Jan 18-25: Worst Vacation Ever?

I’m not going to say they didn’t have some good times, because I think they did. But this last week will most likely go down as Nicole’s parents worst vacation ever.

Enjoying the Kids Park

Keeper of Shoes

After a relatively uneventful trip to our house things began to go down hill. When we asked them how they slept the first night their response was “what sleep?”. It turns out the (rather cheap) earplugs that we have here were not enough to block out the droning music, dogs barking, and roosters crowing. To make matters worse they were both beginning to feel a little queasy. After the second sleepless night her Dad’s back began to get really sore. Although her Mom’s stomach seemed to clear up her Dad’s was much worse and he spent a lot of time back in the bed that caused the original back problems.

Ice Cream is Always a Favorite

We quickly realized that we could all use an extra day at the beach so we booked into The Breezes one night early. With a little work we were able to track down a comfortable mini-van that could take us up through the mountains so we could see the beautiful views and enjoy a leisurely trip. This didn’t quite materialize though as we hit thick fog and light rain partway up the mountains and it never stopped, nor did we. And this was all we got at the beach for the next two days; not your typical on/off tropical rain but non-stop rain. Fortunately we had a very large two bedroom unit (due to a billing problem), but it was quite far from the activities and the resort was out of umbrellas. This made every trip to and from food/activities a wet trip. We did go swimming a couple times but it seemed rather pointless! Finally, on their last full day the rain began to alternate with sun and we got to spend a few hours on the beach and in the pool.

There were some highlights though. They did seem to really enjoy seeing the unusual sights and sounds of a different country. During their time we got to witness:

• Many vehicles running red lights
• A domestic dispute settled with rocks
• A horse being loaded involuntarily into the back of a pickup truck (required a cattle prod, a few whips, and many attempts)
• A ten year old boy regularly running around naked for fun
• Propane tanks being driven around on the bottom of motorcycles and mopeds (what happens if they bump up against a curb, or turn too sharp?)
• Lots of vehicles driving around that theoretically can’t
• Chicken meat sold “with the foot”

My highlight was getting to try the high trapeze, complete with hanging from my legs on one trapeze and then being caught by another trapezist on another swing. This was followed by a half turn jump back to the original swing and then a 1.5 turn flip down to the ground. I think I could really get into that!

Practicing the 1.5 Flip

After seeing Nicole’s parents off in the shuttle bus to the airport we caught the bus back to La Vega where we arrived to find the water cistern empty, the electricity off, and the music blaring. I can honestly say “it feels good to be home.”