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.