Our First Dominicn Peso

Wow Missy got paid. Yes Missy in now working with Caribbean Dream Vacation Rentals, a property management business. She has made our first peso. It only took two years but she is now employed and working long hours. You see our electric bill in Sept-Nov was around $700.00 to $900. this is because we found out our pool pump was left on and everything else that sucks electricity. Not being a regular owner of a swimming pool I took a while to realize the timer was broken. we did find this out in October but by then money was slipping through our fingers quite freely. Fortunately we have a better handle on this stuff but it is a daily chore. After two years of living we are finally feeling like we are getting better at the living conditions, yet Drew and Mariah are still learning their spanish much faster than Missy and me. Although now that Missy is in the field with the people she will be learning more easily than me, I guess I will have to get something too. I have been helping the same business get their act together with their accounting yet this is basically pro bono. I have also been asked to do more business consulting with some of our friends too. I guess they realize my fees are reasonable since I have not charged anyone YET. But congratulations to Missy for staying the course and making things happen. (Oh I think my curser jumped ) We stopped this crazy spending on electricity in December to around $500. with cut backs and Jan was even better to $450. wow labor is cheap but everything else is not. Gas got cut in half just like the states it went from $6.00 a gallon to $3.00 a gallon. When I was in the states in Dec and Jan it was great to see gas for $1.50 to even $1.79. Oh well that is the price to live on an tropical island. Hope all is well your your neck of the woods. doug

Fine in 09

We're off to a great start. I feel as if 09 is going to be a super year. The kids are back in school, the house is comfortable and life is on cruise control. I am busy and doing lots of fun interesting thing. Wishing you and yours a Happy New Year!!
Cheers,
Missy

Fiesta 151

Finally we have the tour ready to go. The tour you say? yes the tour. I am what is called a Welcome Partner in this tour which is called Fiesta 151. A Welcome Partner is someone who invests in a business but does not have any say in it. Kinda like a silent partner but I am invited around quite a bit for consultations. Anyway, we have had this tour in the process for the past 2 years and finally it is ready to roll. It has taken a long time to work out all the kinks but they are now finished.
We have the location and my Partner Will who is the majority reason we are in this country. He is the main person who has developed this tour. He has built a fabulous ranch that is complete with palm trees, a crocodile cage with 4 baby crocs, a petting place with a donkey and a couple of goats and a kitchen, bathrooms, and a beautiful thatched pavilion for the fiesta. Let me tell you a little bit about it. We have had two trial runs and each time it is improving. What happens is this,
When people arrive to the ranch there is a little place to meet to go over the rules and regulations for safety. Then we climb into a specially made sugar cane wagon that will take us up into the mountain to hear about many of the vegetation and the history of how some of the animals got here. you have to go on the tour to hear this haha. This trailor is pulled by a huge tractor. It reminds me of the times I went on hay wagon rides at summer camp without the hay. The trailor of course is fixed with benches for us to ride on. We make a couple of stops and the two best are a typical country school where the kids sing their national anthem and raise their flag. Our merchandise sales help so sponsor this school as we are building a new bathroom ( Mariah would not even go in it as she really had to go at that time) and paint their two buildings and much other needed work. then we go to a typical house where they show us how they make coffee from their home grown coffee beans. All is great and then we head back to the ranch. As we head back we go throuch the Haitian town of Munoz. This is one of the poorest part of the North Coast yet the people look very happy. We arrive at the ranch as the sun goes down and here we are treated to a very delicious meal of(i have to go back to remember the special Dominican foods names) but appetizers, soup, salad, and fried chicken, brown rice and beans, and macaroni and cheese for the kids. While we eat the girls who serve us also do 3 folkloric dances and the last one Maraca is very lively and we all get up and do the conga. It is fun and high energy. We are also able to see and hold the crocodiles and pet the goats and donkey as well as taste the various rums that are made here on the island. Mariah really loves the dancing and she gets up and imitates the girls as Drew loves the food. All in all it is now ready for the paid customers and they will begin Jan 15 or 20th. I am looking forward to this part. Yeah.

ps. Drew thanks for correcting my Spanish. I am sure this will be an ongoing occurrence.
doug

it's feliz ano nuevo doug! AKA happy new year!!!!!!

Happy new year everyone hope your hollidays are going well and yes i am upset because of pancake because she was my baby but you know thats life........ theres good things and there's bad things they just come at you like a motorcycle in the dr... 100 mph (hehehe). well mariah and i had lots of highlights on the year with eachother accually loveing eachother.............. wait, wait there were not as many as i thought well..... yeah umm where was i........... oh yeah mariah and i got rockband 2 for the wii and we are jamming out!!!!!! i mean im getting 100%'s on like every song well i guess i will talk to you guys soon




-Drew
Peace Out 2009

Happy New Year Feliz Anos Nuevo

Wow it is now 2009. A new year to begin fun, learning and more experiences in the DR. We were able to celebrate and bring in the New year with our friends from Durham.
Yuriy, Oksana, Andre, Yuliya and Yuriy's parents from the Ukraine. I had them staying at an all inclusive close to us called Casa Marina Beach and Reef resort. Missy, Drew, Mariah and I took the last day of 2008 and spent it with them in the all inclusive. We had great fun in the sun and great food and great friendship and a wonderful night of fireworks and even a little dancing. At first in the early morning Missy really wanted to just have a quiet evening at home and calmly bring in the new year but fortunately she changed her mind and we had just a wonderful time.
It is great to have friends and family that love to do things together. We wish all our other friends and family a super New Year and all that Jazz.
doug