Friday, September 6, 2013

Journey Across The Border

Since i was vacationing in the Dominican Republic for over a month, i decided to head over to haiti for a week to visit some family and also to attend a funeral. This post is about the 8 hours long journey i took from Santiago de los Caballeros Dominican Republic to Port-au-Prince Haiti.

    Step 1. It all starts with you having to call the bus company; i used Coach Line Express, either the early morning of, or the night before just to reserve your spot on the bus. When all that is handled, pack your bags, but beware of what you pack because "they" check the suitcases that go under the buses and take things that they want going and coming, their bogus excuses is that they don't want untaxed things leaving country X or entering country Y.

    If you have the luck of staying in Santo Domingo, you can skip this step, but i had to take a cab to Metro bus station where i bought my ticket to the capital: this is a 2 hour long bus ride, all before dawn.

 8 something i arrived in the capital where i proceeded to take another cab to Coach line Express bus station. When i arrived i realized i did not do step 1, which was reserve my spot, so i was put on standby and had to see whether or not there would be enough empty seat on the bus, luckily there was. Its a $40 American dollar bus ticket, and a $25 American dollar tax for leaving DR (rip off) they take your passport and return it to you when you reach the frontier/border. You will be on the bus for a while, about 5 1/2- 6 hrs until you arrive at the border. They feed you ham & cheese sandwiches, juice and water, so if you don't think this will suffice, bring your own food.


(Beautiful body of water near the boarder)

(SOOO many seek refuge here after the earthquake who now have no home)

   When you reach the border, they return your passport to you while on the bus, then are asked to leave the bus to get your passport stamped SALIDA, beware of your property and don't be a victim of the scammers who ask for passports and money, if you paid at the station thats all the money you'll spend until you come back, and also be mindful of the beggars they are good, its their job. The only thing i don't like is that they are pushy both the Haitians and the Dominicans *let it be my choice whether i want to give you money, I'm from New York i see this 24/7*

                                                          (Everyday Life For them)

...When you walk back to the bus, don't be alarmed, like i said before they will open every suitcase and check for this, just make sure you are watching your property.
(The Gate that Separates Haiti and D.R)
  Back on the bus you go, and within a matter of minutes you have passed the gate which separates the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Within a few minutes of entering Haiti, you are prompted to get off the bus again and get your passport stamped ENTREE, for legal entrance into Haiti(make sure that you fill out all of the forms given to you, also making sure that you store everything somewhere safe).
                             (Officially IN Haiti, Building Where You get you passport Stamped)


Once all of this Mumble Jumble is over, Enjoy your ride through Haiti!

(Beautiful Mountain)

(Kamoinet)









 

Monday, July 22, 2013

Fourth of July Mayhem


As July 4th was creeping in closer and closer, i decided to create my own DIY shorts using an old pair of chewed up denim jeans. I really loved that pair of pants but could not see myself parting ways with it. So like many females that have a tough time throwing away things that we think are still useful, i decided to turn them into distressed bleached shorts! And what better way to celebrate the Fourth than to be very patriotic by wearing a pair of short made in the US eh?


1. Pick any pair of denim that you've out grown or out worn, or get a pair from the thrift store.

2. Try them on and see what length you want to sport
3. Any designs? Studs, Distressed, tie-dye, bleached...etc

4. Rock them bad boys like your life depended on it.

                                         I've added a Video which demonstrated my process.

Monday, July 1, 2013

A New Way Of Dreaming

The other day I was laying down and started thinking, "Man I wish I can add some Jazz to my boring bed". That one little thought started my project called " A New Way of Dreaming ". I decided that I wanted to turn my drab Ikea MALM bed into my own Custom Upholstered padded headboard. The only problem was that I had no clue how. I decided to hit up World Wide Web in search of some type of video, comment, or blog that can possibly give me any direction in which I can go: and I did. I stumbled across a site called Ikeahackers where they had a post from 2010, the blogger had the same MALM bed as I do. Using that as my inspirations and tweaking it to fit my needs, I went to the fabric store and picked out the fabric I wanted to use for my headboard along with cushion and batting. Then I headed to Home Depot where I purchased some plywood and other assortments of wood to support the new and old headboard. Within a few hours of putting everything together I finally got the bed I wanted...Now to match everything else in my room to it.


                                          Before: Masculine and boring

Attaching support so plywood does not tip over
Front of NEW headboard
                     Back of headboard with support to hold plywood and previous headboard
                   
Added Foam and Batting


Finally I ended up with this amazingly plush extra tall custom headboard that I can rest my back and head on without any worries, all for less than $60. Heres a close up of the fabric detailing.