Tag Archives: dog

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.


Green Grass Smells

Posted by on December 27, 2011 No comments

I was walking with my dog Teli this morning for her morning bathroom visit. I’m not sure exactly what time it was but my guess was around 7AM. We walk past the Fortelaza Ozama on Calle las Damas so she can go potty in the grass surrounding the wall. The grass inside the fort when it gets long looks like wheat waving in the breeze. It has a purple-burgundy tint to the top sprouting seed pods. When a breeze hits this grass it looks like waves. Like the line “Amber waves of grain” in the USA National Anthem. This view reminded me of that line. But today they were cutting the grass. It is a large open field with the ruins of the old fort scattered here and there. There were two men cutting with very antique looking hand pushed lawn mowers. I can remember my dad teaching me how to cut the grass. you had to go in certain directions, keeping the rows straight. You could not miss a spot or it would mess up the entire system Well, my dad was needed here. These guys were not following the grass cutting rules I grew up with. But the were cutting and I was smelling.

I love the smell of fresh cut grass. I even used to have some essential oil called Fresh Cut Hay and would burn it often here because there is not much lawns that need cutting here in the Colonial City. The smell was divine. I was really enjoying it while waiting for Teli to make her business.

Then tonight when we walked that way again on the way to Telis park the smell was still lingering. I had to stop and sit on the wall. The sitting part is easy but I forgot about the getting up part as I was so into smelling the essence or cut grass. Teli and I sat there for a while until the neighborhood kids wanted to play ball and Teli doesn’t like this so I had to get up. This is when, amongst the wonderful smells and the kids looking at me, that I remembered I need something to hold on to to get up. Of course there was nothing there.

I rolled my big butt off the little short wall and rolled over onto all fours. Teli was looking at me like I was either going crazy or wanting to play. Then I worked my way up using the dogs butt to stable myself, trying not to put too much pressure on her. Finally I was up. Laughing quietly out loud to myself and Teli and taking in the last smelling on that fresh cut lawn until the next time.

I learned myself a valuable lesson, that I learned many times before but always seem to forget. When stopping to smell the fresh cut grass always make sure that there is a way to get up if I decide to sit my big ole butt on or close to the ground. Must remember the back is not happy when it has to get up from a squatting position without help. And, to try and remember to take my camera next time I go for a walk.

My New Dog, Teli

Posted by on December 10, 2011 No comments

I know, I’ve been bad again not writing in my own blog. I have just been so busy trying to update the web site, writing in the Colonial Zone News Blog and making the newest blog in the collection, The Dominican Dog Blog.

I got a dog, thus the Dog Blog. Her name is Inteliperra. Not inteligente, which means smart, I figured inteli – GENTE means smart person cause it says Gente which maens people. My dog is not a gente she is a perra so I called her Inteli – PERRA. Get it? For short she is just Teli.

Teli the Dominican Dog She is smiling in this picture. Isn’t she cute?

She is the normal type of dog breed you see in the streets here in Dominican Republic. Wiry, thin, tan with the black face. They call them here Boca Negra (Black Mouth), Vida Latta (sort of lives out of a tin can which also means a mixed breed). She looks alot like a Belgin Malinois. But no matter what she is I fell in love with her after a few days of her living with me on November 3rd. Now she is my baby and she stole my heart.

She is a bit of a nervous dog. She knows how to walk on the leash and I have taught her lots of tricks. I know her other owner taught her stuff too. (She was found in a park when she was a puppy almost dead, was rescued and brought back to health and loved, then the family had to move to a smaller home and couldn’t keep her, this is how she came to live with me). She likes to hang out on the sofa when I am working and she always likes to be where I am.
Teli hanging on the sofa

I have been working with her but she is so nervous and frightened. When she gets in the fright mode she doesn’t hear anything. She just wants to get home. She is much better but she still needs lots of work and love. She doesn’t like open doors when we pass them in the street. Any sudden noise she goes crazy. The rustling of the palm trees she gets nervous. When we pass the school and she hears all the noise inside she gets nervous. She hates when there is a marching group in the street. She is afraid of the washing machine. She wont come to the living room when I have laundry hanging on the enclosed balcony. She doesn’t like waving flags. Sometimes I think she sees ghosts when she jumps at nothing. But I am working with her.

She needs to get calm so she can work her business being a tour guide here in Colonial Zone. She is working on being the mascot for the Zone. She already has her own park, Plaza Pellerano Castro, where if you want to meet her, she is usually walking around there in the evening. She has her own Colmado where she is the Mascot it is across from her park, Colmado Omar I. Common down and she will always accept 10 pesos of salami if you want to buy. Just remember, you have to ask me first before you give her a treat. She is not allowed to accept stuff from strangers unless I say its OK first.

