Thanksgiving Week

So thanksgiving in Dominica turned out to be quite wonderful. About 20 of us got together and had a great meal. The crew of six couples that are our "Dominican Family" and a few others made some great food and really made us all anxious to go home! We had 3 turkeys, stuffing, homemade mashed potatoes, pumpkin roll, pumpkin pie, homemade rolls, green bean casserole, cookies, cranberry, etc. It was a feast!!

It was great to spend an evening with the guys, it is a rare occasion that we have them for the night! The next three weeks here are CRAZY for the students. Mark has four practicals the first week of December, then his test, then 3 finals the following week. It is a bit intense around here. So Thanksgiving was a good break from all the work.

Emily flew into Dominica for the week and we had a great time. Her birthday was Tuesday so all the girls went to Batibou Beach (our fav!) then had dinner. It was a great day!

The strangest thing about Thanksgiving was probably cooking a turkey while in a bathing suit.. it was kind of strange running from the pool to the house to check the turkey, I am not complaining, I am just pointing out the oddness of it all.

The day before Thanksgiving I went spear fishing with some of the male spouses. It was pretty exciting. I hit two fish but didn't actually catch them. So, yes I did wound them and leave them to go off and die, I have heard enough of how mean that is so go ahead...

The other major events for the week...

Mason and I were chased by a cow walking down the street. The wild dogs were harassing the cow and it just came out of the bushes and started running. It was not fun but for some reason it was not odd for that to happen either. Oh, Dominica....

We had another earthquake, this time I felt it! It sounded like a BIG truck was downshifting right next to you. It was kind of creepy.

Other than that I have been laying by the pool and doing some reading for my final research paper for the semester. I am done this week!! YEAH!!

20 more days then back home for a few weeks!! I can't wait!

Earthquakes, Sunsets, and Goats

Dear Dominica,

I enjoyed my lovely sunset wine party on Prince Rupert Bay. I wish you would not have opened up the heavens and dumped water on me for the first hour. However, I am grateful that you cleared up to watch the sunset. The wine was good, the family living in Noah's Arc next door was a little different, the mosquito's were less than appealing, the humidity I could have lived without. The lovely views of your wonderful landscapes are perfect, but there are a few questions I have to ask.

1. Why are you shaking the earth so much this past month? Are 12 earthquakes really necessary? Just an FYI... it's not attractive for the tourists visiting from cruise ships and I am getting the feeling you don't want us here.

2. Goats running in the middle of the road and attacking cars? Really? Come on, even you can do better than that.

3. There are SO SO SO many trees here, can you move them a little so we can catch a breeze? I know we live in the Caribbean but you really need to stop being lazy.

That's all for now. Thanks.

Pictures from the Sunset Cocktail Party... (colors were not as intense due to all the rain)

Noah's Arc next door... it was pretty incredible actually.

Catchin Up.... Island Life makes me L-A-Z-Y!!!

It has been quite some time since I have taken the time to sign onto the blog. I get caught up in my hectic life here on this island and i am just finding it hard to get to (note sarcasm). Either way, I forget to post the latest happenings so here is my attempt to catch you up.

Mark took his second mini exam on November 2nd. It proved to be a tough one but he is still doing fine. The second semester is going FAST! He had 3 weeks until he is officially done with 2nd semester and we are on our way back to the land of the free and the home of the brave! :)

I have not done nearly as many hikes, actually I think I have only done about 2 this semester. I did so many when I first got here that the hikes being offered are repeaters and I just didn't feel like it quite yet. (It's okay, you can think I am a snot for not wanting to go to these unbelievable places again, I am spoiled with scenery... get over it :) ) I visit the pool and beach a few times a week and sometimes i just take a nap. It's tough here I am telling you, I am not sure many people could handle it. (wink, wink). Let me just put things into perspective... my toughest decision on Thursday afternoon was whether to get a cold coffee or a hot one. I am telling you that is TOUGH here in Dominica... hot weather plus hot coffee = extra sweaty, but the hot coffee is good. Ugh... its tough.

