Day 12

Friday morning dawned grey and overcast.  As I was out on the balcony to enjoy some quiet time, suddenly huge raindrops fell on the leaves of the tree in front of me.  Soon little streams ran down the red tiled roof.  A little wind gust came up and splattered rain on the balcony.  I wondered if this was an all-day weather condition, or if it would move on.  It turned out to be less than a ten minute shower that cooled things down and felt very refreshing.

So we packed our reading materials and found a coffee bar to settle in and read by the pool instead of on the cool and windy beach.  (Cool?  Listen to us, after a few days on this tropical island and we think it’s too cool to be on the beach!)  An hour later or so and we moved to beach loungers as the clouds cleared and the temperature rose.  Looked like we could sail again today at our two o’clock appointment time. 

Louisjean found us again and stopped to visit for a while.  He said he’d be heading back to Haiti next week and get involved in his home church once again.  He and Walter talked about tent-making versus church-supported ministry.  As we understand it, the Haitian church has had some extremes with some who get into ministry to take from the charitable giving from outside the country and do not distribute the food and resources to the people.  If as a minister he could support himself and not take from what the church has, Louisjean thought he could be more of a true servant.  It was an encouraging and enlightening discussion.

Then we got ready to go sailing!  This time, we were all excited and eager to go and the direction of the wind was a bit different than the previous day.  So, we set off after another sailboat pulled away, but somehow we couldn’t catch the wind right and ended up drifting helplessly across the buoys that marked the swimming area!  Some swimmers helped push us back and gave some instructions-again, not in English-and we attempted to pick up speed.  Another failure to head northeast and we decided to go the other direction!  Eventually we cleared the swimming areas and were on the open sea.  We avoided the parasail maniac, the motorboats taking snorkelers out and the party barge!  Heading to the northeast, we could see the reef out yonder where the waves were breaking quite aggressively.  It made for bigger waves and swells than I was used to on our tame Katepwa Lake back home in Saskatchewan, so I suggested we turn around! 

The hour went by too quickly-$6 worth of sailing-and we pulled into shore uneventfully!

At the booth, we met up with the fellow Canadian from the Toronto area whom I chatted with in the omelet lineup, and in the course of conversation, found out he and his family were Christian Reform.  We had opportunity to visit, share about our ministry and hear a little about his heart to reach young people in their church community.  Cool opportunities, even on vacation!

After sun, sand and sailing, it was time to hit the showers again!  We took care to dress for dinner-we had a reservation for “La Gondola”, the Italian restaurant on the resort.  It was worth the extra effort for a lovely and romantic and quiet evening.

The daylight was waning as we strolled to the Italian restaurant entrance.  We lined up behind a few other folks as the host seated the patrons.  We were handed a beverage and a skewer of chicken as we followed the host  to a small table by the open air wooden railing. We looked out over plants and a path; the other wall was draped with white, red and green cloth to set the Italian mood.

The waiter came to bring our menus and explain the salad buffet.  Walter ordered the tortellini pasta starter and the lasagna as entree.  I chose the spaghetti and veal with mushroom sauce.  Then we went to the buffet.  Two kinds of lettuce, toppings to make Caesar salad, bowls of olives, asparagus and artichokes, and then around the circular counter to find cold meats, cheeses and breads.  At the end, we found steaming minestrone soup.  And this was the appetizer course!

We enjoyed the meal immensely in the more quiet and formal dining room.  Bryan Adams provided background music and we could simply sit back and relax and be served.  The ambiance was lovely.

After I finished the last bite of Tiramasu and sips of strong coffee, and Walter licked the lemon tart from his moustache and also savoured the rich coffee, we sat back and smiled at one another.  What a wonderful anniversary dinner, a celebration of twenty-five years of God’s goodness and love.  

Day 11

I was trying to be adventurous on this trip so I challenged myself to taste something new each day.  I tried mashed banana, passionfruit, and chicken done in various ways, Caribbean style.  Walter tried some of the deep fried Dominican treats (really not described in any further detail on the cards beside the serving trays) and most of the meats they served.

This morning, I was trying their fresh made while-you-wait omelet, and a guy ahead in the line was speaking English to the cook.  As we stood in the line up, I began chatting with “Andrew”.  He was from Toronto area and we exchanged pleasantries until his omelet was ready.  Then the couple behind me chatted with me – they were from Winnipeg.  So we had a little Canadian corner at breakfast!

Stay tuned as these people figure in later…

We finished our lovely breakfast and prepared for a few hours at the beach again.  At 1:30 pm we had a sailing instruction lesson booked.  There was always a breeze coming from the east, or southeast so it was likely to be a great sailing day. 

