you & i have a better time than most can dream

Thursday Aba (aka. Kristy) arrived and Karli, Oliver and i couldn’t have been happier. Like always she came

bearing more gifts then Santa Claus - we are continually spoiled (not to be confused as a complaint!!); of course the real gift for us is having Aba here to play with us.

Friday we headed to Cabarete and like is true in so many aspects of life: an integral part of the adventure was the journey. After a record setting departure from the city and getting way ahead of the long-weekend traffic ... we had a flat. This wasn’t just a flat, the tire was absolutely destroyed. I am amazed at how incredibly efficient the Dominican AAA is; before i had the truck to a complete stop we had two motoconchos there offering help. "No worries it is just a flat," this would be true if the piece that is used to lower the spare from underneath the truck was there, which of course it wasn’t. By this point a woman has come out from her brightly coloured wooden house and is playing and singing with Oliver and taking Karli, Kristy and O to look at the river that runs behind her house. So now we are surrounded by men who are jabbering on in Dominican (a very loose relative of Spanish), i obviously have no way of getting my spare down, i have two gringas and a baby with me and a car full of gear. You could see how this situation could be stressful, maybe even scary…but it isn’t. The vast majority of Dominicans i know or have met are caring, helpful and wonderful people. In just a couple minutes Karli and her new best friend are in one of the guys car going to buy a tire, Oliver is “driving” the truck (see pic) and Kristy is taking photos while we catch up. In minutes they return with a new tire, which the Dominican AAA won’t let me near, it is on in a flash and we are on our way pretty quickly (all things considered). Did we give these people money? Some of them yes, some of them no – none of them very much; were they doing this for money? some of them yes,some of them no. We debated after driving away the standard protocol for this situation. I paid them because they helped me and i was thankful, i didn’t know how else to express my gratification. I hope i did not set a horrible precedent.
So arriving a little later then we wanted it was dinner on the beach before a relatively early night. Saturday was a great day for Oliver and i. We went to watch the sunrise and surfers at encuentro; there was no waves so we just played in the sand, i had a coffee and we hung out before going back to get the girls for breakfast followed by some bodysurfing for me then i joined him for a morning nap. When we got up it was lightly raining (perfect napping weather!) and we celebrated by riding jaguars (video), marching around the pool and then going swimming in the rain. We ate early and put Ollie to bed. Karli and i went to listen to a DJ who was spinning on the beach as part of the Master of the Ocean event. He was phenomenal and the rain that was keeping the people away was just not fair. We called some friends who trekked through wind and the rain and met up with us (yup we have great friends), by the time we all made it to the dance floor there was a new DJ who was not on the same level as the first. Put lets put things in perspective here: dancing with the waves crashing behind you surrounded by good people, does it get better?
Actually yes it does.
Dancing with the waves behind you while all the other people are under the tent watching you thinking that you must be insane; just you and your beautiful (and great dancing) wife bouncing around in the rain like fools – now that’s better.
There was a trade-off however, in order to keep Karli dancing i had to give up my turn for a sleep-in on Sunday. No worries. A repeat of the day before with coffee and pastries at the surf break, this time though the waves were enormous and we were able to watch the surfers involved in the competition. The waves were a little messy with lots of close-outs and plenty of bails but i couldn’t help but think: Ollie is a year old hanging out at the surf break for sunrise, the last time in Cabarete he was left at the KiteSchool so his dad could get his fix. Look out - this kid is going to be good (of course only if he chooses too - his weekend change table is pictured). Sunday tested my patience. I sat on the beach kite ready, mentally psyched and waited for the wind that the internet said would arrive early. I was tested to my limit after a full three hours of waiting i was rewarded with some incredible wind and great waves. Sailed for more then two hours without a second’s break and the rush was big enough to carry me all the way through the long drive home. As i was packing up i heard one of the guys who lives on kite beach come in claiming: “this is as good as Cabarete gets”