No' Vemo'

The last few weeks have been very enjoyable, a bit hectic and sort of bewildering as well. It was nice having my parents in Cabarete my last week and getting to show them around the place I had been living the past year. Even though I was ready to leave, actually leaving the DR was a bit sad. I'll certainly miss all the great people I met there.

Checking out the beach.

Mom and Dad at a nice sunset.

At Playa Grande.

Last night out.

The week in Jamaica was a rousing success. Everyone there thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and it was too bad more people couldn't make it. I think someone in this area will have to install a pool bar and serve Dirty Bananas.

Good times were had at the beach/beach bar.

Dave and I with Pina Coladas being put to shame by my mom drinking whisky.

Sunset swimming.

Hey, I know you guys.

We can have a sit-down dinner and still hit the buffet later? This place is awesome.

IIIIII don't wanna work...

Shannon gives beardless Dave the thumbs up. It apparently had been twenty years.

When at a tropical wedding, sleeves and pantlegs are not required.

A thunderstorm forced the ceremony under cover.

Nice tie, Tim.

People are going to pay $4 for a cup of coffee? That's a good one Scott.

I totally carried Marc during this performance.

Dave and Mel doing their dance quintet, you know, their cycle. We all gave them notes.

All hell broke loose afterwards.

Five out of eight, not a bad showing.

Our last day, we all went to the world famous Rick's Cafe.

I can't pass up jumping off of things. There's me in the red watching as Trevor jumps.

Should I go with the triple lindy?

Better to do an easy one to get warmed up.

Here's my second jump (I finally figured out how to embed a video). Had I known that my dad was going to use his digital camera to take a video I would've given him a signal or something. Alas, the video begins right after the jump. Also, the footage after the jump is pretty worthless, so feel free to move on after that.

Hooray beer!

Alright guys, where we going now? You're going to be by yourselves this week? Oh, OK.

I then spent a couple days in Miami visiting my friends Brent and Courtney and their two daughters Sienna and Tyler. Two young kids seem to be quite the handful. I also drove down to Key West for a day while I was there. There's some interesting things to see there (Hemingway House, Little White House, southernmost point in the continental U.S.) as well as some very active nightlife.

Caught a Marlins game.

Here are where the Marlins fans would theoretically sit.

Whatever, Hawaii's further south.

Now I'm back home trying to get things in order and work on the next stage of my life. This will be my last post so I would just like to thank everyone who followed along with my this year. I hope you enjoyed reading about my trials and tribulations as much as I enjoyed sharing them with you. I'd also like to say thank you one last time to everyone who made a donation on my behalf. Without you I wouldn't have had an opportunity to have this wonderful experience. For those in the Northwest, I hope to see you soon, and for those in other parts of the country/world, I hope to see you as soon as possible.

John

Hours in Jamaica - 68

Times offered marijuana - 143

Yeah Man

If anyone is still reading this...

Had a nice week with Vern and Kathleen in Cabarete and now we are all in Jamaica. However, our luggage isn't. The rest of the family and wedding people get here tomorrow and the festivities should really pick up then. Hopefully we'll have our bags by then and I can change my clothes.

So my year in the DR is officially over. It was a good year overall, but I'm definitely ready to move on and go home for now. But first I get to enjoy Jamaica and Miami. It's a rough life right now.

Magic Today?

Yeah, Kareem is in the wash.

I haven't posted much in awhile, mainly because I haven't been doing anything too interesting. I really don't have much to report here either, but I thought I would give a little update on what's going on.

My time here is almost up and everything is winding down at this point. All I have left to do at my school is pack up the computers (they're being moved to a different location next year) and make sure everything else is straightened up. At the office there are a few loose ends to tie up, but things are pretty relaxed for me there too.

Vern and Kathleen get here this Sunday and will be here for a week. The Saturday after that all three of us are heading out and taking a hop skip and a jump over to Jamaica where my cousin Connor is getting married (nice timing Connor!).

So that's about it for now. This isn't the end, though, so stay tuned.

Funny Story

Here's a second hand story from another volunteer. First some background: Foreigners, especially white foreigners, are often referred to as "Gringos" by the Dominicans. Usually we just let it go and don't get too upset about it, becuase its really not that big of a deal. Sometimes, though, usually when one is already in a bad mood, it can be irritating enough to say something about it. So when this other volunteer, Galen, was called "Gringa" by a Domincan, she explained to him that she is not a Gringa, but that she is American and is from The United States of America. This confused the Dominican, however, and prompted him to question just who the Gringos are then. Galen then explained that Gringo is a term used by Dominicans mainly to refer to white foreiners. This didn't completely get the point across, though, as the Domincan then asked, "Well then, where are the Gringos from?"

This is just another example of the lack of knowlege about the outside world that often exists on this island. Sometimes I think we take for granted that we, as decently educated people, really have a global awareness that is not prevalent everywhere else. Even a basic level of understanding, like the fact that there are no people offically known as Gringos who all come from the same place, can be a rarity. The bottom line, I suppose, is this is another instance where I have to tell myself, "that's why we're here."

I hope everyone enjoyed the Memorial Day weekend, doing things like camping, going to a lake, grilling burgers, drinking beer, watching the Indy 500 or whatever. I, of course, did none of these things. OK, I did have a little beer.

I Thought I Was Cured

Apparently not. Back in 2005 I decided it would be a good idea to run a marathon. In October of that year, I did indeed pull it off and finished all 26+ miles of the Portland Marathon. Afterwards, I said to myself, "self, we're never going to do that I again. I must´ve been insane when I decided to do it." At some point down here, I guess I lost my mind again and thought maybe another marathon would be a good time.

I had a specific marathon in mind and I started my training program in March (I´d been running pretty consistently since January, but not following any kind of plan). I was kind of taking a wait and see approach at this point, however, as I didn´t actually sign up for the marathon. That way, I could back out if things weren´t going all that well. As it turned out, I stuck with the training pretty well and decided recently to actually sign up and put myself at the point of no return. I had been targeting the Seafair Marathon in Bellevue, WA and I am now all signed up and ready to go for the race which is held Sunday, July 8th. If anyone wants to come out and see one of the greatest spectator sports on earth, this is a prime opportunity. But If you have more important things to do, I´ll understand. Later.