Is there really a better way to celebrate graduating from University than spending a few days in an underground hurricane shelter in the poorest part area of the Dominican Repulic?

So, it was the fall of '98 and both me and BAJ had graduated from University. I had moved to Ottawa and BAJ was working as an officer in the navy. The time was right for an adventure. We decided to spend a week in the Dominican Republic... in September. We were warned that it was hurricane season, but we were young, but most importantly, we were (still are I think?) invincible.

Part 1 (The Calm Before the Storm)
BAJ flew up to Ottawa and stayed for a couple days before we left. Once the day was upon us, we got in the car and drove down to Toronto (5 hours) to the airport. I hadn't really thought about parking ahead of time. So I just payed to leave the car in the airport lot. When we left the car, BAJ thought he might have left his window down. So he ran back to the car to check. As it turned out, he actually had remembered to put his window up. Whew! Remember this, it is significant later.

The flight to the DR was cool. Blue sky's, airplane food, and a buzz of excitment in the air! Eventually we made the approach to the airport in Santa Domingo! SD is the poorest large city in the world. Over 2.5M people living in poverty there. We were staying in a small village called Boca Chica, just outside of SD. On the approach, the beaches looked awesome.

Curious event #1
We get off the plane and walk outside. The air is great! Very warm. We meet up with our tour operator and are confronted by a big Dominican dude. He want's to take our luggage to the bus. Both BAJ and I only had a small carry on bag each (travel light, the only way!) and figured we were good to get it another 10 feet to the bus without help. The guy insisted, so we follow him over to the bus. Then he puts his hand out. Ok, a tip, sure, no prob. Oh wait. Small prob. I only have Canadian money! I offer a $5. The guy looks at me like I'm insane. His english was very poor, but it was good enough to say "$5 American". Hmm.. ok. I don't have it, sorry. Then he pulls his jacked aside to show us his nice handgun in his belt! Ahh.. so it was gonna be like that. That was our welcome to the island. So our tour operator bailed us out of that one and spotted us a couple of US fivers. Whew! Didn't get shot on our first day. Score one for the good guys.

Too be continued...