Birthday month

Another busy month. November is the month of birthdays. Mine is on the 19th and Danilo's on the 24th. For the last few years we have done nothing on our birthdays, in fact we have also been known to totally forget them! However, this year the date, 19th November was in the diary as Danilo was due in court in Puerto Plata on the north coast, for the murder trial. I also had to go to act as interpreter for the client.  At the last hearing the judge ruled that as the client did not have a Dominican identity card, she obviously couldn't speak Spanish. Conversely those that have a DR identity card, cedula, obviously can speak Spanish. There is zero logic in this, but hey ho, I was the appointed interpreter.

So we set off at 5 am, and made it to Puerto Plata with no hiccups. All hearings are given the same time to appear, which is 9am, and you check the list outside the courtroom to see what number you are on the list, to give you some idea what time you will go in. We weren't on the list. On checking, Danilo discovered that they had rescheduled and not told us. The hearing was now moved to December 10. Obviously it was more than a little annoying, but I couldn't be too cross, as the client had brought me mushrooms as a birthday present, and her friend bought me a massive bottle of rum.

Danilo had to wait for some paperwork, so I took the opportunity to go over the road to Jumbo international supermarket, and spend the birthday money mum had sent me.  On entering, my brain injury came to the fore as I was completely overwhelmed, and had no idea what to do, standing in the middle of the shop, trying to work out what to do. Eventually I sorted myself out, and within no time at all I was in paradise. Real steak (to go with the mushrooms), baking potatoes, dips, pitta bread, real cheese, real bread. In addition, I met a lady there who had brought me horseradish, bisto and spices from England. And to top it all, on the way back home, we stopped at Maimon, and Danilo bought me a fish for my birthday!

Birthday presents

The next few days he was away, working on more cases so I stuffed my face with baked potatoes, slathered in real butter and horseradish, rare steak and cream pepper sauce, and a pile of mushrooms. Pure heaven and a total change from mashed plantains and a tin of sardines.

As you know, we have no car, not had for a year or so, but stepson number 2, Alberto has one, so we borrow that when we need to go off on legal work, and usually stepson 1, Dany drives. This is what we went to Puerto Plata in. I sit in the back, naturally, but it is very uncomfortable as someone wanted to make the car higher off the ground, so it didn't hit the speed bumps, and took out the shock absorbers I think. Anyway, the end effect is you bounce all over the place sitting in the back which makes for a very uncomfortable ride. Add to that the radio blaring at full volume - at least it is the news and not terrible music, telephones pinging every two minutes ,and the usual scary Dominican driving, overall it is not an experience I enjoy at all.

Danilo was due to leave to go to Santo Domingo a couple of weeks ago, at night, and Alberto was on the way to pick him up, when he hit a cow. The cow bounced onto the bonnet, hit the windscreen, slid over the roof, bounced off the boot and fell off. It sat dazed for a while then got up and ran off. The car is damaged but driveable, although the windscreen is cracked. The journey was delayed while Danilo went to where the car was and the search began for the owner of the cow, who legally, has to pay for the damage to the car. He was eventually spotted and hauled to the police station, along with the cow, to discuss the settlement.

Then this week, we had another court case to go to, and once again I was the interpreter. This one was in Gaspar Hernandez, even further away,  on roads which were even bouncier. We had planned to leave at 5am but Dany arrived early in the car, as we had to go and pick up Alberto's father in law and take him to the bus stop to go to Santiago as he had hurt his leg. On the way to pick him up we had a puncture and had to change the tyre, so it was all a tad stressful until we got well on our way. Dany uses Google maps and listens to the instructions, so it is now much easier not to get lost.

We arrived at the court house well before 9, and sat outside on the ubiquitous plastic chairs until eventually our turn came at around noon. Danilo was the lawyer for the victim, and I was translating for the victim, but the defense lawyer asked for me to be removed, as how did he know I was translating properly. Danilo said it was because he didnt want the victim to know what was being said! Anyway, the judge disagreed with him, so I stayed, and stayed and stayed. The supposedly 10 minute hearing went on for over an hour, and at last it was over, and once again the case went in our favour. Danilo hasn't lost a hearing yet.

