Travel like a Boss

...Or maybe a better title would be, “How to Fly the Red-Eye, then Travel Cross-Country in Less Than 24 Hours without Sleep: A Mini-adventure on 3 Gua-guas, 2 Taxis, and an Airplane.” But that seemed like a rather long name. This log documents a trip back from the United States to the Dominican Republic. And I’d like to think that to an extent, it also exemplifies dedication to celebrating New Years.

Non-stop, all day travel. Enjoy reading. And maybe don’t do it the way I did. Suerte, amigos.

Dec. 29th:

8ish pm - Arrive at Logan Airport, check in, and find terminal.

10:00 pm - Flight from Boston to Santo Domingo. Nope, delayed. Instead: search terminal for chai tea latte. Last one for a while.

11:30 pm - Flight from Boston to Santo Domingo. Delayed again. Guess this flight leaves on Dominican time.

Dec. 30th:

12:00 am - Flight from Boston to Santo Domingo. Nope. Not yet.

12:30 am - Still waiting to board. A few donas start yelling at the staff at the airport because of the delays and long wait - ironic moment. (First time I’ve ever seen Dominicans upset about being late. Refreshing. Also, frightening). People continue yelling in spanish. Staff announce that they may cancel the flight because they feel threatened.

1:something am - Start to board by sections. No one on this flight seems to be waiting in line. (Pero, claro!)

2:something am - Flight from Boston to Santo Domingo.

7:00 am - Land in la Republica Dominicana.

8:00 am - Taxi from airport to bus station. All for the low price of only $1,200 RD. Ay Dios...

9:00 am - Bus to Mao.

12:00/1:something pm - Arrive in Mao. Unpack. Repack. Discover there’s no running water in the house again. Sad for a second. Hope it returns someday soon. Leave house.

2:30 pm - Bus to Santiago. Smushed and caliente. Holiday travel - gua-gua style. Fancy. So many suitcases strapped onto the outside of buses. Quite a sight! Too tired to dig for my camera, but it would have made a great picture.

3:30 pm - Bus from Santiago to Sosua.

5:something pm - Arrive in Sosua to some fuerte taxi drivers. Translation, mas or menos:

Taxi driver: “Rubia! Going to Cabarete? Come here! Taxi, taxi!”

Me: “OK. How much?”

TD: “500 pesos, mi amor. But for you, just 400.”

M: “No thanks, bye”

TD: “Wait, wait, Americana. For you just 350 pesos.”

M: “No, I can’t pay that. Bye.”

TD: “Wait! How much do you want to pay?”

M: “150.”

TD: “Okay fine. Let’s go!”

Well, maybe they weren’t so fuerte after all. But I am not paying 500 pesos to go a distance that could easily be bola-ed if I weren’t so tired/scared of fast Sosua drivers. Tu sabes.

6:00pm - Arrive at hostel to ring in 2011 on the beach!

Long day. Y es facil?

So, that took a while. Traveled from New England, to the the south of the DR, to the north of the island with a few detours in the middle. Ten months ago, I don’t know if I would have been so confident in my Dominican public transportation abilities to do all that at once. In the end though, it went really well, just as everything always does. A couple photos from New Years:

Family, Friends near and far, PCDR voluntarios...everyone, everywhere - Happy 2011! There’s a lot to be thankful for. (Ability to go without sleep, for one thing). God bless!

XO