The first tour was a waking tour around the streets of Santo Domingo. It is a very touristy and historical city like I imagine many capital cities to be. It's streets are so cute, made of cobblestone and very narrow. There are parks with benches where children play and people got to sit and chat like the parks at NYC back home. Our first stop was a nearby cathedral. We couldn't go in if our shorts/skirts were not at least knee-length so some of the girls had to sit outside (later they were allowed in, but only after a man at the door gave them scarves to wrap around themselves). The cathedral was very old and very beautiful. There were little open rooms along the sides with tombs and shrines and a beautiful, beautiful nativity set made of lifesize figures was set up in the back. The icons were all extremely dark and the stained glass was painted abstractly. We had a funny tour guide who joked that he as going to give us a 2 hour mass. All of our tour guides thus far have been so funny in their own unique ways - I wonder how they developed their senses of humor. This tour guide told us that Christopher Columbus was rumored to have been buried in Santo Domingo and that there is a lot of debate about exactly where he is now and what is heritage is. Everyone seems to want to claim him for themselves! After we left the cathedral we walked to a house the Christopher Columbus's brother had lived in, but which was also used to house house prisoners. It was this MASSIVE castle made of stone and brick with a million rooms. I daydreamed about how fun it would be to play hide and seek in. Then we went to a museum dedicated to Christopher Columbus and saw some old documents and whatnot.
We got back on the bus and headed for a mall where we were going to have lunch. Some of the girls and Shondel complained that it was too American, but it was important to see that in the DR. They had American stores like Swarovski, Nine West, Pizza Hut, and Haggen Das, but also some spanishy ones that I hadn't heard of. It was a typical mall with many floors and a food court. One of mi amigas told me that she had taken a class about foreign malls and that it is a very American model that has influenced many malls abroad - so I'm happy we got to see it. I had an empanada and some tostones and, later on, an icecream =P.
We reboarded the bus and headed towards al Jardin Botanico (Botanical Gardens) where we took a bus tour, stopping once at a Japanese garden to walk around. The garden looked like something out of a dream. It was so serene, with twisted trees and tranquil beds of water and strategically placed rocks and other plants. I did some yoga poses and frolicked a bit. It was instant paradise.
Our last stop was "the house of lights," which slightly confused me. It was a United Nations type building and there were rooms or spaces dedicated to countries that had chosen to represent themselves in it. I was confused about why some countries were chosen and not other (no arabic countries) and who got to decided what went into the museum. Some of the countries had art or old documents and maps. Others, like the USA, had only pictures (of native Americans). Museums are always interesting because they are, above all else, archetypical examples of power at play and somewhat stereotypical so I enjoy seeing how, exactly, things in them get represented.
We went back to the hotel after the tour and I headed out into the streets to buy some souvenirs. The street where vendors are set up and shops are open for bargaining is conveniently located right outside our hotel! It was just like a NYC street might be and, walking down it, you can tell which products are bought in mass quantities. One thing that all of these places (like the market and now this street) have in common is that there is a lot of colorful artwork. It is so beautiful! Mostly paintings of African woman, animals, scenery, and one of a Dominican girl with a round face and pursed lips who looks lightly Chinese. While I was shopping for jewelry, me and my Chinese friend met some man from Haiti who spoke about 10 different languages. He came up to her and asked her if she was Chinese and then started speaking Chinese (very well)!! He was amazing and it was totally shocking!! Of course I spoke to him in French (he said I was good) and it was a great mental exercise trying to switch between three different languages (french with him, spanish with the men in the store, english with my friend). Languages are so amazing!!!
For dinner, we went to a restaurant called Adrian's Tropical which was located right next to the Carribean. We got to eat while waves crashed up against the restaurant. I had chicken and yucca (haha) and white wine. It was amazing.
Later on we went dancing at some spots near our hotel. I did some salsa and merengue and dance to reggaeton. If I could, I would dance forever!
The Dominican Republic is so romantic! Everything about this trip feels like a dream. I am in love!
What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions.
Life is plurality, death is uniformity.
By suppressing differences and pecularities, by eliminating different civilizations and cultures, progress weakens life and favors death.
The ideal of a single civilization for everyone, implicit in the cult of progress and technique, impoverishes and mutilates us.
Every view of the world that becomes extinct, every culture that disappears, diminishes a possibility of life
What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions.
Life is plurality, death is uniformity.
By suppressing differences and pecularities, by eliminating different civilizations and cultures, progress weakens life and favors death.
The ideal of a single civilization for everyone, implicit in the cult of progress and technique, impoverishes and mutilates us.
Every view of the world that becomes extinct, every culture that disappears, diminishes a possibility of life
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