Today was my last full day here, and I cannot believe it! I did not know how fast a summer could pass! Thankfully I have gotten to spend a wonderful last couple days here in the Dominican Republic doing all sorts of fun things!
At 7AM this morning and 6AM Tuesday my boss took me to the swim club that he is a part of! I like to swim but swimming in the ocean made exercise seem like only a good time. Rather than boring laps back and forth in a pool we were swimming in a huge circle in the ocean around boats with views of coral underneath. If that is not enough the morning we went early we got to see the sunrise as we were swimming! I do not know how much more fun exercise could get!
At 7AM this morning and 6AM Tuesday my boss took me to the swim club that he is a part of! I like to swim but swimming in the ocean made exercise seem like only a good time. Rather than boring laps back and forth in a pool we were swimming in a huge circle in the ocean around boats with views of coral underneath. If that is not enough the morning we went early we got to see the sunrise as we were swimming! I do not know how much more fun exercise could get!
We continued our adventure as we visited Fort San Felipe in Puerto Plata today. The website describes its history the best.."Fort San Felipe was built in 1564 by order of Philip II of Spain and is Puerto Plata's oldest surviving building. It was a formidable construction, designed to strike fear into any would-be-invader's heart. Its 2m- (7ft) thick walls, squat doorways and moat filled with sharp coral and swords served to keep people out and, when the fort later became a prison, worked just as effectively at keeping people in - including one of its most notable captives - Juan Pablo Duarte, who served time here in 1844.The tower contains a small museum of wartime artifacts such as guns, artillery shells, and cannonballs. Fort San Felipe's main attraction, however, is its sweeping views across the Atlantic." It was awesome to be able to stand next to the cannons and look at the wonderful views while getting a little bit of history at the same time!
Fun Fact: In the 16th century the Spanish Armada was gearing up to attack England. Because of the strength of their ships and numbers of their men, they were not afraid to let it be known to England what they were eventually going to do. In order to delay their fight Queen Elizabeth sent Sir Francis Drake to burn the barrels that contained food, water, and supplies that were necessary to the armada. This succeeded in delaying the ships for a while, but eventually Spanish began their journey to begin the fight. However, the new barrels that were made from Oak to hold the food and water had not cured and the wood was still green and raw. This uncured wood rotted the food inside the barrels and turned the water sour, ruining most of their supplies. This combined with the devastating storms that hit the ships greatly hurt the Armada, yet they traveled on. In the meantime England had built small blazing vessels which would go out when the tide was in their favor, attack the grand Armada's ships, and then retreat to their hiding spots using their size to their advantage. Well as you may know England eventually won, and the world took a much different turn than it would if Spain had won and taken over everything!
Fun Fact: In the 16th century the Spanish Armada was gearing up to attack England. Because of the strength of their ships and numbers of their men, they were not afraid to let it be known to England what they were eventually going to do. In order to delay their fight Queen Elizabeth sent Sir Francis Drake to burn the barrels that contained food, water, and supplies that were necessary to the armada. This succeeded in delaying the ships for a while, but eventually Spanish began their journey to begin the fight. However, the new barrels that were made from Oak to hold the food and water had not cured and the wood was still green and raw. This uncured wood rotted the food inside the barrels and turned the water sour, ruining most of their supplies. This combined with the devastating storms that hit the ships greatly hurt the Armada, yet they traveled on. In the meantime England had built small blazing vessels which would go out when the tide was in their favor, attack the grand Armada's ships, and then retreat to their hiding spots using their size to their advantage. Well as you may know England eventually won, and the world took a much different turn than it would if Spain had won and taken over everything!
We then visited the sweet Dominican family I had stayed with the second week I was in the country. I had not seen them anymore since I had been here, and it was great to say my goodbyes and of course promise that I would be returning to visit eventually! Oh, and I got to drink coconut water out of an actual coconut! That's when you truly know you are in the tropics!
Yesterday, I spent a wonderful day around Puerto Plata with my friend Paula. We took a bus to the city park where got shaved ice, but here they actually shave the ice in front of you and the juice they put on it is real juice with actual fruit chunks...delicious!! We went to a couple shops and then I got to meet her wonderful family! We rode back to the house on a moto which is one of my favorite things here! She usually travels with this guy (because they take motos EVERYWHERE!) so we knew he was extremely safe and had a nice, breezy trip back to the house! That night I experienced the high life as I went to an art exhibit with my boss and his wife. It was a neat experience to be in the atmosphere of an art exhibit with wine in hand and made me feel like I was on one of those high class TV shows! Afterwards we went to an Italian restaurant with cooks that are actually from Italy, and I had probably one of the best meals I have ever had. It was pasta with a light sauce mixed with a number of shrimp and calamari and topped with a good chunk of crab still in the shell. As you can see it was not one of those meals that shortened you on the seafood and I devoured it all!
I have had a wonderful last two days here which make it even harder to leave, but tomorrow is the day!
I have had a wonderful last two days here which make it even harder to leave, but tomorrow is the day!