Voir Dire

The Art of the Deal taking shape here...the grandparent fresh off the plane, three grandkids eyeing things they really want.....looks like check-mate.....cuanto cuesta?  Toyota Prado turbo diesel....get to the areas a little away from the main tourist channels, even though we are tourists....es no facil, pero es posible.   Rain clouds starting to form around a tranqui town in the south.....probably the last artistic photo that will be uploaded. We're all slow to change a little, but still gettin it done on the donkey cart....you can have your building material delivered no problema....garbage service pick up is also offered by donkey cart in San Pedro de Macoris....its actually probably one of the more safer ways of getting around San Pedro.  Ruby is still a little confused on where we are exactly and whats going on.

Al frente Casa de Juan Ponce De Leon, conquistador, explorer, tried to find that fountain of youth in el Florida, got hit with an arrow by local tribes, the exploring party got back in the ships and made it back to Cuba where he died.....built around 1501..... Ruby was loving this history tour.... La playa near Guayacanes....Ruby enjoys a morning stroll. We didn't pay much for these toys... Sunday afternoon at a Gallarda....small venue, plenty of energy.

Thanksgiving Morning: head to the local el play.....one game on the main field, another small game on the side...the game on the main field were down to their last baseball....it ripped and then they were down to the strings....just keep playing.... This is a player ran practice today.....after the first game ended, players line up at short and one kid starts hitting pretty hard grounders from the pitchers mound....if you make an error you lose a piece of clothing.... Marten on his third grounder here is about to lose his shoes....he already lost his hat and shirt on the first two attempts.... Just need a bat and a ball, the game is universal.... Ruby finding a little beach time in the morning.

Here is some low-quality footage I took at the border town in Jumanji.....one of the most dislocated and confusing border crossings I've ever seen, probably tied with the Kazakhstan - Russia border near Omsk....joined a great group of people from the state of Georgia and the Dominican through SCORE International to rebuild a roof ripped off by Hurricane Matthew.  Driving through Haiti isn't that difficult when traveling with two doctors, two interpreters that speak Spanish, English and Haitian Creole and an unmarked police escort car.  If estimated travel time to your destination is 3 to 4 hours, just make sure you add 3 to 4 hours....mas o menos another 1 or 2 hours on top of that... The town we were in Simon Caye on the southern peninsula of Haiti was told they should have their power back in 3 to 4.......years.  Rain delay at Barrio Mexico in San Pedro de Macoris.....  Nice haul of platanos.....when translated platanos means "without flavor." The libr...

Took Dean and toured about 10 MLB Academies around our area...very nice complexes, very guarded....I thought I might just have a look around inside but settled for some front gate shots.  Started going to the el play in San Pedro de Macoris....met the baseball instructor 'Beauty' pictured on the far left below....he doesn't take any pay unless you want to throw in a hundred pesos or so a week (about $2)....he instructs about 40 kids...even though we brought a little extra gear ourselves, they ended up giving us a nice bat and three pairs of baseball pants......poor and still generous.  Tranquilo..... Tranquilo..... 

School starts with Angel picking the teams.....players are between 10 to 17 years old...get a baseball, take your positions, start playing....the effort is phenomenal. Smaller kids can have the back corner of the field while the older kids play.... Once the main game ended in the morning, kids start to arrive around noon for the next round.... Two of my favorite questions so far...Duke asked on Sunday:  Are we going to baseball Church?..and..Should we bring our baseball gloves to Church?.......probably.  It's a bit humid.

 First day here: walked Duke, Marten and Dean about 4 or 5 kms....sweating, notice Dukes shoulders are shrugged, complaining about the heat and walking distance....walked into Playa Guayacanes and saw a nice little pick up game....waves picking up from outskirts of hurricane Matthew....  Dean started to localize first.....after sweating for about an hour and a half Dean stripped his shirt....  wind and rain are pushing pretty good now but overall was a good look at the town.