Category Archives: Just a Story

Cerezas For Me

Posted by on May 8, 2012 No comments

Ok. As you can tell in my Blog I love food. Most all foods for me are yummy.

This morning after I took Teli for her morning walk and was settling down to work a bit I heard from the street “Cereza, cereza” as the vendor was pushing his cart down the street. I wanted some of this yummy fruit. So I yelled out the window down three floors for him to wait.

I grabbed my cash and bounded…well not bounded but walk briskly…down the stairs. I heard Teli barking her “where are you mommy” bark because I didn’t even tell her I was going out and I didn’t say goodbye. But I had no time to mess around. The vendor awaited.

So I got his large tin can full two times. $30 pesos per can. Then I was back up the steps with my loot.

Teli was at the door greeting me like I had been gone for hours instead of minutes. I love my dog.

bowl of cerezas

Cerezas for me taste like a mix between a cherry and cranberry. Tart and sweet. They are high in in ascorbic acid and have the highest vitamin C content among all the cultivated fruits. Here people drink the juice when they have a cold or sickness.

I made me some juice and am now enjoying munching on the fruit. Teli will not eat it which is good. More for me! Isn’t it just too beautiful?
cereza close up


Mango Time!

Posted by on April 24, 2012 No comments

It is mango season here in Dominican Republic. I have been watching the trees in the park laden with mangoes. A soft green color just waiting for them to ripen.

It finally happened. They are ready for pickin’ and eatin’. Oh yeah!

I cannot reach the trees from the park. All the mangoes fall into the Marine base grounds so I got this young boy that lives somewhere around there to get me some. I gave him a large bag from the Colmado and Teli (my dog) and I waited for Jimmy to return.

He came back in about 20 minutes with a bag full of mangoes! They smelt sooo good. I gave him some money for it. He was happy and so was I.

I was told that Dominican dogs love mangoes. My Teli is a Dominican dog but she turns her nose up at them. I kept trying to give her one and she finally gave me the look telling me “Thats enough! I do not want a stupid MANGO!”

Now I had to figure out what to do with all these sticky fibrous amazing fruits. Posted on Facebook to ask friends and I took a few of their ideas.

I made mango salsa. It was really good. I would have never thought that a sweet and a spicy would go together.

I made mango ice milk ice cream and froze it.

I made mango smoothie shakes which I love with any fruit I have at the time.

I made mango bread.

Today Ill make a mango enchilada.

Who knows what tomorrow mango goodies we will come up with…

mango bread sliced mango mango smoothie and coffee

This was my breakfast – All Things Mango. By the way, that is not mango coffee. I had to put my foot down someplace.


Happy Easter Card

Posted by on April 7, 2012 No comments

Happy Easter/ Feliz Semana Santa from my Family to yours.

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Hot Water For Me!

Posted by on January 20, 2012 No comments

I have been living in this country for about 10 years now. Even the time in the middle years when I had to go back to USA for a time I still lived here because all my stuff was here. Anyhow, I only had hot water in the very first apartment I lived in for six months in Ensanche Julietta.

I remember when I moved in and could not figure out why there was no hot water in the kitchen when the shower had hot water. I was checking pipes to see if maybe it was turned off or was broken. I saw nothing. So I called the landlord. She spoke a little English and I spoke very little Spanish at that time. I tried to explain to her that the hot water was broken. She went in the shower and checked and said it was working fine. I took her into the kitchen and turned on the hot water facet and nothing came out. She started laughing at me. I had no idea what was funny. No water came out and she would have to fix it. Was that funny? Then she explained it all to me. The ole imaginary light came on above my head. The only place in the apartment that had hot water was the shower. Hardly anyone had hot water throughout the house. This is the way it is in Dominican Republic.

So when I moved to the Colonial Zone to my new apartment there was no hot water at all. But then half, or more than half, the time there was no water at all. I learned to bucket shower and run a hose from the facet in the street to get water. Then the last place I had we had water in the morning only so it was shower early when there was water pressure or bucket shower. If the water was too clod just had to heat some on the stove.

Now I moved to this new apartment. There is almost always water. The pressure is good. So I guess I am a bit spoiled now. I do not want to heat water on the stove when it is really cold. I want to take a real shower with hot water. So, for my Christmas present from my parents this year, I got hot water in my shower.

It was too expensive to put in a hot water heater tank and we could not figure out all the pipes in this old building. So I opted for the shower head with the heat coils inside. It was the easiest way to install hot water.

