Day to Day Living

We are finally settled in and just finished with our first visitor this week.  My mother-in-law was here for the last two weeks which was a lot of fun.  It was nice to show off all of the things that we have been trying to explain to people.  And having another set of eyes on the kids didn't hurt either.

We have no babysitters here so we really enjoy when the kids are off at school.  We could have a ton of babysitters if we wanted, but of course they all speak Spanish, which probably wouldn't work well when Cadence is hiding behind the chair and refusing to go to bed....

I talked to my music teaching partner at my school yesterday about x-mas concert preparations and it made me realize that I do miss it (a little bit).  As crazy as this time of the year is, it is one of my favorites.  But I get over the nostalgia quickly by telling myself that I will have plenty more concerts to look forward to in the future.  The boys talk about missing tobaganning and we tell them that they will have the rest of their lives to tobaggan so enjoy boogie boarding while you can!

The kids have settled into school and are having a good time.  Chase and school have a love/hate relationship unfortunately.  He hates being dropped off (severe seperation axiety which is full on panic), but loves school once he gets settled in.   I can't imagine trying to get him on the kinder bus if we were in Canada this year.  He never would have gone.  Cadence is in playschool four mornings a week and is really having fun there too.  I spend my mornings puttering around town running errands on my quad (yes, that is what they drive here, I love it.  And yes, we fit all five of us on it).  We do also have an suv that we use for longer trips or if we have a lot to carry.

Our typical day looks like this.  We get up at about 7 am (Colin is usually up by 5 or 6).  We have a typical Canadian breakfast of toast and cereal.  School starts at 8 and it takes about 15 minutes to get there.  The boys do not catch a bus to school, we drive the quad.  There is a bus and it is crazy.  Things are so wild here that you just have to shake your head at some things.  The bus is a rickety rusted 9 passenger van that they squish about 20 kids into.  It's like a clown car with them all sitting on each others laps and of course there are no seatbelts ... and the principal rides in the front seat home as well:)  A lot of kids go to school and back home on the back of hired motorbike taxis or in the font seat of their parent's SUVs.

Here is the first minute or so of our morning commute ...


At 9, Cadence has school.  A couple days a week Colin and I also have Spanish lessons.  If we aren't studying then I am usually taking it easy by the pool or out running errands.  I pick Cadence up at noon and we head back to the house.  The boys finish school at 1:30.  We usually have lunch at about 2 pm.  After homework the kids usually go in the pool for an hour or so.  Our goal is to get to the beach 2 or 3 afternoons each week plus weekends which often depends on Colin's meeting schedules but rarely on the weather -- even when it is overcast, it is still really nice.

It starts to get dark about 6 pm about when we usually have supper.  Then there are dishes, showers, a little TV and bed time stories.  It is pitch black by 6:30 and we are usually ready to turn in about 8:30 to read, catch-up on email and maybe watch some TV.  Some nights we will douse ourselves in DEET and go sit out on the terrace.

I can't believe that there is only six months left of our journey here.  Colin and I are taking Spanish lessons and have really improved the last few months.  However Colin just told our handy man who was fixing our broken doorknob yesterday that "I am a doorknob", instead of "I buy a doorknob".  Our handyman is so patient with us, he just smiles and nods.    As are so many people as we practice our Spanish on them.

More adventures are in store with the holidays coming up and more visitors from home.

Qualities of life

Talking about quality of life is tricky because the differences between our home in Canada and here in the Dominican Republic can be measured on different scales. 

Climate plays a huge role.  A few days ago I got my vehicle 'oiled'.  Frequently you need to get the underside of your vehicle cleaned and a high pressure coating of oil applied.  The closer you live to the sea, the more often you need to get this done.  I have been told that not doing this may result in things like wheels breaking off while driving. 

