpass. There were a gazillion people, cars, buses, and motorcycles. As we were trying to squish our way through a bus (which is more like a van in the States) ran right into the side of our car on the passenger's side. We had 3 large scratches and a dent. You don't stop and call the police there. You just keep going. It scared us both, but we were grateful to be safe. As we were renting the car Travis turned to me and asked about insurance. I told him not to get it, everyone always says never to waste your money on car insurance for rental cars. He sat thoughtfully for a moment and then informed me that he really felt like we should pay for it. I trust Travis and his gut (gut instinct that is) and told him to do what he felt was best. Because Travis followed that prompting we did not have to pay for our little accident. That was definitely a blessing for us!
This beautiful lady is Rosemary. Travis taught and baptized her 10 years ago while he was on his mission. We had the wonderful opportunity to visit with her for a couple hours. She is lovely, simply wonderful. She helped us feel right at home in her house. Often when you are meeting someone for the first time and visiting their home it is slightly uncomfortable and awkward. This was most definitely not the case with Rosemary. She offered us pear juice (YUM!) and we visited. While I don't speak Spanish, I am able to follow most conversations. It was so fun to watch Travis light up as he spoke with her and hear him speaking Spanish. She informed him that he was weird to wait so long to get married and then told both of us we were strange to wait to have children. She also made a point to correct any words he said incorrectly.
Let me tell you a little bit about Rosemary. We figure she is only a few years older than us (we could never convince her to tell us her age). She is married and has 4 children. While Travis was teaching her 10 years ago a friend of the family had a baby and decided she was unable to raise this child. She brought the baby to Rosemary and her mother. They took this baby girl in and Rosemary has raised her as her own. A few years later the same friend showed up with another baby which Rosemary also adopted. She treats these girls as she does her other children. She is kind and generous. She has a great testimony of the church and is making efforts to make the best choices. Her children are Rosemelia, Rosemel, Roselia, and Ronald. They are adorable!
I wanted so badly to communicate with her, and she felt the same about me. She informed me that we were going to be friends. We both agreed to learn a new language so we can become good friends. It's time for me to start practicing Spanish...
My new friend, Rosemary with her 5 year old son Ronald. What a lovely day.
1 comments:
Super cool
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