He was then off to Santo Domingo again,it was agreed to drop me off in Santiago, from where I could get two buses home. This time, he said he knew how to use Google maps and he could set it up rather than Dany. We needed to get to what we call the rotunda  in Santiago, which means roundabout. It is where the buses for Mao leave from, and there used to be a roundabout there, many years ago, but it is now traffic lights. For some reason we seemed to end up going around and around Santiago, until we realised that Danilo had put in the location as rotunda and nothing else, so Google was sending us to every roundabout there was. Hey ho. Eventually I made it home.

And finally, I have read three great memoirs this month. All about Africa and all by the same author, Val Poore. I really recommend these, she has a great writing style and I had no idea Africa was the same as the DR in so many ways. Shouting not speaking, friendly and helpful people, issues with water and electricity. Excellent books, and it has increased my knowledge of South Africa by loads.
They are all available on Amazon and would make a great Christmas present!

Sorry for the delay

I know it has been months since I blogged, but really it isn't my fault. It is the fault of my brain! I am still having issues, and one of them is an inability to concentrate for a long period of time, and I can't multi task. I knew I should blog, but couldn't bring myself to do it, so just kept putting it off. Anyway here is the long awaited update!

First, and most important, I have started writing book 3. It has been a slow process as writing is not coming as easily as it did before, and it is hard to write a memoir when you can't remember what happened! What I am now doing is not forcing it, just writing when I feel like it, and when I remember things, I write about them. This means it is pretty disjointed but I will pull it all together later - hopefully not too much later.

I have just returned from England, where I went as my 87 year old mother had a hip replacement a month or so ago. My sister took the first shift of a couple of weeks, and then I did the second shift, arriving back home in the DR yesterday. It's a long journey, as I have to get to Punta Cana in the east of the island first, which takes a day on 3 buses, then I spent overnight with a friend and then flew out the following day. Next step is to get a train up to near mother's house, where my aunt and uncle came to pick me up. It was lovely to be back in England again, where I ate like a horse, but also had to do the things which mum can't do, like washing dishes, pushing the trolley round the supermarket, washing and ironing. But it was still a lovely time, although my brain did funny things as usual. Mother told me that bottles go in the blue bin, which is the recycling bin (there is a green bin for garden rubbish and food, and a grey bin for everything else). Idiot me put a bottle of wine in the blue bin, which was half full of wine as brain computed bottles  go in blue bin, not bottles go in blue bin WHEN THEY ARE EMPTY. Also we met up with lots of family members at a funeral, and I greeted my cousin by name, no problem, but I called his wife of 30 years by the name of his first wife. Ooops! I still forget words in both languages but a new symptom is that I have also started using totally the wrong word. For example if I need to go to the shop I say "Just popping out to the cheesecake" or something equally daft.

Still, all my mishaps are not life threatening, so fingers crossed things will slowly improve.

The journey back was even longer as I boarded the train at 6.40 am, meaning getting up at the crack of dawn, and 20 minutes into the journey I had a message from British Airways to say the flight had been delayed by 3 hours. Deep joy not. But we were given vouchers for lunch. £5 for sheep class people, which was me, and £10 if you were in higher classes - obviously they have to eat better than the plebs. Given that a bottle of water was £2.50, there was not a lot left for food. Following 6 hours in Gatwick's non-smoking departure lounge we boarded, only to wait for another hour and then the pilot announced the plane was late as they were trying to fix the water - they couldn't and there was none. No tea or coffee and no water in the toilets, which meant the stewardesses handed out bottles of water each time someone used the loos. I did get a message on my phone when we landed saying sorry. So that's all right then.

The big news is that Danilo has been sworn in at the Supreme Court so is now practising as a lawyer. Hooray, at last. He is loving it and has been asked to join a local practice so he is over the moon.

Waiting to be sworn in along with a couple of hundred other lawyers

He also is the lawyer for his first case, which is a murder trial and he is prosecuting and loves every minute of it. Here he is about to go into court - not forgetting his pom pom.

Dogs, cat, chickens are all fine and Grumpy is growing into a beautiful dog. They were delighted to see me on my return last night.

From this...

To this!

