foul

One highlight of the trip for me was going to Estadio Quisqueya to watch Licey baseball. Just like at Busch stadium, I bought some consessions and headed to my seat. With a slice of pizza and two bags of popcorn in my hands, a rambunctious squirt ran into me, knocking the pizza to the ground, face down. For less thant $2, I could have bought another slice. Instead, I ate the pizza. The lesson to be learned here is that the five-second rule applies in other countries as well.

About halfway through the game, the crowd erupted into a chant, “BELLIARD! BELLIARD!” That's when good ol' Ronnie Belliard stepped up to bat. It was like a little taste of home in the Dominican.

dominican flower power

left behind

Sometimes the things we leave behind help to tell the stories of our adventures. Take, for instance, the contents of the garbage can the morning we left the Dominican.

Lobster carcasses - Remnants of an amazing dinner. We paid about $40 for two "drinks of the house," three bottles of water, ravioli dumpling soup, rice, salad and three grilled lobsters soaked in a lemon butter.

Three AA batteries - Reminder that we were always one battery short on the trip. My camera takes four batteries. I brought seven rechargables and three normal AAs. Do the math. I spent my last few days cameraless. The one thing I forgot this trip was the battery charger.

Soggy orbit - Evidence of the humid and rainy climate. It rained every day we were there. We saw three rainbows. The rainbows in the Domincan are much larger and wider than their U.S. counterpart.

Sad sandals - Proof of our many walking adventures. Our second day in the country we probably walked at least six miles through the many plazas and neighborhoods of Santo Domingo (photos from this trek). The sandal (which I bought on a Caribbean Island about two years ago for 50 cents) broke as I was buying Dominican cigars. The cigar shop gave me wonderful packing tape to make repairs.