Punta Cana: Day 4

Today, I think we'd FINALLY had enough of the beach. So we decided to take a shopping excursion into "town". But, when we got to the excursion desk, we found out that there were no more shopping trips that we could even GO on. (The information made it sound like they left all day every couple of hours!)

So we decided to take a taxi. Frankly, this made me happy since the shopping was $35 PER PERSON and I knew a taxi wouldn't cost that much.

When we went to get a taxi I asked the hotel taxi man where we should go since everybody had been giving us different answers. He answered Higüey, (EEEEE-Guh-way the guh is like 'go' and is in the same syllable as way) but saying that that was the place all the OTHER tourist shops got their stuff and that it would be cheaper. Speaking Spanish is GREAT!

The best part: $90 for FOUR of us, round trip!

Our cab driver was named Leo. (Lay-oh) Leo didn't speak much English but he was from Higüey and knew just where to go for trinkets. I got some jewlery of the native stone larimar and some coffee beans for Les & Kathy.

We already knew that tomorrow we'd be going on a safari and there'd be kids who'd want candy so we had Leo stop by a candy store.

This store was probably only 10x15 but it was JAMMED full of candy. It smelled like surgar overload. Wow!

From there, we went to do some sightseeing since all the shopping was done. This is the Basicillica of the city. It's not very old but VERY impressive.

I expect Catholic cathedrals to be cold and dry. The stone whispers softly.

Except this was hot and damp and it didn't SOUND right.

Wooden sculptures behind the alter. There is an image of the Virgin all in gold that people make pilgramages to.


This lady had a mission to be here and she was very serious about it all. I know that I could have lined up a sure-fire county fair winning photo off of this, but I chose not to; this wasn't posed for her. She was on a pilgramage of her own with some very serious business to attend to.

I actually felt bad for even BEING there with my big hat and camera -- like I was cheapening her faith.


From there we went to the oldest church (Catholic of course!) in the Dominican Republic. It is over 400 years old. It even has the requisite pigeons out front!

Now THIS is more like what a cathedral should be like. Even if it's a lot smaller than anything in Spain or even San Xavier in Tucson.


I never saw a sign I didn't want a photo of!

This was in a courtyard outside.

Alvin. I knew he wasn't feeling well by this time.

Dad. Kim. Leo. Mom. Alvin.

We tipped Leo really well since he told me that of the $90 he only gets to take $17.50 home. He was a wife and four kids. I think we ended up tipping him $20 or $25. It was worth it.

This evening was actually the "farewell dinner" for group 1. But, because they couldn't get us home tomorrow, we have another full day. Like I mentioned, we'll be taking a "Safari". Cindy Chantrell recommended it to us.

I got to wear my AMAZING black and yellow dress that dad bought me in Las Vegas.


Larry & Doni Smith with Alvin and I.

Me and Mom and the Totem.

Spanish Dancing

My Spanish II class studies Spain for their cultural project. I've been needing a break (and so have they!) from bookwork, so I approached Mrs. Q, the dance teacher at TCP to find out if she new flamenco and sevillanas dances. She did (or learned them!) so for the past two weeks, my Spanish II class has been dancing with her dance class!

It's been a lot of fun to do something different; not do book work, and learn something completely new. Even I dance most days.

Here they are dancing in PARTNERS.

Faces have been smudged and blurred to protect the guilty.

Spanish I Worksheets

So, I've decided that my first semester cultural project for Spanish 1 is a bust. Frankly, they don't like it and neither do I. So, I'm cutting it out. TODAY. I was going to let them do their presentations, but I couldn't figure out WHY that was a good idea. I mean, then I have to grade it! I think I'll just cut journals 7, 8, and 9 totally. If they turned 7 and 8 (and 9?) in on time, I'll add 10% to the grades for 4, 5, and 6.

We're starting chapter 3 today. Which includes clothing.

Do you have ANY idea how difficult it is to find non-smutty pictures of underwear and panty hose? Geez! I ended up with this photo for panty hose. Which I think look like deflated legs.
And this one for "underwear." Don't even get me STARTED on trying to find ladies' undies!


I hope the worksheet is a success. It SHOULD be, we've done this type of thing before. I'm printing it at MDI and we're not going to double side it so they can cut it apart later for flashcards.

El Computador o La Computadora

A Spanish teacher was explaining to her class, that in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine.

"House," for instance is feminine: 'la casa'
"Pencil," however is masculine: 'el lapiz'", she explained.

So, a student asked, "What gender is 'computer'?"

Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male & female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether 'computer' should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.

The men's group decided that 'computer should definitely be of the feminine gender ('la computadora') because:

1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;
2. The native language they use to communicate to other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else;
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.

The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be masculine, ('el computador') because:

1. In order to do anything with them you have to turn them on;
2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves;
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem; and
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waiting a little while longer, you could have gotten a better model.

The women won.

Thanks, Wendy for the EXCELLENT joke!

Footers!

Woot! Dad drove by my new "house" on the way home from work yesterday and low and behold, I've got footers dug! I'm beside myself with joy. Do you have any idea how exciting it is to see real PROGRESS?

After all the endless meetings with the real estate agents, the mortgage brokers (I like the mortgage company I went with), the cabinet guy, the flooring lady, negotiations about price... You name it! I think the hardest part was when the mortgage fell out and I had to start over again.

But, I got it! We're underway! I wonder if their timeline is still accurate (close escrow on Oct. 21, 2008) or if we'll be ahead of schedule.




In other news:

I had nightmares last night about the briefing today. It's my first ever briefing that I'm running and presenting at. In SPANISH no less. Pre-Paid has great Spanish plans and a great DVD so I'm not too worried. I've got about 6 invites out and Lucy and I put flyers up all over town:

¿No le gustaría tener representación legal,

disponible las 24 horas?

¡Está invitado a una presentación gratis!

Venga i infórmece como pude hablar con un abogado,

en Español, sobre las cosas más importantes de

su vida:

- Alquilar una casa

- Tener un negocio

- Inmigración

- Comprar o vender una casa, trailer, o auto

- Tener trabajo en Arizona

- Y más

Esta presentación dura una hora. Invite a un amigo, un compañero del trabajo, o cualquier otra

persona que quisiera esta información.

Fecha: Martes, 22 de julio 2008 Horario: 7:00-8:30 pm

Lugar: 246 N. Hwy 89, Ste B, Chino Valley, AZ 86323

Telefono: 636-1725 pregunte por María o Lucy

No Niños Por Favor

So, we'll see. I'm hoping for a good turn out.