Las Chinas Son Deliciosas!

Today we went to Zona Colonial after a lovely breakfast made by Wil. On the way there, we went to La Duarte, and Kathy was enchanted with all of the produce stands along the way. She wanted to take pictures to show the folks at her produce stand, Frank's, back in Seattle. While we were taking photos, Wil bought some oranges for us to enjoy. Here they have oranges that are named naranja; they are the oranges used to make juice. Then there are chinas, which are the oranges for eating. The vendor peels the chinas and slices them in half. When you buy one, you hold half of it in your hand and chow down (as shown). We enjoyed these while riding the guagua (local bus).



Guest blogger Kathy here -- Zona Colonial was very cool; however, as today is the day after Election Day, most of the stores and sites were closed. Everything was supposed to open at noon, but as we learned from Heidy (Joel & Wil's friend), many people elected to take off the entire day (without notifying their bosses!). Heidy was the only one who showed up in her department today . . . Anyhoo, we arrived at Columbus's Mansion to find it cerrado. We took pictures anyway and may attempt another visit before I have to leave Saturday morning. I should note here that I have been speaking as much Spanish as I can, and Wil said my Spanish was "the best." Now I have to worry about my cuello snapping from the weight of my overinflated cabeza. Saw my first cucaracha today. Joelfre says they show up in the apartment every few days. Wil stomped this one. I usually like insects, but I'm hoping I see only one more at most. It's a little startling when they're as big as a small mouse (which apparently may also show up at some point). Aventura!

Back to Joel---I, too, hope that none of us see many more insects, rodents, or other uninvited guests in the days to come. But, our shoes are always ready for the bugs...for the mice, it's the broom, I guess.

We have more adventures planned for the next few days. We will travel to Wil's hometown tomorrow and then on to the northern peninsula of the island on Wednesday. We will be returning to Santo Domingo on Thursday evening, so we may be offline until then or Friday. But, we shall definitely be posting again before Kathy returns to The States.