The DR will be electing a new president this Sunday. The main two candidates are Danilo Madina (the purple flags) and Hipolito Mejia (white flag and the slogan “llego Papa”). While over the last many months there have been times where the streets are blocked with supporters of one group or another, things have really reached an almost religious fervor today.

So, what does this mean for the foreigners in the DR right now? Well, if you are living near a school you can expect it to be pretty crazy around the school all day Sunday which is the day of the voting. Monday you can expect parties by supporters of the winning candidate and plenty of drinking and lamenting by the losing party so expect the craziness to continue through Monday.

In addition, to the election on Sunday there will be the Partying in the streets. If you have been here a while you probably realize that people will use almost any excuse to party and that usually means blocked off streets and a lot of drunk motorcyclists and motorists.

I’m going to put the next few days as good days to stay home and relax and let the craziness pass.

National Non-work Days

The current president Leonel Fenandez declared Saturday through Monday to be a National Day Off. Although for most this will be a day off, larger public service organizations like hospitals, firefighters and police will remain in operation.

While some of the small colmados may be open you might want to be sure if you have anything to buy you get it in the morning on Saturday and don’t expect a lot to be open on Sunday.

One good note to this though is after today we will have a bit of a break from the larger and louder sound cars (campaigning is suppose to end today, Friday) and be back to just the smaller ones that the vendors use!