Our instructor was a young looking Dominican, maybe twenty years old, dressed in the Mariana Rentals shorts and “Under Armor” brand of shirt. He had a toque on (knitted cap) and sunglasses.  English?  No!  Walter looked skeptically at me and we both wondered how this was going to go!  But the guy signaled, showed the necessary actions and got us going out on the wild blue sea!  As Walter adjusted the direction by a bar that controlled the two rudders, he could catch the breeze just right and gain some speed.  As he learned to turn into the wind to turn about, the sail inflated the other direction and away we sped back where we’d come.  At one point, as we sat on the pontoons and our Dominican friend stood holding the mast and giving his hand signals, the wind warm on our skin, we had that surreal feeling again.  What are we doing here in this glorious place on a sail boat?  Then as Walter was to switch directions, the mast and sail swung across and caught Walter’s forehead, knocking his “Markusson Country” cap into the Atlantic!  The instructor quickly made us turn around, got us close to the cap still floating on the surface and then he dove in himself to retrieve it!  He earned a ten dollar tip that afternoon!

Soon, the instructor wasn’t correcting or redirecting Walter’s movements.  He pointed to the shore and we knew our lesson was over.  We pulled up to the white beach and strode to the rental booth.  If we waited a few minutes, we might be able to take the sailboat out again.  The next rental hadn’t shown up yet.  We ended up out for almost an hour on our own, sailing back and forth within sight of the booth on shore.  Cruising out as far as Walter had gone snorkeling and across to the areas in front of the other resorts, we skimmed across the azure expanse, basking in the sun’s rays and feeling like we soared on angel’s wings.  Oh, the liberty that coursed through our prairie veins-to be out on the wide open ocean!

After showering off the salt water and sand from our browning skin, we rested in the air conditioned room before going to dinner.  It was Dominican Night again…the lively four-member band with cotton “island” shirts and straw hats played and sang as we entered the main restaurant.  Some featured Dominican dishes were available to sample. But we were mostly just hungry and tired, so we ate, acknowledged the ambiance and headed to the” Internet Café” avoiding the vendors of jewelry, t-shirts, cigars and other trinkets.  (I did sneak back out to check on the evening’s entertainment, which were very talented Dominican dancers in colourful costumes, doing dance steps so quick I almost missed some of them!) 

Checking in on Facebook and e-mail, we then wandered through the large open area and we saw the Winnipeg couples again.  We stopped to visit and got to asking more questions of them and lo and behold, we know all kinds of people in common!  Two of them were brother and sister and their spouses holidaying together.  Their parents are a pastor and wife from Hodgson, Manitoba, their uncle is our son’s boss in Steinbach, and on and on the connections went.  The wife knows Walter’s former roommate in Bible College and all of them had gone to Millar College of the Bible!  We had a lovely chat about camp, people we knew and then compared experiences at the resort.  Very neat to run into Christian young folks!

Day 10

Finally, I woke up feeling back to my normal self and was hungry and more energetic.  It took two full days to feel better, with lots of toast, tea and very plain food at the buffet.

Walter and I packed our beach supplies and headed there by 10:30 am.  By 11:00, people were lined up at the beach bar for “cervezas” (beer) and whatever free refreshments are served!  We passed that booth and the rental booth to secure a spot for the day. 

At this point, we were beginning to recognize certain folks who went to the same area of the beach every day.  A cute older couple, she in a black bathing suit and he with white hat and neatly trimmed white moustache, were just down from our spot.  She passed us several times a day, carrying her sandals, and wearing a permanent smile.  We also saw some more shocking things for Canadian eyes, such as two women snuggled on a beach lounger and a few topless sunbathers (likely Europeans!).  There were some new additions to the beach community on our second week there:  some Italian men who could play a mean game of Bocce ball.  One could easily spend days at the beach and be entertained simply by people-watching!

Walter wandered over to the marina rental booth.  I watched after a few minutes, hoping to see him departing for his adventure.  I gave up, thinking I’d missed him, and went back to my reading.  Then at about 11:30 I saw him and a couple others ride off in a little motorboat.  They only went past the marked swimming area a ways, to where a barge-like boat was anchored.  I had to wait until he got back to know what happened out there.

At about 12:20, Walter was standing beside me and I was surprised!  I guess I’m glad I didn’t go.  He said it was a bit of a claustrophobic feeling and with bobbing up and down in the waves on the reef, he felt a little motion sickness.  On the positive side, he got to see lots of small fish all around him.  The instructor/guide told them to bring bread along, so they had gone back to the bird feeder (where crusts and end pieces of day old bread were kept).  The water was not deep at this particular point on the reef; the coral was less than a foot from the surface of the ocean.  As Walter was floating (with life jacket) he was scraping his belly on actual coral!  He was glad he tried snorkeling – it was another thing to cross off the “bucket list”!

A highlight of our day was Louisjean, our Haitian friend, came by to say “Hello”.  He was smiling broadly and always greeted us with a hearty handshake!  He loved to talk about things of the Lord. We learned he was getting married later this year to a pastor’s daughter he met at church.   He showed us a video on his phone of his Dad’s church worship service-they were singing “Lord, I Lift Your Name on High” in French!  And he and Walter agreed to sign up as friends on Facebook.  Our new friend had to get back to work but said he’d come by and talk tomorrow.

