Feb 26: Night on the Town

We didn’t actually start the day with a night on the town (go figure), but we did enjoy an evening in one of the nicer parts of town with the kids.

Hard at Work

Our morning started by visiting Ariana’s school class to get some photos of her with her class and teacher. It was a lot of fun to see her sitting so studiously (I’m not joking!) as the teacher talked about the Dominican flag. Ariana even answered one of the questions (wrong, but close). Nicole shed her first departure tears this morning.

Ariana Listening?

Ariana With Her Teacher

The day passed quickly and the girls enjoyed some “water play” to help keep themselves cool.

Water Fun

Ciara Portrait - Photo by Ariana - Photographer for Hire

The evening we walked down to one of the nicer parts of town. Here there are large 2 story homes with 2-4 car garages, manicured lawns, large fences, security cameras and the whole works. Very indistinguishable from a middle-upper class neighborhood in the southern states.

Empanadas on the Patio

We enjoyed dinner at a cozy little empanada restaurant that was recommended to us. The empanadas were delicious, and the cost was reasonable. It was a little nerve wracking when I went to pay with a credit card; the waitress took the card and disappeared out the front door of the restaurant. It turns out they share credit card processing equipment with the cake store next door and she had to run it through. Either way I’m glad that credit cards include fraud protection!

During the dinner some music was playing from a vehicle driving nearby. Not completely unexpectedly, Ciara took the opportunity to do a little chair-dancing. Nicole and I still break out laughing when we see this, so we hope you enjoy it as well. No, we do not let our two year old watch music videos, this is entirely improvised!

The Restaurant - Cafe Naranjo

Carnival Decorations

After dinner we enjoyed dessert at the aforementioned cake restaurant. A delicious black forest like cake, but with layers of carmel and strawberries as well.

The trip home, including a couple other errand stops, was made via taxi. Partly because it was beginning to rain, and partly because the kids had walked an awfully long distance for their size. For the last taxi, having had some experience in getting ripped off, we negotiated the price before entering the cab. Of course, once we were off the driver begain to explain to me why he would have to charge us more. He claimed that the rate we negotiated was to go to the city center, not to our barrio. This was despite the fact that I had told him the destination (how else could he have quoted a rate?), and the little detail that our barrio was closer than the city center! Fortunatly, I now have my own trick for this. I simply make sure I have exact change available and present it as the fair. Most drivers seem to accept this as a convincing final argument, and this one was no exception.