Sunday, May 20, 2007
A Weekend Full of Fun (and Sweat)
Kari's twin brother, Jason, came to visit this weekend, so we all tried to show him a good time. It was a busy, sweaty weekend, but it was fun.
We're getting to the point when we want to try to get everything in before we leave. We're counting the days until we get to come home (five weeks!). This has been a great experience, but we can't wait to get away from all the stress and craziness at school and to come back to our comfortable lives that involve all the modern conviences (air conditioning, washers and dryers, etc.) and, more importantly, friends who share our values and lifestyle. We miss our friends and family and the positive
influence they have in our lives. So... here we go with the weekend:
Friday night was our friend Roger's birthday. No one knows exactly how old he is, but we know he's somewhere close to fifty. We took him out for dinner to a place we like called Bob's. It was fun, but we spent so much time sitting around waiting for people to be ready that we didn't get to dinner until about nine pm. Then, when dinner was done, half of us were tired and didn't want to go anywhere else and the other half wanted to go out dancing. People ended up getting upset, and the evening didn't end on a good note. Even though we don't write about it in the blog often, that happens often.
Saturday was Field Day at school. In the USA, Field Day usually means that a school day is devoted to fun and games for the students - sports competitions, prizes, everyone wins, etc. Here, Field Day means that on a Saturday, the school rents out an empty baseball field, fills it with carnival-like games, and requires the teachers to sign up for two hours of service. Students come, eat Dominican carnival food, and play the games. All of the foriegn teachers signed up for the same two hours since we don't have cars and had to take a 
taxi to the location. John and I ended up in charge of the bungee-run game. When we got there at 10 (the whole thing was supposed to start at 9), nothing was ready. So, for the first hour of our time, we sat in the shade and talked. The second hour, we did our duty in the scorching sun. It was so hot that the bungee-run thing got too hot for the kids to touch. We were relieved of our duties a little late, and then we had lunch (Dominican hot dogs and ice cream) and took off for activity #2 of the day. By the way, Dominicans put really weird things on their hot dogs, but it tastes great. From what we can tell, here's a list of the toppings: catchup, mustard, chili, relish (all normal), fake squirtable cheese, marinated cabbage, mayonaise, onions, and little shaved fried potatoes. I'm sure they're terrible for us, but they sure taste good!
Activity #2 for the day (by this time all of us had soaked through our 
clothes with sweat) was to visit some famous caves close to the city called Los Tres Ojos (which means The Three Eyes). We had heard of them before but didn't know exactly where they were or anything, but we decided they were a must-see before we leave the island for good. It was a great experience! Here we are on the left descending into the caves. We thought it 
would be cooler down there, and perhaps it was a few 
degrees cooler, but the humidity was three times as pronounced. Our clothes stayed wet with sweat.
There were three freshwater lakes down in the caves, and we saw fish and turtles swimming around. What a peaceful place! We also saw
some bats flying around. We were thankful for them because we were 
being eaten alive by mosquitoes. For ten pesos (about 3o cents), we took a little raft over to another cave and lake that opened up all the way up to the sky. It was really beautiful.
After we climbed out of the caves, we went for a walk in a pretty
garden area that was above ground right above the caves. John took some nice pictures of flowers, and by the time we got into the taxi, we were all exhausted. It's amazing what heat can do to you. We were all zapped of all energy.
We wish we could have taken our parents to see the caves and garden.
We're getting to the point when we want to try to get everything in before we leave. We're counting the days until we get to come home (five weeks!). This has been a great experience, but we can't wait to get away from all the stress and craziness at school and to come back to our comfortable lives that involve all the modern conviences (air conditioning, washers and dryers, etc.) and, more importantly, friends who share our values and lifestyle. We miss our friends and family and the positive
influence they have in our lives. So... here we go with the weekend:
Friday night was our friend Roger's birthday. No one knows exactly how old he is, but we know he's somewhere close to fifty. We took him out for dinner to a place we like called Bob's. It was fun, but we spent so much time sitting around waiting for people to be ready that we didn't get to dinner until about nine pm. Then, when dinner was done, half of us were tired and didn't want to go anywhere else and the other half wanted to go out dancing. People ended up getting upset, and the evening didn't end on a good note. Even though we don't write about it in the blog often, that happens often.
