The D.R Santo Domingo

Ok so before I get to our trip to the Capital, I have to mention a few things. 

First: Guanabana it is a disgusting fruit. 

It has the texture of snot and sure it may have a sweet taste to it the after taste was discusting and it was hard to get over the texture! So not something I will ever want to try again! haha

Of coarse I had to get a few silly kissy pictures on our trip! 

So I think it was the night of golfing that there was a beach party at the resort. I was excited to be able to finally dance the night away since we had not gone dancing the whole time. Although as we stayed up and decided to go to the party on the beach we quickly learned that it was NOT our scene! People were smoking everywhere and drinking everywhere. We would be standing in one spot and then someone would decide to light up right next to us and we would get a huge waft of smoke in our direction. It was DISGUSTING!! Plus all of the drunk people there just made it not fun at all. There were people dancing on top of table things and then one guy decided to get up on the stage and start dancing and someone threw beer on him. They made him get down after that but it was like seriously is this fun to people!? So we probably stayed longer than we should have (by every second we were there). I couldnt even get in the mood to dance, which is a hard thing for me to do! So we left and I couldnt take the smoke and crazy people everywhere. Good thing we did too because as soon as we left a song came on that sure has a good beat to it but this my dears was not going to be an edited version. So I was glad that we were far away from hearing any of the words by the time it had started. We then went to the other area that was supposed to have more of the Dominican culture dancing but they were not opening until the beach party closed. Which no one new when that was going to be. So we headed back to our room and went to bed! 

Then on Wednesday morning the four of us headed the Santo Domingo. The whole day felt like we were just driving around because we had really no clue where we were going. We were going off of Brandons 10 year memory of where he thought things were! haha He was pretty close on things but we  needed a little extra help to completely get to the places we wanted to get to. So after driving in all of the craziness of the capital we finally stopped at a mall to first get out of the car and get something for lunch and then maybe find some directions to this shopping place that we wanted to go to! 

Really our first Authentic Dominican meal while in the mall! It was pretty good! But, we were all still super ready for something yummy and flavorful and american! haha

Garbage was just everywhere on the streets! 

This was a memorial for Christopher Columbus. Who supposedly landed first in the Dominican Republic and thought it was the Americas! Huge building! While we stopped here we asked some police officers if they knew where El Conde was and if they could give us directions.

So we finally found this shopping center El Conde after following the police officers on there motorcycle and almost getting slammed into by another car (It was terrifying! The car had to screech to a stop right in front of my car door) while trying to follow these crazy driving police officers! I swear they were trying to lose us! haha 

After shopping and walking around for a little bit and buying a few souvenirs we headed out to go find the temple. We got stuck in traffic at one point and it was crazy to see cars just start trying to go around everyone. Soon our 2 lane road had become 4 lanes and the people that were supposed to be able to come through the opposite way now had one or half of a lane to squeeze by. Im just glad I didnt have to drive in all of that craziness! It took us like 3 hours to find the temple. We got lost time after time again and finally stopped at a gas station and the guys asked a few people if they knew where the Mormon Temple was. One old man said that he thought he remembered and that we had to go back this way turn on this street and then just keep going and going and going for a while and then you will run right into it. We were not too confidant that those were the real directions but we had nothing to go off of because the maps on Vandy's phone was not working because of lack of signal. So we headed back the direction we had just come from and were about to give up on going to the temple. When all of a sudden we got signal and Brandon was able to give us the correct directions on where to go. Thank goodness because we were going the complete opposite direction from the temple! So after hours of driving and being lost we finally found it. It was so nice to finally be to the temple. We were able to go talk with Tyrels Mission President for a while and then we hit a session. It was so nice to be in the peaceful temple after all of the craziness of the day!! 

This is the Great and Spacious Building next to the MTC. haha That is what Brandon said that they called it. I guess when he was in the MTC it was just being built and there was a swimming pool over there so there would be a lot of ladies is swim suits that they could see all the time. So eventually there were things put up on the MTC windows so that the missionaries couldnt see it or be tempted to look! haha 

This was our measly meal before our 7 o'clock session. We didnt have time to go find some place to eat so the boys just ran to a colmado a few blocks down and grabbed some snacks for us to hold us over until after the Temple. The Dolly in the picture was actually REALLY good. I dont know if I was just starving or what but it tasted like a Nutri-grain bar but the outside was like a shortbread cookie! It was yummy! 

Brandon wanted a picture by this tree because he said when he was here on his mission they were like 4 or 5 feet tall and now they are way taller than he is! haha 

So Gorgeous!!! We are so thankful that we were able to have that signal pop up on Vandy's phone when it did so that we could make it to the Temple. So worth it! 

Then since it was now 10 o'clock and we had not eaten anything substantial we found a McDonalds and ate that at 11 that night on our way back to the resort! We were actually really excited for this "American" food. I dont think I have ever been more excited to have McDonalds then I was that night! haha It was funny though paying for our meals and how expensive it was compared to our lunch meal. Our lunch meal cost us 5 bucks for the 2 of us to eat and McDonalds was like your normal prices. Which I can see why Dominicans have to be making the big bucks down there to be able to afford it! We were all satisfied after eating our late night dinner. We finally arrived back at the resort around 1 and went to bed to get some rest for our early morning adventures the next day!