My shower is really small. If I drop the soap and ave to stoop down to get it I have to get out and pick it up. Its about the size of a refrigerator box and the ceiling is really low too. So it took some finagling to get the shower head in where I didn’t have to take a shower on my knees.

My Fit-it, repair man Rudolf, is wonderful. He came on time to check out the situation and to see what he could do to get me hot water. He thought he could get me a hot water tank but I did not have enough funds for that. So he said he could fix the pipe in the shower so I could stand underneath and shower in comfort.

He got all the pipe in. Got the heater hooked up. turned it on and pop! The fuse blew. When he checked the fuse box the fuse was way to small to handle the wattage so he went and got a higher amperage fuse and put it in. When he had the fuse box open I was totally amazed with what I saw inside. Whoever did the electric work had the wiring all electric taped together. I never in my life saw anything like that before. But I shouldn’t really be surprised with the way stuff is done here. Yet every time I see the wiring, in houses, businesses and in the streets I am just amazed.

So I got my hot water all hooked up thanks to Rudolf and took my first hot shower in my apartment. I was so content. I will not use it all the time. Only when it is cold and there is no sun to heat the water in the pipes. Electric here is very expensive and I do not want to run up my bill. But it is so nice to know that I gave hot water when I want it. Thanks to my mommy and daddy for the Christmas present and to Rudolf for fixing it for me.

By the way, I highly recommend Rudolf if you need anything done. His business is called Xpress Dominicana – (check the link for more information about the Handy Man Services) Maintenance and Handyman Services. He does Repairs & Maintenance, Handyman Service, Major & Minor repairs, Painting, Re-Refurbishments & Upgrades, Project Co-Ordinations, Moving & Packing Services, Point Of Sale Installations, Prepare Home for Sale or Auction. Commercial & Residential Cleaning Service. He speaks English which was a really big help. My Teli, The Dominican Dog, really liked him too! His contact information is: 829-665-4144, 829-474-4144 xpressdominicana@gmail.com. Tell him Janette, The Dominicana Gringa sent you!


A Hazy Sunday in January

Posted by on January 15, 2012 No comments

I wrote a post but something happened and it just disappeared. I have no idea where it went and, of course, I can’t remember all that I wrote. So I am just going to put up the pictures I took out my window today and maybe another day I will write about whatever it was that I lost. It is not easy getting old…lol.

Enjoy your day as Teli (The Dominican Dog) and I will be enjoying ours.

colonial zone view of the gray caribbean sea
The above picture has the Caribbean Sea circled. It is the same color gray as the sky. It is difficult to distinguish where one ends and the other begins. This is the view out my Colonial Zone balcony window to the right.

colonial zone isabel la catolica view
I love the sky with its evil looking clouds. I put some arrows to point out the points of interest. This is the view out my Zona Colonial balcony window to the left. I hope the pointers pointing the points make their point. Ok, I am being just plain silly but I hope I made my point. Anyhow, here is a little picture tour or my window view.
Red arrow – The oldest cathedral in the Americas, The Cathedral de Santa Maria.
Teal arrow – The Hard Rock Cafe sign.
Blue arrow – The Palacio de Borgellá.
Pink arrow – ChuChu Colons Coke-a-Cola train.
Purple arrow – A human watchman.
Yellow arrow – La Casa del Sacramento. The place where the Archbishop of the Dominican Republic hangs out.

zona colonial gray skies
This is the view out my balcony window straight ahead.


The Days of Christmas 2011 In My Life

Posted by on January 2, 2012 No comments

I do not do much for the holidays. I am just not into it any more. So here is a little of what I did do in my own little apartment for Christmas and New Years.

Teli, my dog, and I walked around. I had beer and she had salami or cheese in the Colmado. Sat at the computer worked, played, talked and watched movies. Thats about it. I did pretty much nothing and am sooo content with it. I loved my Holiday time.

Now the video of Teli and I having a good time together. She is such a comedian. She makes me laugh too much.

This is our wonderful Christmas Tree. She is a real beauty. The essence of pine wefted through my home with this baby. LOL!

Trying to get all the lights untangled was a real chore.

Now here is the big one. Taking down the Christmas Tree after the holidays. I was really sweating doing all this work.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas and New Year Holiday time. No matter how you celebrate. With friends, family, someone you love or all alone. As long as you enjoy it that is what matters.

Life is soo good! Love and blessings to you all. I hope your year to come is all you hoped for and all you deserve.