The Night Bus 1 and Going Home

Well, I am getting a bit behind in my posts. I´m going to now post about two weekends ago, October 22-23 (Thursday and Friday to you). Wil´s aunt had surgery that morning, so we went by there to check on her before we left to go to his hometown of Las Matas de Farfan. The surgery was a success and we headed out. First, we caught a bus near the hospital to take us to the area where we could catch a bus to his hometown. We got on the bus with a large group of students. They were laughing and having fun. Then the bus started driving even more erratically than all of the vehicles here drive. We were bouncing up and down, swaying on corners etc. It reminded me of the ´Night Bus´from Harry Potter.

We did make it to the other bus area and I was pleasantly surprised to board a small, air conditioned bus where we would be for the next four hours. Las Matas de Farfan is a town near the Haitian border in the western part of The Dominican Republic. These are some of the scenic shots that I took through the bus window on the trip.

There were large banana and rice fields along the way. It was so green and lush in some parts and then high desert like in other areas. There were some small mountains, too.

When we arrived at Las Matas we began walking around the town. We first stopped at one of Wil´s high school teacher´s house. She and her husband were very gracious. Then we continued on. We walked through his neighborhood. We saw his grandpa and had coffee with some neighbors. Each house that we walked by there were greetings. It felt really nice to be out of the city. The people seemed friendlier in general, not just the ones who knew and loved Wil.

We even went into Wil´s family home there that is currently being rented by a family. Then we were originally going to stay with an aunt, but we ended up at an uncle´s instead because we were unable to connect with his aunt. We went to another high school teacher´s home and visited with her for more than an hour. It was easier for me to understand her. We had an excellent visit with her. And, she reminded Wil of what is important in life.

We eventually made our way to his uncle´s house, where we found his wonderful family waiting to cook for us. Wil´s cousins were very sweet.

Wil, his Uncle Nico, cousin Cheli, cousin Franchesca.

We went for a walk and ended up at a little baseball field.

Apparently baseball is even bigger here than in the US!

After dinner and coffee and using the outhouse, it was time for bed. Wil´s cousins(the girls) had prepared their bedroom for us to use. There were two twin beds in the room. I got on one of them (no blankets people, I´m always hot). Pretty soon Wil said scoot over. The lights were still on in the entire house. I was like, ¨what are you doing?¨ He told me he was sleeping there too. Then he told his uncle or cousin that his boy cousin could sleep in the other bed. He told them that it was fine because we share a bed in the apartment in Santo Domingo. So there I am, in a twin bed, under a pink mosquito net, with my fiance, in his uncle´s house. I kept waiting for his cousin to come into the room and get into the other bed. I forgot to mention that the interior walls in a lot of the houses here don´t go to the ceiling. Also, the wall that I faced was partially wall and partially lace curtain into the next bedroom. So then I tried to sleep. Eventually I did for awhile, but Wil´s uncle snores really loudly and at about 5 am every rooster in the neighborhood decided to crow!! By 6:30 we were up and ready to go pretty much. And, his cousin never did come in the room, so we slept two in a twin bed just because!

Adios, Uncle Nico!

A typical street in Wil´s hometown, Las Matas de Farfan. From here we walked to a market. It was only about 7 am, so they were just setting up their stalls. We continued on to visit Wil´s sister and niece.

On the way we walked up to a gazebo that overlooks the entire town. It was a beautiful site with the sun just moving up in to the full sky.

That´s me looking a little rough. I hadn´t slept much, and had just dumped some cold water over my head for a shower. Plus, if you know me, you know I´m not a morning person...

Some different architecture along the way to visit Wil´s sister. As you see here wood clapboard style siding is used on many of the houses.

Others seem to be plaster or stucco over concrete block or concrete forms.

As you may expect in a tropical setting, there are many bright colors used.

Wil´s sister, Joselin, and his adorable niece, Crystal. Joselin woke up to our phone call I think. But she made coffee and then woke little Crystal. Joselin works for a family in a really nice home.

Sleepy Crystal!

Wil absolutely adores Crystal!

I´m still looking pretty rough at 7:45....

In many of the pictures Crystal´s tongue is just about out!

At one point, Joselin went and changed into this outfit. She was back in like 3 minutes completely accessorized!

Wil, Crystal, Crystal´s cute little tongue, and Joselin. We left Joselin and Crystal to go back to the market and then on to Wil´s high school so that he could visit some teachers. And, we didn´t know it at the time, but a real adventure was ahead of us that day.