First Impressions

I´ve been here since Wednesday, today is Saturday. That makes this my fourth day if you count the night I arrived. I decided I should start blogging for several reasons. First of all, I found a nice internet cafe with good music and a girl who sits at the desk and sings, it is air conditioned and is a good place to escape the heat while I wait for the maid to clean my room, and I´m finding this place very interesting and want some time to reflect. Even if no one reads my blogs, maybe some day I´ll pull from them and write a book (I´m reading Eat, Pray, Love now and LOVE it!), or maybe when I´m old and senile, I can come back and read about my adventures.

I kind of got a feeling for the Dominican Republic right away in the airport. I was seated in row 10, so I was close to the front of the plane. That meant I was able to scoot off the plane and be very early arriving at immigration. But as I arrived and walked through the maze I saw people who were getting to the front of the line and being greeted by a man who sent them over to the side of the arrival hall where there was a small desk with a sign that said ¨Tourist Cards¨or something like that. As I got near I heard him tell about the 15th person that she needed a tourist card, and as she turned around and went over to the little desk I followed her and stood in line to get my tourist card, which cost me $10. Then I got back in the line, walked through the maze and stepped aside for the continuous flow of people who were being told that they needed to go and get their tourist card. I thought that this guy probably tells thousands of people a day that they need a tourist card, but I guess no one has figured out that the system might be a little inefficient.

Finally it was my turn to get my passport checked. The officer checked it and then passed a passport to the guy in the next cubicle. I stood there waiting only to realize that my passport was on the desk in front of me. Nothing was said to indicate we were finished. The officer just sat there waiting for me to realize I was done. I said ¨Gracias¨and left.

I then went to baggage claim where my bags were among the last to come off, changed money and then exited, looking for my ¨smiling and friendly driver¨as was promised on the website of the place where I am renting an apartment.

I wasn´t sure if I had sent Anthony, the guy who runs (owns?) the building where I am staying, my flight information, so I was worried that no one would be there to pick me up. I also didn´t have the address of the apartment building and with the hours I spent in Miami airport, I was unable to find an internet cafe (it always amazes me how advanced the rest of the world, i.e. Thailand, is when it comes to airport amenities), so I wasn´t able to get the address (I was trying the morning I left but my computer would not turn on and Super Shuttle came before I was able to get it). So anyway, I exited the secure area and saw people lining the exit hall waiting to meet people. There were a few people there with signs, but none of them had my name on them. I started to get worried. I walked back again as people exiting gave me puzzled looks (since I was walking against the flow of traffic) and I did not see my name. I got more worried. Then I saw outside that there was a non-smiling man with a sign with my name on it. I smiled and walked towards him, but he did not smile. He introduced himself as Anthony. I guess the smiling men were not available.

Anthony is from New York, I think the Bronx or Queens. He seemed a little pissed off. I don´t think it was me, or the heat, or the fact that he had to pick me up at the airport, I kind of get the feeling that this is how he normally is.

After stopping for gas, and driving about 30 minutes, we arrived at the apartment building. It was really hot. It was late and I was tired. Anthony showed me my apartment, gave me my orientation and I went to bed. I slept well.