Mason's First Day at the Beach!!

Today I spent the majority of the afternoon at the beach. It was a great day with a strong breeze, which essential for survival on the beach in mid afternoon. I brought Mason down to get her in the sand and ocean. First and foremost, whoever said all dogs like water was just a plain ole' liar. I knew Mason wasn't a huge fan of water but I was determined to get her in. She didn't mind the sand at all which I was happy about. This dog won't even pee on wet grass so I have to admit I was a little scared to see how prissy she was going to be about the sand. I got her in the water to swim but as soon as I would let her go, she would swim so fast toward me I couldn't get away fast enough. When she would reach me she would literally climb up onto my shoulder like a parrot. It was funny! I eventually got her to stand in the water with me but when the wave came in, out mason went.

Mason's Parrot Pose

Shopping in the Big City :)

Today was my first official shopping trip to Roseau. Roseau is the capital of Dominica and is roughly 30 miles south of Ross's Campus and takes about an hour to get there due to the winding roads. Roseau is where the most tourists stay when they come into Dominica. It is the city where the boats dock so there are stores that are only open during "cruise ship season" which is from November to April. Year round there are restaurants, a few hotels, the largest market on the island, and two large grocery stores. The Ross University Community travels down mostly for the Astaphan's and IGA (the grocery stores). IGA carries a bunch of American name brand food, not a huge selection but the biggest by far on the island. Astaphan's is a two story building carrying everything from couch's to cheese. Mark first described this to me kind of like a Dominican Super Target. My thought, not so much! Either way, you can get almost anything in there. Most of the food you need you can find near the school but you will discover that it is much more expense and a much smaller selection.

So to begin our adventure this morning, you can get to Roseau one of 2 ways; a transport (a "bus") or a taxi. So let me help make this clear. Both options are a 16 passenger van (not like a conversion van, think vans in the middle east.). The transport will always be cheaper but will always be loaded with students and locals. A taxi you can for any number of people, this will be a bit more pricey.

So on Saturday mornings Ross university pays for a few transports for the students/spouses and gives you a free round trip ride to Roseau. They leave at 8:30am on the dot and pick you up from your shopping excursions by noon sharp to head back to campus. Mark and I decided to try the school transport, hey, it's free right! There is one thing I don't think I have mentioned, even if you do not get motion sickness on a normal basis, these roads can get ANYONE sick. There are three things on the island you never leave home without water, an umbrella, and Dramamine. For those of you who thought I was going to say American Express, sorry for the disappointment. Okay, in our transport was our new friends Emily and Dave, Sarah and a few of the other spouses. About halfway through the trip, there was some commotion and ended with a spouse yelling, "PULL OVER NOW! " The road proved to be too much for Emily, it is her first week on the island and thought she would be fine without the essential dose of Dramamine. After our brief relief for Emily, we finally made it to Roseau and began our shopping. Dave, Emily, Sarah, Mark and I stuck together for the shopping, we started out at a coffee shop to try to balance ourselves from the sicking trip down. We roamed the streets for awhile and stopped at some stands selling local crafts, hats, etc.

Mark and Sarah chatting on the street as the rest of us shopped.

Roseau is not a rich town by far, it has character but is effortlessly falling apart.

So our main goal today was to get to Astaphan's for another fan and to check out IGA to see what comforts of home we could find! In our hike to Astaphan's we came upon an outdoor world, we thought no way this couldn't be the same company as the US. We went to check it out, it was the same company and carried about a 25 x 25 foot room of random name brand sandals, fishing gear, swim suits, etc. It however was not even close to the atmosphere of Outdoor World, it was faded yellow walls and a smell of plastic. Oh well!

We made our way through Asataphan's picking up another fan, a few bowls for the kitchen, two butter knives and two spoons. The first set of silverware Mark purchased is less than adequate. It looks fine but when you go to cut your chicken, it bends the fork and breaks the knife, it's actually quite sad. After leaving Astaphan's we decided it was time to eat lunch! What to do with all the bags??? Well, Astaphan's has a free service that let's you leave bags in large cubby holes while you finish your day around the city. They give you a laminated card with the number of your cubby hole so you can come back and claim your goods. I thought this was a great idea!! It's like a coat check but for your purchases, ingenious. I realized after leaving my stuff with the "coat checker" that back in the states I would NEVER leave all my stuff with some stranger and walk away for the afternoon. It's funny how quick you just go with the flow.

