I see Your face in...: Dominican New Year

Hey everyone!

Right after Christmas (which was amazing since the whole family was home!), most of my family went to the Dominican Republic.

Well, we went to a beach resort, you know, the ones where you don't see one coin of the local currency and are surrounded by Americans, Canadians, and Europeans and the Dominican workers talk to you in English unless you respond in Spanish--that resort.

I know I know, I'm not complaining, just commenting. So here's what we did:

1. Eat a lot of buffet food: My favorite buffet creation there was a breakfast meal that I easily replicated when I got back home... It's french toast with peanut butter and then honey on the peanut butter and then raw rolled oats all over (I didn't have any banana or coconut jam when I got back to the Florida, but honey works just as well).

2. Talk to my grandparents: Spending new year's eve with them was great... My grandma talked to me about the stars and how thankful she is that God has given her one more year of life and shared some new year's memories with me. My grandfather wanted to go to the party downstairs jaja--he's quite the character. If you've met him, you know. He says the DR smelt like Cuba, but that he remembers Cuba being more beautiful... no, he hasn't been back to Cuba in 52 years and I know I don't have to say it, but I'm sure things in Cuba aren't the same as they were half a century ago, yet, a worker at the resort says that the last time he was in Cuba a couple of years back, the beaches were still the most beautiful he'd ever seen in the world, with all types of tropical fish swimming up by the shore on the clean virgin beaches.

3. Ride on a banana boat: Uhhhh... the first time with my mom and brothers was kinda boring, but totally fine with me. Then the next day my brothers begged my mom to ride it again, and dumb ole me decided to ride with them and they kept yelling "RAPIDO!!!" to the boatman with a huge thumbs up... and then when we almost fell, "STOOOOOOOPPP, slower please... por fahvour DESpppaaazeeeyo" jaja--and then we fell.

It only took a couple of days for me to get the crick out of my neck from the fall :D

4. Kayaking for an hour in Punta Cana doesn't mean kayaking for an hour... It means that from the moment you sign and pay, the clock is ticking, so run down the beach, steal some life jackets and get out on the water because they'll call you in early anyway right when another customer gets in line. Still fun though.

5. Slide and Corn Rows: There was a huge blow-up slide next to a group of women braiding hair. I only went on the slide once, but there was a 6-year-old that rode non-stop. He had a lollypop in his mouth when he slid down the HUGE slide and, if you know my mom, then you can guess what happened next. She didn't leave the slide area until the Dominican boy took the lollypops out of his mouth before riding the slide again, and hey, he listened. I, on the other hand, couldn't leave the slide until I could convince the woman that I really didn't want to get corn rows, that I'd already had it done and it's WAY too painful to get done anytime soon (not to mention I don't think they know how heavy and thick my hair really is), so I think I did them a favor by rejecting their offer. I can't wait to cut my hair.

6. Resort-run Shows: There was a circus--kinda boring; we went to a candelight dinner with live music and dancing--this scene somehow reminded me of Beauty and the Beast; and one night, Josh, my grandpa and I went to a Michael Jackson tribute show with a dancer that had the best impersonation of MJ moves I've ever seen.

7. Tours: Ever ridden a buggey (Had a flashback to SLC 2009 "Ever ridden a camel?"-Sean F.)? Jumped in a cave? Either had I until a tour company took us on this crazy adventure where we felt like cattle: "We're stopping here for a moment (literally), take a photo of the beach, now let's go to the coffee/cacao plantation," and then later, "5 minutes to jump in the cave and get out to get back in the buggey!" is what we heard as we waited in line to jump in freezing cave water that I wish I could show you a picture of because of how beautiful the shades of blue were in the seemingly clean water. And then a few screams later (my little brother drove sometimes) and a couple more splashes of mud, we were done.

8. Practicing Spanish: "Naiii" (like a latin slang version of the english word "nice") and "heavy" were terms a Dominican on the beach told us was commonly used in the DR... hmmm they have English origin, which reminds me of when I learned in Costa Rica that "tuanis" came from the English word "too nice" and the common door to door greeting "Upe" from "Open."

9. Read: Persuasion by Jane Austen has taken me a full year to really get into, but I'm glad I read it because it consumed me by the last third of the book. The Hunger Games was a cool idea for a book, but I think I'll like the movie a lot better than the book. The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks was a quick read and a cute love story for a little beach reading, but, like The Hunger Games, I think the movie will be a bit better since they change the story around a bit with a more creative twist... but a movie only lasts a couple of hours, and the book was a full two days of enjoyment.

10. Take Sunrise Photos: My dad kept me company (THANKS DAD!) as I took some photos of the sunrise in Punta Cana!