You might also see her in her favorite place to go to the bathroom, in front of the Forteleza Ozama on Calle Las Damas. She gets to go to the bathroom in front of one of the oldest forts in the new world and on the oldest street. She also likes to walk in the church yard at the Cathedral, the oldest in the new world and the Plazoleta de los Curas because it is usually quiet there.

So if you want to keep up on the Dominican Dog, Teli. Please check her blog, The Dominican Dog blog. Also if you want to adopt your own dog please consider a shelter dog. They are such a blessing and they need so much love and will give it as well. There are many shelters here in Dominican Republic. If you want to adopt a dog here send me an email and I can direct you to many of the places here in Santo Domingo.

How can you resist this face?
Telis lovely face

The Washing Experience

Posted by on February 3, 2006 1 comment

>I did buy the machine. Heres the story I wrote soon after my first laundry experience. Hope you get a good laugh reading it as I did when I worte and experienced it.

Dominican Wash Machine!

Well, I did it! I bought a Dominican wash machine. I never used a semiautomatic before…wash machine that is. For those of you who don’t know what this Dominican wash machine looks like…its plastic, light weight, has a place to wash on one side and the other side is a spinner to extract the water out of the clothes. I never saw anything like it in USA!

Getting this thing delivered to my house was not as bad as I thought it would be. Using the machine was another story indeed, it was much worse than I ever could have imagined. Lucky for me the instructions were in English or I may still be trying to interpret them. I had so many dirty clothes I couldn’t wait to use my new machine.

I proceeded to unpack this fine, what I thought would be, a great and helpful purchase. Since my place was so small I figured I’d just slide it over to the sink to fill and drain it from there. I slid that baby right over to the sink. It was very light. I pulled out the hose, attached it to the back of the machine then went to hook it onto the spigot. Dumb thing didn’t fit. Now I had to think for a minute and come up with a new plan. Ah Ha! I attached the garden hose to the outside facet and drug it into the house, stuck it in the machine and commenced filling my fine plastic dream machine.

As I stood back, content, waiting for it to fill, the hose got a life of its own. It flipped right out of the tank. I was right on it! I got the floor a little wet. But hey! No Problema! The floor needed a washing anyhow. I put that wild, whipping hose right back in the tank. I wasn’t going to let it get the best of me.

With the tank filled and the soiled clothes agitating wildly in the tank, I was content. All seemed to be going well. The soap was bubbling nicely. The clothes were going to be happy clothes for being washed properly once again.

The first cycle complete I get the supplied drain hose ready so it can do its job. The hose is connected to the bottom of the machine without problems. Then I put that expandable hose in the sink. This made me have to face the next problem. Water doesn’t flow up hill. Imagine that! I always thought I was pretty smart but at that moment I knew it was not so. I set the hose down on the floor to think of what to do and to my surprise all the water started running out onto the floor. Now I was feeling really feeling stupid as the soapy water was flowing, quite rapidly I must say, out onto the floor! It took me a few seconds to think of what to do. Then it came to me, run outside and shut the water off, big dummy!

You could never imagine how much water can drain out of a hose in a few seconds! I had a small pool in my home by this time. I got my trusty bucket, that because of some strange enlightment I had the brains to buy. I put the hose inside. The bucket filled up faster than I had anticipated. I had to think fast, how to empty it, hold the hose up, and get it back into position without adding to the flooded floor. Well, let me say, I didn’t succeed in my attempt. The small pool was growing rapidly and becoming quite a large pool rapidly. As I lifted the bucket to the sink the water would spill out on the floor. I decided it was futile and just let the water flow onto the floor as it desired. Maybe this is why I see the Dominican women sweeping water out of their houses into the street all the time.

Now the water was emptied from the tank. I got out the directions and read again. They said to remove the clothes from the big tank and put them in the smaller tank. This is the water extractor or centrificar (I think that is how to spell it). I turned it on and it was spinning fast. Then water started pouring out of the machine onto the floor again. So that is what the spinny thing did. It removed the excess water. It did make the clothes quite dry. I was impressed. Much dryer than the hand wringing they were used to receiving. I was really gaining some intellegence this day for sure.

The first load was done.I made clothes clean and created a pond all at the same time. I was doing great! I swept some of the water out the door and I was ready to give it another try. Now that I was a seasoned pro and had the technique down I was ready. I had this thing all figured out, I thought. I decided not to sweep out anymore water just incase it happened again. I had to save my strength just in case there were any more mishaps.

I got the hose in the machine went out to turn on the water. The hose popped out again, but oh well, the floor was already a pond! The machine did its job again and as before it was my turn. The drain hose popped off again.