We found our way to a great little cafe by the water. By this point Sarah had headed back on the Ross University Transport and Emily, Dave, Mark and I decided to that we would pay for our way back since we had not finished shopping. After lunch we went to the Roseau Market (at least 200 booths, it was huge!) and purchased some fresh fruit and veggies. Mark was on the hunt for a cocoa stick that he had learned about his first week here. When we found a vendor that had them the woman opened the container and it was the weirdest eye/nose combination going on. It smelled WONDERFUL, fresh chocolate, but looked like poop (see below). At that point I could not see myself using it just because I couldn't get over the way it looked, but Mark really wanted it so I handed over the $5EC. Then we were off to IGA. By this point we were all heat exhausted for sure. We knew we were getting close to the IGA and decided to ask a local which direction it was. Mark stopped a nice lady and asked, she smiled and literally pointed at the building we were standing in front of! WOW! Two medical school students, a teacher and business degree and we couldn't locate a grocery store right in front of us. It was definitely time to go home.

The poop, I mean the cocoa stick

We decided to hire out a taxi on the way home due to the number of bags, the heat and the motion sickness. It cost $150 EC or roughly $60 us dollars and it was worth every penny!! Half way back to Ross Campus the driver pulled over and grabbed a hand full of grass. He started breaking it in half and rubbing it together, the van (middle east van/terrorist van) started smelling a familiar smell but I couldn't figure it out. He had picked natural lemongrass and passed it around the van so we could see and smell it. I am telling you, it is amazing what can grow in tropical climates... you can really live off the land. Who needs candles??? Just give me some grass!

A coconut tree farm...

Cows, Crabs, and Coconut Retrievers

Cows, Crabs and Coconut Retrievers are three things here that you see everyday, all day. They roam the streets, the campus, the beach, really wherever they feel like it. I would have thought just seeing crabs walking around in the brush would have been strange enough but then to see a 500 lb cow walking next to it was both amusing and just plain weird. My first thought when I say the crab and cow together was weird... then hey! surf and turf!! Really, I am kidding about that part. I don't think I would eat the crab or the cow on this island. The crabs are strange looking and everytime I try to snap a shot the little critters run faster than you think. I did however find a mama and her calf on campus today. The cows will literally scare you to death at night, you'll be walking down the street and you'll just hear MOO! and the bushes move. I think the most alarming part is how in a matter of two weeks I do not find this weird anymore. My biggest question has been who do these cows belong to? I mean seriously?? Nobody seems to have an answer for me.

On to the Coconut Retrievers.... this is a nice name that some of the people on the island have come up with for the random dogs that are on the island. They all look similar but nobody really knows what they are. Most of the dogs are friendly. Last night we had a coconut retriever that became particularly fond of mason, mark and I. He followed us home and invited himself right in. As cute as he was he couldn't stay in the house... only God knows what the poor dog has going on! We did decide to feed him, which many students do with the island dogs.

Mason sharing some food with her new found friend.

They were so good when I brought the treats out!

Mason and her friend ID (short for island dog- mark named him) played for about a half hour then it was time for ID to wonder into the night.

Mason was sad to see him go....

Mason has settled into island life just fine. She sleeps all day and most of the evening. It is too hot during the day to really take her out so she gets her exercise at night.

Her favorite spot...

Chicken... sometimes it's just a big deal!

Today I was finally able to get a meat delivery! On the island there are random stores you can get meat from (frozen of course!) but you can order from Malcom the Meat Man! His company supplies the island restaurants with all the meat. He always has chicken, ground beef, and sometimes ground turkey. Occasionally he will have chicken wings and pork chops. The catch to ordering from the meat man is you have to order in bulk so usually you want to split the order with other students/families on the island. I placed a large order for Mark and I and 5 other of his classmates. We got 80lbs of chicken and 24lbs of ground beef. I of course and to pick it all up since they deliver outside the school gates around 1pm, everyone else was in class. So there I was staring down a dirt hill road and had to carry all this meat back to our apartment. I made one trip up with the ground beef when Anna and her husband came by... to the rescue!!! They helped lugg the chicken to the apartment. This was not an easy task, not only is this heavy but it's the hottest part of the day, so the boxes are starting to leak with chicken juice! It was just nasty!!! After all that I managed to clear out the fridge and am now holding all this meat for his classmates to come and pick it up! All and all I am SOOO excited to have chicken to cook!!!!

