Old Quisqueya Park, part three

I was thinking what to write and forgot there was a third part of this that had yet to be published. There are still more photos of that park thing! Whoops, sorry!

Like I said the last time, I was headed for the southern exit, but I turned back after realizing that it would be bad to not photograph the whole place in one go, especially when you consider that I just don’t make regular visits here (last time I came here must have been early last year).

So, I slowly gathered whatever bravery and confidence I could muster from the dark corners of my mind and took the westward road near the southern entrance. It’ s a bit of an uphill slope, and I can only remember the many times I walked down this road, but never up.

As I approached the little red gate that leads down to the cave, these two guys –one of then a little younger than me, the  other one just a kid– walked towards it and didn’t hesitate to go into the open space. As I wasn’t sure whether one could just freely go there, I waited patiently until they got away while getting more photos done.

They certainly took their time, as I made quite a few photos, including that lovely macro shot you see in the top row, as well as the back side of the Conservatory building, which I just find more interesting to walk around and look at than the front side, particularly because there’s only a small space between it and the open area, above which run some rails, which I’ve already shown.

Those guys sure took their time. Most of it was spent in the middle of the open space pointing at things in the oh-look-at-that manner, and I was running out of things to photograph. After they were gone, I approached the gate, looked in every direction for signs of non-plant, non-insect life and went down the first few steps, enough to be able to stand without anyone seeing me.

After snapping enough photos to leave me satisfied with my amazing bravery, I rushed back up. Not soon after, the same two guys, this time joined by what seemed to be the rest of their family (were those two brothers?), got into the cave by the southern entrance. Apparently, the guys from the park office don’t mind people going through here, even though the place is kept unwatched and there’s a high chance of someone spray-painting graffiti on the walls of the cave (it’s happened at this more-famous other cave that I visited).

Before I left, I photographed the two images you see above. This is near the south-western part, close to the open area. I’m not sure what that hole leads to. No sign near it or anything. It’s either a natural skylight for an even bigger cave that’s underground and is not available to the general public … or part of the drainage system. I’d like to believe that it’s the former.

And so concluded my visit to the Plaza del Conservatorio, the place otherwise known as Quisqueya Park. It’ll probably be a long while before I visit again. Maybe next year, if I’ve got a better camera (can someone please buy me one?). I went back home, after taking photos of buildings and streets (and that missing dog paper thing, I hope it’s been found), only to find Droopy doing what he does best:  napping.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading these as much as I suffered enjoyed writing them. A lot of work and love goes into it, and …

What?

What is it?

Oh, right. I’m always so forgetful about these things. I’m pretty sure it’s age, catching up to my good memory. Here it is, a panoramic view of the caves.

Now’s for real. I hope you liked the photos! Enough of this park thing already …

Old Quisqueya Park, part two

I was supposed to make this post on Thursday night, after getting home from college, but I was incredibly tired from that day. I had slept less than four hours, had to cram study for an exam in the morning and then make fixes to my part of the graphic design presentation. The Dean of Arts wasn’t able to make it, so we had an audience of eight people (teacher included), most of which we knew well. We were first to present, Maru and I, so I felt incredibly relieved when we were done and all we had to do is sit there and wait for the other presentations to be done.

After that, I was home, free from college until May. Even then, I’ll only have three classes to worry about (as opposed to the steady amount of six classes I’ve been taking since late 2006). So, lots of free time ahead, even during college days. Better plan for that. While that happens, I’ll just write more about that park and post more photos for your viewing pleasure.

Like I said in the previous post, I chickened out from my plan of going to the cave of Santa Ana and decided to just head eastward, to photograph that side of the park. I also mentioned that this used to be an amusement park and zoo of sorts, and it’s on this side of the place where its previous function becomes more obvious, as you walk by what seemed to be a castle. There are also small gazebos, that once had picnic tables under them. Those were removed when the book fair went international and began taking place here (as opposed to Culture Plaza), in 1998.

Part or of this park right behind the School of Fine Arts, which you may have seen in that last “wandering” post. What apparently was once the parking lot for Quisqueya Park is now right in front of this school, and remains mostly empty. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it full. Just the occasional car, here and there. Behind the building, in park territory, one can find where old art supplies (easels, etc) have not been stored, but just piled up in a small open storage space where everyone can see (and possible steal) them. I’m surprised there’s still anything left there.

Another notable reminder of when this place used to be part zoo is the duck pond. Not really a big duck pond. Just a small place near the military hangout where ducks just … sit there and do nothing much. There are also chickens outside of it, and there was even a cat sitting nearby (a bird-friendly one, apparently).