This time the neighbor was walking by my open door. She saw me on my knees in the flooded kitchen with water shooting out of the machine. I was laughing out loud to myself. She stopped and had a look of shock and amazement blended together on her face. I’m sure she was thinking what is that crazy Gringa doing. She said something, I have no clue what it was because it was all Spanish to me. She started laughing also. Then, of course, she went and got two other people to come see the Americana kneeling in a pool of bubbly water in the middle of her kitchen. They were laughing at me. I was laughing at me. Everybody laughed!

What was Sniffy doing? She heard the laughter and she always loved a good laugh. Her tail would wag and she’d get in what we called her horse shoe position. Her back end curving around almost touching her face. She really had no clue what was going on but she wanted to be involved. She came out of the back of the apartment, stopped at the edge of the pool looking very confused yet happy (she did smile). I don’t know how she knew it was the edge of the pond when she was blind. Many times she amazed me, She then decided to enter the water, slipped and fell right in. My poor blind wonder dog Sniffy. Now there is a wet dog and a wet human. People laughing at us from outside the door, and water everywhere. What a site it was.

I was feeling good. I had my first load of wash done. It was hanging on the line on the roof happily soaking up the sun and swaying in the gentile Caribbean breeze. I had a good laugh. Entertained the neighbors. Sniffy and I both had a swim in our own little pool. Sniffy got a bath since she was wet already. The water was swept out of the house, floor and patio clean.

I called the Colmado to bring me a few beers. I had to sit back and reflect on my new experience. I was proud and content. My first Dominican laundry experience and I survived. I just never realized how much water a little plastic wash machine held! I hope this doesn’t happen every time I wash or I’m going back to hand washing…it takes less time

Copyright © 2002

The First Week

Posted by on January 11, 2006 No comments

When I got into the country and all through customs with my dog Sniffy and a few extra boxes of belongings (I didn’t get searched, I think they just wanted me and my barking dog, who had to pee, out of the airport). I was wheeling down the ramp to my waiting friends.

They both arrived in separate cars because of all the stuff I had. Good thing, it would have never fit in one car. Of course Uncle Juan had to reprimand me for being s stupid moving to DR when most Dominicans want out. But then he knew me well enough by then that I had a hard head and would do as I wished anyhow.

We got all loaded up and Carlos had the back seat all covered, don’t want to mess up his fine leather seats!. We were on our way to a big adventure.

They made arrangements for me to stay with an Aunt because she had dogs and would be OK with it. Of course first we had to stop and get a Presidente beer. Sniffys first time in a Colmado. She was right at home.

We arrived at the Aunts home and first thing she wanted to tie my baby out back with her dogs. Sniffy would never go for that. She would howl all the time she was chained up. She has never really been tied outside. She’s part of the family. Where I am she is. We discussed it for a while (which I have since learned that this is the Dominican way also, everything that one does or plans to do has to be discussed, “what if this happens”, or “maybe this might happen”, instead of just doing it and moving on. I kept telling them that I could not stay there if Sniffy had to stay outside.

So after it was dark outside, and we were still sitting there discussing where I was going to sleep, I finally got out the number for the hotel I always stayed in. I finally got them to let me use the phone after more discussion that the hotel probably wouldn’t let a dog stay there. I say just call the place and ask. Carlos decided he’d call because my Spanish wasn’t good.

The girl in the hotel remembered me and she asked the boss if I could have my dog, since it never came up before. She came back and said it was OK I just had to stay in a room in the back. Thank God for Apart Hotel Millenium! And also that I do work hard making myself be a memorable person..LOL!

Sniffy was right at home in the place. We went to the cafe and had a late night snack. Then we walked to the Colmado to say hi to some friends. Of Course drank some beer with them. Went back to the hotel, we both got our shower and went to sleep. She on her pillow and I on mine. Not sure if the hotel knew she slept in the bed too! But she is cleaner than a lot of humans I know!

We woke in the morning to Carlos calling to see if all was OK and he couldn’t take me around to look for apartments. So I started making phone calls to people I knew with cars, made arrangements to meet, got my paper and was off to look for a place for me and Sniffy to call home.

New Years Eve – When Sniffy Lost her Eyes

Posted by on January 6, 2006 No comments

I forgot a few important things…

When I went to visit Sniffy the first time. I was so afraid. She was laying on the patio. Not moving. I came onto the patio she heard me. She tried to get up. I bent down and she started kissing me. Her head didn’t move much but her tongue was very active! I was so happy. Juan Antonio took pictures. I cannot post them because I do not have them here, they are in Dominican Republic.

Another thing , the veterinarian, he was so good to me. Even though I was American, and supposedly had lots of money. He knew I didn’t have much and he saw how much I loved my dog. He only charged me $600 pesos for a 3 day stay including the medicine! That was unreal. That was maybe $25 US Dollars. Unreal.

OK..back to the present. Gotta go to the Doctors. My hospital visit the other day didn’t seem to work. Something doesn’t seem right so off to the doc. Just my luck!