Busy Weekend

There was much going on in Santo Domingo this past weekend. Merengue Festival in the colonial zone. And then there was the Mr. Republica Dominica bodybuilding contest on Sunday. Also a Dominican parade in Bronx, New York. I was already to go the bodybuilding contest. Got up at 7:50 am on a Sunday morning. Get there early, sit right behind the judges. Pull out my camera and turn it on. No memory! Left it in my laptop. Silend scream. NOOOOOOO! Fortunately, Ernest was there covering the event for a bodybuilding magazine. The problem is all the good photos of the weigh-in and everyone getting ready must go to the magazine who is paying for them. I will have access to them as soon as they are published. Otherwise, it was a long, but great Sunday.

Hola

It has been overcast and cloudy the last couple of days while a tropical depression dumps some rain on us. And it has been incredibly HUMID. Otherwise it is pretty quiet.

This weekend (Friday, Saturday & Sunday) is the start of the annual Merengue Festival on the Malecon. So it should be really crowded in the colonial zone this weekend.

This Sunday is also the Mr. Republica Dominican 2009 bodybuilding contest. They are not really playing it up this year (though I will be there regardless!). And that is because the week after is the bodybuilding championship for the Caribbean, which will be hosted at a stadium in Santiago. Participants are expected from the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and Cuba, among other islands. Someone in our crew was able to get a press pass. I, of course, will be his assistant. I want to get backstage and help the contestants get ready. I mean, it is the least I can do. What I'm really looking forward to is the rumored after-party.

Major League Baseball has announced a partnership with Puerto Bani, a new residential ballpark community. Bani is less than an hour west of Santo Domingo. This is the first of many projects planned for the southwest of the country. The plans are very ambitious and it will be interesting to see how this pans out.

Gloria Gaynor, the orignial singer of "I Will Survive," will be performing at the Hard Rock Cafe on August 1, 2009. I wonder how many times she has sang that song?

Did you know that Santiago, Dominican Republic, is on the cutting-edge of stem cell breakthroughs? No. Neither did a lot of other scientists. That hasn't stopped people from paying tens of thousands of dollars to receive treatment. Click here for the story.

Lastly, Sylvester Paige is here and looks great. Also, I want to say Happy Birthday to David Lee.

Until soon,
The Monaga Blogger