We took our customary late afternoon stroll up the beach, a little further than last time we had gone north.  We came to a shelter looking structure, complete with hammock, table, assorted items, beach junk and even a toy truck!  A swing with a wooden seat hung from ropes knotted on an overhanging branch.  I wondered if it was someone’s home.  Or a play house?  It was hard to tell.  We took pictures and then left, feeling like we were almost trespassing.

I guess we must have been feeling rested and almost restless as we begin to let our thoughts wander to things back home.  So we planned a couple more things for the remainder of our time here to keep engaged in the vacation mode as long as possible!  

Day 9

Tuesday already?  You may wonder about a few practical details about life in a resort.   Did we pack enough clothing for two weeks?  Nope.  But I thought we could do laundry while here.  Lots of hotels in North America have laundry facilities, coin operated machines.  We asked and the man at the front desk said there was a form and laundry bag in the room.  Surprisingly, the form indicated the charges for laundry services:  underwear-1.75; t-shirt-2.25;pants-5.75.  Well, needless to say, I decided to handwash a few items and hang them to dry!  When drying laundry in a tropical country, outside on the balcony is not that effective.  Things dry somewhat quicker in the room.  Best strategy?  Partially dry them with a hair dryer! 

Another surprise was the Wi-Fi service.  We intended to keep in touch back home via Facebook.  Assuming we would turn off our cell phone/I-phone here, we understood that we could access the internet through a laptop.  For free?  Nope.  There is a little office next to the tour company desks that is basically an air-conditioned cubicle.  We could pay $3 for 15 minutes on a computer or $6 for 30 minutes.  There were six older model Dell computers available.  Another option is $70 for a week of Wi-Fi that could be accessed in the common areas of the hotel, but not in the rooms.  Wow!  As luxurious as everything seemed, the level of technology felt like we were in a third world country.  So we limited ourselves to connecting every few days. 

We were fast realizing we could not afford every excursion available and yet we wanted to make the most of our time here.  What could we do that was new, exciting and cheap?  Walter’s one item on the “wish list” was to snorkel.  Our friends had visited the Dominican for their 30^th anniversary and the husband had raved about his snorkeling experience.  So as Walter was inquiring about costs for this and other water activities, he came back somewhat discouraged. 

But on this day as we hung out around the beach again, we were approached by a salesman for the waterfront rental booth.  Snorkeling, $15 for an hour.  I grinned at Walter and silently thanked the Lord for once again providing for our hearts’ desires!  Walter booked for himself at 11:10 am Wednesday.

Day 7

Domingo – that means Sunday!  We were both feeling “off” so another uneventful day was in order.  I went out to the balcony to spend my quiet time while Walter slept in.  That was becoming my special place and I enjoyed the birds singing, little lizards darting and the local employees chatting and breaking out in song.  Then after a late breakfast, we ventured to the beach.

A young tour salesman had approached us on our second day at the hotel; we put off his pitch initially as we were inundated with offers and excursions.  Walter mentioned to me later that particular tour looked interesting, so when this man approached us again on the beach, we were ready for his presentation.

“Segway Eco-Tours” offered a three-hour excursion riding paths through an ecological reserve on a Segway.  You know, those scooter-type machines like Kevin James in the “Mall Cop” movie rode!  As we listened, the fellow named Louisjean noticed the music Walter had playing on his I-phone was Gospel. 

“You are Christian?” he asked.  That began a lengthy conversation that turned into a theological discussion.  It was our “church time”, our opportunity to fellowship on the Lord’s Day.  Louisjean was from Haiti, where his father is a pastor in the Nazarene church.  He moved to Punta Cana to work for a few months, but his heart was for ministry, as we could tell from his passion about God’s word.  He was off work at 4 pm so he could travel to Higuey, a city an hour from the resort, for evening service. 

We booked a Segway tour for the next day.

Day 8

Monday morning dawned with clear blue skies and high humidity already evident at 7:30 am!  Our trip wasn’t until 11:00 am and I think we both wondered if we should have booked the 9:00 am to avoid the heat.  Too late.  After breakfast and packing our little backpack with water and sunscreen, we met the van driver at the lobby.  I don’t think he spoke any English and he turned the radio on to Spanish music, maybe to avoid making conversation.  We sat in the blissfully cool van and rode quietly down the winding road, past the market and fancy resort hotels and down to the main highway.  We turned towards the airport of Punta Cana, but had no idea where we were going or how long to get there.  The driver didn’t pick up any other customers along the way and we arrived at the Ecological Reserve south of the airport after about half an hour. 

We jumped out, realizing we didn’t have any tip money-oops!-and immediately we were greeted by guys in orange shirts and hats. 

“Is no one else coming today?”  We inquired of our tour guide. 

