I like to boogie

The days of our grand, superb, adventurous vacation almost always ended in the same place: the hotel lobby. 

It's here that we would re-group with our new friends, and hang out with our employee buddies while they were "working." We made friends with pretty much anyone who would have us: 

  Christian insisted on getting his picture taken with his favorite bar tender, all 5 of them. He was having such a good time, when I said: "Smile a smile that shows how much fun you're having!", he did this: 

Here is Hector, one of the best, fun, most entertaining people I have ever met: 

Once a week, his job requires him to cover himself in glitter, and stand by guests for photo-ops. He says he loves his job....I know what you're thinking: "How does he get the glitter out of certain sensitive places?" Wonder no more because I marched right up to him and asked.....

...and he promptly wiped my whole neck and chest with glitter. 

I'm doing three things in the picture below: swallowing the sip of beer I just took while smiling a "OH NO YOU DIDN'T" smile and killing him with my eyes. 

No joke, I found some of that glitter in those earrings a week ago.

The most special people we met, were our friends from France. Ambre (who we Americanized as Amber) was 17 and Tom, 19. They were on vacation with their dad, Fred. We met them early in the week while playing beach volleyball. The rest of our trip was spent trying to bridge the communication gap with slow speaking, and unnecessary hand gestures. Lucky for us, Tom and Fred could speak English very well, and Amber caught on quickly. The majority of our time was spent with them:

Hi friends, we miss you!

We met Luke (far left) the same time as Tom and Amber. There were a TON of tourists from New Jersey at our resort, but he was the only one we actually liked. 

We loved Amber and Tom so much we made them members of the family by officially marrying Andrew and Amber. It's true! I performed the ceremony myself, right in the discotheque (which my Missouri twang pronounced: discOH-tech). I'm quite certain the marriage was legally binding too......

Speaking of the discOH-tech, when you experience an entirely different country for 8 days, you allow yourself to become fully emerged in their culture (well, if you want to have a good time you do). So aside from drinking Presidente beer as our main water source,

we got to hear many of the 'popular, local' songs. We were so immersed within the Dominican culture, we heard these songs over the resort speakers again and again and again and again and again. If you want to feel like you were on the trip with us, just listen to these songs on repeat for 8 days straight:

Michel Telo- Ai Se Eu Tu Pego 

Great song to sing when your day could use a little accordion in it. 

Danza Kuduro- Don Omar
This song is perfect if you are in the mood to fake your Spanish skills...anything sounds right.

Shakira- Waka Waka

This song comes with dances moves that I never mastered, but I do like saying waka-waka-hey-hey. 

Lately, if Chris asks me a question I don't know the answer too, I just respond by throwing my hands up in the air and say: "Sorry, waka-waka-hey-hey!"

My dad's favorite song: 

This song's main lyrics are "Que calor, que calor." 

Beware when listening to this song because you will wake up with this phrase going over and over in your mind it's that catchy.

And finally, this masterpiece:

Literally meaning, The Cow, this song is perfect when you speed clean something. It is always quite appropriate to yell 'La Vaca, moo!' along with the growly voiced singer--I find it therapeutic. The fact that the video showcases sexy dancing girls, a singer from1995, and an assortment of cows is just a bonus.

I have now given you all tools needed to become a true, authentic inhabitant of the Dominican Republic: 

                        1) Friends in high places at the Lobby ba
2) Friends from France
                    3) Memorization of the above songs.

Don't believe me? Just ask Christian: