And you thought the blog was over!

This morning we left really early to head to the capital - Santo Domingo - We had to make a quick pit stop in a town on the way because Chris had a meeting about the assembly. While he was at his meeting we waited for him in a park across the street from the Kingdom Hall. The other brother that was also attending brought his family because they too were on their way to the capital. So we hung out with his family.

Lisa and Chris had told us a lot about this family but they had never mentioned there last name....it turns out they are the Rocheforts!!  Some of you back home may know some of them. We really had a great time as we talked about all the people we knew in common and heard about all their experiences while they have lived here.

Its amazing who you run into while you are so far from home.

Once we got the the capital we checked into our hotel, it is in the Colon District of Santo Domingo. This is where Christopher Columbus arrived first when he set out from Spain on his very first voyage. So all the buildings that we saw are part of the first colony of the Americas. The heritage is incredible, I hope I can recall some of the information....

As Gray and I started our tour of the old city - we had a map - but obviously we look like tourists so a Dominican that has been trained in the history of the area latched onto us like a flea to a dog.

We sort of didn't mind because he had some great information and Gray loves to know the history behind things. But I have to admit we were a little nervous cause you can't really trust people here. Most everyone - even bethel - tells us to hire and use brothers as much as possible. So during the whole time the man was talking all Gray and I did was worried if he was going to mug us :(

We did identify ourselves as testigos de jehova hoping that he would respect why we are traveling here, he said 'oh I know lots of witnesses'
So we finally got rid of him about 1/2 hour later and we offered him 300 pesos (8 Dollars US) He didn't seem to like what we gave but he left us alone.


So here are some of the places he took us to, Picture #1 is the home of Christopher Columbus' son when he came to stay on the island.

 



Picture #2 is Fortaleza Ozama. this is located right at the entrance of the River Ozama and the Caribbean  Sea. Which was perfect for the Spaniards to protect there port from invaders. Gray of course (after being told it was closed) climbed to the top to look out.....As we have learned Dominican has its own rules!



Then we moved on to some of the old streets, the detail on some of the buildings is beautiful.

This is a road that is only available to pedestrians. The buildings have many architectural details, however like most places here in the country they have not been taken care of and thus are in very bad condition.

It makes me a little sad to see such heritage that has lasted so long, but is beginning to fall apart, they really have no interest in its preservation.

I really appreciate what the government has done back home to keep some of our great landmark cities (Montreal and Quebec City) in such good repair.




So we found a great restaurant to eat at in the old colon district. It was right across from the very first church in the America's. It had a great patio, which is where we sat and enjoyed watching the people.

Well, its good that we are not superstitious because the things that happen to us I might begin to wonder.....so remember Carnival in Duverge.....well today Carnival is celebrated in Santo Domingo!!! WHAT are the chances!!

What we thought was crazy in Duverge was nothing in comparison to the big capital. Thousands of people where going to the Carnival and we were only blocks away.
As we were sitting eating our dinner across from the park we heard a gun shot only 500 meters away, so we dropped to the floor and waddled our way into the restaurant. The manager immediately came up to us and tried to reassure us that all was fine. She explained that the security guard that is on duty for the restaurant was going to investigate the problem.

We later found out that a man stole a woman's camera, the woman began shouting "he stole my camera" and because there are so many in the park the police that were in full patrol here couldn't really see anything so the Police officer fired a shot in the air to clear the park out. IT WORKED!!! People ran !!! They didn't catch the man that stole the camera but they sure scared us!

Chris and Lisa said that they have never heard these things happening before, most likely Carnival is the reason behind it. But I think Gray and I just have this special radar that is sent out where ever we go, and this radar attracts the most unbelievable occurrences! 

So we made it back to the hotel where we feel very safe and comfortable. Our hotel is very cute, its an old building with a lot of charm and history.

 

This is the lobby of the hotel, they have blue lights that come on and they contrast nice with the white walls.

We also have a great balcony which Gray loves because you can sit on it and watch all the people walk by.


We will take a picture of the outside of the building tomorrow.