Was it all a Dream?

the beautiful green earth below

the best ocean

the greatest trees

the old man and the sea

the water

naps under palm canopies

happiness

bungalows

in a mirror

My dad and I travelled twelve hours through buses and airplanes and more buses before finally reaching a beautiful place where the waters meet the land of the Dominican Republic. Having escaped the doldrums of Pennsylvania in the winter time we were happy and light, the whole place seemed radiant, joyous, alive. The air smells different and the ocean heals you. We ate fresh fruit and cheeseburgers under the palm frond canopies. I fed colorful birds. I learned to breath air from a tank on my back in the turquoise water. I worshiped the sun all day long and took cool showers at night.

The Dominicans are a wonderful and happy people. Their country is beautiful, their cities are colorful, and their food is from heaven or somewhere even better maybe. This trip reminded me of how much I love this part of the world, I love speaking (sloppy) spanish, eating the freshest fish, and lazing in the sun. It was so nice there and when we landed in Pennsylvania and saw the snow we wondered if it had all been a dream.

And so, I think this will be my last winter here. More photos soon.

When the summer ends I'll be there hiding and when the sunrises I'll stay warm forever.

The train to the circus school. 

There are so many beautiful old run down houses in Germantown.

On my bicycle. 

Lovely blue sky.

Balloon shower.

My love.

This week was Jim's birthday and cause for fanfare and celebration so we filled the shower with balloons. It's a lot of fun to take a shower in a shower filled with balloons. We went twice this week to our favourite Middle Eastern restaurant. Yes, twice. The second time we brought the nicest bottle of wine I've ever tasted... I wish I could drink it all the time. It has been a good celebratory week for me. I was going to head up to Brooklyn this weekend, but my friend came down with something pretty awful and I'm going next weekend instead. Today I had class at the circus school, which was awesome, because I'm finally able to invert without needing to tag the rope to push myself over anymore. Also, I did a straddle climb to the top (Ok, I did mess up at the top and use the wrong leg, but still.) This is exciting because I'm pretty sure being able to do the straddle climb and inverting without "tagging" are the prerequisites for advancing again. So, I may be able to take more difficult classes next session. I honestly didn't expect to be doing as well as this, so I'm very happy. The only downside is that I can't enough to keep up with my body's demands! I'm, like, constantly hungry.