San Juan {Not the Puerto Rican One}

Last Friday we drove out to the town of San Juan de la Maguana.  Having never been I expected your average small village in the country, but the town thoroughly impressed me!  

Not because it was luxurious or advanced, but because of how organized and clean it was.  In most of the DR, there is garbage along the sides of the road (partly because of unreliable trash pick-up and partly because the people choose to litter) but in San Juan I did not see a single piece of trash.  And for the first time in my two years of living here, I saw a dumpster.  A dumpster! #YouKnowYouLiveInAThirdWorldCountryWhen... 

The town also had about a dozen small parks and monuments.  There was what looked like a mini Park Guell and fun momuments like this one with the men with cool sunglasses.  The town just seemed so patriotic. 

While A's sister and dad worked, we explored the neighborhood.  I loved the vibrant flowers that popped out of nowhere and the quirky homes, like the red house with a bow on it.  We took a break from the sun at the colmado, where we devoured these snacks and some bottled water all for a dollar. Umm, PM late night taco flavored?!..  

Next, we walked to the castle house that can be seen from blocks away.  Apparently, a famous Dominican painter decided he wanted to live in a castle, so thats what he had built.  He lives there now, even though the house is nowhere near finished; story is that he ran out of money, poor guy.

We had a typical "lunch of the day" at Restaurante El Espía {the spy}.  We also tried ChenChen, a local dish native to the indigenous Indians of the region.  Its a puree of corn and what tastes like cottage cheese.  It was a bit milky for my liking, so I added some chicken broth which instantly gave it a kick.