day one of the caribbean series - LOOOONG day! 9AM - 4:30AM.

Highlights

a. forgot one from yesterday - we plan to drive to Haiti, so we go to an internet Cafe to check if we need a visa. Turns out the State Department had issued a travel advisory. This almost didn’t stop us.

1. attending the Caribbean World Series Hall of Fame Induction. Taking my first “event pics” and getting yelled at for blowing a shot for some other photogs. They played the theme for the Caribbean World Series and it sounds like a joke song Jimmy Fallon would make up.

2. watching and covering game one (Venezuela & Puerto Rico) the Bad News Bears could have competed in this game.

3. sitting through a 2-hour opening ceremony composed of each country’s style of music and dance. then the president threw out the opening pitch. he looked like a school principal with a Porn collection, or like Jimmy Falwell on Paxil.

4. meeting Mikio, a Japanese sportswriter stationed in CUBA. Turns out he spends 4 months in Cuba, four in japan, and four travelling the world. Lucky stiff. I speak to him in Japanese, Spanish, and English. He’s my new hero.

4. meeting Doug Miller, the Angels beat writer for MLB.com. Turns out he knows my other friend, Nick Hensley, when they worked at Quokka at the same time. small world. his friend has made a movie, and it sounds quite funny: http://www.hacksmovie.com check out the trailer.

5. watching game two of the series (Mexico and Dominican.) Every time the Dominican scores, it sounds like WWII has just ended.

6. I go to FOUR baños to find one with a toilet seat. And that one is in a stall that a) doesn’t lock. b) is FILTHY and c) has no paper. But when Nature calls, she don’t leave a message.

7. game two ends at 1:30am. i’ve been sweating profusely since 9:03AM. I recharged the Deodorant but it gave out around 10pm. not good.

8. after the game, we give Doug a ride to the waterfront, where we get some grub at a shack on the caribbean Sea. two turkey sandwiches, orange juice, a fanta, and two huge beers (El Presidente) for 9$. And that’s a little more than normal.

9. we drop Doug off at 4:15 in the colonial zone. On the way home, we spot two horses in our neighborhood rummaging through trash. One had broken its rope and was dragging it. Freedom!

10. we get home, fully fermented after a day of pits, and the water is out. This is not surprising, since 3 out of my 5 nights here we have been without water. All of the other houses on the street are without power as well. Lights, however, are no comfort when your bed smells like a wet dog.

11. this AM we rolled out of bed at 10:30 to find no water again. good times. This makes for my 3rd “bucket shower.” I’m getting good at transporting handfuls of water to nooks and crannies for cleaning. I killed a spider the size of a linebacker by the tub.

12. we ate at a Chinese restaurant near Sammy Sosa’s fortress. I spoke to the owner in Cantonese. he’s from Hong Kong, and came here to find work. I wonder if he got on the wrong boat. The food is good, but overpriced for the Dominican.

13. game 3 in progress now. the stadium food is GREAT - pizza by the slice for $1.10 and empanadas (dominican Calzones) for 80¢. The food in this country is so GOOD.