Around the neighborhood

Do you ever wonder about what neighborhoods look like in other places around the world?  Today I will give you a tour of a typical Dominican neighborhood.  Sometimes I do wonder about other places, like Brazil or somewhere in Sweden. I'm also the type of girl who is always looking into people's homes when I'm walking my dogs. Back in the States, I do this in my neighborhood all the time. It sounds creepy, but I promise it's not. I just like to see how others decorate.

With this in mind, I snapped a few pictures of my parents' neighborhood (where I'm staying now).  The sun of the early afternoon is intensely reflected in some of the pictures.  This one above is their street.  Some of the houses are exposed, having low bearing walls.  Homes like these get plenty of sunlight during the day.  One of the best features of living in the Caribbean.

Other homes have stonewalled fences like this one, and the one in front (not in the picture).  It's a safety issue here.  And residents try to make them as aesthetically pleasing as possible.

I love this one. You can see part of the yard.  Who wouldn't like to have a yard like this to entertain family and friends all the time?

The trees are so amazing and diverse.  You can encounter a palm variety next to a pine tree and get the exotic feeling of the mountains without leaving your surroundings.

Cayenne flowers are a native flower species here.  They grow everywhere, even in the ditch roads, which connect small and large towns.  

Tall pine tree spotted.  I call it The Sage. Actually this corner has several pine varieties, from the tall type to small bush-like ones.  You can imagine the aroma early in the morning.  It transports you to far-away woods.

And of course, where there are large, tall trees, there are large, tall nests. Every morning I wake up to the sound of ciguas.and cimarrones.

And last, but not least, the neighborhood eye-sore.  The ugliest house (under construction) to be erected in this street.  A Caribbean style McMansion, full of pretentious and gaudy openings and columns. Yuck! You know the type, I'm sure your neighborhood is not exempt of them. 

We have reached the end of this tour.  How about your neighborhood? What do you like best about it? Would you post pictures?