“The others are a family group of about twenty people with children.  You want to have the VIP tour?”  Our small, white-skinned tour guide with a Spanish accent asked us. 

In an instant we both said, “Sure!”  Secretly, Walter had hoped for a small group or even just us on the tour.  Thank You, Lord, for these special gifts from Your hand!

After fitting us with helmets, Walter was the first to get lessons on driving and steering the Segway.  Then as he was sent on the practice path, I stepped up onto my machine.  With some basic instructions, I followed Walter on the path and didn’t crash and burn as I feared.  Our guide – I wish I remembered his name-deemed us ready, and we followed him as he drove the golf cart. 

The day was growing hotter and thankfully, the path was lined by trees on both sides.  The shade felt wonderful and as we gained a little speed, the breeze was downright heavenly!  Every now and then, our guide pointed out banana trees, flower nurseries, the iguana enclosure, and an old sugar cane apparatus amongst some sugar canes.  The path we were on was dirt and something like wood chips, marked along both sides by light grey lava rock. Soon, we were out of the shadows and crossing a main paved road.  No traffic.  One speed bump!  Fortunately, we slowed right down as per instructions:  slow down over bumps-you don’t want to be Superman or Superwoman! 

We now entered the first and oldest resort in the Punta Cana region.  Over forty years ago, Julio Iglesias, and two other men of means were investing in the area as a potential for tourist development.  These three men actually purchased land for the local airport – private, not government funded.  Otherwise, the closest place guests could fly in to was Santo Domingo, over four hours drive.  So we cruised the lovely paved paths through this bit of history.  We met a few golf carts on the way.  Eventually we rounded a corner and saw a gorgeous view of the elite golf course on our left.  Green, gorgeously groomed and I’m sure, expensive to play. 

To our right, we saw the beautiful azure blue of the Caribbean Sea.  It was calmer than the Atlantic Ocean by our resort.  The beach here was quiet, almost empty.  This resort seemed to cater to an upper class clientele, probably more elderly folks.  Although we saw a kids’ playground along the path, no kids were there.  We pulled over to a parking area and were helped off our Segways for a little break on the shore. 

I immediately took off my socks and running shoes to enjoy the lovely sand between my toes.  We waded into the Caribbean Sea and let the cool water soothe our sore feet! ( I guess we’d been gripping our Segways a little tensely in our inexperience so our feet were aching.)  We chatted with our guide, whom we learned had come to the Dominican from Spain on vacation with his girlfriend, and loved it so much, he stayed.  Apparently, his girlfriend did not!  He’s been working at various jobs for eight years and married a Dominican.  They have a child.  Interesting!

I gathered some coral pieces and some little shells, then we were back on our Segway units.  We headed to the entrance of the Ecological Reserve. We stopped there for a fruit-ka-bob and water break.  He explained a bit more about the area being preserved-it contained five “lagunas” or lakes.  For $25, a person can enter and walk the paths and swim in the accessible lagunas.  This was included in our tour and would be how we’d end our day.

We returned to the beginning of our tour, past the iguana enclosure.  All along, our guide took pictures with our cameras and kept reminding us of our VIP tour privileges.  Normally, we could purchase a DVD of pictures on the tour, but today we got all our pictures free!  Back to the iguanas…we hung out there and learned a few things about them.  We noticed small ping-pong ball-sized items dotting the grounds and inquired as to their identity.  Right away, Mr. Spain began gathering a few and cracking them open with a rock. They were almonds.  Nice treat!

We could hear some whooping and hollering and realized the family group was right behind us.  So we got on our machines and raced back to the main centre.  We wanted to hike to the laguna before they all arrived.

We hiked about ten minutes into the reserve on a groomed path.  It was shady but still and by the time we spotted the lake, we were very hot and sweaty.  We left our shoes, backpack and towels on the deck and descended the wooden steps into very cool and clear water.  That felt so good! We paddled in over our heads within a couple feet of the steps into perfectly clean, fresh water, fed from an underground river system. We saw a few fish scatter and a turtle swim to the shore away from us.  A white duck perched on the lava rock along the edge of the lake.  We swam over to a partially submerged tree and sat on it awhile.  All around us were lovely green trees. 

“Can you believe we are swimming in a lake on January 20?”  It seemed surreal!

Then our peaceful reverie was broken by the noise of the young ones in the big group.  They arrived full of enthusiasm.  Several went up to the platform about ten feet above the water.  We laughed at their antics and bravado and missed our own kids at that age!  After watching them a few minutes, we thought we would give them their space.  We reluctantly climbed onto the deck and got dried off before donning our shoes for the hike back.

We had the same van driver for the return trip to the hotel and we tipped him well.  It was worth the quiet ride back!

Day 6

Our big event of the day was to catch a shuttle to “San Juan”, a little market area a few minutes up the road from our resort.  We needed to find some more American cash-for souvenirs, but also for tipping.  We were advised by others who had been to resorts, that it is customary to tip servers in the restaurant and the housekeepers.  So our cash was dwindling.

