Santo Domingo says Happy New Year.  I heard it all from an apartment in the middle of this enormous city. The sounds of Santo Domingo rose up in salute on New Year’s eve and then again in the evening on the 1st of January. I’ve never seen anything like it: Merengue music, holiday noisemakers, fireworks, shouting and singing...this city celebrates like no other. And it's fitting: In a city of over two millions people, this place is teaming with life, fraught with contrast, and always, always moving forward. It seems appropriate that this city should make itself be heard.

I am an observer here, a tourist who happens to have been lucky enough to live and work here for a short time, to speak the language and begin to know a few people before my stay here was cut painfully short. I guess I will never cease to be a goofy outsider -- one who takes at least a hundred photographs of a Christmas tree in a plaza because it is next to palm trees. Lookee --- there's one!:) 

It was good to be back here. My visit was brief, but I'm sure I'll return. This city captures my imagination, welcomes me in, startles me, teaches me, and encourages me to relax and take in the many sights and sounds. Hasta Pronto, Santo Domingo. And a Happy 2010 to you, as well!