The 45 Day Curfew Begins Today

One thing about changing accommodations -- it's a lot of work! Yesterday was another one of those 2-in-1 days. But I bought 8,200 pesos worth of groceries, got the keys to the apartment, and had my hair braided. I even cooked a big ass batch of spaghetti, and it came out pretty damn good.

So let's talk about this apartment. This right here, this is some authentic Dominican living. The land is maybe 200 feet from the sea and has several seperate units on it, including a main house where the owner's sister and parents live. The wifi is in the main house so basically it's like not having any wifi at all. It is constantly noisy here because everyone is outside chattering, kids are playing, tvs are on in the various houses along the street (windows wide open), and motorcyles are going to and fro. There's an AC in one bedroom, but you're only allowed to use it at night, so you have to rely on open windows and one of three ceiling fans to stay cool. All I can say is this joint stays hot in the afternoons. It gets so damned hot inside, especially if you are using the stove, that you just sweat uncontrollably. The coolest place is always going ti be outside on the balcony where one can tap into that pleasant ocean breeze. The stove I mentioned, it runs off a propane tank. You open the tank, light the burner with a match, and when you're all finished you close the burner. The water pressure is very minimal but thats typical for DR. There's no window in the bathroom which drove my lady friend crazy and she's from this country (I actually didn't notice until she pointed it out). There are exactly three wall plugs in the entire place and two are in the kitchen. So yeah. And there's no microwave.

Like the old saying goes, you get what you pay for!

After I got settled in, I hung out with one of my expat advisors yesterday evening. We had pizza at this cool little restaurant in the malecon. It'll be the last time we are out after 7 PM for the forseeable future. From what he says, if you get caught after curfew, you're going to a crowded Dominican jail. I believe him.

He's going to take me to finally get this phone card today. This should have been easy to do but turned out to be a long running disaster. But I will save my rant about the generally poor customer service at DR businesses for another day. It is a topic worth exploring, perhaps later when there's nothing else newsworthy to write abiut.

Aside from that mission to get a phone card, today is really just going to be about chilling out. I am going across the street to pick up my clothes from the laundry lady. And I'll have to exchange some more dollars for pesos because I'm down to 1100 pesos (around $22) and it's a cash economy out here.

My lady friend from Santiago (not the one mentioned in a previous post but another, more exciting personality) is coming to town. Supposedly. You can never really be sure with Dominicans. Anyway, the goal is to spend a couple of days with her. That should be interesting...

I'm curious as to what Senora Ana, the landlord lady that lives in the main house, will say when she sees my friend. Because she sits out front and sees everything. Yesterday the woman who braided my hair was here all afternoon and it will be interesting to see her reaction to a different woman showing up. She seems awfully conservative and may misinterpret my lady friends as prostitutes and me as a sex tourist. They aren't whores and I'm not a tourist. Anyway, if it becomes a problem, I'll have to get another place because I like my privacy. I guess we'll have to see how that develops.

The wifi thing is really the only major issue. I have been wanting to edit some video and without internet I won't be able to. Not to mention I won't be able to watch any movies online if I ever wanted to. I may have to go to my buddy's place to do any actual work online. The only minor issue is not having a microwave because I don't want to always have to turn the stove on just to heat up a cup of water for tea or reheat some leftovers.

Day 1 of the nationwide curfew begins today. Monday through Friday, no one is allowed on the streets from 7 PM to 5 AM. And it's a 5 PM to 5 AM restriction on weekends. Masks are required to be worn when in public doing just about anything.

Here we go!