We've been trying to see a movie once a week, as a group. On Wednesday, not many people could go and it just didn't end up happening. Instead, we chose to go on Thursday and to see Robin Hood. We ran into some issues getting to the theatre on time. The original plan was that I was supposed to meet Zak, Adaica and Jamie at the MC at 5:30 and then we were going to take a taxi to the theatre. (We were supposed to meet at 6:10 for the movie at 6:30) I left work at 5:20 and called Zak to let him know that they could call the taxi since I'd be there in about 5 minutes. They informed me that they were actually a half hour away from the MC. So I ended up walking home and they were going to pick me up from there. By the time 6:25 came around, I had kind of given up. I called them back and said, where are you - oh just a few minutes away. In Dominican, that can mean anything, so I asked, "where exactly are you?" "Nearly at Lincoln/Lope de Vega," was the reply. Yep, that's still going to be a solid 15 min if not more. I ended up calling Pavol to see where he was. Turns out they were just a few blocks away on Lincoln and Independencia and were going to take a carrito to the theatre. This seemed like a faster option than having the rest of the crew pick me up still and then make our way over there. So off I went, speed walking to meet up with Pavol, Orlando and Jakub. We got off where we thought we should, but Orlando and I were convinced we had to turn to the right. Pavol believed it was the left. We were all too stubborn and went separate ways. Turns out Pavol was right.* So that delayed us further...
Anyways, we finally got into the theatre and quickly grabbed tickets and food. The movie had started by the time we got in, but I don't think too much had happened. It was then that we realized the movie was in Spanish, even though Ozumy said that the ticket people had said it was English. This was an experience for me. At first I had a few issues understanding how the characters were related to each other - but I fixed that by doing a quick google search on my phone. There were several jokes that I didn't catch (but a few that I did!) and overall it just felt odd having a movie set in old-timey England and people speaking Spanish. That and Prince John was suddenly Rey Juan. The few lines that were in French though excited me immensely. I did try for a while to just tune out the sound and focus on reading lips, but I've never been good at that and, as such, was rather unsuccessful this time. The popcorn was really tasty though!
After the movie, Pavol and I began the trek home but then he got the idea to go for a drink at the Hilton. Normally, I'd be like, "I want to go home and sleep," but last night, this sounded like a good idea. So we did that. It was so nice to have a good cocktail. First up, my usual cosmopolitan. It was good, I like it to have a tiny bit more cranberry flavour, but this did just fine.
Here's Pavol and his drink. Some sort of rum and sours...
Pavol's friend Ramon was working at the pool bar that night, but he stopped by to say hi to us and chat for a bit. Manuel also joined us after the first round, so we decided to have another round. I wanted something totally different, so between my tastes and Pavol and the bartender's knowledge, this was created:
It had muddled strawberries, vodka, grand marnier, and the oils from that bit of orange zest. And maybe other stuff, I'm not sure. It was very tasty though. See:
Mmm. And that was our evening. Unfortunately, I am now even more tired and so I'm looking forward to a brisk walk home, a cold shower and a nap.
Today has been frustrating. We are without air conditioning at work and my lunch plans fell through, as after half an hour of being at the restaurant alone Adaica came to tell me that she had to get to a meeting at 2 and that Zak and Jamie decided they had too much work to do. I'm not sure why they didn't know this at 1:00 when I confirmed the plans or why they couldn't just call me... Anyways, that is the Dominican for you. I try very hard to get used to it and to not let it anger me, but it's tough. Really tough. I am a planner. I make a plan and I stick to the plan. If something changes, everyone involved knows it has changed at the very earliest moment I can inform them. And I am on time. I'm trying to be more relaxed about being on time (I'm doing good at the relaxing at being on time at work...) but again it's tough. I'm a fan of 5:00 meaning 5:00, not a mixture of 5:00, 5:15, 5:30 and 6:00 (or later!). Overall, this is actually one of my biggest struggles and frustrations here, right up there with the language and the heat. Don't worry though - my more relaxed attitude is improving... slowly...
*normally Orlando and I go with Alejandra and we always remember that she turns near a car dealership type of place and then goes to the right. We got out near the National car rental so this was our hint to go right. Now we're curious to see if there is another car place the next block over or not.
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