After 8 total hours of flying, 4 with entertainment (George was on his way to UnderArmour and the Ravens.. and hopped on the flight to Newark!) and 4 sitting in the middle of the Dominican. I thought it was bad in Cancun, but now I actually have to talk business, and I can not understand 4 of the 5 words that are spoken to me. So much for those classes throughout the years! I've got to jump on this spanish bandwagon. . any way.. on the resort is a little bit better. My guide Seires (pronounced like Sadies) is an adorable Dominican girl :) She was holding my name at the airport and was excited to see who she would be leading around was a young female.. Although her English is no bueno, and my Spanish is horrendous, we've already established that we are going to learn from each other. Hand signs and charades will do for now.
On the way to my destination, driving is organized chaos as any foreign country is to an outsider. I'm pretty sure most of the way we were going 130 mph. I should've taken a picture of his speedometer. . I thought maybe it was broken? People don't stay in lanes, if there is one. Small chirpy honks are many, to let someone know you may be taking off their side mirrors, but that's all. People are literally crossing the street like it's a suburban road, but in reality it's a 3 lane highway with flow of traffic going 100+. Ha! Hey, if it works for them, then I won't freak out.
Got to the Occidental El Embajador Hotel and got my room (no idea what to tip).. thought I was going to take a nap, so I unpacked a bit and was getting ready to lay down - Seires calls and says she's hungry. Haha I guess she's on my time.. so she takes me down to eat. I get some fruit and cucumbers, pasta, slice of bread, and as I'm sitting down, some friends Michael and Julia Holleran ask.. "You're going to eat fruit?" I said "No." lol Then they proceed to order my drink of Coke (of which I don't ever drink, ever) without ice. It is the only thing that doesn't have water or fruit in it, and that is available.
Alright. . so I pick at what I have and I can already tell that if I want to lose weight, my goal will rapidly be achieved. Keep in mind, in the neighboring country, Haiti, Cholera outbreak has 14,000 infected and 900+ dead to date. Transmitted by bacteria in water. . . ehk. Prayers, please?
After, we go inside for drinks as Seires and other 'guides' are sitting off to the side.. I have a rum and coke (with no ice)! VERY good by the way. I see Bruce Logan roaming the poolside with his cigars and say hello to him and he introduces me to director Keith or Kevin.. I've got to find a way to remember names!!!
So.. I have now made it back up to my room for a nap. I am so bloated due to flying, my toes look like sausages. My body will love laying down. . I have internet and thank you to George Whitfield for lending me his laptop. Facebook, blogging, and email is all I've got. I am so excited for opening night tomorrow! Tonight is opening night for all of the 4 or 5 provinces.. tomorrow is the red carpet. :)
I'm sure my posts will get fewer as the week goes on and my itinerary get filled.. and Seires has more things for me to do, but I will try and keep it up!
A Dominican XOXO
