Lindsay the Paralegal

It has been a busy couple of months. As Danilo is now a fully fledged lawyer, he is working on lots of cases, and making court appearances, together with his all important pom pom hat. This is a picture of him about to go into the courtroom in Puerto Plata.

Many of the cases he is working on involve expats, and so I find myself working as a paralegal, explaining everything to the clients, and acting as a bridge between the two, collecting evidence and statements, translating documents in Spanish to English for the clients, so I can add the role of paralegal to my job description.

When foreigners go to court in the Dominican Republic, by law, if they do not speak good Spanish, they are entitled to a legal interpreter. However, there are few legal interpreters around, and although the court pays them, it is a paltry US$20 a day more or less, plus, they have to wait months and months to be paid. Hence, they often state they are too busy to attend, especially if they can earn more elsewhere on that particular day. But if the hearing date comes around, and there is no interpreter, or they were booked but then don't turn up, the hearing is cancelled and another date set, which can be very frustrating.

Some courts allow the expat to bring their own interpreter, but the interpreters usually charge US$100 for the day. If Danilo is the expat's lawyer, then he offers me free as part of the package! So on top of my other work, I now operate as a free interpreter for the cases Danilo is handling.

As well as working hard as a secretary/paralegal, I am also getting on with book 3, which has good days and bad days, depending on my memory, but is around two thirds written now – well the first draft. I am pleased with the way it is going, so I hope you enjoy it when it comes out – eventually!

As I think I have mentioned before, I am a member of the We Love Memoirs Facebook group, and I will be in the Spotlight on this coming Sunday, 27 October. This means that from 9 in the morning until around 6 or 7 at night, I will be answering any questions the members want to ask me. I did it a couple of years ago, and it was great fun. If you would like to join in, or just listen to the conversation then you can become a member here. It is a lovely group, with great conversation and lots of free memoirs to be won as well.

We are still in avocado season at the moment, and look at these two whoppers we had.

A German PhD student came to stay for a week to interview the locals about getting old in the Dominican Republic, as her PhD is on retirees in the Dominican Republic and she wanted to understand how the locals approach retirement and whether it was different from the expat viewpoint. She interviewed all of my neighbours and each one gave her gift of something.

These avocados were one of the gifts, and she left them for us. Having eaten them, and they were delicious, I am hoping the pits will sprout and grow and in 10 years or so we should have a tree!

Finally, the animals are all fine, and Grumpy Grace, the mangy boxer pup who turned up here nearly a year ago now, is now into selfies!

Easter comes and goes

Far too long again since my last blog post – I have no idea where the time goes.

All my brain tests were more or less normal, and I must admit the CAT scan was so impressive. For the price of US$50 you are seen immediately - the receptionist said I looked much better than last time! The results are available a few hours later and not only do you receive a written report but also photographs and a CD with even more photos on it. Here is my brain! Very impressive but Dr. Google was not very helpful in explaining what I am looking at.

Apart from the fact my brain looks like I happy face in some of the images, I have noticed no improvement in brain function. I am told it can take years so I am just getting on with it and adapting where needed. My worst performance is in the kitchen, maybe as it is there I do the most multi- tasking. As I mentioned before, my brain is like the internet – it goes slowly, and sometimes it totally switches off and I go blank – but only for a few seconds. I continue to do stupid things such as forgetting to put the cup under the coffee maker so the coffee goes all over the floor, or forgetting to put coffee in it and end up with a cup of hot water. I even put dried cat food instead of sugar in my coffee the other day. Cooking is a challenge to remember how to actually cook some recipes and I may remember one minute and then forget the next, so now I get all the ingredients out before I start. I have a wooden spoon next to my laptop when I am cooking, so I don’t forget and burn things, and a bag of washing powder when I am washing. I also write lists all the time when something comes into my head that I need to do, so I don’t forget. It is liveable with, just a little frustrating.

It has been a busy few weeks. The bookcase is finished – here is Danilo studying in his cow pyjamas.

