Our PEI friends, Jim and Sue, are leaving in the next couple of days for a 2 week holiday in the DR. So, for their benefit, I've included a couple of phrases that will always help you when ordering drinks at the bar of your all inclusive...
1) "Hola" - pronounced "O-la", this is hello, and you'll get sick of hearing it...everywhere you go on the resort, or off, someone will say this to you. It's always good to respond in kind as that way you'll seem like you've been there for a while, even though your pale, white skin will give you away as just having stepped off the plane. I said it so much on my last trip down that I continued to say it back in Antigonish. I got a few strange looks at the Superstore when I'd approach the cashier with a hearty "hola" as she scanned my bread and eggs.
2) "Cervesa por favor" - pronounced "ser-vay-sa pour fa-vor", which means beer please. I'm sure you're mother taught you to aways be polite...so the please goes a long way, not as far as a good old US George Washington ($1) would go though, to ensure repeat service by the bartender.
3) "Gracias" - pronounced "gra-see-us", which means thank-you. If you're not going to slip the bartender a sawbuck, you'd best at least say thanks, or he'll be sure he's always busy when you want your behemoth sized insulated mug from Tim Horton's refilled with "cervesa" or pina colada or Mama Juana...
4) "mama juana" - pronounced "mama jew-wanna", which means Juana's mother, I guess...but it's not what it means so much as what it is...it's a local drink which is made with sticks and shit in the bottle. It looks like some strange concoction put together from whatever was swept off the floor of some one's Punta Cana hut and sold to the tourists at exorbitant prices, which the locals laugh all the way to the bank with. But it's not...well, I can't say for sure that it's not swept up off the floor of some one's hut, and I can't really say for sure that the locals don't laugh all the way to the bank with the money that the tourists pay to drink the stuff, but what I CAN say is that it is surprisingly good. And it's more than just a drink...there's a whole song and dance that goes along with it. So it's not just a drink....it's an experience!! Be sure to try some!
So Jim and Sue, and any others of you that are off to warmer climates in the next week or so...have fun, stay safe and remember what the Aussie's say..."Slip, slop, slap" ("slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen, and slap on a hat").
WHAT I LEARNED TODAY: I'm starting to question this whole fitness thing and our society's obsession with it. Kier heard a news report today with regard to the Chief of Cape Breton Regional Police who died on Friday/Saturday and how he was an avid runner. More and more, when I'm hearing how people that I know, either directly or indirectly, are dropping dead, it is more often than not followed in the next breath by "and he/she was in the best shape of their lives", or "he/she ran 5 miles a day, everyday"... coincidence??? I think NOT! Perhaps it's time to revisit this fitness regiment I've embarked on...according to that old yellow pages advertisement you should only "let your fingers do the walking"....hmmmm.....
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