Oh what another fabulous trip to Punta Cana. This time was even harder for me to leave because I am not quite sure when I will make it back, or if I ever will. I officially have less than two weeks left here, and time is beginning to go by extremely fast. Now, onto details about my wonderful trip in Punta Cana.
We left Friday morning around 7. I got to sleep at Fiona's in a nice spacious room, and I actually woke up in the middle of the night chilly. I love when that happens here. Who would have known that I actually get cold when it is still 78 degrees? We all gathered at my house in the morning and took a taxi to the busses. There were seven of us going, but we met up with four buses of people. It was a holiday weekend here, so there were a bunch of people that were going to be in Punta Cana. The buses were nicer than the ones we have taken before. The seats lounged back, the chairs were comfortable and we had air conditioning and food! There was a lot of traffic from the holiday weekend, so it took us a solid 4 hours at least to arrive in Punta Cana. Right away, we checked in and headed to the beach. The weather was not the greatest, so we never got in the water. We also had to kill time for an hour and find something to do because our rooms were not going to be ready yet. So we ate some hamburgers and fries on the beach and watched the ocean for a while. We got some great pictures! After this, we went to our rooms, got our suits, and headed to the pool!
The pool was amazing because it had a bar in the center as well as a ledge where we could put our lounge chairs inside and be covered in water. The humidity is so bad here, that being in the water is something that needs to occur every 15-20 minutes. We also have to reapply sunscreen every hour at least. I am thinking about investing in so SPF 50 before our final Saona trip, because I really do not feel like riding home on an airplane sunburnt the next morning. Anyhow, the rest of the afternoon we spent in the pool taking Mama Juana shots. This was a HORRIBLE idea for me. For those of you who do not know what a Mama Juana is, well it is deadly. It is a famous drink here in the Dominican Republic. It is a mixture of rum, red wine, and honey mixed with tree bark and herbs. It is supposed to be an aphrodisiac. Well, as most of you know, I am allergic to wine. So, taking five or six of these shots was not the best thing I could have done. By 8 o'clock that night, I was throwing up. This was the most sick I have been on my trip here. I was thankful that it was at nice air conditioned hotel because if I were to get sick in the city, I would have been ten times more miserable. I skipped out on dinner and the festivities that night, but got a great nights sleep. I even woke up to see the beautiful sunrise in the morning.
The next morning was great. Fiona and I woke up early and went to the buffet in the main lobby. It was huge and the food was great. I had some hash browns, a pastry and a vegetable omelette. After this, we decided to spend the day at the pool. I decided in advance that I would not be drinking during the day because for once in Punta Cana, I would like to go out and have a good time! We ended up lounging by the pool and made several friends. Our first friends were three little kids from Santo Domingo. Fiona gets mad at me because I have to say hi to everyone here because I am a friendly person. The only thing about this friendliness is that Dominicans take it as an effort to get to know the other person. So when you say hi, you are stuck talking with them for a minimum of thirty minutes. It definitely does not help that Fiona does not like children. Our second friends were from Spain, except not so much friends. It was probably 10 Spanish guys that were all very drunk and obnoxious. We got rid of them fast!
Since we were getting harassed by so many people, we decided to head out to the beach instead. At least this way we got a little bit of relaxation. The beach was wonderful. The second day we were there we could not have asked for better weather. There was a wonderful breeze and the sun was shining bright. And just when we needed to cool down, a tiny cloud would go over the sun and give us a two minute break. The ocean felt fabulous. It was nice and cool. We got a tiny sunburn this time, so the cool salt water was quite a relief. There is always some interesting sights on the beach. We always see and meet some crazy people. Since many Europeans vacation here, every other person is always topless or in a speedo. And it is always the people you really could have done without seeing them that way. There is always games, contests and music within the hotels. On this fine Saturday we actually met three guys from Jersey. Of course, Fiona and I asked if they liked Jersey Shore. Obviously they get that a lot, but we had to ask anyways, it is one of our favorite shows! They were not from there, but lived close. They were some of the first English speakers that we had met.
We ended up going in after a couple hours on the beach to take a nap and rejuvenate for the evening. For dinner that night, we had some amazing pasta and desert. I loved the soft serve ice cream in the hotel. I always managed to have it with every meal. After dinner, Fiona and I headed back to the room to freshen up and have a couple beers and a dance party while we waited for Stefano to come pick us up. No matter where Fiona and I go, we always manage to have some sort of dance party. This is what I love about her. It is like we have known each other for years, and it has only been 5 weeks now. We then headed to the lobby where we saw one of the greatest things of our trip take place.
