IKEA has come to the DR!

IKEA opened Feb 17th. We went on Thursday and it was actually pretty organized. The Swedes must be sticking around during the opening. Goodness knows it won’t operate this smoothly when Dominicans get their hands on it .  (I’m only half joking :) )

We went again today however and they had a line to get into the store! It must have been over capacity. Marvin and I, growing in our Dominican ways, did not want to stand in line. So we snuck in the back way, up the down and down the up and in the out. I think we avoid getting questioned because of the way we look. All the Dominicans that were following us all got turned around and sent back to wait in line.

Once inside, we enjoyed a lovely IKEA lunch and later ice cream.  It is just like any other IKEA I’ve ever been to. It reminds me of home :)

Some photos from our first visit. And yes, Marvin is wearing the same shirt he has on in every blog post. GO USA!

El Limon

This past weekend we went with a bunch of teachers from school up to the north coast to El Limon. We took a 3 hour bus ride to a small road side stand and all unpiled to take either a small hike or a horseback ride to this beautiful cascading waterfall. Only a few people chose to swim in the fall, Marvin and I were part of that group :)

Here is the group that went. 15 total, 3 boys.

Taking a horse or walking… 

 

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We all had to get off horse and walk down this really crazy set of steps to the waterfall. Once we arrived minus the foliage, it pretty much looked like a large Michigan waterfall. It was fabulous. However the water was MUCH warmer than a Michigan river!

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Once we got back from the waterfall we had a good Dominican lunch, rice, beans, and chicken, and some coca-cola. After that we drove to a near by beach and swam in the ocean for about an hour before taking the 3 hour drive home. It was a fun experience. I think my family would love visiting here when they come and it’s not to far from where we will be staying either!

In this set of Photos there is one of me by a Cacao tree… I didn’t know chocolate grew on trees. I thought it was more of a plant! The beans are HUGE!

Also the teacher Marvin works for is the one with the gray t-shirt and blue jeans and sun glasses. She is in the first photo- Yola is her nameo.

 

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Here and There photos

I've been posting using "windows live writer" but the photos sometimes don't post. So
you should read Here and There before you look at these photos.

My Valentine!

Valentine's Gifts:
From Marvin - An Anchor necklace from Tiffany's!


One of my 9th grade BOYS comments - "Oh cool an anchor... that's cause you live in the Caribbean right?" Boys, especially 9th grade ones, no nothing about fashion. :)

My gift for Marvin: Coupon book - not as cool as the Tif gift but I think he liked it.

Chinese New Year photos:

Here and there

It’s been a long time since we’ve posted. Not a lot has happened. We are patiently waiting for out next group of visitors to arrive- Lindsay’s parents come March 25th, Thursday and stay for over 10 days! It should be a great visit.

Even though we weren’t in America we tried to catch the Super Bowl.

Outback for dinner!

Upstairs- same mall- TGI Friday’s for dessert!  Marvin sporting a new shirt from Zara!

Super Bowl was a bust! We couldn’t watch the commercials cause we are in Spanish speaking land an even though they show American television the commercials are all Spanish local ones. We’ve looked a few up on YouTube here and there.

 

Next up was Valentine’s weekend! I say weekend cause we rented a car and celebrated all weekend long! It was fun! Dominicans hold Valentine’s day as a BIG holiday here. Everywhere you look hearts, red and white, lovey quotes, etc. KFC, coffee shops, supermarkets, Levi’s jeans stores, all adorn the love hearts.

My lovey and I spent the weekend eatting out and driving around the city. It was perfectly lovely.

Friday <3

• Quiznos
• Olympic Opening ceremony

Saturday <3

• grocery shopping
• watch episodes of MadMan
• Ate at Sapori ‘d Italia- fabulous ritzy place- great for Vday
• Movie- Up in the Air
• Day of gifts :) – see below. I was SHOCKED!

Sunday <3

• Walk in the park- Jardin Botanical
• Attempt to attend Church #4- no one showed
• Discovered new airport- military/UN base
• Dinner at KFC
• More Olympics

Happy Chinese New Year!  2/14/10

We welcomed in the Year of the Tiger while we were shopping at Jumbo. They had a little parade and such. It was quite a new experience. We have several Asian students that attend school so there was a lot of hype around for the event as well.

Wii!

Marvin in his favorite t-shirt playing Wii with Adam via the internet and talking to him on Skype… oh yeah we live in a 3rd world country ! :)

Marvin is Mario and Adam is  the small little guy in front. They play for hours together.

This week while tutoring… I was given a DIET Coke… not a Coca-Cola Light like they normally have here. My girls I tutor found DIET Coke at a local grocery store. It must have been a mix up in the shipments cause I’ve never seen DIET Coke here. Needless to say, it was my the best tutoring session so far!