Hello dear people of the blogosphere, how is the new week rolling for you? For me, it hasn’t started yet but I hope it will be well. On Wednesday I will see the breast care people (hopefully) and find out what I can do about the swelling under my arm. The appointment has been canceled twice, so I am not holding my breath. Wednesday morning I will have my phone appointment with my GP about my wrist for which I had the x-ray. It’s a little better but not much yet.

My working hours have changed and I slowly get used to them. I always work on a Tuesday but alternating weeks on Thurs/Fri or Sat/Sun. That gives me a strange working pattern with one week a long weekend and the other some free days within the week. I enjoy that and it helps Sherky being less alone but it’s quite a change from my set 4×4 hours I had before.

I wanted to try out how I can deal with more flexible hours and so far it works well. Even though I still am absolutely shattered after work. Looks like I need to get back into a sort of exercise regime as the medication I take makes me tired but exercise is said to help against it.

Otherwise, we are still working on our plans for next year. I think I can reveal now, that we are contemplating selling everything and move on a narrowboat to travel the UK canal system. This would mean we might be able to live on the best husband (Jeremy Clarkson voice) in the world‘s pension because the worth of our house has gone up a lot. We have given ourselves a year to renovate the house for selling it and research what constant cruising on a narrowboat means in reality but I’ll talk about that more in two weeks.

For now, we are off to last week’s neighbour the Dominican Republic. Aren’t the trunks of the palms on the featured image awesome? I absolutely love their curves.

1. Introduction to the Dominican Republic

I somehow always think of a different country when they say DR instead of Dominican Republic. Probably because the German abbreviation for the GDR was DDR. Well, the Dominican Republic could not be further from the former communist German country. I know several people who visited the Dominican Republic and were absolutely smitten. From what I gather the people are chilled, the food is great and you can find everything that makes the Caribbean great there.

Even though I would have expected people are a little more downcast because of its importance when it comes to European colonization. The island is where Columbus first arrived in the “new” world. It is also the place where the first slaves from Africa were … well I don’t quite know how to phrase it… used? Sold to? Worked???? You create your own idea and maybe let me know how to phrase it in a way that is respectful. Thanks.

The Dominican Republic has both the highest and the lowest point in the Caribbean and seems to be a power player with close connections to the US and Spain. The beaches I saw in the videos are just amazing. No wonder people are smitten 🙂 . There are also a couple of things you do not expect like deserts and snow. Yes, you can find both in the DR. But let’s see some of this beautiful place and learn more from people who are in the know.

As always: I do not have any rights to the videos. They lie with the creators who earn an income for their hard work with the adverts in the videos. Please feel free to follow, like, and support them as you are able to. Thanks.

2. An Artist of the Dominican Republic

I like portrait paintings. There is something about painting a person that a photo never can express. I can’t really put it into words but maybe it is a certain closeness that happens between artist and model when you sit for a painting that simply doesn’t happen in photographs.

One painter who brought about beautiful, touching, and direct portraits is Celeste Woss Y Gil. She was a bit of a rebel as she dared to paint nude women which shocked the establishment in the early 20th century. She was deeply affected by the political upheavals in her country as her family had to emigrate to France and later relocated to Cuba. She opened her own gallery or art shop in the Dominican Republic later in life and you can find out more about her here in this video:

I think we owe the women of the early 20th century a lot because many of them dared to do things for the first time that we today take for granted. They fought for so many of our rights and I believe Celeste Woss Y Gil was one of them. Find out more here at Art of the Americas.

3. The Climate Crisis in the Dominican Republic

I am quite surprised that it is quite hard to find up-to-date videos on the climate crisis of the countries I am writing about. Most of them are from the early 2010s. Many show that so-called developing countries figured many years ago that climate change is a death threat to them and their people. They try to change climate change even though it is the developed world that mainly creates it.

It is no different for the Dominican Republic who started a co2 reduction program at that time. However, it looks like it is not very successful with it. This table from Worldometer (at end of page) shows that co2 levels rather rise than fall.

It should really be in the interest of all countries to reduce climate change as it will bring devastation to all of us. However, I feel, we in the developed world could do the most as we produce the most too.

Food of the Dominican Republic

I never knew that there are so many varieties of beans. The older I get the more I feel I know nothing of the world. Rice and beans seem to be a staple food of the Dominican Republic which combines food influences from the Americas, Spain, and the Arab world as far as I understood. However, there are lots more and Norberis from the DR can explain it much better than I:

5. A Poetess of the Dominican Republic

As so often, today’s poetess is an immigrant to another country. It was difficult to find English videos about poets from the Dominican Republic and I found her poem profound as I have experienced a similar thing when it comes to my name. People could not pronounce my last name while my first name has now an English touch rather than the French my mother intended for me. And the German version is different again. But enough words. Please meet Rhina P. Espaillat

6. Mental Health in the Dominican Republic

Mental Health in the DR seems to be closely related to poverty and inequality. However, this article also says that it is a major problem for men who are fighting feelings of guilt when their mental health isn’t well. Unfortunately, I could not find a video that explained the situation well. This PSI article also explains much.

7. Some musicians of the Dominican Republic

And last but not least some music from the Dominican Republic. Enjoy 🙂

And where are we going next week?

Come Away With Me 2021 Musical Challenge Country for Monday, May 31st, 2021

I am taking a rather random route around the world, but sometimes it makes sense. Next week we venture to the Dominican Republic 😉 . Please find musicians from the Dominican Republic at the Last.FM page.

As for the suggestions to take part:

1. Join in! No matter where, when and with what. You missed the first year? Don’t worry. Just jump in when it suits you.
2. Send us the link! The ping-back option does not work because my blog is now private so please leave a link in the comments of the post on the day you take part. Or leave it at the “Come Away With Me 2021 FB page“
3. Tag your post either with ” Come Away With Me Musical Challenge”/ #CoAwWiMeMuCh” / “Come Away with Me 2021 Musical Challenge” o/“CoAwWiMe2021MuCh” / . You can also use these as hashtags for Twitter and other Social Networks to give your post more exposure. If you add #blog and #music with your hashtags it will get you more readers.
4. No matter which music or country the prompt favours you create with it whatever you please. This is supposed to be a fun challenge and no chore.
5. I post a prompt for the next week with every “Come Away With Me 2021 post” I write.
6. If you like, use this picture for your readers to find the posts.

Just one more thing before you go: The hospital that is treating me is fundraising for a dedicated breast cancer unit which would allow some same-day diagnosis and better premises for patients and staff.

Please, if you can spare a little money hop over to their Just Giving Page and give as little or much as you can. Or share the page on your social media. So far the campaign has raised about half the amount needed: £450,081 of £800,000 (May 2021).

Your support means a lot to me! Thank you very much.

Thanks, my dears, for staying with me until the end.

I appreciate your presence.

Please stay safe, stay kind and remember that you rock!