Christopher Columbus is no Hero of Mine
The 2024 election was over on November 5th. Campaigns and elections are my family’s bread and butter. The day before an election often feels like Christmas Eve as we anxiously anticipate whether we will have presents or coal awaiting us under our tree the next day. Election day is generally a culmination of months of surveys, data, zoom sessions, and conference calls. And then the calendar applies its brakes, and election season abruptly winds to a halt.
A New York Times article in November described how some Americans, exhausted by the recent election, were catching flights out of the country. I must confess, we were a couple of those Americans. We caught a flight to Puerto Rico where we boarded a cruise ship and headed southeast toward Antigua, Guadeloupe, and back up to the British Virgin Islands. Over a leisurely lunch one afternoon
One of many culinary experiences on the cruise although it looks like Jim is jonesing for my mushroom soup
(where we were “dining” rather than eating in front of the television or shoveling food in our mouths at the kitchen counter) Jim and I scrutinized iPhone photos to determine when we had last taken a vacation that was solely focused on us. Dating back to the initial days of the Pandemic, our travel dollars have been devoted to family trips. Family vacations, while joyous and meaningful, are not typically relaxing. Our meals and adventures on the cruise convinced us we need to do more of the relaxing, restoring kinds of trips as well as the others.
Our first excursion was a guided bicycle tour of Colonial Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.
Colonial Santo Domingo
Biking may be my very favorite outdoor activity and combines the following benefits: You are outside, typically on a lovely day; you burn calories through the exercise; and it’s a more efficient and intimate way of discovering a new place.
My cute biking companion
Our flock of twelve +60-year-old cyclists looked like we were imprinting upon our very own mother duck as Adolpho guided his pedaling progenies through traffic congestion and cobblestone streets.
Our guide Adolpho
My favorite take-away was an introduction to the colmodos or corner stores, the original bodegas, that sell staples – rice and beans, toiletries, cigarettes, alcohol, conversations, and a sense of community. I loved the passion and pride exhibited by our guide as he shared the island’s sea vistas, street art, and stories of the Taino people, who first inhabited the Dominican Republic when it was still the island of Hispaniola.
Example of street art. This mural represents the importance of hair salons and barbershops as points of cultural connection and communication.
The Taino people were a generous, peaceful, and cooperative people who were enslaved by the Spanish conquistadors when they conquered the island. I found it hard to reconcile man’s inhumanity toward man (a recurring theme during our travels) with the luxury of a vacation cruise, but I guess I managed since I had a really good time on our trip. Christopher Columbus, while admittedly brave, is no hero of mine, however.
Mural of the Taino Indigenous people who inhabited Hispaniola
More next time about our adventures on the island of Antigua.