While we were in the lobby, we decided to listen in on a little conversation at the table across from us. It was a group of four girls from Quebec who obviously spoke English as a second language. They were flirting with the Dominican band that was about to be playing on the stage close to where we were sitting. First, it was funny listening to both groups communicate with each other because they both were horrible at English. Then the band went up to play and the girls were yelling on stage to request a song. After a couple songs, the one they wanted came on. One of the girls got so excited, she ran up to get on stage except for that her foot caught the edge and her face and entire body pancaked onto the stage. Not to mention that she was wearing a dress and almost 200 people were in the lobby watching. It was extremely sad, but probably one of the funniest things we had ever seen. Also, we continued to share this story with our friends the rest of the night, but none of them found it as funny as us. It must have been one of those, "You had to be there!" things. After this, Stefano came to pick us up and we headed to the Iberostar to meet up with our friend David. He had to work until midnight, so we went to the disco there to get some free drinks while we waited. Again, encountered several interesting drunk dancers there.
After some good laughs, we headed to Imagine. This was hands down one of the most amazing clubs I have ever been too. Pictures and words will never be able to describe it. I simply recommend everyone takes a trip to Punta Cana and sees it first hand. This club, first of all, is HUGE. It is inside a man made cave underground. There are several different sections, and each section they play different music. Saturday night it was packed because there was a male porn star who was the DJ. I never really saw him, but we still had a great time. There were different types of dancers and entertainers that we up on the ledges of the caves doing there crazy little things. Also, there were a bunch of different bars inside. The bathrooms were also unbelievable. I wish I would have taken pictures but I already looked like a tourist as it was. I was taking pictures of everything. We even saw some really great mullets inside. Punta Cana really is a collection of some interesting people. From what I remember, this was such a great night, and we did not make it home until about 3:30-4 in the morning (which is an early night for Dominicans).
When I arrived back at the hotel, I received a knock at the door. It was Victor! He wanted to go get food at the Sports Bar because we were both drunk. Such a fabulous idea. We headed that way immediately. I ended up having cheesy tots, onion rings, fries and a bunch of other fried crap. Victor had a hamburger. We had a nice drunk talk about relationships and he decided to give me some advice about mine. We ended up laughing about this the next morning because nothing that came out of our mouths really made sense. I ended up going to bed at 5 in the morning, and my alarm was set for 8:30. We wanted to get an early start for our last morning. I was not hung over, but I was definitely moving slow.
The final morning we had a fabulous breakfast and headed out the beach for a little more sun. Here we watched dance lessons and listened to some Dominican music, which I love dearly. I have really begun to listen to it everywhere I go. We swam in the ocean for our final few times, headed back to the room to pack, ate lunch, checked out and got back on the bus after one final round of soft serve ice cream.
The bus ride home was miserable. It took up 6 hours because of traffic. Half way on the drive, we stopped for a bathroom break and of course I had to go! This was a bad idea. This was the worst bathroom experience I have EVER had. So I am standing in line with a bunch of locals trying to figure out why everyone is partnering up and saying that two people have to go in at a time. Of course no one knows me so no one wants to be my partner. So when I get to the front I am thinking there is only two stalls inside. Well I was half right and half wrong. There were two toilets inside, but not any stalls. The two toilets were right smack dab next to each other. I am not even kidding you. I ended up peeing next to a Dominican girl who I had never met in my life. Imagine me squatting above a seat trying with all my might to squeeze something out while this random girl is watching me. That is the last time that I ever walk into a bathroom with a stranger. The rest of the trip was long. I slept on and off, but you can only do so much on a bus. The only thing that got me through the trip was my iPod and Limon Lays chips. These have become my life here in the DR. I plan to bring back a bulk supply in my suitcase or carry on.
When I arrived home last night, I skyped with my parents, uploaded some pictures and got right into bed. I was exhausted. I am pretty sad when I think that my time here is winding down, and I really only have one weekend left for adventures. I am so excited to head home, but I know that I will miss everyone here so much. These people have become my family and I have so much fun when I am with them. I hope that at some point I will get to come back and visit them in the future. For the rest of the evening, I need to do homework and get caught up on some Spanish and sleep. It is a long week ahead of me because my plans for this weekend only consist of a BBQ at my friend Teilor's house. I hope school goes by fast so I can start having some fun!!! Stay in touch, and see you all VERY soon.
Yours truly,
Elle
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