Anyone who has lived in a hot, humid climate knows that you periodically need to remove anything made of fabric or leather from closets, chests or boxes and let them air out in the sunshine.  We have learned how quickly mould forms on things like shoes (leather in particular) and even our nylon luggage.  I can't imagine having to haul all the junk out of my basement to make sure it isn't getting mouldy.  Which is probably why even if you had the money, you wouldn't accumulate a lot of stuff here.  You also don't need that box of winter hats and mitts to store for 3 months (or is it the box of summer shorts and t-shirts stored for 9 months?).

Buildings have to be different, too.  In the Northern climates we build air-tight structures that need specific fresh air systems.  Here there is a 1 inch gap above and below every outside door.  Our windows have screens, but no glass.  If really bad weather is coming (e.g. Hurricane) you need to invest in some plywood if you want something "closed".  We regularly find frogs inside the house in the mornings -- sometimes big frogs.  I guess they come in through the gaps in the doors, but I can't see how. 

There are 'airtight' houses and buildings with closing glass windows but then you need air-conditioning to, primarily, dehumidify the rooms and second, to cool them. 

A/C is expensive because electricity is expensive.  Our house doesn't have A/C and we pay about $200 a month for the fridge, lights, pool pump (no heater - doesn't need it) and ceiling fans.  Propane tanks fuel the water heater and stove/oven.  The house next to us has A/C.  Last month the power bills for our complex were delivered to us by mistake.  The neighbors house which was rented for maybe 7 days out of the month had an $850 power bill -- most of that was the A/C.

We don't run the pool pump all day -- too much power.

There are other key differences too -- like taxes.  From what I understand there are no property taxes.  There are import duties (particularly on luxury items like the 32" LCD TV I brought as luggage which I paid about 80% tax on -- but it was still cheaper than buying locally).  There are "fees" like the $150 to change a vehicle title.  Every tourist pays $10 to get into the country and another $20 to get out, too.

But property taxes and the things that they buy is non-existent.  So things like roads may exist, but decent roads are hard to come by.  We have a road in front of our place.  It is made of dirt.  Occasionally there might be some gravel.  Continuously there are ruts and holes.  There is only enough room for one vehicle at a time which often means having to back up to the main street or pull into a little drive-way mid way down the block when there is head-on traffic.

Since getting here there has been incredible progress on road construction.  There is a brand new highway that  connects the airport and the town.  When we arrived it took an hour up bumpy-rutted mountain roads to get here.  Now, those bumpy roads are mostly fixed taking 45 minutes -- OR the new highway takes 15 and it is an amazing drive along the coast.  Part of this highway was completed in the past 3 weeks.

There were days where we would drive to the beach  ...
- on dirt roads that were being tilled up to return an hour later to a packed and graded surface.
- on newly graded dirt/gravel to return an hour later on new asphalt. 

Instead of signs saying "Department of Highways Project -- Your tax dollars at work" instead the signs say "Minister of Tourism".  Yup, no taxes so only the things tourists use get any attention.  However in this case the toll on that new road is $23 round trip -- which is more than double what many people here earn in a day.

One thing that is the same -- dedicated, caring teachers.  We have found really good teachers at the kids schools (albeit  a private school).  People would be wrong to think that teachers who move here from Europe are only trying to collect a paycheck before high tide.  For example, Chase's teacher does surf in the afternoons but it is obvious from how his classroom is structured and what he does with the kids that he knows what he is doing (and he does it well). 

Of course there are all kinds of other differences -- like you can't leave the bread bag  open on the counter or it will be infiltrated by tiny little ants (which I personally don't have a problem eating …) or the young chicken that somehow got over our 8ft walls onto our terrace ...

Then there are times like the other night when Carmen and I were having supper at a good german restaurant (on the patio because there are no 'inside' tables).  She was remarking on how the smoke from the burning garbage looked so nice, like fog, in the hills with the fading sunlight passing through it.  Riding our quad on our way back home through the pitch black streets, feeling the wind whipping through our hair we passed by the ocean, the water crashing against the beach, before turning down our street. 

Autumn days

Mind you, our autumn has been on average 30 celcius, 96% humidity and sunny most days.  Here are some pictures of our adventures so far ...

Autumn Days Photos