We walked down the shady lane to the gatekeeper’s booth.  We left the premises to wait for the shuttle.  We saw a few folks walking back and we asked how far to the shopping centre.  Fifteen minutes or less.  So rather than stand in the direct sunlight, we opted to walk. It was all fairly new looking concrete sidewalk and within a couple minutes, we were walking in the shade of the trees and bushes along the right side of the street.  We noticed some trash, especially water bottles, in the gutters.  On our left, we came upon another hotel complex and then another.  These were the more ritzy looking establishments we had dropped guests off at on our way from the airport.  Soon, we came to the market area.

We hoped to find a bank, but before we could even ask, we were greeted by a friendly man, I would guess was forty or older.  He reached out his arm towards us and waved to come into his shop.  We looked at each other and shrugged, letting him guide us.  We entered the shop, cooled by a fan suspended from the rafters, and began to look at the various items for sale.

I was interested in artwork and they had some smaller paintings of beach scenery that I had seen at the resort gift store.  The man let us look a little but soon began to work his sales pitch and pull out several of the types I wanted.  Soon, we had six 8 X 10 sized canvases and he took them to the counter.  He typed in a figure on his calculator in American dollars, and Walter politely looked and shook his head.  He gave Walter the calculator, who proceeded to counter offer at half that price.  Oh, no, that was too low.  How about $70?  We ended up paying $10 per picture plus the vendor threw in another smaller one and a fridge magnet for $65 total.  Not bad.

I had noticed a wooden carved tea pot and six small cups on a round platter.  It was black and reddish-brown in colour with some designs carved in.  I pointed to it while the man and a woman helped to remove the canvas paintings from their simple wooden frames and rolled them together in paper.  Walter then haggled a pretty good price for that tea set, too.  They wrapped everything carefully and taped it together with lots of packing tape. 

As we thanked them and shook hands, we asked about a bank and they pointed out a side door. As we stepped out, we hoped to see a sign for the bank and get on with our business.  We were broke by this point.  But we were handed off to another younger man with a smooth sales pitch and he wanted to direct us into his shop.  We said, “No, we need to go to a bank.  We have no money.”  We tried to walk up the walkway, but all along both sides were shops adjoined to each other and men or women standing or sitting by their entrances.  We ducked out through a path between two shops, back on the main sidewalk! 

Finding a bank was not as easy as we hoped.  We walked up as far as the business district went.  We found a convenience store but all we could get there was pesos.  So we headed back towards the market area.

We went in a bright-coloured booth, but found out they buy American dollars for pesos.  So, finally, we went in to the next shop and were greeted by Mario.  He brought us in to the shade and introduced himself and offered us his wares.  We insisted we needed to find some cash and he said we could use our credit card.  We asked if we could get cash through our credit card and he said “How much?”  Relieved, we did some browsing in the store while Francesca, his boss, went to get her cash bag.  Mario’s English was pretty good so we chatted with him while waiting.  We got a couple bottles of water, a t-shirt and some of the “Santo Domingo” coffee produced locally.  The percentage charged for use of a credit card machine was exorbitant – the credit card companies charge fees to the vendors for the convenience of that service.  After Walter calmed down and understood Mario’s translation of Francesca’s explanation of the high fees, we had a neat ministry opportunity.

As Mario had tried to sell us various things in the shop, we had turned down the cigars and rum that most tourists seem to want.  Walter explained we don’t smoke or drink because he’s a pastor and we choose not to do that.  Mario smiled and said, “You are Christian?”  He then shared that he used to be a Christian but he and his wife separated and now he doesn’t go to church anymore.  He has children and sends money for them.  Walter then was able to encourage Mario that God would not leave him just because of marriage problems.  If he got right with God, he could have that peace restored.  With some language barrier and maybe some hesitance on Mario’s part, it was hard to tell how much Mario was really responding to Walter’s words.  But then Mario explained to Francesca who we were and that Walter is a pastor in Canada and she came over, smiling.  Her English was poor, but when Walter offered to pray for them, they were both very happy and said “Si!”  We huddled together in the small store, between shelves of souvenirs, and Walter prayed.  Very special moment!

It had been an exhausting past two hours and it was already midday.  We strolled back to the resort, sipping our waters, pleased with our purchases and thankful to have finally accomplished the goal we set- to acquire cash!

The rest of that day we spent indoors.  I was beginning to experience some traveller’s tummy and it was wise to stay cool and close to a bathroom.  No more details on that!