The big event in Cacique was that my friend, la bruja Angela married her husband ( well they have lived together for 30 odd years but like most Dominicans they were not married). I was appointed to be official photographer as I am the only person in the village with a camera as opposed to a smart phone. It was a tad stressful as the priest forgot about the wedding so he was nearly an hour late once he was tracked down. He bore a remarkable resemblance to David Ortiz the shot baseball player. The service lasted two hours and people were constantly giving me directions as to where to stand, usually in very intrusive places like right next to the couple as they were getting married. I was literally dragged from place to place by half of the congregation. Here are a few of my (ahem) masterpieces.

Catholic church, Cacique

Artistic photo of bride waiting in air conditioned car - for over an hour until priest arrived

Priest David Ortiz lookalike, bride and groom and witnesses

Amazing cake - no idea if it was real though

The house is now full of goodies which I brought back from England including cheese, chocolate, Branston pickle, Oxo beef and vegetable stock cubes,  Bisto gravy powder, horseradish and Walkers cheese and onion crisps. And even better, when I arrived home, my friend in the US, Grace, had sent me a massive box of goodies which had been topped up by Canadian friend, Robyn, so there was all of that to unpack as well. Loads of clothes, kitchen utensils, chocolate, tins of real tuna and mushrooms and loads more. I will be feasting for a long time!

Think you should all be up to date. If I leave it as long last time, please feel free to nag me!

Aftermath of The Incident

So here is the update on my current condition. I am still numb and a little swollen on the left side of my face, so I can’t smile and I dribble a bit from the left side of my mouth. It feels like you have had an injection from the dentist and I look a bit like a hamster on that side, with his mouth full of sunflower seeds.

According to Danilo, I am more grumpy than usual, so he calls me Grumpy 2 as opposed to the rescue boxer who is Grumpy 1. I also have memory problems. My brain is working as if it is connected to the internet, and I want to say something but have no idea what the word is – either in Spanish or English, but then, around 30 seconds later the internet comes back and I remember the word.

Given these issues, I went to see a neurologist. There are no appointments here, so the first time I went, he wasn’t there and nor was his secretary. The second time was around 10 am, and the secretary told me I was number 19. But he didn’t arrive until 2 pm, and our last bus home is at 6 pm, so there was no way we could get home. I asked her to put me on the list for the next day. No can do as you can only ask to be put on the list on the day itself.  I had to go the next day at 8 am, to be put on the list for the afternoon. But she said I could phone as well. So, the next day I phoned at 8 am to be told I was number 6, and to get there at 2.30 pm. I did, and for some mysterious reason I had dropped from number 6 to number 8, but at 5.30 pm I got in to see the neurologist.

He said nothing could be done about my face, maybe it would improve in time, but maybe not. He told me smoking was dangerous for my health, and I replied that so was being shot and attempted suffocation and being beaten up. He shut up after that. He told me that I have a Traumatic Brain Injury, otherwise known as a TBI, and to have another cat scan and blood tests which I will do next week. In addition, he gave me a prescription for two anti-depressants. I am not depressed, but am taking the one which helps memory function which is helping a little but have not bothered with the other one, as according to Dr. Google it is for panic attacks, post traumatic stress disorder and erectile dysfunction – none of which I have.

In the meantime, Chivirico came to see how I was, and it was lovely to see him.

I went to see my American friend Grace, who comes to the country once a year with her Dominican husband. That was a lovely break and as usual she provided me with loads of kitchen equipment and baseball goodies for Chivirico and Albert.

In addition, my friend Heather was in the country, helping people in Consuelo, and she hired a car and drove all the way up here to see me. She brought the all-important Cadbury chocolate with her as well.

Grumpy Grace loves her evening cuddles

Danilo adores books, so he is building a book case along the whole of one wall in the living room and at last has put shelves in the utility room so the kitchen will be less cluttered.

Our spirit level has gone walkabout (nothing new there) so we had to check if the shelves were level using a peanut. If it rolled one way or the other, they were not straight. I think it must have been an odd shaped nut as they look a bit wonky to me.

In the meantime, Peggy, a Canadian lady has been staying for the last couple of months. She has around another month to go. Loves cleaning and mopping which is great for me, but we still managed a night out at the local bar!

Violence in the Dominican Republic - The Incident

I promised to tell you about what I call The Incident, which may also explain why I haven’t blogged much recently.

