Vladimir is such a loser

Traffic associated with political rallies has become pretty bad. Ilana had a rally last week that blocked traffic for a good 5 miles and it's happened where we haven't made a trip to Sosua because we didn't want to get stuck in one of Vladimir's gatherings. The elections are May 16 so it's only going to get worse before it improves.

Speaking of Vladimir, isn't he flashing the loser sign in his most recent posters?

Is this for real? Another visit to the public hospital in Puerto Plata

On an earlier date I wrote about the public hospital in Puerto Plata but I felt that it deserved another entry.

I went to the hospital last Saturday to check on 3 men from Villa Ascension who had been in a motorbike accident. Here are some photos.

[Take care of your hospital, maintain the cleanliness.]
I guess it's good job security to keep the hospital full of potential hazards.

Prisoners are kept handcuffed to beds.
Let's go to the lab.

The lab tech explains how the machine to test for HIV/AIDS works.
I needed to use the bathroom.

The faucet was broken, so this is where I rinsed my hands. No, there's no hand sanitizer. 

On the one hand you can look at these pictures and lament the conditions, but as my uncle pointed out, they do a great job with what they are given.

    Plus, in all honesty hospitals in the US are arguably too hung up on rules. I like that here people are so friendly I can do things like this

And who knows when you'll need to make a quick exit.

Sosua, offering prostitutes and great Jewish dairy products

Sosua's Jewish beginnings

In 1938 the Dominican Republic became the only nation in the entire world to open its boarders to Jewish refugees. According to an original document in the Jewish museum of Sosua, Trujillo originally wanted 1 million Jewish settlers, but the number of invitations was reduced to 100,000 following the Evian Conference. The document speculates that the reduction in invitations was initiated by Hitler as a way to prove to the world that Jews weren't really wanted anywhere. In the end 5 thousand Dominican visas were issued and only 645 Jewish refugees finally made it to the Dominican Republic, where they settled in Sosua, which was at the time a coastal jungle (Note: some sources say more than 800 settlers came). Trujillo granted each of the 645 Jews who settled in Sosua between 1940 and 1945 a mule, a horse, 80 acres of land, and 10 cows. In time, Jewish settlers established a town complete with streets, schools, and shops selling cheese and yogurt from Productos Sosua, a successful Jewish cooperative that still to this day produces most of Sosua's meat and dairy products. As a kid I used to drink their "Boruga" religiously, earning me the name "DonnaBelugaAirplaneBoruga". Boruga is basically liquid yogurt. I also liked airplanes and whales. Yes, my given name is Donna. Now only about 70 of the original Jewish refugees still reside in Sosua with most moving to places in the US. Apparently New York is cooler than the Dominican Republic.

But why, one might ask, did Rafael Trujillo open the boarders of the Dominican Republic to Jewish refugees when no other nation would accept them? To put things simply, Trujillo wanted to 1) improve the Dominican economy and educational system, 2) distract Western countries from the Parsley Massacre of 1937 wherein he massacred 25,000 Haitians, and, perhaps most importantly, 3) he wanted to whiten his race. History is full of sick irony.

In order to fully appreciate the rich Jewish history of Sosua, your tour must begin with a visit to the Jewish museum. 

 Sosua has changed a lot since I was a kid.

The gallery where my dad once worked is now abandoned.

Where once a lovely hotel stood at the center of down town Sousa, an ugly modern building now stands.

Oh, and there's a Red Square. It's not red. It's not square. But I guess communists shop there?

There is a nice bit of park in front of the Red Square. Communists like fountains, right?

I love how this building was chopped in half in the name of progress.

Apparently the Wild Coyote had one too many wild parties, or not enough. It, like so many businesses in the DR, went bust.

So many people come here in the hopes of striking it big only to have their investments sit abandoned.This used to be the place to get delicious chocolates and pastries. I am sad that it no longer exists.

It's not uncommon to see a shopping area without shops.

 This shopping plaza is nice, but sort of out of place.

Some things in Sosua are just as I remember them.

This is the German bakery my brother and I used to seriously beg my step-mom and dad to take us to. Fatty deliciousness.

Patrick's silversmithy is still in business.

This restaurant used to be called Alcatraz and it was my favorite place to get tostones.

 Sosua by night

 Sosua is known around the world to have a thriving red light district. I had an opportunity to check it out for myself last Thursday night and it's official--Sosua by night is super different than Sosua by day. By day, there are only a few Dominicans and ex-pat locals sipping their coffees and chatting. By night the streets are packed with people, music is blaring, ladies of the night are everywhere, and the red lights are shining brightly. It was pretty much what I expected: creepy, old white men with young Dominican and Haitian girls. I ended up having a pretty fun time although it was a bit bizarre to be in a club and have the realization that I was the only non-prostitute girl in the mix. 

At least two things are unaffected by the changing face of Sosua:

This guy selling grilled chicken

and the desire on the part of Dominican men to fill whatever available storage space in  their vehicles with speakers

How could I forget the Pringooools?!

The packaging seems to imply that if I eat Pringooools I will be filled with athletic prowess.

Things in the Dominican Republic that make me giggle

Often the products you find in shops are sources of amusement when traveling in countries different from your own. The following are examples of things I found in the Dominican Republic that made me giggle.

 Have you enjoyed a bit too much Ponche (eggnog) and are beginning to resemble Santa Clause?

Then La Fuerza and Campeon are highly recommended!  

(Ok, not really since both taste seriously horrible, but man they're cheap as!)

Have a craving for sweets? Try a delicious chocole ship cookie! 

 Not your thing? How about a dona?

Misspellings make me laugh. 


Wash sweets down with some Sobrino, which made me giggle because it means "nephew". 
It doesn't seem as funny now.

Dominican ladies take their hair seriously. Consequently, you can get professional style salon stations basically everywhere here. Like say you're at the hardware store and your honey is looking for lawnmowers, you can easily convince him to buy you a perm machine since they're conveniently located next to said machinery! 

Your man not convinced? Is he ranting about the unnecessary expenditure of funds? Perhaps while he enjoys his free cafecito, you can help him calm down and see reason.

Keeping your clothes looking good is also important, so the nice folks of La Sirena have a tailor and dry cleaner right there so you can shop while your clothes are being mended! 

Check it people!  You're eating cheap Dominican food, using free WiFi, and looking at the Puerto Plata beach. Not bad, especially considering you're doing all these things from what is essentially a Walmart cafeteria. Too bad when I was growing up on the Malecon this was a tree covered plot with a quaint, French run restaurant. Whatever, my abuelo complained that the French lady put a cap on the amount of wine he and his buddies could buy when they went there. Good riddance! 

Food just tastes better when it's got a corporate logo on it and you can look out at the concrete 
with a sea of cars parked on it.


What really makes me giggle, though, is getting to spend time with great people!

From right to left: Angi Kang, International Program Director for Health Horizons International, 
Johnathan, First son of Rachel, MSMPH (Master of Smiles and Melting People's Hearts), 
Rachel Sticklee, Founder of La Tienda fairtrade art coop in Villa Ascension, 
William Carl "The Poop Guy" Brown III, MD, MSc, expert in tropical parasites, and yours truly.

No matter where you are in the world, it's all about the people (and the food).