April 5, 2014
Morning. It’s about 10am. It’s raining and I have a bit of diarrhea. It was probably last night lambi. It’s raining so hard that we can’t leave our room. We went looking for a place to have breakfast, we gave up the option soup and beans, so decided for a pain au chocolat at the French cafeteria. There were three elder Italians living here talking business. I can see them going there every morning, the only place in Rio San Juan where you can have a Western style breakfast, with a cappuccino and a croissant.
April 6, 8.47am
I have a bit of a headache but luckily the stomach ache is gone. We are at La Estrella having breakfast with a Pain au chocolat and coffee. At the other side of the road there’s a big shop selling souvenirs. I don’t know how it can work, as there aren’t many tourists here. Today it’s hot. Yesterday at one point it stopped raining and we went to the beach for a few hours, in the shade; luckily it’s often cloudy, I couldn’t resist with the sun shining all the time.
The Bahia Blanca owner is a bit weird. This morning she replied a couple of times to a man that wanted to talk to her “She is the one taking orders for breakfast” (pointing at a girl working for her). The guy actually only wanted to inform her that they can’t work at the building site opposite the hotel on Sundays. Probably this morning he was woken up by the pneumatic drill that started working at 8am and will go on until 5. He’s an engineer and knows this stuff, he was trying to tell her. She has the right to ask the Ajuntamiento (the municipality) or La Capital (this is how they call Santo Domingo) that they don’t work one day per week. I didn’t know that. I’ve always seen them working every day, Sunday included. But if there are houses around they shouldn’t be allowed.
Last night we went back to have dinner at the small restaurant where they cook hens paws, liver, heart and “gizzard”, always with yuca. We couldn’t find the rice for my poor stomach, I ate nonetheless and my stomach ache got worse.
We saw two gua-gua full of kids passing by. Are they all going to the beach? Maybe to the lagoon. There was a time when the lagoon was the main attraction in Rio San Juan; now it’s less popular, but it still attracts a few visitors.
Today we are going to a different beach.
8.40pm We are at a restaurant waiting for our dinner. We’ve been waiting for half an hour (and are the only guests). I’m hungry.
So today we went to the Playa del Caleton, a famous beach just a couple of kilometers north of Rio San Juan. It was too crowded though (during the weekend Dominicans like to head to the beach) and we came back after a few minutes along the same dusty road. When we arrived at the beach near the hotel, a beach that I like because it has many trees that create a nice shade and there’s a small bar where you can also eat but that most importantly plays some nice music, there were few people. After a couple of hours it was full here too. And much more people was drinking by the road. They set up an extra stall for the occasion. And huge speakers.
At about 5pm the disco music started, with a live deejay. It reminded me of some beaches in Italy, where you go to party. So, if we moved here there would be a party every Sunday. Some kids were having fun playing with a stray dog: the kids run, and the dog after them; when he almost got them, they jumped into the water; the dog started to follow someone else, until they also jumped into the water. I don’t know how long this sweet dog run up and down this beach.
Tonight first sunset without clouds. A lot of pictures are taken.
