The Mundane

Ok, so here's where entries are just about...life. Saturday afternoon we went to see Michael Jackson's This is It movie. We like going early because we figured the crowds will wait until evening, turning their outing into an "event," and that's exactly what happened. There were maybe 20 people in the theater (when we drove by later it was packed). We're not MJ fanatics, but certainly liked a lot of his music and the movie was really interesting if only to see how much work goes into making a concert. Plus, MJs personal antics started making him seem inhuman, and this movie makes you realize that he was actually a real person. Normally, a 50-year-old man would seem really goofy trying to do the moves that MJ does, but MJ still makes hip. He still created moves that "kids" will be trying to imitate for years to come. He didn't even get out of breath training & dancing with his backup dancers. Even more amazing, was the fact that he NEVER lip-synced and NEVER had canned background music. There are so many performers out there that could take note. The Earth Song and backdrop actually made me cry (it should make everyone cry, since it pretty much sums up what we're doing to this planet). The concert would have truly been spectacular; his death is really a shame. It was kind of nice seeing it in movie-form. We weren't surrounded by people trying to sing his songs, screaming, or crying, so we could actually hear his and has backup singer's vocals. And we were able to eat good popcorn!

When we came out of the theater, we ran into Pat & Steve (fellow hashers) who had just left another movie. They asked us over to their house for a drink and we ended up there for over 4 hours! They were both born in England, have lived in Canada, but have been here for over 25 years (Pat's Dad was born here). They lived here before there was a road to the Peninsula (where Christophe is being built) and while there was one tiny grocery store. Pat & Steve live in a house with lots of land and they're growing all kinds of their own stuff. Mike & I looked at the avocado trees with absolute envy. Every fruit, all kinds of veggies. Sigh. There is a Monday & Saturday produce market downtown each week, but a lot of the food comes from Dominica (and tends to be of the "eat now" variety). Now that sugar cane is no longer the main crop, the government is trying to persuade locals to grow other crops to sell allowing the island to be more self-sufficient. That should bring prices down too. We also learned a lot about the culture and are going to have to be a little more alert to who we're talking to and how. Anywho, we got some avocados to bring back with us (the guacamole's already made and ready to eat this evening, thank you), as well as a few other goodies, so went home happy.

Yesterday, we spent the entire morning looking for soda. Diet Dr. Pepper, I gave up a long time ago (although when I stumble across a can, I drink it slooooowly). Diet Coke is pretty common. Coke everywhere. Not yesterday. We went EVERYWHERE! We ended up finally finding a six-pack at a gas station. What's weird about this is that they bottle Coke products here! Jeez! After that insanity, we headed to the pool for a couple of hours. It's the first time there were actually people down there. 8 pre-teen girls to be exact. We lasted a little over an hour and then headed back. Mike decided to make some soft pretzels from scratch to eat while he watched his Philadelphia Eagles play.



I don't know what we're doing wrong, but we just can't get the dough to rise like it's supposed to. Plus you're supposed to dunk these in boiling water with baking soda for a few seconds, and Mike left them in there a little too long, so even after baking they were a little soggy. Boo. We ate them anyway and will try again (it'll be my turn next time - my last batch was made with wheat flour and wasn't so good either).

We had planned on having a pool party this coming weekend, but it's already time to hash. The weekend after that, it's off to Puerto Rico. Yay. Maybe when we get back the humidity will be down and the winds up. You can't even tell the ocean from the sea. I just can't believe how incredibly stagnated things are right now. I don't know if the same wind shear that has kept the hurricanes from us is also sucking up our trade winds or what, but sheesh. I think I'm losing more weight from my dripping sweat than from my actual runs. Eew.