Day 17

I didn’t write yesterday, so I’ve lost track of which day this really is, so I’ll just go from the past day. Yesterday I took the opportunity to go to Samana by myself, to try to dig a little deeper into my wireless problems. I went to a pharmacy that advertises a wi-fi network. I went there, connected to the network, and tried to access the internet - full fan, no go. I copied down some settings and sent them into the Mac discussion group that I participate in back home.

In Samana, I saw a couple on a motorcycle - a man driving and a woman in back, dragging two pieces of rebar behind the motorcycle. It made a high-pitched note, which changed when they took a corner. It made me think of creating a rebar on motorcycle symphony, to be played by 30 motorcycles driving through some town. Notations for playing will include what speed the vehicles travel at, what turns are made, and what length rebar is used.

On the way home the gua-gua driver stopped at one point and asked everyone for their payment up front. He was at a store, and I think he must have owed someone money there, so he gathered up his payments and gave them to someone in the store. An interesting side note was that he asked everyone for 60 pesos. When we first started riding the gua-gua’s, we were told that it was 60 pesos to Samana. Friends here have told us that the fee is actually lower, and that we are getting gringo prices, so we started paying 50 pesos, and no one has argued. Yesterday’s interaction was interesting because he asked EVERYONE – native and non – for 60 pesos. Amy had a similar experience – she takes the gua-gua back from the school, and the fee is usually – no, always – 10 pesos. Yesterday she gave the guy 10 pesos, and he said no, 20. She said no, it has always been 10. He said no, 20. So Amy decided to ride all the way into town, to the shack that is the starting and ending point for the gua-gua’s. There, she asked the comptroller, or what passes for the gua-gua comptroller - a guy in a plastic chair who tells you the gua-gua is leaving, which is ironic because while the gua-gua goes through town it trolls for passengers at such a slow speed that I think I could give it a half mile head start and catch up with it before it hits the hills a couple miles outside of town and shifts to second gear and beyond – what the fee is. He said 10 pesos. The driver grumpily gave Amy her money back, so now Amy doesn’t know if there is an enemy lurking somewhere out there.

I ran into Cyril. A correction here – Cyril is a French web designer, not an Italian web designer as I’ve mentioned earlier. Please go back and make all necessary mental corrections- Cyril is French, not Italian. I guess I assumed he was Italian because he was so friendly from the start.

Amy had run into Cyril, even though she didn’t know him. The kids recognized him, and told her who it was. So she introduced herself, and told him about my disconnection from his network. When he ran onto me, while I was talking to Mel the Brit and he was telling me about the incredibly cheap and good dentist in Samana, he told me my wife had told him about my disconnection to his network, and to stop by sometime and he would re-connect me.

As usual, my insecurities were incorrect. With the language fences here, I rely on unspoken language so much more, and my history of unspoken language leaves me fearful of unspoken language. I assume anybody’s gestures are threatening.


Because of this, the first terms I learn in any language are terms and phrases of acquiescence – “I’m sorry,” “Pardon me,” “excuse me,” etc. When combined with the tendency to use and re-use the handful of phrases I know in any foreign language, I end up walking around saying “I’m sorry” in every situation. Locals must think I’m a very guilty person. Or else Catholic.

I ended up getting a full week’s work done this week which, considering the hurdles of production that now exist, is an accomplishment. Since this was Thursday, I feel a wonderful sense of relaxation, which is one of my goals. This allows me to a) think about my relaxing goals – snorkeling, walking, traveling, reading, all with family – and b) work on some of my non-paying drawing goals – some travelogues, some gag stuff, some personal pieces.

TODAY’S BIG THOUGHT: Sammy Sosa is completely justified to cheat in any way he sees fit, in order to get out of the poverty that he grew up in here in the DR. Yes, maybe he’s sullied the image of baseball, but he’s gotten out of the slums here, made money, and brought most of that money back to this country. His cheating has helped many people here, so how is it bad?

CURRENT READING: “Vintage Baker,” a collection of selections from Nicholson Baker’s novels and essays.