That's It!!!!!

[Daniel]

I HAVE HAD IT!!!!!

I'M GOING TO DOMINICAN REPUBLIC THIS MARCH BREAK!

My uncle, aunt and cousin went to Dominican Republic a week ago and just came back 4 days ago. They showed me their video of the trip and I'm damn jealous now.

So this March Break, I'm going to Dominican Republic. Somehow, I will go! :devious2:

[conkermaniac]

Originally posted by Daniel
I HAVE HAD IT!!!!!

I'M GOING TO DOMINICAN REPUBLIC THIS MARCH BREAK!

My uncle, aunt and cousin went to Dominican Republic a week ago and just came back 4 days ago. They showed me their video of the trip and I'm damn jealous now.

So this March Break, I'm going to Dominican Republic. Somehow, I will go! :devious2:

What is so compelling about Santo Domingo? :confused:

[Daniel]

Originally posted by conkermaniac
What is so compelling about Santo Domingo? :confused:

It's ----ing summer all year long and it's a bloody beautiful place to take a vacation.

I need one anyways.

[Dusty]

Hmm. My memory of the Dominican Republic isn't that shinny. Of course, they did just have a hurricane, so maybe my experience was a bit clouded by that, but, um...

Well, I went by ship into Santo Domingo. What I first noticed was the awful odor coming from the harbor, then I saw the source as being large floating piles of garbage and some kind of thick slime. Next I became aware of the numerous gunships anchored offshore, the armed guards on the docks, and the sirens blaring everywhere. I didn't take that to be a very good sign.

We were docked to starboard. There was quite a long delay before we could leave the ship, I presume the hold-up had something to do with the many police that arrived. My balcony was on port, so I went over to one of the public decks on the other side to better appreciate the situation.

A small folk band had assembled nearby, performing for our donations. A rusty volkswagen beetle drove up (apparently this is what their police force drives there) and a man jumped out and scuttled them away. I don't think they got any money as we couldn't get near them at this point, unless they managed to catch what a few passengers flung overboard when they first started playing.

Once we were allowed to disembark the atmosphere did not improve. I had a letter I wanted to mail, so I went into the large building just off the gangway (a sign said there was a post office inside). The post office was a banquet table, flanked on either side by large men holding machine guns, with a small, nervous man sitting on a folding chair at it (the postman, I presume). He was pleasant enough. He took my letter, some money, stamped something on it, wrote something over the stamp, then dropped it into a shoe box with maybe five others. I bid him a nice day, walked out of the building very slowly, and started on my way to the imposing Columbus memorial I'd seen from the ship.

The taxi driver was a most interesting individual. While looking at the ravaged streets and collapsing buildings, he went on and on about the dirty Haitians and they're slow infiltration into the Dominican government. He went on and on about the deplorable disposition of the Haitians and their corruptive influence. "They got the Voodoo. We Catholic. They got the Catholic but the mix with the Voodoo" I remember that quote of his.

I was most thirsty at this point, so we stopped at the aquarium as it was the only thing that looked clean enough to go inside. I got a bottle of Pepsi there and drank it while looking at the fish. It was a nice aquarium, gotta give it that.

Further we drove, with more talk of the Haitians. Finally we arrived at the Columbus Lighthouse memorial. It's a huge structure, built in the shape of a cross. There're search lights mounted on the top that project a giant cross on the clouds overhead at night "every three night, when there electricity" (I remember that quote too). The tour guide took it from here, so I said bye bye to my enlightening driver.

Surrounding the memorial is a high concrete and razor wire wall, which keeps the impoverished in the adjacent shanty town out of view of the tourists (this is the tour guide talking at this point). There was a lawn with shrubberies and fountains and a line of trees to pretty it up as well, but this was all but ripped from the ground-- by the hurricane, I suspect. A half-naked little boy was lying prostrate on the steps leading to the grand entrance. He was bloated and near unconscious, quite clearly starving, but we were ordered in no short terms not to go near him or acknowledge his presence.

Inside the building we were completely removed from the squalor of its surroundings. No expense was spared in its extravagance. At the meeting point of the cross is the tomb itself, containing the bones reputed to be of Christopher Columbus. A huge marble construction, accented in gold and bronze work, guarded at all times by four gun-wielding men (Columbus isn't exactly popular here, he did sorta decimate and enslave the population).

After this, I had seen enough and went back to the ship.

[Daniel]

Well from the video I seen at my uncle's. They were staying in a huge resort with beaches, pools, parties, bars, etc. and gorgeous weather.

[conkermaniac]

Originally posted by Daniel
Well from the video I seen at my uncle's. They were staying in a huge resort with beaches, pools, parties, bars, etc. and gorgeous weather.

Oh, I went to one of those resorts in Brunei. It had this humongous man-made freshwater pool with artificial beaches. The weather stayed around 90 degrees (around 33, for non-Americans) while I was there. Oh, and there was this great amusement park nearby (that strangely opened at 5 PM and closed at midnight) with virtually no one else inside besides us, 3 other families, and the operators. It cost 15 Brunei$ for adults (over 12), which is about $9 USD (Brunei$ == Singapore$) :D

And one last thing...the domes of their mosque is made of pure gold. Brunei is one rich country. :)

[Blank Verse]

Well, that settles it, I'm going to. But I'll wait til summer, cause I like winter.