A Weekend to Remember

Today was the big day!  It was the day of the half marathon in Santo Domingo.  Last year the race was held at 5 in the afternoon, which is an awful time since you spend the whole day with butterflies in your stomach worried about what to eat and drinking so much water, you have to run to the bathroom every half hour. Also, it is very difficult to work up the energy to run when the day is more than half over. So, suffice it to say, I was very grateful, that the organizers realized their flaw and changed the time to be 6:20 in the morning.

Anyways, a 6:20 race time means that it is near impossible to drive up the day of, so we decided to head down Saturday afternoon and make a weekend of it. First off, I have to give all driving and navigating props to the amazing Allison. She not only maneuvered the labyrinth of the Santo Domingo streets with an incredible calm, but also worked her horn like a pro. I would compare Santo Domingo to any big city in the United States, except the difference is that traffic laws are taken merely as suggestions. Three lane highways are conveniently assumed to fit four or five cars across and no turn left signs are only for amateurs as people are turning left at these intersections from the farthest right lane.  

We arrived in Santo Domingo late afternoon and had a chance to meet up with Rovian at the botanical gardens. It was much too difficult to try to find his apartment without Siri or any other GPS to guide us. We then headed to the first mall (of the day) to pick up our racing packets. After taking our photo with the mannequins who have much more balance standing on one foot than we do, we headed to the second mall to walk around.

Visiting the malls in Santo Domingo, felt like stepping into the future from Jarabacoa. I mean, they had actual elevators there! The mall was decorated with angels and elves and even false promises of "let it snow."  After a very unusual rendition of the Nutcracker performed by employees at a makeup store, we headed to Bath and Body Works, where we might have gotten a little carried away with the "try me" bottles. I felt a little like Alice in Wonderland and by the time I left the store I smelled like an entire garden. It took about an hour before I began to smell like a normal human being again.

We ate at the food court and even had the time to watch a movie in a theater which is something I haven't done for at least a year. The movie screen is much bigger than my computer screen, believe it or not. After the movie, we took Rovian back to his apartment and headed to our hotel which was definitely one of the highlights of the trip

We stayed at one of the fanciest hotels in the city, and even had a room on the executive floor which you had to have a specific room key to access.

 Our room was quite extravagant with a great view of the city and even a full bathtub with pocket doors. Also there was a television in our bathroom mirror!










I definitely felt like we were living the high life, especially after enjoying the complimentary executive breakfast after the race. There were at least 7 different types of cheese, a whole assortment of meat including salmon and even watermelon juice. Now, you know some place is really fancy when they start making new fruit drinks that few have heard of.

Our race began at 6:20, so we headed to the park at 5:30 to make sure we arrived on time. The city of Santo Domingo was so very different in the morning and the roads were much easier to traverse when they were not jampacked with cars and motos and people. We arrived at the park with plenty of time to get ready for the race. After putting on our bibs and lacing up our shoes, we headed to the starting line and started the race before the sun had even woken up for the day.

The half marathon course was definitely not designed by a runner. You make two loops. One loop involves seeing the streets of Santo Domingo and running by many buildings in the business district before heading back. That loop is pretty nice, because you are distracted by the changing scenery and it is very much like a running tour of the city. The second loop is like a never ending treadmill. You cross the start line with 7.5 miles to go, and run one flat street that goes on and on and on. You run on this street with nothing to distract you, but kilometer signs and the discouraging thought that you are getting further and further away from the finish line and you'll have to turn around and run back every step you run out. Needless to say by the time you make the turn and start heading back, you're mentally broke and it takes everything that is in you to refuse to lay down on the street and make tar angels.

My goal for the race was to run no mile over 9 minutes and with my last mile of 8:59, I succeeded my goal with one second to spare. I was even able to beat my previous half by six minutes, so the race was a success over all. After returning to the hotel and taking much needed showers, we packed up our tired selves and headed back to Jarabacoa.

I'm so grateful for this weekend and the chance to break up the normal routine. Weekends like this, also make me aware of how blessed I am to surrounded by so many amazing people. I think I will end with the following quote by C.S. Lewis. I'm so thankful for the friends who give so much value to my life.

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy and art. It has no survival value. rather it is one of those things that give value to survival." -C.S. Lewis 

Rainy with a chance of christmas lights

It is hard to believe it is already November, mostly because the weather outside is static.  While in Michigan the trees are shedding their summer leaves and preparing for their snowy overcoats, here the flowers still bloom as adamantly as they did when I arrived in July. It almost feels like we are reliving the same month over and over again and each day is different, yet somehow so much the same.

Christmas decorations have already been put up around Jarabacoa, so those who hate seeing giant snowmen before Thanksgiving should never come to the Dominican Republic where the lights are strung before Halloween. Being a Michigander, it's weird seeing lights hung on trees still in full bloom, but at least decorations mark a litte bit of the passing of time and break the normalcy of the seasons.

The onbeat of time has definitely brought on thoughts of the future. As a teacher, I am a constant planner and like to always know what's next or at least pretend that I have all the answers. I have no idea where I'll be next year at this time and that thought definitely terrifies me. Will I stay in the country or will I return to Michigan? I've had a lot of advice about waiting patiently, but not knowing what you're waiting for makes the waiting much more difficult. It's like standing in line at a theme park and not knowing whether you're waiting  for the kiddie train or the world's largest drop...if you knew what was at the end of the line, it would be easier to wait for it. Anyways, I'm definitely learning a lesson on patience whether I like it or not.

Today was our fourth "rain" day of the school year and it was a beautiful surprise to find out late last night, I had one more day of the weekend. Rain had flooded parts in the towns below us, so the entire community had the day off school. It was nice to meet up with friends I hadn't seen in a while and of course make bread, which rose for 5 hours after being forgotten.

One of my highlights of  my day was getting a moto concho driver who actually gave me change back and welcomed me to the country after I announced I had lived here for almost two years.... Also, he shocked me with his vast knowledge of the United States while proudly informing me that he was very much aware that Pennsylvania was very close to Michigan. It's in the right general direction, so I definitely gave it to him.

 School begins again tomorrow,  and I need to figure out how to choreograph a dance to Justin Bieber's Santa Claus is coming to town for our school Christmas show, but I wish everyone a very happy Dominican rain day and as we enter into the Christmas season, may the odds be ever in your favor.