Let's see ...

The last couple of weeks have been interesting.

First, there is an article in a newspaper here talking about the gay scene. Many people think it is very positive and it is a good way of highlighting the positive aspects of the community here. Then, the raid and closing of Arena and all its businesses happens. No one knows for sure what prompted this action, but I think it is safe to say that many people were caught off guard. Arena has been re-opened, but the hotel and spa are still closed. They are still working out getting whatever necessary permits are needed.

I just got off the phone with Kelvin. I told him that I would like to speak (short interview) with him and publish the conversation here. This way, we can get the story direct from him. The stories I have heard are just mind-boggling. Anyway, Arena is returning in a big way. They are having big shows the entire weekend, starting this Friday. Let the battle begin!

Like many places in the States, it has been raining, and raining and raining some more here. Finally, a little sun is starting to peek through.

The July 4th weekend is coming up and many people are expected to come down for a visit. Many more people that I know of wanted to come down this weekend, but the tickets have been extremely high. So, that means you should buy your tickets NOW for Labor Day. Anwyway, for those in town, along with the packed weekend at Arena, you can also should checkout David Lee's blog for what is going on at the Sports Bar. I have not spoken to Jerry, but I am sure that he has something in store for this weekend at Jay-Dee's.

Byron, formerly of Casa New Yorker, is now blogging again. He has some very interesting takes on life in Santo Domingo. I encourage you to checkout his blog and tell him to blog more. Oh yeah, ask him to post more of those photos!

I don't know what is going on with the new Hotel Discovery, near the Parque de Independencia (Independence Park). Everytime I go by I get the story that it will be open in a couple of weeks. I am starting to see some furniture being moved in, but there doesn't seem to be a rush to open. The summer is the slow season here, so I would look for them to be open by the fall, if not sooner. Either way, it looks like it will be a very nice place whenever they decide to get it together.

It is official. Star Jones is leaving the view. I like Star Jones. But, then I also like Kathie Lee Gifford. Love her, or hate her. Star Jones is going to be alright. Give 'em hell, Star!

That's all for now.

UPDATE: (Saturday, July 1 , 12:14am)
I spent a couple of hours with Kelvin, manager of Arena, on Thursday. Very interesting conversation and out of respect for him and the situation going on here, I have decided not to add any gasoline to the fire. I agree with him, let´s let things quiet down a bit and get back to normal. We can see if we can address certain issues in the future.

Arena

Arena has re-opened. I have not been able to speak directly with the manager to get the 411 on exactly what took place for it to reopen. From what I have read, the authorities were allowing them to reopen as long as they followed some rules about noise, etc. There was also some talk about the hotel not having the proper papers, and the like. Again, I have not spoken to the manager and will find out more once I do.

What Happened?

Just to keep you up-to-date on what has been going on. As some of you have heard there has been some problems with the police here last weekend. Earlier last week there appeared an article in Clave Digital about the gay scene in Santo Domingo. The article seemed to be positive and talked about the community. There was a stir about if the article was going to cause unwanted attention, but most didn't think anything would come from it. There was talk in article about the police asking people for money. No one knows what caused the raid at Arena, but it has been confirmed that they came and closed everything down. They closed the hotel, the club and the spa. The police showed up at the Sports Bar and Jay-Dee's. All they did was ask for ID and left. There were rumors that other bars were closed, it is not true. Only Arena (and its other businesses). When I find out more information I will let you know.

UPDATE (Wednesday, 2:20pm):

I spoke with Kelvin, the manager of Arena, today. They are still trying to find out exactly the reason for their businesses being closed. He says they keep getting different reasons from noise, to drug investigations, to underage people inside. Most people know that these reasons are nonsense. Chachita Rubio, the famous gay television personality, has been using her television show to highlight this controversy. She has been outspoken and giving the prosecutor hell. She talked about how she has been going to Arena for years and there was never a problem. Kudos to Chachita, who is doing a great service for the gay community here. Most of the reaction that I have seen is in agreement that the place was closed down on some trumped-up charges. Here's hoping that this matter can be resolved amicably and that Arena will open as soon as possible.

Also, I wanted to make sure that everyone understands that the WHOLE gay community wasn't "raided." The police only stopped by the Sports Bar and Jay-Dee's. They were not, I repeat NOT raided at anytime. Unfortunately, there are those who have spread rumors that other places were raided and closed. It is not true.

More later ...

Blessed

I don't know why it seems that I need to get bad news before I understand how blessed I am.

I got a call yesterday from a friend who calls me frequently from the States. He had been talking about how he wanted to come down for a visit but the airfares were ridiculous. He kept asking me what I wanted him to bring me. I said my usual, magazines.

Today, I get a phone call from his cell phone in Santo Domingo. I thought that was odd, seeing as I spoke to him last night. Surprise, he was here and wanted to come by and talk to me, in person. Being vain and thinking EVERYTHING must be about me I asked him what was up and to just tell me on the phone. No, he said. He needed to do in person.

30 minutes later he shows up at my door. We hug, laugh, he brings me the latest magazines, along with a delish cheesecake! We then sit down and he tells me, "this may be my last trip to Santo Domingo for awhile." As he loves this country as much as I do, I was like WHY?

Then he told me, "I have prostate cancer." I sit down and look for a cigarette and then all the questions come. How? How are you feeling? What are you going to do? Have you told your family? What's your prognosis? And on and on.