As I approached the southern exit (or entrance, depending on which side of the wall you’re on), I photographed the small playground area that’s right in front of the parking lot of the park office building. It’s a rather small area and, as in most of the place, they’ve planted small trees all around it, so I had to be careful not to step on any of them unless I wanted the military folk to start bugging me, like I did with that beetle up there.

I walked around a circular metal structure thing right in front of the entrance (in the middle of a small roundabout) to photograph some other things. The metal structure was placed there for the book fair. To me, it’s only a reminder of what a bad choice it was to have the fair take place there, of all places in the city, and away from what had been its original home since the 1970s.

When I first went to the fair in its “new home”, there was garbage everywhere, because people didn’t bother discarding it properly. Many of the plants were trampled on and everything that could be painted in a colorful way was, indeed, painted, doing away with a big part of the sort-of-abandoned look of it that I used to like.

Thankfully, the book fair was again moved to Culture Plaza in 2005 and nature and time have done their best to make the park look as it did back when I first visited with my family. People still litter plenty at the Culture Plaza, but that place is far easier to clean up, and just more suitable for such things. Not to mention that there are far more open spaces and not as many trees.

I began to wrap up, threw safely stored the camera in my bookbag and headed for the exit, when I realized I had been to this place plenty of times and, other than for walking around, I probably wouldn’t have a good reason to come back here in a long while, and I was making what seemed to be the definitive photo shoot of the place (as opposed to the previous times, where I made few photos for college assignments).

So, I reached into the bookbag, took out the camera again and turned back …

Old Quisqueya Park, part one

As promised, the “later in the week” has finally come. I spent quite a while editing the photos, and there turned out to be a lot more than I had thought, so this couldn’t be just another regular “wandering” post (whoops!), and I’ll require another post or two to put them all here! This online journal thing? Not easy. Anyway, here we go.

On Saturday, between taking photos of buildings and empty streets (again, long weekend, people went away), the better part of my walk was spent in the Plaza del Conservatorio. It was named as such because it now contains the National Conservatory of Music.

Previously, it was called Quisqueya Park, an amusement-park-slash-zoo located in the city. The name Quisqueya, meaning mother of the earth in the Taíno language, was one of the many names given by them to the island of Hispaniola. The Taínos were the original inhabitants of this island (and much of the Antilles) and soon became extinct during the colony years. These days, the term Quisqueya is used as an alternate name for the Dominican Republic, one of the two countries that now comprise the island. Even our national anthem begins with the demonym Quisqueyanos!

But enough with ancient history. After the park closed in the 1980s (because we now have an actual zoo, and a more spacious one at that), it remained inactive until the National Conservatory of Music, originally founded in 1942, was moved to its current location: a new building inside the park, built in 1994. Now, in all the time I’ve known this place, I’ve only been inside the building once, for my sister’s high school graduation, because I’d much rather spend my time walking around the place and enjoying the scenery.

My family apparently tried to establish a weekly tradition of having a picnic in this place, because we came here two weekends in a row to have some sandwiches or something. After we’d eaten, we’d walk around for a bit. My brother and I would occasionally pick up almonds from the many such trees that are all over the place (not just the park, but the whole country). I only ate one, and was hesitant to eat another after I picked one up and noticed that it was sprouting. After those two times, we never went back (at least not together).

At the point where I got the rolling theater, I was headed for the souther part of the park. I suddenly realized that I hadn’t gone to one of my favorite parts of it, the cave of Santa Ana, located behind the Conservatory building, and which ends in a wide open area (used for concerts and things like that). I had been there before, and made some nice shots of it before, but thought that it’d be best if all the photos were from the same day. So, I turned back, and made the shots on the row above. You can see the open space in that first shot.

Where are the cave photos, you ask? Well … I sort of chickened out when I got to the small gate that leads down to it. Like I said, I’d been down there before, but I’ve just never known whether people are allowed to go there when there’s nothing going on (a concert or something). The gate is not guarded, locked or anything like that, and there wasn’t anyone around, but the park office is right by the other end, and some military folks hang out near it. Because I’m not a big fan of dealing with those people (or just getting into trouble with anyone), I decided against going in and went to the east side of the park to take more photos.

But you’ll have to wait a while for those. It’s quite late (or early, depending on how you look at it), and I’ve got two exams and a presentation to work on (we’re presenting to the Dean of Arts!). Now, the presentation is done. It just needs … tweakage. Last-minute stuff.

So, until part two arrives, go read some other blog. Hit that stumble button or something!