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Sunday, December 22, 2013
Dec. 22nd, 2013 07:18 pmBear and I just got back from our vacation yesterday. For one week we were in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic at Iberostar Punta Cana resort. It was so nice and relaxing and exactly what I needed after a long, long semester of teaching and grading.
My last day of the semester was Friday, December 13 where I had to turn in all the papers and give students their grades. And as soon as I got home that night, Bear and I had to finish packing and drive to my parents' house to stay overnight. That way my Dad could drive us to the airport and we could leave Bear's car there (the city has parking rules where a car has to be moved for street cleaning once a week at least, so we can't exactly just leave it.)
So I had no time to tidy up after the semester, just up we went. And that was so lovely. There was a pool and an ocean and nice sandy beach. And all you can eat food and drink. The only drawback for us was the smoking by the pool and by the beach - we had to move about a bit. Neither of us can stand cigarette smoke. But it was nice to sit by the pool, to jump the ocean waves and not grade at all. Bear, who hasn't been at a Caribbean resort before, really liked it too, especially the gym. (He had a view of the beach when he was on an elliptical, which often involved European women tanning topless).
I read two books over my vacation - how nice it was to just read. I read "Bridge of Birds" by Barry Hughart - a Chinese fantasy mystery story recommended by a friend long ago - which ended up a perfect and funny beach book. I highly recommend it. And I also read "Too Much Happiness" a collection of short stories by the recent Nobel Prize Winner Alice Munro - which was good but not fantastic.
Now I'm back home and on my winter break. I have a long list of little chores I need to do and letters of recommendation to write and Christmas/New Year shopping to finish.
My last day of the semester was Friday, December 13 where I had to turn in all the papers and give students their grades. And as soon as I got home that night, Bear and I had to finish packing and drive to my parents' house to stay overnight. That way my Dad could drive us to the airport and we could leave Bear's car there (the city has parking rules where a car has to be moved for street cleaning once a week at least, so we can't exactly just leave it.)
So I had no time to tidy up after the semester, just up we went. And that was so lovely. There was a pool and an ocean and nice sandy beach. And all you can eat food and drink. The only drawback for us was the smoking by the pool and by the beach - we had to move about a bit. Neither of us can stand cigarette smoke. But it was nice to sit by the pool, to jump the ocean waves and not grade at all. Bear, who hasn't been at a Caribbean resort before, really liked it too, especially the gym. (He had a view of the beach when he was on an elliptical, which often involved European women tanning topless).
I read two books over my vacation - how nice it was to just read. I read "Bridge of Birds" by Barry Hughart - a Chinese fantasy mystery story recommended by a friend long ago - which ended up a perfect and funny beach book. I highly recommend it. And I also read "Too Much Happiness" a collection of short stories by the recent Nobel Prize Winner Alice Munro - which was good but not fantastic.
Now I'm back home and on my winter break. I have a long list of little chores I need to do and letters of recommendation to write and Christmas/New Year shopping to finish.