It was Tuesday, February 5 and Danilo and a Canadian lady staying with us were in his rustic gym in the back garden. She wanted to get fit and so after they had done their exercises in the gym, they would go for a 15- or 20-minute run. I heard them in the gym, but I was busy collecting articles to do the news for DR1 – the expat Dominican Republic forum.

It was exactly 9.30 am when I was interrupted by a lady messaging who wanted information about the Police Good Conduct report in the DR, and I was about to reply to her when a man slid open the patio door to the garden and walked towards me. I had never seen him before but in his right hand he had a gun, pointing at me. He stopped about 6 feet in front of my desk.

I didn’t have time to ask him anything before he started screaming “Don’t look at me” which he did several times. I asked him calmly what he wanted, and told him to calm down. I would have used the English saying “Don’t get your knickers in a twist,” but am not sure how that translates to Spanish.

He said he wanted money, and I replied that I had some but not a lot, and asked him not to hurt the dogs. I had one each side of me, just looking at him. I told the dogs to stay and shut up and stood up – he made me put my hands in the air – and went to the dining table next to my desk where my handbag was.

I reached in for my purse, which made him start waving the gun about, and was about to get the money out of my purse when he stopped me, so I put it down on the table. He then screamed at me to lie on the floor. I kept telling him I did not understand as I wanted to know if he spoke English and also, I had no idea why he would want me to lie down.

He pointed to the corner of the room behind the dining table and I sat down. He told me to turn around and lie face down, and put the gun to the back of my head. I asked him not to kill me. But there was no reply and he did not speak again. I took my glasses off and lay them next to me on the floor before lying down.

He then twisted both arms behind my back and sat on my back – there was no way I could move my arms or my body. I assumed he was going to tie me up. I should be so lucky. Then he put some sort of cloth or towel in my mouth and covered my nose with it as well and held it tightly in place with his hand which by now had a surgical glove on it. I could not breathe in nor out. A most peculiar and uncomfortable feeling. I tried to fight to move my head and my arms as I was desperate to breathe but each time I did, he smashed my face into the tiled floor. I tried playing dead (as I have seen that work on the television)  and again he grabbed me by the hair on the back of my head and hit my face against the floor.

I had hoped there would be chloroform on the pad – but there was nothing, and I just wanted it over with. And then after around a minute, it was. Blissful nothing.

Meanwhile, Danilo and the guest returned from their run and he heard someone running through the woods. Danilo quickly approached the house on high alert and immediately saw I was not at my desk. He scanned the room and saw me lying on the floor in the corner, face down. He turned me over and my eyes were open but unseeing. He and the guest quickly put me in the car, unconscious and set off at speed for the hospital. Soon I began thrashing around, then talking nonsense and then the guest noticed a large baseball sized lump appearing on my temple. It grew and then opened showering her and me in blood and continued to bleed profusely. I was then able to say I had been attacked – until then they thought I had just fallen over – and I thought I might have been shot in the head.

At the hospital following x-rays and a cat scan it was confirmed I had not been shot nor did I even have a fractured skull. The lump on my head was drained, cleaned and stitched. My mouth was cut everywhere inside – no idea how and I was covered in bruises. I was admitted for twenty-four hours and the next day was home. The bruises have mostly gone now, but I have been left with neurological damage on my left side so I need more hospital visits and tests to see what is causing it and if it can be cured in any way. I am hoping just time will heal it.

You will be wondering how I felt during all this. Well I felt no pain at any time, but being suffocated is not pleasant at all. I have no idea how long it would take to kill someone but I don’t think I could have managed much longer. It appears he heard them coming back from the run before the deed was done, so smacked me hard on my temple with the gun, hoping that would do the trick. Takes more than that to get rid of me! I was pretty sure I was going to die and the only thoughts I had were that I hoped Danilo and guest would not return or he might kill them and I did not want him to hurt the dogs – which he didn’t. My overriding emotion, once I had worked out fighting him was not working, was total acceptance of what was to come – I just wanted the discomfort of being suffocated to be over quickly. So, I was much calmer than I would have thought I would be in that situation.