ABA WAVINE CYRIQUE

On Sunday, June 21, 2009 I hiked to ABA WAVINE CYRIQUE. This hike is on the Atlantic side of Dominica in the south. The only way to reach ABA WAVINE is to "repel" down a cliff full of roots and trees growing almost sideways. Once you reach the bottom you come upon a rocky black sand beach. There is about a 20 minute hike to the edge of the cliff before the climbing down begins. On the way there were paths lined with Cinnamon trees and Bay trees. I was able to bring some bay leaves and cinnamon home. It still amazes me how easily you can live off this island if you know what to look for.

This was the start of my hike...

After we walked through the path of bay leaves and cinnamon..... the cliff begins!

Half way down the first drop.. the only breaking point are a few rocks that can hold one to two people before you start the second drop.

The second drop is steeper than this one and does not have a lot of room to put your feet. So to help us "tourists" out they have built a rope latter with steps about 2 inches wide. It is more than scary when you look down and see you have to use that to move any further. I am holding ropes in most of the pictures because that was really the only safe time to take pics. For the super steep portions I used mostly roots of the trees, it just felt much more safe compared to a rope some guy tied who knows how long ago!

We are almost there!

I had to stop and shimmy out on the tree. It was just cool.

Finally made it to the bottom!

Not sure if you can really get the effect, but the sand is completely black but glistens in the sun. It is so beautiful.

So ABA WAVINE is one of my favorite places. This beach is untouched and not many people come to it due to the rigorous climb. While the group was down there we ate some coconuts off the beach and some sugar cane. True island living! Seriously, this beach could inspire anyone. I would go back any chance I get!

Random Beach Shots...

The climb back up proved to be a bit difficult when it came to the latter stretch of the hike. It was definitely an arm workout. You really had to trust yourself for this hike, there was no time to second guess and nobody could make the move but you. It truly was one of my favorite experiences and places. On the way back up, a few of us hopped a fence to get a glimpse of what a bay leave distillery is.... brace yourself it's exciting.....

LOL!!!!

It was a big heap of bay leaves that they make into some sort of syrup and dry them out. Fun fact.... the locals will keep bay leaves in the windows and around the house to help keep the bugs out.

Well, today was amazing, as most days seem to be here. Below is a picture of the group I hiked with today. Another one of my favorite things on this island is that you never know who you are going to meet in a day. Our hike group consisted of students and spouses from all over thee US and Canada, faculty from the school, two native Dominicans and a native Jamaican (from montego bay).

Portsmouth Market and a Saturday Night

So today I started out waking up at 5:45am to make it to the Portsmouth market. This market is in the street and on the pier in Portsmouth and only happens on Saturdays. All the farmers and artisans come to sell their goods. They all approach you while walking by, yelling "you want some (insert fruit or veggie) limes or watermelon" (you get the point). There are no set prices, but you tend to be overcharged the first time but if you return to the same vendor the next week amazingly the price goes down. Dominica is known as the nature island of the Caribbean, so i can't express to you how many different kinds of fruits and veggies are on this island. There are a few odd vegetables but not as many as the fruit.

This picture is of a fruit called Sour Sup. You eat all the fibrous white fruit and leave the black seeds. The taste is very sugary and a mix between a creaminess of a coconut and the citrus of lemon and limes. It is one of my new favorites!

Other fruit/veggies we are trying is Breadfruit,Dasheen,apricots (not like the US). Breadfruit is actually cooked much like a potato would be and is actually treated like one. You can stuff it, mash it, or eat if plain. Dasheen is another one I am in line to try. This is supposed to be like a starch as well, I will have to let you know how it goes. So apricots, they are just not what you would think. They have a hard covering on the outside but do seem to have the same flavor we would be used to. The pit in the apricot is also very large.

