A common experience in the Dominican Republic is the sudden, unannounced power cut. These are a result of electricity companies unwilling to invest, and their poor relation with the populace. Indeed, if a barrio has more that 50% of customers who are not up to date with their bills, then the barrio is cut off. It is generally a call for curses and the search for a torch in order to start up the power generator. If they are short on generator fuel then people just carry on as usual – tonight the boys at the gay disco round the corner simply moved the party into the street, carrying on the fun. There was an outage, so to speak. If they are longer people start to kick up a fuss – a few months ago there were power cuts that resulted in riots and a dozen protestors being shot dead by police.

The people you meet in hotels are generally a bit more interesting than your average. Meeting the ubiquitous, and rather charming, Australian on the ubiquitous world tour was followed by a rather senior Dominican expat who had returned from New York for 10 days for some “f****n’ and suckin’ with some of my girls”. Bit tongue, crossed legs and winced.