Walter got restless, so while I napped, he took out the camera and went for a walk. Not too long after that, I heard the housekeeper’s cart rattling down our patio hallway.  Our room hadn’t been cleaned yet for the day, so I got up and went to join Walter so the room would be empty.  I wandered the grounds, glanced around the beach, went up to the main lobby and by the open area with couches and Wi-Fi reception.  No sign of Walter.  So I sat on one of those log couches with white cushioned upholstery to wait.  I almost dozed there, then jolted myself to check the time.  It had been almost an hour since I left the room and I thought I’d check to see the progress.  I got party-way up the stairs and saw the cart in front of our door so I turned around.  On my way back, there was Walter, sitting in the lounge sipping on a coffee.  Relief!  I realized I didn’t have a room key and it was a big resort to try to find one person!

After a very layback afternoon, we thought we'd check out the evening's entertainment.  From the hallway, we could see into the auditorium without committing to a seat there.  The lights and fog effects and music met us before we descended our stairs.  We recognized the song- “Billy Jean” and the Michael Jackson entertainer was actually a very talented artist!  The other dancers were also amazing and we were duly impressed.  Staying for a couple more songs, we leaned against the half-wall separating the walkway from the stage area and then we drifted back to our room. 

Day 5

Friday already?  We opted for a beach day.  The wind coming off the ocean was like an average day in  southern Saskatchewan but we weren't going to let that stop our fun.  Copying what some others had done, we stood a few loungers against the thatched roof of an unoccupied shelter to form a windbreak and settled ourselves in for a lovely day of reading and crossword puzzles.

Booths were set up on either side of the beach entrance from the hotel offering free refreshments.  We got pop or pina colada slush mix (sans alcohol).  One booth also served hot dogs and hamburgers and fries with the fixings.  All free. 

Every now and then we could hear some Spanish or English on the pool loudspeaker.  Every hour or so they had entertainment activities-beach aerobics, contests, salsa dance lessons and Olympics.  Being the participant-types that we are, we stayed in our cozy beach enclosure and remained anti-social!  The only change in our position was to use the bathroom, get a drink or look up at the amazing view of the ocean. 

Staring beyond the palm trees, we gazed at sailboats out a few hundred yards.  A motorboat came into view, pulling a waterskier or people on tubes.  A few times that day, we heard a party yacht before we saw it, American music pulsating and people crowded on two decks, drinks in hand.  Apparently those were popular and pricey excursions that included free alcohol, ie rum, and a lobster dinner.  We watched from shore and felt content with our conservative entertainment needs. 

I must say, the parasailing looked intriguing.  I’m too afraid of heights to go through with it, but the two people harnessed in and waiting in the motorboat and then slowly rising up and behind the boat appeared to be safe.  The multi-coloured balloon rose and fell, the two riders’ legs dangling free.  They would dip almost to the water and then the boat would speed up and they’d lift high up.  Again, we observed and enjoyed their fun vicariously from our beach loungers.

Our day ended with a late dinner and television.

Day 3

Another beach day was in order.  With our tablet, Kindle and bottles of water, we were armed and ready.  After the end of six hours in shade or partial sun, I still wasn’t looking too brown.  The sunblock was an SPF of 30-maybe a bit too much!

We decided to meet with our “Hola Tours” friend to book an excursion.  “Outback Safari” seemed like a full day to “Experience the real Dominican Republic!  Taste home-grown organic coffee and chocolate, meet the people, visit a typical home and see a local school and village.  Cool down at secluded Macao beach and try boogie boarding!”  So we paid for our excursion, ready to leave at 8 am and be back by 4:45 pm .  When we got back to the room, I prepared a bag and a backpack and Walter set an alarm.  This was going to be fun!

Day 4

6:45 am –we groaned as the alarm went off!  What were we thinking?  We pulled back the curtain and it was just beginning to get light outside.  We dressed and headed down for a quick breakfast.  I tried the oatmeal-it was creamy and sweetened.  Downing a small cup of coffee, we slipped back to our room to grab our bags and hats and water bottles.  We were there and waiting for the “Outback Safari” vehicle which was an open air converted school bus.  Ruddi greeted us with his safari hat, t-shirt and khaki shorts.  The driver, Leo, helped me up the steps and we were off. No one else from our resort was going that day.  But we had a route of other hotels so away we went!

The morning was nice and warm, but the breeze as we drove was just right.  We questioned Ruddi about the area, the economy, and a little about himself. Other passengers came on and he began to put on his entertainer personae!  We drove at least an hour before we got off the main highway and began to see the “real” Dominican.  Let me tell you, our teeth and bones were rattled pretty good as we drove to the village. 

First stop:  the village school.  It was a small, yellow concrete building, behind a chain-link fence.  About a dozen of us tourists crowded into the one room school house, where about 14 students aged 5 to 11 or 12 sat at simple desks.  They were adorable brown children, dressed in light blue shirts, tan skirts or slacks, blue socks and dark shoes.  They smiled shyly.  The teacher, a man about 40ish, stood at a desk in the corner.  We said “Ola” and they greeted us!  We took a few pictures with a couple boys and I managed to ask them their names and told them ours, en espanol!  The school room was bright and cool, open spaces near the top of the concrete walls to let in light and air.  The walls were simply decorated with a few pictures the children made, some crafts and an “eye chart”. 

