Snowbird's stories

Sósua Bay, the main beach in Sósua

2009-09-01T16:12:00.002-05:00

Sosua webcam

2009-06-11T02:19:00.013-05:00

I haven't been blogging for some weeks, now it is time to do it again.

The other day I happened to come across an interesting website, Sosua Webcam. The address to the site is www.sosuawebcam.com. The camera is situated at Super Super Surf Liquors store and shows live images of the main street Pedro Clisante in Sosua. Interesting.... Who knows, maybe if I'm lucky I may spot somebody I know.

The street is very quiet at 9:15 in the morning, only a few motoconchos have taken their position and are waiting for customers.

A few minutes later the first car parks outside the store.

Even a little past noon it is still quiet....

Random pictures

2009-05-04T14:23:00.009-05:00

This is a video, which I stitched together from random pictures from various places and situations. Most of the pictures are from the Puerto Plata area, some are from the south coast, some from the east coast. Let the pictures speak for themselves. I'm a newbie at making videos, so don't expect high quality.

El pintor

2009-04-08T11:17:00.004-05:00

It must be uncomfortable to paint while holding the paint can and an umbrella with the other hand. The umbrella is for sun protection.

Boca Chica

2009-04-08T10:31:00.009-05:00

Some pictures from the beach in Boca Chica

We have recently done two short trips to the little beach town Boca Chica, which is situated close to Santo Domingo. BC is a nice play to stay in for a few days. The beach is very nice with shallow water and no waves - perfect for swimming. The beach vendors are a little disturbing though, because there are too many of them. It is impossible to enjoy a day on the beach without being constantly harrassed by them. Otherwise the atmosphere and ambience in BC reminds quite a lot of Sosúa. A mix of locals and tourists.

A dear friend

2009-03-21T17:15:00.010-05:00

Ronaldo today

Some years ago I became friends with a little boy in Bergantin, whose name is Ronaldo. A lovely little boy. He is from a poor Haitian family. The mother had left the family and he was living with his father and brothers and sisters. Since then the villages in Bergantin and Boca Nueva have been wiped out by the Dominican government and the people have been forced to move to Montellano. I haven't seen the little boy since then, although I have been thinking about him many times and wondered what happened to him and his family. On Saturday I ran into him at Sosua beach. I was more than happy to see him again, and to see that he is doing well. Since I last saw him, he has grown a lot. He is now 13 years old.

Ronaldo a few years ago.

Dominican transportation part 1

2009-03-14T15:56:00.016-05:00

Oranges...

Lots of new paintings to sell...

Poor pigs...

Chickens...

If there is not enough space inside the gua-gua for all passengers, there is plenty of space on the outside...

Hmm...

Heavy rains

2009-02-10T23:25:00.009-05:00

It is raining in paradise. For a week now it has been raining a lot day and night, really heavy downpours. On top of that it is also cold, below +25 C and that is cooold here in paradise. There has been days when temperature has been as low as +20 C even daytime. Dominicans dress in thick winter-coats to survive the cold.

Floods are everywhere. The above picture is from the street Pedro Clisante in Sosúa. For tourists staying here now, the bad weather means that their vacation is more or less destroyed. Not much to do in this weather. For a lot of local people this weather is a catastrophy, lots of people have been evacuated, many have lost their homes when the rivers burst their banks.

The sun will be most welcome when it finally comes out again. Maybe next week.....

Exhausting day

2009-01-28T16:23:00.004-05:00

Today has been a long and exhausting day. We have been to Santo Domingo to apply for permanent residency. We left very early in the morning, already at 4:00 a.m. By 8:00 a.m. we were at the Migracion office. About 1:00 p.m. we were ready with blood test and X-ray and could head back home to Sosua. Now there is nothing else to do than to wait and wait and see how long it takes before we get the permanent resideny.

The above picture is taken at the Aquarium in Santo Domingo.

(By the way, Santo Domingo is a little like Helsinki. It is best avoided.)

Lluvia, lluvia y mas lluvia

2009-01-23T16:52:00.003-05:00

It is raining in paradise. Since Wednesday evening it has been raining more or less nonstop. Very boring. On days like these when you can't go anywhere there would be plenty of time to wash the laundry, but it is no use. It will not dry.

The above picture shows the view from our roof terrace. On a clear day you can see the ocean. For two days there has been no sight of the ocean.

Maybe the sun will come out again tomorrow.

Unexpected guest

2009-01-21T12:39:00.004-05:00

Some time ago I found a very unexpected guest in the bathroom. A frog!!! And we live on the second floor! How on earth had the crazy frog found its way to our bathroom? Did it jump up the stairway? No. When dear hubby tried to catch it, it became obvious how it had got in. Crazy frog had jumped in through the open window. It jumped as easily on the walls as on the floor. It stayed in our apartment until the morning. Early in the morning it finally jumped out through the door, which was open just in case it would decide to leave.

Life in the Caribbean.... The most unexpected things always happen.

Chiqui

2009-01-21T12:19:00.002-05:00

This is Chiqui. She is our neighbour's chihuahua. A little lady with a very strong will. Big dogs are scared of her. For some reason she has more or less moved in with us. Every morning she waits outside our door waiting to get in. She doesn't come only for a social visit. She wants breakfast. Breakfast is what she gets. This little lady is picky, when it comes to food. If she doesn't get exactly what she wants, she won't eat. She wants tuna fish. That seems to be her favourite food. After eating breakfast she takes a nap in the sofa. During the day she comes and goes just as she pleases.

Sometimes in the evening she refuses to go home and she sleeps over in our apartment.

Hola amigos!

2009-01-21T11:43:00.006-05:00

Hubby and I are currently exploring the life of a part-time expat in a tropical paradise, in the little beach town called Sosúa on the north-coast of the Dominican Republic. For the time being we live half the year in the Dominican Republic and half the year in Finland. This is the third year we are doing this. A few years ago we made the decision to make our dream come true and jump off the rat-race. Since then life has become much more interesting than ever before...

Living in the Dominican Republic has turned out to be somewhat more adventurous than the very organised living in our home country. There are lots of new things to learn and ways to adapt to every day. Having to constantly learn new things keeps you alert.