And the perp? It took me a few days to work it out. He looked Dominican but he didn’t. He dressed like a Dominican but he didn’t. He spoke like a Dominican but he didn’t. And I have never heard of Dominicans suffocating people. This guy had done it before – I felt like he was a professional. It turns out he was Venezuelan – there are tens of thousands in the Dominican Republic now, having fled from their country, and yes, he had killed by suffocation a few times before in Venezuela. It was a total random attack as he was scouting out houses which back onto the woods to rob. He thought the house was empty as he saw Danilo and the guest leaving on their run, hence he was surprised to see me, and as he did not want to be identified he had to dispose of me.

Several different police forces came from all of the surrounding areas. They were very pleasant but they took no forensic evidence at all, not my clothes, nor fingerprints, nor did they search the area. The local prosecutor was very professional as was the medical examiner who had to assess my injuries.

So, all’s well that ends well – and the current level of nerve damage is liveable with, assuming it gets no better or worse. I am very very thankful as the ending could have been very different. And it's another chapter for book 3!!

Around eight hours after the attack.

Holiday in England

Wrist slapping time as it has been over 2 months since the last post. I do have a raft of excuses such as being in England, followed by the flu, followed by what I am calling The Incident which I will explain about in the next blog post.

So off I went to England - alone, as there was no visa for Danilo and Chivirico. It was a long journey to the airport, around 12 hours on three different buses but it was simple enough and the long distance buses are very comfy with aircon, big seats and wifi so it was actually nice to relax.

I was met in Punta Cana by my great friend Ilana and her husband Pedro and spent a lovely night and the next day with them and Ilana's friends before being taken to the airport for the 8.30 pm flight. Fab flight and I had three seats to myself so I managed to sleep all the way to England. This was my first time on a plane for 12 years and they had certainly been upgraded with seat back TVs and loads of channels to choose from.

Mum met me at the airport and looked exactly the same as the last time I was in England some 12 years ago - how you go from age 74 to 86 looking the same I have no idea but just hope I do the same!

To be honest it was all a bit overwhelming at first. We stopped about an hour from the airport so I could get some coffee and smoke a cigarette  - not necessarily in that order - and as I had no English money I asked mum for 10 pence to get a coffee. She laughed and gave me a 10 pound note - around US$13. I walked into the store and there was the coffee machine. First I had to choose what type of coffee I wanted and there were a million choices most of which I had never heard of - so I pressed cappuccino. Next, small, medium or large. Did that, got my cup, put it in the right place, out came the coffee and then it told me to use my App. No idea what the machine was talking about so I went to the cashier and she told me to use my App to scan something. I explained I had no idea what she or the machine was talking about,  so I paid in cash (think around 2.50 pounds - bit more than the 10 pence I expected). What was it with all the Apps - they had invaded the country, everything was scanned or Apped or whatever - I think I was the only person paying in cash in every place we went to.

I stayed for three weeks. I spent time not only with my mum but my aunt and uncle, brother, sister and brother in law, cousins, friends and it was quite simply the best holiday I have ever had. The food was out of this world, all the things I cannot get here, and I managed to put on 10 pounds in weight! Rather than telling you all about it in words, here are just a few of the pictures I took over the three weeks.

Fresh raspberries and cream

Roast lamb, sprouts, new potatoes, peas, mint sauce!

English breakfast!

The local town, St. Ives, Cambridgeshire

Mother's cutlery drawer - so organised!

Sister's spice rack - alphabetical order of course

Mushrooms!!!!!!!

House in mum's village. I had forgotten how beautiful England is.

Local pub in Houghton where I spent many a misspent hour in my youth!

Another house in the village I grew up in, Houghton

Frosty Christmas morning in mum's back garden

Christmas lunch including PARSNIPS and Yorkshire pudding. Beef barbecued by brother in law, Gary.

I went through a whole range of emotions in England - not sad ones at all. It was so lovely to be with family and I had forgotten how much I loved them all. It was also interesting to compare life in England with my life in the DR, and rather than explaining it here, please do go to Janet Given's website and blog where I have done a guest post for her on how I felt. When you are on the site, do check out the other blog posts and the rest of the site ,as Janet is a well known writer and author and I know you will enjoy browsing. I came across her when I read her book At home on the Kazakh Steppe which is about her time in the Peace Corps when she did just what I did and gave it all up and ended up in Kazakhstan. Fabulous book and well worth a read!