As we drove away, we could hear the children singing.  I can’t imagine they got much  school work done that day – they have tourists come through once a week and then the tours visit four other schools, rotating on the weekdays.  We saw several kids waiting around the bus, waving and smiling at us.  We were told not to give money or candy at all – it wasn’t a help to the kids or their village if tourists gave stuff to them and it would only produce jealousy and dependency. 

We could have brought school supplies.  If not, we could give a donation.  Or we could purchase hats, t-shirts or bags where the proceeds would go to the schools.  So we gave some American money and also bought a couple shirts.

We bounced our way back out of the village on rutted, somewhat wet narrow roads.  We saw the small, colourful houses, pigs, donkeys and some skinny Brahma cattle in fenced pastures.  A few small trucks or motorcycles were parked in yards.  Within a few minutes we were heading uphill, apparently to a place where we’d have lunch.  We reached the open air restaurant early, so we did the tour around with Ruddi showing us iguanas, goats, alligators and some of the local flora. 

Two artisans were at work under thatch-roof shelters:  one rolled authentic Dominican cigars and the other was carving soft local stone.  Behind me, a rooster was crowing and making quite a fuss!  We couldn't hear Ruddi giving his explanations; so Ruddi made a show of shooing the noisy bantam away from our group!  Then I saw behind a pile of wood a hen was clucking over three eggs.  I wondered what we would be having for lunch!

We were summoned for our lunch of Dominican rice & beans, fried chicken and BBQ chicken & pork chops.  Plus, a small buffet of salads and fruit was included.  It was nice to sit awhile and visit with others in the tour group.  We were mostly English-speaking folks; one couple and their son were Spanish-speaking.  Ruddi spoke 3 or 4 languages so could easily translate from one to another.

Fortunately, we had a visit to the gift shop, so our tummies had time to settle before we hit that bumpy trail again.  Walter haggled a deal for a carved statue of a couple that the vendor etched “25 yrs” into a heart.  Very sweet!

Only a few minutes down the hill, we reached the authentic country home and toured the house.  There were four rooms: a sitting room, two bedrooms and a kitchen.  But the kitchen had only a sink and counter and a table and chairs.  When we exited that house, we crossed over to the outdoor kitchen, which was equipped with electric fridge, water cooler, stove and in the back, two small fires burning for cooking.  It was a strange mixture of old and new.  Then I recalled the house had a tv, modern backpacks hanging by the door and a CD player. 

We were led to the back yard to see the “resident man of the house” demonstrate how coffee beans and cocoa beans are processed.  That was fun!  Of course, there was another opportunity to spend money on coffee, cocoa butter and even some rum or “MamaJuana”, some wine concoction.  We did get free samples of hot cocoa and fruit. 

Last chance for the bathroom (outdoor facilities that flushed!) before we headed to Macao Beach-we changed into our beach garb and then boarded the bus.  Down the hill we bounced, and within a half hour we were driving past a bigger centre with various businesses, shops and nicer concrete homes with satellite dishes on their roofs.  We crossed the main highway behind a string of ten dune buggies, heading towards the beach.  Another tourist option!  The beach was lovely.  Ruddie gave us some boogie boards and we learned to “ride the waves” . Well, sort of!  It was fun!  The water was refreshing and when I forgot to close my mouth, I remembered it was an ocean and got a taste of salt, as well! 

Tired, damp and very happy, we piled into the safari vehicle.  Leo drove along and Ruddie had offered the last free drinks, including rum.  Then we found out Walter & I could catch a ride with another vehicle and go directly home rather than make the multiple stops. So we hopped into an open back of a truck, yes bench seats with buckles, but nothing to stop the wind.  We arrived quickly but quite windblown at Natura Park by 5 pm. 

Needless to say, we skipped the resort entertainment, but that night there were various vendors selling jewelry, artwork and various other souvenirs.  We wandered through them after supper, but it was a bit much after a long day and we retired to the solitude of our room.  

What an amazing day!

Day 2

Our first order of the day was to get ourselves to the “WestJet/Hola Tours” representative at 8:30 am.  We would find out important information about the hotel and excursion options available to us.  After showering and putting on summer clothing, we found our way to the coffee machine and then to the tour desk.  Again, the overwhelmed feeling came over us as we looked at the brochures and listened to the fast talking woman, Grissel, present our many options.  She encouraged us not to rush into booking anything and to come back when we had time to relax and decide what we’d like.  That was the last time we were given such a luxury-most of the other vendors and tour salepersons were a little more forceful and aggressive! 

We meandered our way to the restaurant and were pleasantly surprised at the myriad choices for breakfast alone.  Breads and pastries, fruits and yoghurt, egg dishes, pancakes and bacon, plus some fish, onions and olives, obviously catering to European guests.  We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, both deciding to do a beach day and begin the hard work of unwinding.

