Dominican Signs
Many of the signs on the shops and bars in the Dominican Republic are in english. I suppose the thought is to better appeal to tourists, but sometimes the attempts go awry. See below:

This is my favorite. I don't think I'd feel comfortable taking my pets here!




Sometimes a famous brand name can give your store credibility, but I'm not sure these signs have the intended result. They're definitely more unique than the originals.




Sometimes the problem is just misspelling. You gotta wonder, couldn't they take the time to look it up??




Then there's the bars:

This one has a classic American look, although I doubt you'll see any cowboy boots inside.





The caption reads "Drink What You Think", and then underneath, I think it says Noooooooooo!

This one also attracts attention.


There's also a German influence in Dominican.






And happy hour starts at 9am!


This one just doesn't look very inviting:

  ¶ 3:26 PM 0 comments

  Ron Brugal


Driving around in Dominican Republic, we saw lots of billboards advertising Brugal Rum. All of them had a picture of a bottle of rum, or the Brugal logo, and they said "Ron Brugal". It took me a while to realize that "Ron" is not an actual person, but just Spanish for rum. urrrg.

Anyway, Brugal is the top rum producer in Dominican Republic. All of the road signs (all of them!!) have the Brugal logo on them, like you might see a sign telling you that Puerto Plata is to the right, and it would have Brugal at the top. I guess they paid to have all of those signs put up as advertising.

While we were in Puerto Plata, we got to tour the bottling factory. Here are some pictures:










And don't worry, I'm not drinking any rum while I'm pregnant!  ¶ 3:25 PM 2 comments

  Hey, Guess What?!!?
I'm pregnant! I found out a few days ago, 3-4 weeks! Erick and I are both very excited, and a little scared, but after almost 10 years of marriage, it's time. I know you're supposed to wait 3 months before telling people, but I never thought I'd be able to wait that long, and sure enough, I couldn't.

I'm feeling great right now, no morning sickness or tiredness, but I'm sure all that will appear with time. I appreciate your prayers.

Erick's mom is already convinced that it's a boy, for some reason. We shall see.  ¶ 6:51 AM 9 comments

  Updates
Whew! We're back, and what a trip. I'm still processing all the photos (about 200!), so I'll post a bunch in the next couple days. I'm hindered by the fact that I have to do it at home, not at work. We had a great time, and did amazing amounts of stuff.

One of the more memorable experiences was riding in a "publicar", which is basically a taxi into which they stuff as many people as humanly possible. We were only going a few miles, thank goodness, but it seemed like a long way. Especially when supporting the entire weight of your body with your head wedged against the top of a van. Aaargh.
A little girl was sitting next to where I was standing, and she kept looking at me and rolling her eyes in sympathy, saying "Ay, Dios mio!"

So we really got to get up close and personal with the Dominican people. And while it wasn't exactly a comfortable experience, I'm glad we did it.

Ok, more later.  ¶ 1:58 PM 0 comments