Saturday was Field Day at school. In the USA, Field Day usually means that a school day is devoted to fun and games for the students - sports competitions, prizes, everyone wins, etc. Here, Field Day means that on a Saturday, the school rents out an empty baseball field, fills it with carnival-like games, and requires the teachers to sign up for two hours of service. Students come, eat Dominican carnival food, and play the games. All of the foriegn teachers signed up for the same two hours since we don't have cars and had to take a 
taxi to the location. John and I ended up in charge of the bungee-run game. When we got there at 10 (the whole thing was supposed to start at 9), nothing was ready. So, for the first hour of our time, we sat in the shade and talked. The second hour, we did our duty in the scorching sun. It was so hot that the bungee-run thing got too hot for the kids to touch. We were relieved of our duties a little late, and then we had lunch (Dominican hot dogs and ice cream) and took off for activity #2 of the day. By the way, Dominicans put really weird things on their hot dogs, but it tastes great. From what we can tell, here's a list of the toppings: catchup, mustard, chili, relish (all normal), fake squirtable cheese, marinated cabbage, mayonaise, onions, and little shaved fried potatoes. I'm sure they're terrible for us, but they sure taste good!
Activity #2 for the day (by this time all of us had soaked through our 
clothes with sweat) was to visit some famous caves close to the city called Los Tres Ojos (which means The Three Eyes). We had heard of them before but didn't know exactly where they were or anything, but we decided they were a must-see before we leave the island for good. It was a great experience! Here we are on the left descending into the caves. We thought it 
would be cooler down there, and perhaps it was a few 
degrees cooler, but the humidity was three times as pronounced. Our clothes stayed wet with sweat. There were three freshwater lakes down in the caves, and we saw fish and turtles swimming around. What a peaceful place! We also saw
some bats flying around. We were thankful for them because we were 
being eaten alive by mosquitoes. For ten pesos (about 3o cents), we took a little raft over to another cave and lake that opened up all the way up to the sky. It was really beautiful.
After we climbed out of the caves, we went for a walk in a pretty
garden area that was above ground right above the caves. John took some nice pictures of flowers, and by the time we got into the taxi, we were all exhausted. It's amazing what heat can do to you. We were all zapped of all energy.
We wish we could have taken our parents to see the caves and garden.
By the time we got home and showered, John and I were both so exhausted that we took a 2
hour nap. It was heavenly after such a long day in the sun and heat. We planned to meet in Kari's apartment for a pre-dinner game of poker. We all put in 10 pesos (about 30 cents), so that the winner of the game would win the tip for the cleaning ladies this next week. We all give about 50 pesos for a tip. We had a fun time playing poker. In the end, it came down to John and Kari, and since it was passed time for dinner (again), John made decisions he would not have usually made so that the game would end. Kari won. 
I stayed in for a long time and won several big hands. Later, John told me he was proud of my poker skills.
I stayed in for a long time and won several big hands. Later, John told me he was proud of my poker skills. We had decided to go to this place called Yatoba for dinner. For months, every time we walk passed it, I say,"I'd really like to go there sometime. It looks so nice!" Last night, my wish came true, and we went to Yatoba. It was my kind of place. I like classy restaraunts where the waitors are good, where the food comes out looking like art, where the table clothes and napkins are soft 
linen... it was wonderful! The amosphere was sophisticated, and my sushi was served to me in a very aesthetically pleasing way. It tasted as good - or better - than it looked. YUM!! Everyone else really enjoyed their meals, too, and here's the bonus: it wasn't even that expensive! We've got to go back sometime in the next five weeks.
linen... it was wonderful! The amosphere was sophisticated, and my sushi was served to me in a very aesthetically pleasing way. It tasted as good - or better - than it looked. YUM!! Everyone else really enjoyed their meals, too, and here's the bonus: it wasn't even that expensive! We've got to go back sometime in the next five weeks.After dinner, we had planned to meet up with the French teacher from school and her husband to go dancing. We ended up at this really seedy disco. It was too dark in there, and who knows what was going on in the middle of the dance floor. It wasn't very fun. The music was so loud that it was painful to my ears. But, we went somewhere new, and now we know not to go back. In the end, John and I went home with Pauline and Leo (the French teacher), and everyone else went to another dance place.
I think Jason ended up having an okay time. John really loved having him around because John has spent the last school year hanging out with only women. He really misses his guy friends, and it was great for him to be able to hang with a guy. He's been such a trooper this year! We can't wait to come home.
// posted by The Roths @ 5:31 PM 