Following breakfast, we headed to the beach.  By 10:30 am, it was stifling hot and the breeze off the water felt good.  We found a shelter and a couple empty chairs and arranged ourselves comfortably.  “Ahhh, this is the life,” we said, almost simultaneously! 

Lunch was served between 12:30 and 2:30 so we had to put something appropriate on over bathing suits before we grabbed something at the buffet and then went back to the beach.  Trying to pace my tanning, I had put on lots of sunblock.  By the end of the afternoon, I was still pretty white except for a couple spots that I missed covering with lotion on my tummy!  I had taken a dip in the water to cool down and must have washed some of it off.

The hotel was able to switch our rooms to one with a king sized bed, rather than two quite small doubles, so we moved our things to Patio XIII.  I unpacked our clothes and bathroom items, knowing we would be here for two weeks.  We turned on the television, which had pretty poor reception and flipped through the channels.  Only a few English ones from the U.S. were available; most were Spanish channels.  Before long, we were both napping. 

By the time we woke up, it was already dusk.  Dinner was served between 6:30 and 9:30.  And we wanted to check out the entertainment offered in an open auditorium.  So we had to snap out of it and get going.  Fortunately, our new room was down a flight of stairs, down the open hallway, hang a right at the lounge/coffee bar and there was the restaurant. 

We didn’t rush through supper and still had time to kill before the entertainment at 9:30.  We walked around the grounds, enjoying the warm air and quiet evening.  When we circled back to the auditorium, it was more of a party atmosphere and loud latino music videos were playing.  The sign for Tuesday evening read “Parejo Ideal” and we had no idea what that meant.  We found out it was four couples chosen from the audience from various countries who were to compete for the “Ideal Couple” award!  Well, one couple from Columbia, Germany, Quebec, and the last one from another Spanish speaking country  had to do relays or other timed contests in order to win.  I won’t describe the games as they were more than a little suggestive, but I must say, the crowd was into it.  Walter and I looked at each other and opted not to stay.  As we slid out of the row, we both realized there were aspects of resort culture that we weren’t going to fit into:  the free alcohol and the entertainment tastes. 

End of the second day and we barely stayed up past 10 pm (and that only was 8 pm back home!).

Sometimes we know the plans that God has for us and He graciously reveals them.
Other times, most often, we are walking in the dark and feel completely lost and plead with God to show us what His will is!  What do you want me to do?
This past week has been a combination of both for me.
We were flying back from our glorious two week vacation in the Dominican, anticipating everything to go smoothly and we'd be home in time to watch our son, Daniel, curl in his first Men's Provincial Curling Tankard in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan.
Our plane was delayed two hours, so our connection flight from Toronto to Winnipeg was nip and tuck...well, with one minute to spare, we got through customs and jogged to the departure gate!  In the meantime, our cell phones were a-buzzin' as news about my Dad's health was not good.  We had no time to find out many details but we hoped to be home the next afternoon.
We arrived in Winnipeg to find our luggage (and about four other passengers) had not made it!  Really?
But we trust WestJet and they were very accommodating.  They would contact us at the hotel we were at in Winnipeg for the night and it would likely be on the very next flight out.
It is now 1 am so there is no opportunity to get an update on Dad.  We felt in the dark.
Next morning, Walter goes out to start up our car.  It had been plugged in but somehow the cord had not connected properly.  Somehow our diesel Jetta still started...then Walter sees the oil...
Without going into details, we get our luggage, find a way to get back to Regina and we run up to the hospital as soon as we can.
While we'd been on our vacation, Dad's breathing had deteriorated drastically.  A bout with pneumonia worsened his condition.  We visited with my Dad, showed him our Dominican pictures and continued to make plans to drive to Shaunavon to watch our son.  However, our borrowed vehicle was having issues and we took it to our trusty mechanic.  Another delay.
Wednesday evening, the family is called to the hospital.  The nurses are encouraging "compassionate care" so Dad can go peacefully but NO!  "I'll try the oxygen for one more week," Dad insists!  By this time his fight for breath is painful.
Finally, when we have left him, he gives up the fight and within a few hours goes peacefully.
 Thursday morning, 9:30 am on January 30, 2014.
If we had got our luggage, driven our Jetta to Shaunavon Wednesday, as planned, I would not have had the chance to see my Dad one last time.
With all these frustrating delays and irritating breakdowns, I had the opportunity to say "I love you, Dad," and promise to see him the next day.
God gave me the understanding almost right away why He allowed these delays.  And although I was asking Him "Why?", His answers were delayed just a little until everything was lined up just right.  I know I can trust Him, and He allowed me to exercise that trust for a couple of dark days.  But quickly enough, God shone His light and helped me see His plan.
"For I know the plans I have for you..."  Jeremiah 29:11
I know even more compellingly, that I can trust God in the darkness and in the light and He will not fail me!