Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Living the Duality
We
haven't posted a new blog recently because we've been too busy living. We are simultaneously trying to live it up and experience everything one last time while feeling extremely excited and ready to move home. It's a strange combination that makes it so we are living a duality. At school, it's final exam time, which means vast expanses of time at school to do absolutely nothing for me (Claire). For John, it means lots of time spent babysitting. We have everything done - classrooms ready to pack up, grades finished, all books and materials inventoried - and now we just have to wait for the scheduled time for our finals, grade them, and enter the grades into the computer. I've finished two books in the past two days.
Tonight, we were supposed to go bowling and play games at this game center about 3/4 of a mile south on Lincoln, but John is sick. He has a temperature of 101.666666 (convert
ed from 38.7 Celsius because our thermometer is in degrees Celsius). He's sleeping, and I'm blogging. I have a feeling we'll spend most of the evening in the air conditioned bedroom since there's nothing worse (when you have a fever) than hanging out in a hot and humid climate.
I'll now recount last weekend's activities through narrative and photos... the photos will be added later since Blogger is having trouble uploading them at the moment.
But as soon as we had to haggle with rude taxi drivers for a ride home, the possibility of sweet nostalgic thoughts abated. We know that when we leave, the things we love about living here will grow in our minds and loom over the more numerous unpleasant things that will continue shrinking with relative inconsequence as time moves by.
The only notable feature of El Acuario Nacional is a tunnel that goes through the biggest tank. We went in and stayed in it for quite some time, but it seemes all the aquatic life prefers to make rounds around the outside of the tank, so when you're in the tunnel, you can't see anything.
haven't posted a new blog recently because we've been too busy living. We are simultaneously trying to live it up and experience everything one last time while feeling extremely excited and ready to move home. It's a strange combination that makes it so we are living a duality. At school, it's final exam time, which means vast expanses of time at school to do absolutely nothing for me (Claire). For John, it means lots of time spent babysitting. We have everything done - classrooms ready to pack up, grades finished, all books and materials inventoried - and now we just have to wait for the scheduled time for our finals, grade them, and enter the grades into the computer. I've finished two books in the past two days.
Tonight, we were supposed to go bowling and play games at this game center about 3/4 of a mile south on Lincoln, but John is sick. He has a temperature of 101.666666 (convert
ed from 38.7 Celsius because our thermometer is in degrees Celsius). He's sleeping, and I'm blogging. I have a feeling we'll spend most of the evening in the air conditioned bedroom since there's nothing worse (when you have a fever) than hanging out in a hot and humid climate.I'll now recount last weekend's activities through narrative and photos... the photos will be added later since Blogger is having trouble uploading them at the moment.
Last weekend, we went to the Colonial Zone for the last time. It was mostly uneventful, and we didn't take a camera since we already have thousands of pictures of that part of the city. We went to the market, shopped around, walked around the whole historical area, and en
ded with dinner on the square in front of the first governor's mansion. We found ourselves breathing the cool evening sea breeze and realizing that we might miss this part of living here...
ded with dinner on the square in front of the first governor's mansion. We found ourselves breathing the cool evening sea breeze and realizing that we might miss this part of living here...
But as soon as we had to haggle with rude taxi drivers for a ride home, the possibility of sweet nostalgic thoughts abated. We know that when we leave, the things we love about living here will grow in our minds and loom over the more numerous unpleasant things that will continue shrinking with relative inconsequence as time moves by. Sunday, John and I went to the national aquarium. We had heard and read that it was nothing spectacular, but we wanted to go anyway. We had a great time together looking at the sea creatures and just being together. We saw so many kinds of fish in captivity that we had previously seen in the wild, or (more than the previous kind) on ice at the fresh fish counter in the grocery store. Some of our favorite things were Mero (sea bass), which we eat quite often, and which we now know is a GIGANTIC fish, 
the various cockroach-looking sea creatures like lobsters, turtles, and crabs.
the various cockroach-looking sea creatures like lobsters, turtles, and crabs.
The only notable feature of El Acuario Nacional is a tunnel that goes through the biggest tank. We went in and stayed in it for quite some time, but it seemes all the aquatic life prefers to make rounds around the outside of the tank, so when you're in the tunnel, you can't see anything. The aquarium is right on the coast and has a lovely walkway along the rocky coast. 
We spent about an hour (or more) simply watching the waves crash into the coral and rocks below, spraying us occasionally with damp 
saltiness. We breathed the sea, soaked in the sun, and absorbed the rhythmic sound of the ocean knowing that soon we won't be able to feel, see, and hear those things as often as we want. Indiana, unfortunately, is landlocked.
We spent about an hour (or more) simply watching the waves crash into the coral and rocks below, spraying us occasionally with damp 
saltiness. We breathed the sea, soaked in the sun, and absorbed the rhythmic sound of the ocean knowing that soon we won't be able to feel, see, and hear those things as often as we want. Indiana, unfortunately, is landlocked.Today is Wednesday, tomorrow is a national holiday, and then we'll be experiencing our last weekend here in Santo Domingo. We're spending our last weekend in the country at a resort. Hoorah! Hopefully John will start to feel better today or tomorrow so we can fully enjoy our last weekend in the city.
// posted by The Roths @ 2:43 PM 
Comments:
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Sure hope John is feeling better today. Good luck with the last week of classes and then getting ready to move north. There hasn't been too many changes here in the past year. The only thing I can think of is Smokey Bones has closed. Sorry John. Me too, never got there for their ribs. I think there is one in Indy, but that's a long way to go. Oh well there has to be something here in Bloonmington. Looking forward to seeing you. Love Gramma
# posted by 
: 6:35 PM, June 10, 2007
: 6:35 PM, June 10, 2007
I just Want to Know If You Guys Are Coming Backs to Dom. Rep. or Not. Kelvin M.
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# posted by : 1:26 PM, June 12, 2007
: 1:26 PM, June 12, 2007 << Home