Anyways...

The Friday after the second exam Margo, Kelsey, Jordan and I went to Splash Bash. Let me first explain what this is. You pay 20EC to get your "ticket" which is a white t-shirt that you must wear to enter the party. It is held in a large field with a bar and speakers playing music so loud my ears are still ringing (did I just sound old?). When in the party every 45 mins they throw out plastic water bottles that are filled with water and food coloring (that equals paint in dominica) and you start painting everyone. The party starts at 11:30pm (don't ask apparently painting strangers while drunk is better the later it is). All proceeds go to charity so I felt obligated to drink like I was in college again. It was a good time. Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment:

I have attended numerous birthday parites this past month... some pictures on facebook.

Halloween was an interesting event here. Creativity was a must... Margo and I ended up being well, I don't really know... just ghetto.. enjoy.....

More to come...

The first few weeks of the new semester

Well, time has been flying by. It is the fifth week of mark's second semester and the first week of mine. Mark just took his first exam of the semester and is off to a good start. This semester has been a little more challenging but he is pushing through. My professors this semester are totally different. The one is just crazy, and I mean that in the nicest way possible, but he is crazy. I have a 10 page paper due next week (2nd week of class) on chapters that are not even assigned yet. ( i think he is confused but nobody asked me.)

I haven't been taking as many trips as when I first got here, believe it or not I am a little burnt out. I did try a different beach last week with a group of girls called Mero Beach. It was more "Americanized" in the sense that is had chairs on the beach but you had to pay to use them. Now, in the states you would have nice chairs but these were hard plastic chairs that were not worth the money but I was still excited to see them.

It is rainy season here but has been pretty calm so far. The last few days the rain has picked up a bit more. It is a welcome break from the hot sun, that is until after its done raining then it is twice as hot and the humidity is double. Occasionally there is a "cool" night and we take full advantage- mason actually gets a walk on those nights... poor doggy, its too hot otherwise. Although I am enjoying a few cool nights, the rainy season brings muddy water that comes out of the pipes. It is somewhat disturbing to wash dishes in dirty water.... still not sure I can adjust to that one. The good side of rainy season is INCREDIBLE sunsets. I will take some pictures in the upcoming days to share with you.

Adaj, Mason and the Moth

Second semester is more information and at a faster pace, so getting a night off is a rare occassion for Mark. Last saturday some classmates of Mark invited us to dinner with them at a local restaurant called Adaj. It was a nice evening and it was great to have Mark away from the books for a few hours.

Dinner at Adaj.

On a random evening I was washing dishes and looked up to see this mammoth moth staring at me from the kitchen window. This thing was so gross...
The HUGE moth in the kitchen screen.

Mason has taken up a new form of anger management. She decided to shred the pillow when I wouldn't give her any of our dinner.

Mason and her masterpiece.

Morne Aux Diables (Devil's Peak)

