People watching

One of my MOST FAVORITE things to do in the Dominican (aside from going to drop dead gorgeous beaches, the river, waterfalls, etc.) is watching people around the town.  I find them beautiful, intriguing, compelling and I just can't stop taking pictures of them.

Shoe shine boys Jerody & Juan.  They always ask to watch our car when we are in the grocery store, which is right behind them in eyeshot of the parking lot.  See the canola oil on the shelf behind them?  Our main grocery store is about the size of an American convenience store.   When they asked Jon if they could watch the car, he said "No, watch her (pointing to me with bad back in the car)." So we had a funny conversation that mostly involved me saying "mas despacio por favor" as in speak slower so that maybe I can understand something and then we had a little photo shoot.

Another shoe shine boy.  I don't know his name.  I think they all probably call me "sucker" in Spanish.  

Need a hat, belt, shoes or a cell phone?  He stepped right out in front of our moving vehicle to cross the street.  I was ready for him, sort of . . . . It is kind of hard to be ready - sometimes I have my camera aimed at one thing (like hat man) only to miss man with chicken and piglets in large, plastic, bulk rice sacks dangling from motorcycle handles.

He saw me see him.  It was not awkward.  We shared a beautiful moment.

Cows and cowbird chillin.

If only you knew how bumpy this road was you would understand why this picture is blurry, but still . . . . there is a little canal under the little bridge where people bathe. We have seen most of our Dominican neighbors in their underwear, or walking from the canal wrapped in a towel - all squeaky clean and such.  Again, too common to be awkward. 

I hope to someday catch his face as he is a precious little Domincan man - and always in his going to town hat.

Dominican caravan.

Waiting for her ride.

She had a baby dangling from each arm.

And still managed to text.  Impressive.

If only the driver had strapped that box to the back after the woman was on the bike.  She had to put her groceries down, do a couple of squats to loosen her jeans, hike her leg up.  It was quite spectacular.

Homemade kite = plastic bag + sticks + tape

Safe.

At the river.

 A Dominican angel to lead the way.