The Simple Pleasures of the World Around Me

Days 76-100

I’ve been meaning to take time to write about the simple things I enjoy here in Barahona, to give you all a little bit more about the place I’m living in.  But first, you’ll have to excuse me for the lack of posts recently.  I’ve spent 3 of the last 4 weekends in Santo Domingo and given that the weekends constitute most of my free time, this blog has fallen behind.  Nevertheless, here we are.

I’ve wanted to share with you all a bit about the food that I’ve had the experience of trying here.  The Dominican Republic, given its location and year round warm weather, seems like it can grow just about anything.  Fruits and vegetables are never in a shortage and I wanted to share some of the great variety of fruits I’ve been able to try:

1. Níspero (Medlar) – An interesting fruit that is very sweet and has the consistency of a boiled apple.  Since there is a large tree with these in the backyard, they are always in abundance here and I have grown very fond of them.
2. Higo (Fig Fruit) – I had never seen or tasted a fresh fig until I came here and it’s quite a bit different that I had imagined.  The fruit is very soft and the inside somewhat resembles a fresh orange.  However, due to the delicacy of the fruit, it does not transport well which is why is it normally sold dried.
3. Cereza (Cherry) – Sweet, delicious and abundant, need I say more?
4. Anón (Annona, or Sugar Apple) – The weirdest fruit I’ve encountered so far.  The outside is hard and is somewhat like a pineapple, yet the inside is fleshy (sort of like applesauce) with large seeds. 
5. Lechosa (Papaya) – A large and juicy fruit that is common to have with breakfast since it isn’t super sweet, but still nutritious. 
6. Chinola (Passion Fruit) – Popular for juices and marmalades.  Again, with a tree in the backyard, we always have a fresh supply of Marmalada in the refrigerator. 
   
7. Guanábana (Soursop) – Another very odd looking fruit with spikes on the outside.  Due to the size, it is commonly used to make drinks, especially smoothie – like drinks.

Anón

Chinola

Higo

Cerezas

Of course the list goes on and on with other fruits: Naranja (Orange), Manzana (Apple), Piña (Pineapple), Coco (Coconut), Toronja (Grapefruit), Uvas (Grapes), Granada (Pomegranate), Pera (Pear), Sandía (Watermelon), Mango (Mango), Limoncillo (Mamoncillo), Aguacate (Avacado), Guineo (Banana), Guayaba (Guava), Melón (Sweet Melon), and Carambolo (Star Fruit).  I just decided to highly some of the uncommon fruits.  Clearly, vegetables grow in abundance as well, but with the exception of yucca, they’re not as tasty as all the fruits are.

Sunrise in Barahona

Another common pleasure I get to witness every morning and every night here in Barahona are the incredible sunrises and sunsets.  Barahona is strategically located by the sea with surrounding mountains.  Due to the air currents, rain is not common here, despite constantly seeing rain clouds move over the mountains off in the distance.  However, the clouds never quite make it here and it remains dry for the most part (which remains a problem for farmers in the region).

And the sunsets...

Every morning, the sun rises out of the East, ascending from the Atlantic Ocean and turns the sky from a deep violet to a marvelous blue.  I am lucky enough to get to witness this everyday on my way to mass in the morning and it certainly has a calming effect.

...giving beauty every night.

In the evenings, the sun sets in the West, behind the mountains.  This creates a unique effect: the sun is still up, but obscured by the mountains.  The clouds often look like they’ve been set ablaze, like a painter creating a beautiful picture.  It never ceases to amaze me, no matter how many times I see it.  Pascal reminds us that we cannot prove God’s existence through nature, but that doesn’t mean we can sit and appreciate the intricacy and beauty of Earth that God himself created.  As Annie Dillard said,

“If creation had been left up to me, I’m sure I wouldn’t have had the imagination or courage to do more than shape a single, reasonably sized atom, smooth as a snowball, and let it go at that...Beauty itself is the fruit of the creator’s exuberance that grew such a tangle, and the grotesques and horrors bloom from the same free growth, the intricate scramble and twine up and down the conditions of time.”  

So, I’ll continue to seek to find beauty in the small and the nature.  Who knows, maybe I’ll be lucky enough to be like Moses and catch a glimpse of the back parts of God.  I want to learn as much as I can with the time available here; for you cannot take time with you, to spend it is the only real way to use it.