Word for the Travel Wise (03/14/06)

Last year I misplaced a piece a jewelry quite dear to me with a stone that is somewhat difficult to find here in my parts of the globe. To make up for the loss I have since considered going the extra mile to find the unique stone in the mines located in Los Chupaderos, Dominican Republic. This Spanish speaking Caribbean island is the only place in the world where the blue pectolites can be found where a journey to the mines is said to be an extraordinary experience from the long off-the-beaten track, dirty and stony roads to landing in the villages of the brave miners.

Today's word is a word most commonly known in Dominican Republic:

Larimar - a rare form of pectolite discovered in the 1970's in the Dominican Republic. The name comes from a combination of Larissa and Mar, the Spanish word for sea.

Obviously this word isn't a complete Spanish word, but if you happen to find yourself in the D.R. and see the beautiful blue stone remember it's Larimar and not turquoise which it is often mistaken. If you're as wild about learning more about gems and stones as I am you may wish to check out the online Larimar Museum which I mentioned sometime ago. At that time I was told the actual museum located in Santo Domingo is much better so I can only imagined what going into the mines must be like! Anyone willing to join me?

The official language of the D.R. is Spanish so between planning make sure you refresh your vocabulary and visit some of past Spanish words here on Gadling: escalar, cercano, realidad.

Filed under: Learning, Dominican Republic