Hola!

Hello again from the Dominican!  The mornings here have been awesome (posted a few pics on Facebook but harder to get them to the blog), while the afternoons have brought clouds and rain (except for today).  It's probably for the best in some sort of responsible way, as it gets us out of the sun during what would be the most devastating time of day. As it is, we mostly stay in the palm tree provided partial shade with the sea breeze blowing on us while we either read or play word games on our phones (Word W.E.L.D. is our current addiction). It's tough to start drinking booze in the morning, but somehow we manage.

They have shows and things in the evenings here and even a casino, but the first few nights we've opted for retiring to the room early and watching our TV. Not THE television. OUR television. Our television at home! That's right, through the wonders of modern internet connections, we're able to watch either live or recorded shows from our TV at home. It's outstanding. It would be better if we were somewhere with a slightly more robust internet connection, but it still is pretty amazing. The channels they get down here are pretty lame...ok, not lame, but in Spanish, so a rainy afternoon or being tired and going to the room would be not great for us normally.  But on Tuesday before we left, I headed to the store and bought a Sling Box. You hook it up to your DVR and the internet and BAM! You can access your own TV, your own recorded shows, from anywhere. Awesome!  A little remote control pops up on your screen just like you have at home (the exact model!) and you control the DVR with a very slight delay (due to the internet here I'm sure).  It's pretty freaking awesome. We'll hook it up now anytime we travel. Even if we travel separately, we'll be able to watch the same show at the same time and use FaceTime at the same time and it will be like we're watching together. Good stuff!

We paid up (a little in retrospect) for the "preferred" guest package. If you ever come to Mexico or the Caribbean and are faced with this decision, do it!! Twice now we've done it and couldn't imagine how we wouldn't. Here the membership gives you free wifi anywhere, which is like $25 a day without the membership. That alone more than covers the initial outlay. Plus we have our own pool, computers to use and bartender. Not to mention we get to have breakfast and lunch away from the commoners. Excellent!!

Hey, I'm able to copy and paste images! Yay!