I did move into my new apartment(Aug. 8)and love it here. I am still living in the Colonial Zone. There is still a problem with the filtration. There are a few leaky pipes. There is a spot where the water is dripping from the ceiling. But the biggest leaking problem is on the outside wall in the living room. There is water underneath the paint and making little bubbles in the paint. There is one spot where the water broke through and seeps out. I have to keep my mop here to absorb the water and wring it out each day. I don’t like it but it is an older building and this is common here, especially when the rent is not that expensive and the landlord really doesn’t care to repair. You get what you pay for.

Other than the water drippage I am so content. It is so nice that I can spread out. Not like before just having a single room to live in. I love having my very own bathroom and a real kitchen. I even put my computer in my home so now I can work out of my very own home whenever I wish. I also have a web cam of the view from my window. The view is a bit limited now because the cord is not long enough to reach all the windows but I’m working on that. (Thanks Frank for the cam..your wonderful!)

I am just so content here. The big problem is that I really do not care to leave. I have spent days without even stepping outside. If I really need something to eat or drink I just call the Colmado to deliver. This is a good and bad thing. I don’t have to get dressed to go out but I am gaining weight and could easily become a real recluse. Maybe after I’ve been here for a while Ill start wanting to go out again but for now I love just staying home.

The move was an experience. I was going to call Apollo Cargo but the guy at the office said to use the neighbor. He would charge $1000 pesos less. So I waited and waited and finally around 3PM the guy came home and we started moving. Another neighbor helped him.

I stood guard at the truck while the guys carried the stuff down the flight of stairs and I arranged the stuff in the truck. We made the first run and the guy in the street infront of the new apartment saved us a parking spot. I was in the apartment and the guys carried everything up to the 3rd floor.

The second trip some friends came to help out. The moving guys were starting to wonder why they took the job for such little cash. I told them I had lots of stuff but they didn’t think all that stuff could fit into a one room apartment. At the end of the second trip they were getting really tired and grouchy.

Making the last load they were banging stuff around and not paying attention. They broke the bottom board of my bed. They scratched up my fridge. They also were going to leave my washmachine and stove at the downstairs door and not carry it up until my friends saw and made them carry the stuff up.

All in all it worked out. I did pay them $1000 pesos extra, the same I would have paid Apollo.

I was only missing a few things. Stupid things. A rubber exercise band and a metal exercise ring. Also a multicolored luggage strap that I saw the helper guy wearing as a belt the next week. I didn’t say anything to him but I looked at the belt and smiled and he got a weird look on his face. He knew he was busted. (I saw him the other day and he was wearing the strap as a belt. He looked at me then his hand went to the belt and he grinned.)

I wish I had my camera to take pictures of the truck piled high with all my stuff but it was in a box and there was no way I was going to make those guys stop and let me dig into a box when they were running like crazy to get me moved it.

Preparing Sniffy, my humane society dog and best friend. I gave her a breed, a Miniature Barrel Shepard, because she didn’t have one and I didn’t want her to feel bad about that. I got her her flying crate filled with her favorite blanket and her cat bowl. All labeled. She had her traveling pills to relax her. She had all her stamps from Dominican Republic. She was already a Dominican citizen. I took her to the Vet for her papers to state she was healthy for the flight. When we came back to my parents house. My mother was sitting in her room. I went in to tell her Sniffy was all ready. She started crying,”Sniffy is going to die on the plane, she won’t like it there”. She cried over the dog! She never worried if I was going to be OK (this was a family joke for a long time)!

My friends had a going away party for me at the old local bar. My friend, Patty, took a video of it and I’ll cherish that video forever. It was a good time. An end to one life and a beginning of another. When a person moves all the promises of keeping in touch and visiting are forgotten in time. With the exception of a handful of special friends we have all lost touch. But its all OK. Memories of past times are always good.

My family also had a going away-Birthday party for me. It was a sort of picnic in the yard. Then we did a family dinner. It was nice. When we left the restaurant I hugged my grandparents good bye. I’ll never forget this in all my life. When my grandfather hugged me, and he hugged me tight. He whispered in my ear to go and do what I dream. Don’t worry what anyone says about what I do. Then he said, in a broken voice “I’ll probably never see you again. I love you”. It took everything in me not to cry. I didn’t want to break down in the parking lot. *My Pappap is now 93 and I have seen him again. Even when I think of this now I still feel tears welling up.

The day to leave came. Billy Jay and my dad took me to the airport. My mom didn’t want to go, she didn’t want me to go and didn’t want to cry in public I guess. I had Sniffy, the dog, who weighed about 80 lbs. I had my 2 check in suitcases which I weighed to make sure they were exactly the correct weight, I had my carry on piece of luggage, correct weight. I had 2 a large plastic tote box filled with my computer and all that went with it. Got weighed in but it seemed that the scale was a bit off. They let the luggage go but I had to unload some of the things out of the plastic tote. No fax machine and a few other things. Standing there emptying out the box with all the cases and the dog barking in her cage surround me. I’m sure I was a sight to be seen.

