The Dominican RepublicMap
December The Dominican Republic should not be confused with Dominica. Although they’re located near one another, they’re two separate countries (just like Niger and Nigeria). Punta CanaMapOne of the most useless places on the planet. I was seduced by the direct flight from Santiago and didn’t even bother to look at a map to see exactly where I was going. It turns out that this is just another tourist reservation along the lines of Sharm el-Sheikh, Cyprus, or the Canary Islands. There’s nothing to do here and nowhere to escape to.  Someone wrote “Chelyabinsk rules” in Russian on the column by the information desk at the airport (the first private international airport in the world). It’s precisely this sort of people who come here on vacation.  Santo DomingoMapThe capital.  The Dominican Toucans flight demo team practices over the city.  My taxi driver began whacking the car windows with a newspaper in an attempt to kill a fly.  A distinctive local detail—the “no passengers” sign.  A classic hydrant.  An avant-garde hydrant.  The sidewalks are made of concrete which has been passed over with some sort of special rake.  Every car has inspection and insurance stickers on the windshield.  An electrician.  A vehicle traffic signal.  Some pedestrian signals have an additional section for cars; it flashes yellow when people are crossing (like in Barcelona).  There are newspaper racks at every intersection.  A supermarket.  Some bar’s sign uses empty Coke crates as part of its design.  When Christopher Columbus arrived in America, the first thing he did was establish a settlement on the site of present-day San Domingo, so this is actually the first European city of the New World. The historic quarter is quite charming. There are two-tone plastic trash cans hanging from the posts everywhere.  The street name signs are made of tile.  A lovely solution: all the traffic signs are encased in decorative forged iron frames.  Or hung from ornate brackets.  An ancient Spanish fort has a cement factory right next door. No one is bothered by this.  Parking spots are quite palpably demarcated.  It’s lovely here.  Water works hatches.  An adorable telephone hatch.  A phone booth.  There are no street post boxes; the Internet has killed snail mail. But the central post office does have a museum-worthy specimen on display.  The holidays are approaching—Christmas tree lots are up and running on the streets.  Offices and places of business in the Dominican Republic have a practice of tying down pens with chains made from rubber bands.  |