We need more books to fill it up, but no doubt they won’t be long coming. He has started his Master’s degree in Criminal Law – which means I have been checking things on line and typing up his assignments so I am effectively also doing a Master's in Criminal Law. The university is the Dominican Open University and he is doing it part on line and part attendance so everything is done via the University website – which is appallingly slow and complicated to follow so it has taken me ages to upload assignments. I think I am getting the hang of it now.

Chivirico and Albert came for Easter week so we had to make habichuelas con dulce (sweet cream of beans), which I still loathe but it is essential Easter fare. Apparently I make the best beans that they, and Danilo, have ever tasted. Thanks to Aunt Clara's Dominican Cooking.

Knowing that they never eat vegetables at home, we had a mainly vegetarian week with vegetable chilli, dips of hummus and baba ganoush and home made naan bread.

Kids making naan bread

We also had Irish stew without meat and served with buttered cabbage. Chiv was amazed seeing that I cooked “salad” as cabbage usually eaten in salad here.

When they weren’t cooking they seemed to be fascinated with the library so it was great to see them joining Danilo in reading.

In the meantime, life goes on as normal. As I am finding it harder to write shopping lists and keep forgetting things we need to buy, Danilo is taking it upon himself to shop without a list as he knows what we need, he says. This was one of his proud purchases last week.

Yes, that is a pig's tail. I cooked it by boiling it in water with various herbs and spices, onion and garlic and then roasting it in the oven. I ate the meatier end (bit closer to the body - and  the pig's bottom) and Danilo had the tail itself. It tasted just like pork - but not sure worth doing again!

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!

From cows to chicks and ...wait for it.

Danilo came home from university late one night last week. I was in bed and he called me to come and look. He had found a box of chicks dumped at the side of the road. It appears they were dumped battery hen chicks which did not meet the minimum requirements to be a battery hen - lucky them. There were 55 of them. We kept them in the study overnight, gave them antibiotics in their water and a heating lamp to keep them warm.

The next day they went into the basement and were allowed out in the day to feel the sun. Very happy little fat yellow chicks who behave totally differently to the other baby chicks, which just potter about. These run at top speed! We were concerned that the other hens would attack them but they don't touch them. Danilo says it is as these are Americana chicks, gringo chicks and the others respect them lol.

Then fish man turned up again and this time he brought us dorado which I am not sure what it is called in English. The dictionary says Mahi Mahi or Gilt Head Bream but it is neither of those.

This fish is a monster, well around 6 pounds and we are saving it until my citizenship is sorted - if that doesn't take too long.

The work on the goat fencing has come to a standstill as Danilo is too busy with exams, but when he was at university on Friday, he had just left after lunch, a car arrived with the two stepsons, Dany and Alberto, Saya the dwendy and another guy. They brought with them a box of mangos which was nice, and two goats. Yes goats. It appears that the other guy in the car had won them in a raffle at the cock fighting ring, and as he owed Alberto money, and couldn't pay, he paid with two goats. Alberto has nowhere to keep goats, hence they came here. It is now vital to get the fencing done and to build a house for the goat so that is next on the agenda.

In the meantime here is brown goat

And here is white goat

They are cute, and wag their tails when you go and see them, but have to be on long ropes tied up until the house/enclosure is ready. Danilo had better hurry up as they are both pregnant. In fact the white one will probably give birth before I write the next blog. I hope she can do it all by herself as I have no idea what to do!

Fish, cow, hummingbird and snail

Fishman is back. I told you that didn't I? We can never tell when he will turn up but it is always a Wednesday or a Thursday but it could be once a week, once a fortnight or once a month. Last week he appeared at the gate

.

He has his cooler on the back, full of fish, so I called Danilo outside to decide what we would buy. We decided on Chinese Carp - I would have loved the giant prawns but at US$20 a pack we decided against them. Fishman pulls his scale out of his fetching special scale handbag and he weighs them.

I went inside to put the fish in the freezer and upload the photos and as I was uploading them, Danilo called me from the back garden to go there with my camera. As a dutiful wife I obliged. I asked him what I was supposed to be taking a picture of and he said there was a cow in the garden. He wanted a picture for evidence of escaping cows again. I could see no cow, but I set off along the track with the soon to be goat enclosure on the right and the proper garden on the left. No cow.

