mom does the DR!

we've been showing my mom the sights, sounds, and tastes of the DR. yesterday we took a trip out to playa grande with a picnic. the ride out there always provides a good view into life in the DR. the pay off for this often very bumpy ride is the gorgeous beach that awaits at playa grande. we enjoyed our picnic on the beach and got some sunshine but then raced to the car when a rain storm came up quickly. so it was short day on the beach itself.

last night we had a big cooking session. i enjoy cooking with my mom, as she shows me some new recipes. one thing we have craved here is soup. it's not something you regularly find here on menus. it makes sense, as who would want soup when they are sweltering? however, as it is "winter" now and thus no longer stiffingly hot here, soup is an appealing meal. so, we cooked up some lentil and chicken soups last night.

this morning we took my mom to dick's panaderia - the german bakery where you can hang out and see the world of cabarete walk/drive by. here's a shot of us -- you can see the shoeshine boys in back of us. they were slowly moving in on my mom....



on the walk home, we picked up a coconut for my mom. there are 2 types of coconuts - one best for eating the fruit and another specifically for drinking the juice. for 20 pesos, we bought one of the drinking coconuts from our regular fruit stand. this involves selecting a coconut from a wheel barrow. the old guy, who normally runs the stand, was not there. instead, we got his grandson or something who used his machete to cut the top off the coconut. he was less deft with the machete - give him a few years, as that is the tool of choice here for everything, so we know he'll get better at it. after chopping the top off, he inserted a straw into the small hole, and we were off with my mom holding her TRUE tropical drink. here's a shot of her, enjoying one of the tastes of island life:



the rest of the day we spent out on cabarete beach, lazing in a lounge chair and eating lunch at the EZE cafe. the weather has been somewhat unpredictable with rain storms coming up quite often. we have certainly had blue skies too, but i think we are all looking forward to days without sudden rain storms.

we're thinking of heading over to the new casino in town here one of these nights. that should be an interesting scene and worth a blog entry! my mom keeps asking where we can listen to merengue and see some dancing. the places we know of aren't necessarily going to be our cup of tea. so perhaps we should consult with juan or another dominican on where we should go for this...