It was found in a routine checkup. He is in no pain, has lost no weight and looks like his old self. In great spirits and cracking jokes with me. After he left I sat down and felt ashamed. I'm thinking he is coming over to tell me something I had done wrong. No, he was here to tell me as a friend in person and to tell ME that everything is going to be alright. As I write this I'm tearing up. The things I wanted to say, I couldn't. I was just shocked.

Why does it always take something like this for you to sit and reflect on how much people mean to you? I don't know. But today, I am blessed for having a friend like him and I just wanted him to know that I agree, everything WILL be alright.

Have you told your family/friends how much they mean to you?

Anniversary

It has been one year since I started the blog. It has been really interesting. When I started this blog it was just a way for me to basically have a diary that my friends would checkout to see how I was doing. It has since evolved into something people love or hate. Sort of like the way people feel about Star Jones.

I am proud of most of the entries I have written, and even the feuds I have had. As my mother used to say this (meaning her household rules) is not a democracy. What she said was law. I feel the same way about the blog. It is not fair, but hey, life ain't fair either.

I got a really interesting email from someone who told me how he had been following the blog since its inception and that he thought it had lost its steam. He liked it much more when there is a lot of drama. Basically, if the blog is not going to keep shit stirred up, he thought it was time for me to close it down. He thought it was beneath me and my talents to keep it up. I wrote back with one sentence. Why do you keep reading it if it is boring? No response.

It is really funny how things have changed. Even good friends of mine now preface comments with, "now I don't want to read about this on the blog, but ... ." For those that think I write too much, you should hear all the things that I DON'T write about. That would really curl your hair.

Before I would write about little things that happened, little gossips that were going around. I have since stopped. Because even if I write about it with the pure intentions, it somehow (through some comments and such) gets turned around and taken in a different direction. I can't really write things I want to because when I do EVERYONE thinks that I'm talking about them and their particular situation. Can't win for losing.

There are several items that I would like to comment on, but I won't. If I step away from the computer for several hours when I right about "controversial" topics, there are 30 comments when I get back. I have learned my lesson.

The name Monaga.com was registered on May 24, 2001. Very nice date and I don't I have thought about it since. Then my site went down. After checking my credit card, I saw that the hosting bill was paid. I then sent a very stern email to my new hosting company wanting to know what the fuck the problem was (but much nicer). Well, it seems that my domain name expired on May 24, 2006. As my first web designer registered the name for me and I can't find him (if anyone knows Laheem Jordan, tell him to call me), I now have to jump through hoops to get my site registered again, because I am not Laheem Jordan. Lesson, don't let anyone register your website for you, do it yourself!!!!!!

One more thing, I got a great email from another client who was fighting with Avis rental cars. He was here in February, for DIH2, and rented a car with no problem. When he got back to the States he noticed an extra charge on his credit card. Now, I have heard of others having problems with other rental companies. But what I'm talking about has nothing to do with rental cars in particular, but any company that is franchised with headquarters in the U.S. Anytime you have a problem and you complain about it when you get back home, they tell you that they have no control over that office, because it is independently owned and operated. In a word, that is BULLSHIT. If that were the case you could open a McDonald's and design the interior the way you want, or make any kind of sandwhich. Long story short, you have to fight and write many emails and letters about what is going on. If you are in the right and persistent you will prevail. Those that follow the blog will remember the problem some travellers had when staying at the Clarion Hotel. The same corporate bullshit was spewed that they had no control, yada, yada, yada. Well, they did have control and finally got their shit together. I guess I said all this to say, don't take any shit.

Byron has finally updated his blog. Go check it out.

Today was a holiday here, Corpus Christi. Most stores are closed and many people are celebrating a special mass with the Cardinal.

Blah, blah, blah ...

Nothing much going on now. There were many friends here in the last 2 weeks, now everyone has returned back to the plantations in the States. I miss you guys already. Come back soon, ya here!

There was a young girl killed in Santiago recently. She was robbed and shot 3 times. Everyone from the Cardinal to the President has expressed their outrage. From time to time I will get asked about the crime situation here. It is amazing, but I live in the Colonial Zone, and I have never been afraid in this area. I do travel to the barrios, too. I guess living in NYC in the gang and crack-ravaged 70's and 80's, nothing surprises me. I have been truly lucky living here. I have had a couple of cars broken into, but that has been that extent of my crime problem here. It also brings me to a drag queen that was attacked in NYC recently, Kevin Aviance. Violence is a problem everywhere, even here in the Dominican Republic.

Found out more information about the new club that is supposed to open. Have heard tons of stories and if it does open I will post information about the place.

Mario sent me a very interesting article about a Dominican scholar graduation from Princeton.

Links

Here are some interesting links for stories about the Dominicans or the Dominican Republic:

Gay.com has a story about the Dominican Republic, though much of the information is outdated and taken from my site a LONG time ago.

Travel and Leisure magazine has an excellent article about the Dominican Republic.

Brenda Revlon, the Dominican Transgendered Diva, has an interview on Clay Cane's blog. Very interesting. Go, Brenda!

Dominican Today has a little article on the Shoe-shine boys of the Colonial Zone.

The Village Voice has a great article about a former Dominican gang in Washington Heights (NYC).

Las Terrenas

Here are some photos of my friend's excursion to Las Terrenas, in the Samana region of the Dominican Republic. They stayed at the Las Palmas a Mar, which are little bungalows located just across from the Caribbean Ocean. The trip is about 4 hours from Santo Domingo and there are many other towns in the Samana region worth visiting. Some others are: Las Galeras, El Portillo, El Limon, and just about everywhere esle. It is just beautiful with one of the most unspoiled parts of the Dominican Republic. Also listed on the Monaga site is the Playa Colibri.