I continued past a mother hen and her chicks - all of the hens have chicks at the moment, so we are surrounded by them - until the odd passing hawk swoops down and takes one away. But still no cow.

As I continued down the track I looked to my left into the overgrown yuca and sweet potato garden, and there it was. The cow - or bull I later discovered.

I walked closer to try and get a photograph, and he walked towards me.

And then he gave me an evil look out of the side of his eye. That is a seriously evil look.

And then he started chasing me. I was screaming (as you do when being chased by a bull), Danilo was doubled over with laughter, the dogs were barking their head off, from a safe position in the house, and the bull galloped after me all through the garden, trampling over plants and scattering squawking chickens everywhere, which stopped Danilo from laughing. I made it safely into the house, while Danilo was chasing the bull. Unfortunately due to all of the new projects, gates, goat fences, walls, the bull could not get out and ran past the window chased by Danilo (in blue), while the dogs enjoyed the show.

As Danilo chased the cow, I sat down once again to upload the photos. We have a hummingbird who always comes to visit and I can never get a picture of him or her, as he is too fast and by the time I have turned the camera on it is too late. I get pictures of the flowers he has been on

which are right next to where I sit, slaving away at my computer, where the balcony used to be.

But this time, as the camera was on, I got him!

Not brilliant but I am getting there.

Now returning to my garden. I noticed there were two lovely red tomatoes so I went out to pick them, with great excitement. Tomato sandwich for tea.

Or not. A sneaky snail had eaten them all.

So time to break out the egg shells which FB friends tell me will keep the snails away, and prop the tomatoes up on sticks.

Meanwhile Danilo tells me the green peppers have turned from green to black so they must be rotten. Oh ye of little faith - from green, to black, to RED!!!

I have this vegetable growing down to a tee now. Two snail eaten tomatoes and one perfect red pepper! And the black one will be red by the end of the week and loads of green tomatoes too.

How does your garden grow?

It has been a busy week in the campo.

Having finished the first gate which is to the left of the house and is open in this picture.

Danilo built the second gate to the right. Same sort of idea, branches and barbed wire.

The front garden will be filled with flower beds, avocado trees, a gravel and concrete driveway and benches to sit on. The gate has an ingenious closing mechanism involving a bit of metal and a bit of wire.

Behind this gate is my secret vegetable garden. It is walled so no dogs can get in there, no chickens and no cockerels.

I have tried for years to grow vegetables with almost zero success. I have read the seed packets carefully, planted seeds to the right depth in a straight line, put the packet on a stick at the end of each row so I know what I have planted, and they have not worked.

So I decided to plant Dominican style. No digging little rows, no cleaning the soil of stones and making it nice and fine. Just chuck the seeds down, don't mark with seed packets on sticks, and wait and see what happens. It didn't take long.

Tomatoes

These are peas (proper peas not Dominican pigeon peas) or could be green beans or Hava beans. Who knows, but this is in less than a week..

This could be radishes, or cucumbers maybe, or carrots.

Green peppers - or maybe red or yellow? Do they change colour or are they born red or yellow?

More mysteries. Could broccoli or cauliflower or maybe lettuce?

And more can't remember what I planted although could be chilli peppers.

And this is lemon grass - essential for Thai cookery.

Meanwhile I thought Danilo had had enough of building gates, but he has spent all of the last three days in the back garden, which is full of flowers near the house and then around an acre or so which is overgrown. He has been putting Mr. Trump to shame and is building a fence, quicker than the Mexican Wall, all around the bottom part of the garden.

Not only between the flower part of the garden and the lower part, but around the whole of the lower part. I spotted the stepsons putting wire way down the bottom.

Now why do we need to put in a new fence and improve the fencing around the rest I asked myself. It appears we are going into the goat breeding business. What he and I know about goats could be written on a postage stamp, but when I ask the locals and tell them we are going to have goats they all say the same;

"They escape"
"They eat everything'
"Their pee stinks"
"They need a copper supplement"

The joy of keeping goats is fast approaching. I just hope they will be more successful than the guinea fowl business, the duck business, the turkey business and the bee business. Watch this space.