In a few days (I promise) I will blog again to keep you up to date. In the meantime, here is Grumpy, the mangy boxer who turned up here a few months ago. Not mangy anymore!

Visas and Island Life

The visa applications took for ever. One each for Chivirico and Danilo. You apply online, pay US$200 each and set up an appointment at a visa centre in Santo Domingo. No longer are they issued at the British Embassy, which is a shame as I have friends there. Once the online application is done you have to get all of the paperwork together - birth and marriage certs, proof that Chiv is at school and Danilo graduated from university, house title deeds, utility bills, sponsor's invitation letter, 6 months of bank statements, proof of income, proof you will return to the DR etc etc. I was printing for days. Everything in Spanish has to be translated into English by a legal translator so my friend Olga did that for me and I printed them all out.

The day before we set off for the capital on the bus - Caribe tours.

Chiv at the Caribe tours bus stop

We decided to stay at a hostel in the Colonial Zone, owned and run by fellow Brit, Chris. We had chatted a bit over the last few years. I wasn't really sure what to expect - thinking it would be long dormitories and somewhat basic but when I checked out the web page for Island Life Backpackers Hostel I was surprised that there were double and triple rooms as well as rooms of all different sizes and some had private ensuite bathrooms.

The hostel was charming. Formerly a 400 year old colonial home it has been beautifully restored and still has lots of original features.

The courtyard

Our room was the first door on the left

The room we had, had a double and single bed, great quiet aircon and a lovely bathroom with a powerful shower and piping hot water.

But what makes Island Life so special is the atmosphere. Not a stuffy impersonal hotel but a casual, comfortable and very friendly place. When you walk in, you go straight into the bar which is just like a traditional English pub.

Chivirico took no time at all to make himself comfortable with a coca cola before beating Danilo at pool.

In addition to the facilities, Island Life has its own resident Great Dane, Schumacher, who is very well behaved as well as being enormous. Chivirico took charge of the camera to take snaps of him - this is the only one which isn't of his bottom - the dog's bottom not Chiv's.

It was great to finally meet Chris and we chatted late into the night.

So there you have it. Island Life is certainly a great choice for somewhere to stay in the capital. So many interesting people from all over the world to talk to, friendly and helpful staff, fast wifi and everything you need for a comfortable stay.

Before continuing with the visa story, we had a couple of hours to kill the next morning and given that Chivirico had never been to the Colonial Zone, armed with my camera around his neck off we set to explore. I will just post a few of the pictures he took, as there were loads!

Juan Pablo Duarte's house and museum

The ferry to Puerto Rico

Top of the Pantheon

Chiv and the Choo Choo train which tours the Colonial Zone

Christopher Columbus

Beginning of El Conde with Danilo's back on the left!

La Puerta del Conde where independence was declared and my back and Danilo's back

Tour over, it was back to the hotel to meet up with Olga who brought her stamp and stamped and signed the myriad of translations.

Then off to have some lunch and taxi to the visa centre which is in a residential area of the city. We arrived early, said goodbye to Olga and sat down in a freezing room with very squeaky chairs to wait. No photos as they are not allowed. We were early and eventually went in and handed all of the papers over to be scanned to somewhere. A note on the wall said the decision would be made at the British Embassy in Colombia and if granted the visa would be issued in Jamaica. Danilo and Chivirico had their photos and fingerprints taken and surprisingly no questions were asked. So much for all the rehearsals.

Now we have to wait, not sure for how long but the website says 85% of decisions made within 15 days. There is no way of tracking the applications, but we have the Fedex receipt so once the passport starts going somewhere we can track that. At the moment it is not moving!

Then back to Santiago on the bus, this time Transporte Espinal as the last Caribe tours one had gone. We then had to get another bus to Esperanza when Danilo's sons met us and brought us home. Unfortunately we were minus the camera as I had left it on the bus, or, as the Dominicans would say, which I prefer, the camera left itself on the bus.

Quick phone call to Transporte Espinal and the camera had returned itself to Santo Domingo, so once again my "go to person in Santo Domingo" Olga, picked it up and put it back on Caribe Tours to Mao where Danilo picked it up! What luck! Now the waiting continues.