A Sufi's Journey...: Punta Cana

Day 3 for me: Beautiful day spent at the beach, reading, writing, napping, swimming, taking photographs etc etc.

Day 3 for the boys: Hanging out with their new friends from the kid's club and teen's club, sailing, swimming, etc.

Some of the photos from Day 3.

Scuba diving lessons and trips available at an extra cost.

Kayaks available to take out - included.

I walked all the way to the pier which was at one end of the resort's designated beach area. A shady spot under a couple of palm trees seemed like the perfect spot to be. I pulled two lounge chairs in the shade and got comfortable with my books, pen, journal, oil crayons, phone, camera. swim goggles, bandana, water, sunblock and hat. This was my little slice of paradise for the next couple of hours.

I read, wrote, took some pictures, napped, went for a dip, then read some more and took some more pictures. Aly woke me up from my nap. I was surprised that he had found me. He said, "I knew you'd be as far away from the others as possible." And right he was. There were a few scattered guests laying out on the lounge chairs but they were far enough where I could not hear them and that was just fine.

My view looking up as I lay down on the lounge chair. It was a beautiful blue sky with a few scattered clouds but that didnt' last.

It had been a beautiful day with a light cool breeze. There were light puffy clouds and some darker, grey ones, but they kept passing over us.

The wind picked up.

It started with a light sprinkle for a few minutes and then it stopped.

But within a half hour, dark rain clouds had moved in and emptied their contents right on top of us minus any lightening. It started coming down fast and heavy and the breeze was picking up a bit and getting a bit cooler.

The waves started picking up as well.

I barely had time to pack my things and run under the shade of a hut. After leaving my bag and towels there, Aly and I went back in the water. It was warmer in the water with the rain pouring down than it was on the beach. We stayed for a few minutes but then decided to just wait it out under the shade.

It stopped raining after about ten minutes. The clouds dissipated and it was back to being a beautiful day again. But it was already around five by now and we were cold and hungry. We walked to Celeste and grabbed a quick burger before heading back to our room to shower and change.

A pic of the boys from day 1. Aly played around with the effects. I like it!

Another one from day 1

Day 1 as I waited for the boys to join me for dinner.

These two men in the blue shirts and white shorts are the top guys responsible for guest services. One of their many responsibilities is to walk around the entire property and check in with guests. On Day 2, I was sitting in a quiet corner in the beach restaurant with my laptop blogging, when they walked up to me to ensure I was doing well and was happy there. They asked if I needed anything. They chatted with me for a few minutes about where I was from and what I was working on. I informed them that I was working on a post for my blog. They actually knew what a blog was and asked for the blog address so that they could read it. I said I would get it to them before I leave.

I shouldn't have been surprised when they walked up to me again on Day 3, as I was hiding in the corner of the beach. They stopped and said hello, made some small talk and off they went to the next few guests. Good guys!!!

A selfie earlier before the clouds moved in.

After dinner, we decided to go to where the main bar is. They usually have a live band playing there. It was a very muggy night and we were waiting until 9:30 to go see the show.

This is a picture of the main bar. There are comfy chairs and couches all around the outside with an open area in the middle.

We attended the nightly show that starts at 9:30. Tonight's theme was "The Music Factory" where they had a awesome collection of songs from the 60's, 70's, 80's 90's and the 21st century. They played about 30-45 seconds of each song. Dressed in wigs and costumes, the staff members lip-synced to the songs. I had a blast!!!! I totally dated myself as I sang along to Wham's Jitterbug, Cyndi Lauper's Girls just wanna have fun, Madonna's Material Girl and Boy George's Kama-chamelion.

I was about 11 years old when these came out. My parents, my brother Karim who was nine years old, my grandparents and I all lived together in a two bedroom flat in Mazgaon, an area of Mumbai which was Bombay back then. A flat is the same thing as our condos. We were on the 5th floor of the Bank of India building in the Honeycomb Building. Random facts as I walk down memory lane. Our parents had one bedroom with the bathroom and my grandparents had the other bedroom. There was a bathroom in the living room area which we all used. Karim and I used to sleep on the pull-out sofa bed every night. We were too young to miss having our own room. I remember dinner every night would consist of khichdi, aaloo pyaz ka salan, chaas, dahi, and papad. The entire family would always have dinner together.

It was around the same time that my dad's sisters came to visit us. Daulat fuima lived in Vancouver, Canada and Malek fuima lived in the suburbs of London. They recently came to visit us a few months ago and it was the best time ever. My cousin Mohsin, Malek Fuima's son was nice enough to send me a mix tape of the hit pop songs of the time. Also, I was introduced to Michael Jackson's Thriller album. I can't exactly remember who bought me that cassette but boy, I loved it. That was my introduction to western songs. When I say western, I don't mean country western. Living in the Eastern part of the world, in India, this music and artists were considered western because it came from America and/or Europe thus the Western part of the world.

A simple yet beautiful light fixture.

I used to have posters of Boy George, Cyndi Lauper and Michael Jackson in my grandparent's bedroom. I used to try to dress up like Madonna and Cyndi Lauper wearing as many bangles instead of the bracelets and tying my hair up with colorful hairbands...I looked ridiculous!!!! But I thought I was so cool then. I recently came across a few pictures of me with my crazy get-up posing with our doberman Rocky. I'll see if I can find them and post them later.

So back to the show, they played songs by Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, Abba, Jackson 5, Michael Jackson, the Spice Girls, Backstreet boys, Aretha Franklin and Frank Sinatra just to name a few more. They even played La Bamba!!!