the way i see it
life’s like that

Have you ever wondered what we used to do before cell phones came on the scene? This hit home as I arrived at the resort in Cabarete for the final 8 days of my vacation. This will be my 4^th stay at the Viva Tangerine. Being a creature of habit I enjoy the familiar and besides I’m pretty well known here by the staff and get VIP treatment! Anyway, shortly after my arrival, I headed down to one of the bars on the beach and while sitting there enjoying the sounds of the ocean I couldn’t help but notice there were many other people talking on cell phones. Why would you go on vacation to a resort and bring your cell phone? When I left Ottawa last week, my cell phone stayed at home.

Now, I have to admit that I did bring the laptop with me and that I check my emails every day as well as making sure that I do my 300 drops on Entrecard! In fact, I’ve been on several road trips to the States in the past year and the laptop has always been with me. But I draw the line when it comes to cell phones. Even when I’m home I often ignore the cell phone when it rings. Why should it be absolutely necessary that you’re available 24 hours a day? I know some people who can’t live without their cell phones. And, as far as I’m concerned there’s nothing more ignorant than being with someone (having lunch or whatever) and they answer their phone. I applaud the recent government decision in Ontario banning the use of cell phones while driving.

Technology is a wonderful thing and as I said I do bring my laptop with me to keep in touch with what’s going on but there has to be a limit. Are we becoming that addicted that we simply can’t go a day or more without answering a cell phone or logging on to a computer? I could very easily live without my cell phone but I doubt very much if I could go too long without signing on my computer – how about you?

that’s the way I see it

Tuesday and Wednesday was spent visiting with the families of the two boys whom I sponsor through Children International here in Santiago, Dominican Republic.

This was my third time visiting and I’ve been fortunate to have Yaseni as my guide/translator each time. When she picked me up at the hotel Tuesday morning it was obvious that she was pregnant and told me that she was expecting in January.

The first visit was with Roberto, who turned 12 in June. We spent some time at his home then together with his mom and the social worker from CI, we headed out to go shopping and to get something to eat. I told them that we had 4500 pesos ($140) to spend. This is a lot for a family whose average monthly income is only $150. After shopping for groceries, we stopped off to buy some clothes and shoes then went to get something to eat.

Here are a few pictures of my visit with Roberto:

On Wednesday, it was my turn to visit with Bianny for a similar visit – spending time at the home and then going shopping and to get something to eat. Bianny’s family is a lot poorer than Roberto’s (with an average monthly income of $110) and so I told them that we had 6500 pesos ($200) to spend.

Here are a few pictures of my visit with Bianny - the first of the home where they live will show you what the conditions are like there:

One thing I noticed about my visits this time is that the kids were not as shy as on my previous visits. And I discovered that my minimal knowledge of Spanish is actually improving! I can’t say enough about the wonderful work that is being done by CI. Just seeing the looks on the kids’ faces when you visit is reward enough.

that’s the way I see it

One thing I hate about flying is the time it takes to get off a plane once it has landed. It’s for this reason that I don’t mind paying the additional $10 charge to pre-select a seat near the front and on the aisle. After a 48-minute flight from Ottawa to Toronto, a 3 hour wait for the flight to Dominican Republic that took 4 hours and then a one hour drive to the hotel in Santiago, I finally arrived for my two-week vacation.

On the flight to DR, there was a guy in the seat behind who didn’t shut up the entire time. What made it worse was him going on like he was an expert on the DR as he explained to the poor soul sitting next to him what to expect while vacationing here. A few times I found myself thinking “what utter crap!”

Today, I was supposed to phone my contact with Children International to find out what time they would be picking me up tomorrow for my first visit with one of my sponsored kids. Little did I know that it was a national holiday and I was unable to reach her. After a phone call to their headquarters in the States, I was able to contact the Regional Director at home here who told me that everything would be taken care of and they would call me first thing in the morning.

It’s very hot and humid here but I’m not complaining since we actually had snow in Ottawa last week!

that’s the way I see it

One of the favourite things I enjoy doing is visiting my friends Dave & Eileen which I do most every Friday after suffering through another work week. We end up sitting at the kitchen table for hours drinking and reminiscing about past events. Over the years we’ve gone on several road trips together to the States but only once have all three of us gone together. This gives me a definite advantage because we tend to jump from one incident to another in our story-telling. Such was the case last night.

I can’t remember what it was we were talking about, but all of a sudden Dave, with a straight face utters the words “that was hysterious!” Eileen and I both looked at each other, then one of us asked “hysterious?” Dave replied, “yes, it was hysterious” to which Eileen and I both collapsed laughing. Trying to compose ourselves because Dave was sitting there puzzled as to why we would be in convulsions, Eileen finally said “there’s no such word as “hysterious.” Dave was adamant that there was and I tried explaining that he either meant it was hysterical or hilarious and that if we were playing Scrabble I would challenge him on the word “hysterious.”

We were convinced that Dave had invented a new word and we said that from now on it would be used to describe something that was both hysterical and hilarious. But, alas, today, before writing this, I googled the word “hysterious” and as it turns out there’s an Urban Dictionary that contains it. And, the weird thing is we can’t even remember what it was that we were talking about that was so hysterious. Of course, that could have been as a result of the booze!

Anyways, have you ever noticed that when sitting with friends and reliving past memories that you suddenly remember more things about the event than you did the last time you talked about it? Some of it may be true but oftentimes it’s added to embellish a story – making it all the more enjoyable than it actually may have been!

that’s the way I see it

Some people do it more than others; some won’t admit to doing it; others do it without even realizing it. What is it? We all gossip!

According to Wikepedia, “Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others. It forms one of the oldest and most common means of sharing (unproven) facts and views.” But, how do you distinguish between gossip and normal conversation? Often when I’m talking with a friend the conversation will begin with “What’s new?” Recently, when asked this my reply was “Linda and Peter have moved in together.” If this had been common knowledge, it would be normal conversation, but the fact that Linda had asked me not to mention it meant that I was gossiping! And, as I said in the beginning of this post, we sometimes do it without realizing it.

Again, according to Wikepedia, the word “gossip” originated when “politicians would send assistants to bars to sit and listen to general public conversations. The assistants had instructions to sip a beer and listen to opinions; they responded to the command to “go sip”, which allegedly turned into “gossip”.

Without being sexist, it’s generally believed that women gossip more than men. What do you think? And why is it that people are so interested in gossip about celebrities?

Whether we like it or not, we all do it to some degree. How about you?

that’s the way I see it