So we met up with our new found friend AJ on Thursday September 24th. Earlier in the week we decided AJ would take us up Morne Aux Diables (Devil's Peak). AJ mentioned to be sure we wore sneakers and long pants since the brush is a bit longer than other trails. So Anna, Sam and myself met AJ about 7:30am to start our hike. We had about a 5 minute drive after picking AJ up to where we would begin the hike. He had us stop at a little shack on the side of the road that his friend owned. When we went in, the offered us a drink in a small cup saying it was "good for the body." I politely declined along with Anna and Sam. Turns out is was rum soaked in Marijuana leaves- you just have to love Dominica! We moved on an to the hike and parked below the farms (they farm on the side of the mountains here). We spoke to a few of the farmers and they gave us oranges, avocados and starfruit to take home with us. We toured the farms on teh way up the hill, saw pineapple, passonfruit, oranges, yams, potatoes, dasheen, watermelon and a bunch of other stuff. When we started to see fewer farms the incline of the hill started to get pretty intense. Before I was realizing what was happening, AJ pulls out his machete and starts hacking away at the brush... I stopped Anna and said "is this even a path??" After following AJ for 10mins just climbing over brush that he hacked away we decided to ask him, is there a path here??? He tells us, oh, there used to be but it has probably been about 6 or 7 years since we have taken people up here. Holy Crap! It was NUTS!!! We were on a ridge back about 16inches wide with nothing but brush and some serious air on either side of us. The brush was taller than me for most of the hike, you couldn't really see where you were stepping and all of us fell multiple times holding onto roots to stabilize ourselves. It was not the smartest thing by far I have ever done but I can honestly say not many people have ever done it. The spores and dirt from all the plants were covering us, literally I looked like I was turning into a reddish brown color. We hiked up this ridiculous incline for about 2.5 hours before AJ cleared the brush on either side of us to reveal sights that made it all worth it. We could see the east and the west side of the island as well as Guadeloupe and Marie Gallante. Looking around me and taking it all in, with no sounds but the wind and a few birds it was a one of those moments in life that humble you. Those moments can not be duplicated or even completely described. The treacherous hike was worth it. There were moments in the hike I did think to myself what if one of us loses our footing, how are we even going to get someone down. When we stopped at the top of the mountain, we asked AJ why he brought us up with no path, he said "there's always a path, sometimes you just have to create it." On the way down, I sat on my feet most of the time and just let myself slide, it was easier when your butt is closer to the ground, hurts less when you fall :) . It only took us about an hour and half to get back down since we were sliding. When we got to the bottom of the hill, we ate some fruit and some of the sugar cane that AJ cut for us on the "path". During our hike AJ told us he used to have to carry the fire wood to cook with down off this mountain as a child. He explained they named this Devil's Peak because only the Devil would make you climb this. In the car on the way back, AJ said you guys are good hikers and mentioned he brought rope and a large sheet in case we had to carry anybody from falling.... lesson officially learned..... you never hike with Dominicans unless you know exactly what your getting into!!!! It was crazy but a wonderful experience. I am happy to say we all had some scratches up our arms but other than that we came out of this hike just fine!

The only part of the hike I could actually see around me a little bit... notice how tall the brush is..all taller than me!


Views from the top of the mountain, about 3,500 ft above sea level.








Some pictures with our new friend and tour guide AJ and his trusty machete.




After the hike with sugar cane and banana trees.


Some more views, we are higher than the other mountains around us!!

Discovering the North Side of the Island

One of the spouses, Anna, had her brother visting this past week. She rented a car which equals huge excitement for all of us! If we want to go anywhere here we have to arrange a driver and pay them more than we really want to and usually have to have a specific destination. So in effort to take full advantage of the freedom, Anna, Margo, Sam (anna's brother) and myself hopped in the car and hit the road. Most of the trips that we have taken on the island are on the south end of the island, so we headed north. Now we live on the Northern west side of the island but have not ventured to the north east side. We found that the people here are much nicer and more accepting, almost excited to have us here. In Roseau, the capital, it is a bit rough. They are used to tourists and are usually after money when talking to you. The people we met in the North side were excited to talk about Dominica and even more excited that we wanted to know about it. We ran into a man named AJ on one of the beaches we stopped at. He was hacking away at coconuts with his machete to get bait to go fishing for some red snapper. He is a retired school teacher and I can tell you that his passion for teaching did not end when he stopped working. We spent a few hours on the beach with him while he gave us more information about Dominica then I thought I could handle in a day. He talked about his childhood and how he carried fire wood from the mountains down to his home so his mom could cook. He was the eldest of his family and began teaching to make money at the age of 16. He was actually teaching kids older than him. So needless to say, AJ knows most of the people on the north side of the island. He cut open some coconuts for us while he continued to school us on Dominica. Let me tell you , machete's are a wonderful thing here in Dominica. They are an all around handy tool. Before moving on from AJ we took his phone number and made plans to have him take us around his old stomping grounds later in the week. We continued to drive up the coast which turns out to be one of the prettiest on the island. All was going well until Anna said, "um, guys, I wasn't paying attention and the gas light is on!" This doesn't seem like it would be that big of a deal except that there are roughly 10 places to get gas on the entire island. We were on top of a mountain fortunately and coasted most of the way to the nearest gas station, which was about 25 mins away. After getting gas we headed up to a trail called, The capuchin trail. This is a hike that takes you across the island on the north side from capuchin to pennville. It is about 5 miles one way. We decided to hike it. It was a pretty good hike, not too challenging but great scenery. There were lime trees, mango trees, banana tree's along the way so we had a snack. It was a great day.