So all was done and proceeded to the line to enter the airport. Hugged and kissed my dad and my son. I didn’t cry. It was hard not to when my son and dad both had tears in their eyes. But I did it. Even as I had to stop to get my carry on luggage checked out. I had a box with all my jewelry in it. There was porcupine quill jewelry, coon peckers, a few coyote teeth. Not your normal jewelry pieces. They inspected, questioned and let me through. As Billy Jay and my daddy looked on.

As I flew away from USA I didn’t feel sad. I was so excited to start a new life in Dominican Republic. Then when I saw “my island” I cried, as I always did and knew I was home. The Dominicana Gringa has arrived!

So I started talking. I was a waitress at Kings Restaurant for almost 13 years. 4 different location. I was so worried I was going to be a lifer. So this was my only way out.(not really, but that was a big joke of us Kings long-timers)

I contacted the Dominican consulate in Philly and made a few friends there. I put my Mobil home up for sale. Started selling off stuff I didn’t need. Making lots of jewelry(that’s what I did for some extra money after I closed my business). Sorting through my accumulated junk. Funny how I got all the junk. I kept adding more junk but didn’t want to get rid of the old junk. So I bought a little bigger house so I could fit more junk. I built my own shelving so I could display all the stuff. I had a small shed out back but had to take that down to make room for a new and improved shed with a loft and work bench so I had room for all my tools and movers and rototillers and all the boxes of stuff that I didn’t want to get rid of but really didn’t want to look at either. Its hard to believe all the junk one can accumulate in a short time.

I was looking at things in my home town of Valencia and Mars in a different light. Like it was going to be the last time I saw these things. Things did look prettier. The sun rise and sets were brighter. The green of the leaves were more vibrant. But the snow was still as cold and I realized how much I did hate being cold.

The most difficult things to sell was my camping gear. I loved to camp and I had all the gear organized in alphabetical order(that’s what my friends used to tease me about). The week before I put them up for sale my aunt flew in from Chicago to make the last camping trip with me. Then it was in the paper and sold within a week. All gone for $500usd. A nice lady came with her truck and we started packing up. I was telling her all about what was there she was getting. I started crying. She felt so bad she offered not to buy the stuff. I had to sell it and she seemed nice so it was going to a good home.As she drove off with my most treasured stuff I cried. There was no turning back. I couldn’t live in USA without camping and be happy.

My tools sold fast also. My electric saws. Chain saw. Rototiller. Sanders. All went fast. This was difficult also. I was so proud of my work shop. All my tools in order on the peg board. Every nail and screw in order on the shelf by size and labeled nicely. After these things went everything else was easy.

I got a stall at the Flea and was there every Sunday selling all my collected belongings.
Then the 9/11 terrorist thing happened. People went crazy. At my job customers were telling me I was abandoning my country. Some would not even sit at my tables. Before 9/11 people were interested in my moving, how it was coming along, why I was doing this, all was good. After 9/11 I was the bad guy. I was abandoning my country. I was a tractor. Even tho I had already sold half of my belongings before the attacks. I had one very large fireman almost physically attack me over his table. My manager had to take me to the back of the restaurant to calm down. I was ready to fight the guy. I could have beat his fat butt, I know it! LOL!
It was time to move out on my place. I was moving in with mommy and daddy for the last month so I could pay up all my bills and get rid of my house. I was working a second waitress job at night to make more money. My son Billy Jay, came in from Louisiana, where he was living that month, to spend me last month in USA with me. I was giving him my truck and lots of good stuff for his apartment. It was great that he came to see me. Who would have ever known that this would be the last time I would ever see my son Billy Jay again.

Come back later for more of the story. Back to work on the web site….…

I’ve been trying to make a web site but just can’t figure it out so a friend told me to start with a Blog. The big problem is I have no idea where to start…I was born…LOL!

Lets see…Why did I move to Dominican Republic. The weather? The beaches? The people? The beer? Yea..That’s it! The beer is great! But really, I think its the life style there. So many ask me why I would chose a third world country when there are so many other places. I can’t really answer that with a solid reply. It’s just after visiting this country I fell in love with it. When I left my heart stayed behind. Its still there now. As far as I know it always will be.

It wasn’t a man either. Even though those Dominican men are pretty great. Maybe its the attitudes of the people. Most are friendly and giving people. The lifestyle is slow, tranquilo. In general, things move slow. Takes a while to get used to taking life slow. Walking slow is especially difficult. The Dominicans say they can spot a tourists just by the way they walk. Long strides. Walking fast. After living there for a while I noticed this and concentrated on walking slow. It was work at first, very deliberate on my part. But I achieved. When I had to return to USA I really noticed this in the humans here. It’s not easy trying to keep my “Dominican stride” here. But I’m trying.

Anyhow, all I do know is that Dominican Republic is my home. Even if I’m not living there at this time. It is the place I call home and always will. Its not easy living there but then life anywhere has its ups and downs. For me the good out weighs the bad. The good people outward the bad. I love it. I love my life in DR. I can’t wait to return.