Our Stay in Salinas
Oct 12, 2006
Headed to Dominican Republic so Steve could go kiteboarding. Salinas turned out to be a cool little town.
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It definitely depends on what town you go to. Some towns such as Cabarette don't have any local culture at all and are quite drab while others have a French influence or are truly Dominican. The beaches vary but are mostly just what you'd expect in the Caribbean - white sand and warm turquoise water.
In general DR is very pretty, has super nice people (they actually like Americans), has a nice variety of landscape/towns, and although it is more expensive than the usual backpacker type of country, it is still cheaper than the rest of the Caribbean. It definitely creates a different atmosphere for the low-budget backpacker when the locals expect you to be the high paying all-inclusive resort type.
Getting away from the tourist areas the country is quite poor. Which means the local transportation is great! The food is fair and we were able to find rooms for $20. US dollars are accepted almost everywhere and the local rum is worth the trip alone.
Mar 2007
| Language | Meaning | Phrase / Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
Spanish |
chicken stock / bouillon (also caldo de pollo) |
consome de pollo cohn-soh-meh deh poi-yo |
| Does this have animal products? | Esto tiene productos de animales? eh-stoh tyeh-neh proh-dook-tohs deh ah-nee-mah-lehs? |
|
| Does this have chicken stock? | Tiene caldo de pollo? tyeh-neh cahl-doh deh poi-yo? |
|
| I am vegetarian | soy vegetarian(a fem.)(o male) soy ve-he-TAH-ree-YAH-nah |
|
| I don't eat meat, chicken, or fish | no como carne, pollo o pescado | |
| Is this made with water or chicken stock? (handy for asking about the gallo pinto) |
Está hecho con agua o caldo de pollo? | |
| no meat, no chicken, no fish | ni carne, ni pollo, ni pescado nee CAR-ne, nee POY-o, nee pes-CA-do |
|
| with vegetables instead of mean (chicken), please | con verduras en lugar de carne (pollo) por favor |
| Language | Meaning | Phrase / Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
Spanish |
health / Cheers! | salud sah-LOOD |
| pure life / Cheers! (means; Pure Life) (Costa Rica) |
pura vida POO-rah VEE-dah |
|
| excuse me (to get by) |
con permiso | |
| excuse me (to get someone's attention) |
desculpe me | |
| goodbye | adiós | |
| hello | hola | |
| please | gracias | |
| please | por favor | |
| sorry | perdon pehr-DOHN |
|
| Where is the bathroom? | ¿Dónde está el baño? | |
| with pleasure (you're welcome) (Costa Rica) |
con gusto | |
| a cacao and blue corn drink (full of antioxidants) (Nicaragua) |
pinollilo PEE-no-LEE-o |
|
| a light rain, like mist (literally cat’s hair) (Costa Rica) |
pelo de gato PEH-lo deh GAH-toh |
|
| awesome, con todo, all great (Cachete is literally a cheek, but locals use the phrase “a cachete” to define that something is good or doing good. For example, if you ask your friend how things are doing on his business, the response can be “Mae, a cachete” meaning that everything is going great. Sort of like "all good".) (Costa Rica) |
a cachete ah cah-CHEH-teh |
|
| cool (Costa Rica) |
tuanis twa-nees |
|
| Do you have ...? | ¿Tiene ...? | |
| do you speak English? | ¿habla Inglés? | |
| dude (it's acceptable to use this in every other sentence. LOL) (Costa Rica) |
mae | |
| giddy up (use it slangly like you do in English for "let's go" or "get going") |
arre AH-rreh |
|
| good morning, good afternoon, good evening | buenos días, buenas tardes, buenas noches | |
| hangover | resaca | |
| hangover (resaca is the common word for hangover) (Costa Rica) |
goma GO-mah |
|
| How are you? Good, thank you. | ¿Cómo está? Bien, gracias. | |
| I don't understand | no entiendo | |
| I need ... (a ticket, a hotel, help) | necesito ... (un boleto, un hotel, ayuda) | |
| I would like .... | Me gustaría .... | |
| Is there ...? No, there isn't .... | Hay ...? No, no hay .... | |
| it doesn't work | no funciona | |
| last drink of the night, although there are usually multiple last drinks (Costa Rica) |
zarpe SAR-peh |
|
| outdoor gazebo or pavilion (Costa Rica) |
rancho RAHN-choh |
|
| please (short for por favor, use in informal conversation) |
porfa POR-fah |
|
| see you later | hasta luego | |
| the check | la cuenta |
Helpful information and fun adventures!
More of a personal nature, my un-related diary-like (hmmm or blog-like?) daily thoughts and activities; the things that don't warrant their own article/adventure post.