The beach we met AJ on.. Vielle Casse

Entrance to the Capuchin Trail

Anna, Margo and myself

Our Dominican Home

I figured it was time to put up some pictures of the apartment we are in. The apartment we live in is brand new and our building is about a 8 months old. Enjoy the pics.

Kitchen/Living Room

Bedroom area and an awesome shot of the bathroom :) The door near the bed leads to a small balcony.

View from balcony and bedroom windows.

The view from the kitchen area and the bedroom windows.

Secret Beach and Hermit Crabs

Last Sunday I took a trip to Secret Beach with a few of the spouses and some of the kids. Secret Beach is one of my favorite places on the island. Usually we take a trip by kayaking in or taking a boat, but Wes, one of the spouses befriended a local who showed us a way to hike down to the beach. This was hard to wrap my head around that you can hike down to this beach since when you are standing on the beach and look all around it is nothing but large cliffs. Sure enough, we drove about 2 miles outside of Picard (where we all live) and parked on the side of the road. Gathered up the five kids all under the age of 10 and started toward the cliffs. Now, Wes is one of the spouses that is, let's just say a bit fearless, and has passed this trait on to his 6yr old and 4 year old. His two girls are the first ones at the cliff foaming at the mouth to climb down. I was worried about myself let alone trying to bring these kids down. About a half hour later we were all at the bottom. It wasn't as bad as it seemed but I can say with alot of confidence that almost everyone I know would never have done that hike with their kids. The other family with kids that came with us did wonderful as well, they were just a bit more cautious then then Wes' two firecrackers!! The rest of the afternoon we hung out, snorkeled and had some hermit crab races. Wes gathered up literally at least 30 hermit crabs and we had the kids pick their favorite then dropped them on the "track" we drew in the sand and off they went. Love it! I posted the video below. Just another tough day on the island.....

The view from where we started our hike down with the kids.

Jillian with a crab shell she found.... fearles... seriously fearless:) love her.

Some of the hermit crabs preparing for the race...

The race...

Mark's Break

After our interesting trip to Guadeloupe we kept it simple for the rest of Mark's break. We took mason to the beach where she discovered she likes to swim when the island dogs are with her and also that she likes coconuts.

Mason attacking the coconut.

We checked out a restaurant we haven't been to on break as well. It is on the Pagua Bay and creatively enough called Pagua Bay. (so original these people I tell you, would have never thought of it!) They have amazing food and an even better view. Check it out...

The guys don't get to go out much during the semester so we dragged them to Roseau (the capital) to go shopping and for lunch for a day. Most of the time the guys just hung out and did their best at doing nothing. We did make our Friday night rib night at Peter's BBQ. This guy cooks some mean ribs (riblets) and they are only 10EC for a plate (that is $3.60) which is soooo cheap. After ribs one night the four guys that we were with lined up for a picture, I think I should send it to AT&T for the next commercial... (how many bar's do you have?)...

The last trip of the break we went to Red Rock Haven, I have mentioned this wonderful place before. We were not able to go in the water since we has a Tropical Storm coming but watching the waves was pretty incredible. They were coming from all directions and you could see it raining in all around the island. Pretty fun...