Sunday, May 16th, is election day here in the Dominican Republic. Last Sunday, there were rallies to support the candidates. Each candidate has a color theme…purple, red and white. I clicked these photo from our window that looks over the street. It was noisy – horns honking, motorcycles revving and people cheering.

I thought that this weekend would be crazy as well but it has been so very quiet. I just read that from Saturday to noontime, Monday have been decreed non-work days nationwide. Voting started at 6 AM today in the schools. Are you ready for this…..there are 4,036 electoral post of which there are 16,000 candidates competing for seats for national and local post. These candidates will keep the seats until 2016. If I understand correctly, right now, there are elections every 2 or 4 years for the different seats. In the years 2016, there will be just one election. It will be interesting to see what will happen after the winner of the president is announced.

I haven’t been feeling well this past week. I thought it might be a sinus infection. However, when I started having a sore throat, I was afraid it might have strep and figured that I should get to the local clinic. There is a new clinic in Sosua that was opened last year by a Dominican doctor and his wife, Mary Jo, who is a nurse originally from Illinois. It is about 5 miles from Cabarete. Getting to the clinic is was an adventure.

I was originally going to take a publico, which is a car that goes between towns picking up passengers between. Sometimes there can be up to 7 or 8 people in the car but it only cost 55 cents. I waited for about 1/2 hour and all the publicos that went by were full, so I decided to take the local bus. That cost only 40 cents. It wasn’t bad except that you are crowded in and the fact that everyone drives so fast and crazy! The ride back, there were 4 of us in the front seat for a 3 seater in a bus that had a cracked windshield and every time it came to a stop it backfired!

My visit with the Dr was all in Spanish. Mary Jo was supposed to be there, but she was running late. I got through the visit OK. She did arrive in time to explain all of the test that the Dr had ordered. I needed x-rays, blood and urine test. Oh my gosh….overkill or just a gringa with insurance? I went along with it and it was determined that I had a slight infection in my sinuses. However, the Dr thought that most of my problems was due to allergies. He prescribed an antihistamine and something for my sore throat.

I am feeling so-so. The fact that I lost my voice makes me sound much worse than I feel. It is really just an annoyance. Mornings are worse but as the day progresses, I feel better.

David is back home after his first week at work on site. So far, it is a good “honeymoon period”. He finds the job easy, which I am grateful for. Hopefully, this new position working for the client on the project will be less stressful.

I need to remember two dear people who passed away this past week. Margaret Smith was a dear lady who I met when I moved to Texarkana, TX in 1983. We worked together at the Texas Employment Agency. She was such a dear and supportive friend who took me under her wing. She lived a full life and is in a much better place, but she will be missed. The other lady is Betty Bachelder, who is the mother of my friend, Judy. Judy and I grew up together in Hallowell. The Bachelder family was a close-knit group of 5 children with wonderful parents, Betty and Dick. Sadly, last year, Betty was diagnosed with dementia and lost most of her memory. I saw her last year and for that I am very grateful. I have such fond memories visiting the Bachelder family and experiencing the life and fun chaos in a complete family unit. A special time for a child from a single parent home. Thank you for the memories, dear Betty, may you and Margaret rest in peace.

It has been a quiet weekend. We have walked the beach, gone for a swim in the ocean and just relaxed. Life on the beach is good.