The market sells everything from fish to bread to weaved baskets to eggs. When the fisherman come in from the sea they blow a conch shell so you know to come and get the fresh fish. I have yet to purchase any fish but Mark is anxious for me to run down when they sound the shell ( is that even right to say it that way? oh well.) So another big thing on the island is sugar cane, right up Mark's alley. I have to admit, the sugar cane is excellent here. The local sugar cane guy (what else do you call him?) will strip the husk off the husk for you and cut it up. Some of these sugar canes were taller than me! (keep any short comments to yourself) So in saying Sugar Cane is a big thing... in comes the Rum. Most of the Rum is made out of the local sugar cane and it is some strong stuff!!! Seriously, I have never had rum punch like I have had here.

After the market I had to go to work at the Tomato Cafe. Mark and I had dinner there after and drank a margarita or two. Why not? we are on an island. When in Rome....

After coming home, I found Mark on the couch with a large knife and a stick of sugar cane..... I took a picture to share the moment. Just Silly!

Big Papa's

Last night, we went to a restaurant called Big Papa's. It is located in the next town over, Portsmouth. It had an amazing view!! I went with Mark and a few of his classmates. They are all very nice and it is fun to meet people from all over, except last night our table was full of Michigan natives, I used the korreck clan to break some ice :) I do have to let you know the one thing that has been reinforced since arriving is you can not judge a book by it's cover! These restaurants truly look like shacks and are completley run down from the front. Most have proved to be amazing. The locals really work with everything they have. Next time you walk into a restaurant with really glass doors and carpets welcoming you... first remember that looks are not all that matter, what is inside and second appreciate the climate control! We have been careful about our picks for restaurants and have yet to be disappointed. When our meal came our last night, Big Papa came out himself to bring us our food... We all looked twice and said "Mark?!" LOL!! It was like mark in 20 years, it was priceless!!! I would have taken a picture but local custums here do not allow you to take pictures of locals unless you ask. Most believe when there picture is taken, no matter who it is, it takes a piece of thier soul. There are some that you can tell have spent many hour with the American students, they will be the first one in line to get the picture, then ask, "are you gonna but me on the computer?" It's hysterical! Til next time....

Some views from the restaurant.. It is an open air restaurant. Reminds me of Secrets in OC, MD.

Mark and I before dinner....

The group we went to dinner with. We are "phooning", apparently none of us but Jeff were cool enough to know what the heck this was. We later found out there is an entire website of people "phooning" around the world. And don't worry... I added our photo!

The group: Mark and I, Jeff ( mark's bff on the island), erika, elizabeth, lila, and jeanette.

Hike to Boiling Lake

When starting out on this hike, I truly didn't know what to expect. The average hike time to boiling lake is 3-4 hours one way, so in total roughly about 7 hours. I had mixed feelings about this time frame, a part of me was excited to put this one under my belt, the other was "are you seriously gonna enjoy walking for 7 hours through mud, water, and who knows what else" Turns out it was better than I could have every expected. On our drive to the start of the trail we stopped to take some photos of the view from this cliff (to the right), it was breathtaking. The scenery here never gets old. Once we got to the beginning of the trail, we strapped the backpacks, loaded down with some serious amounts of water and off we went! The beginning of the hike was not bad at all, it lures you in, just when you think oh, not so bad...bam... the hill starts. Up the side of the mountain are man made "steps" out of mud and tree branches. You have to be careful of the mud, if you not careful your foot will sink through and it will start to eat your foot. :) First hand experience talking , within ten minutes of the hike I sank down in mud up to the middle of my calf, it wasn't the most pleasant feeling to have much all in your shoe and socks but on the bright side, I "broke the ice" when it came to getting dirty. Trust me, we were all far from clean at the end. So the first leg of the hike took about an hour and twenty minutes. It was a gradual climb up the side of the mountain. When you reached the top it there was a flat surface which they call God's landing ( I will check on the term, but it is something close to that.) This was an amazing site to see. To look in every direction and see the tops of the mountains and the views below. It was very windy and pretty darn cold at the top. The picture below is at the top.

This landing is also where we breaked for lunch. Yes, we did bring subway... you can't expect expect us americans to eat nuts and berries on a 7 hour hike. We just weren't ready for that!

Coming down the other side of the mountain were some pretty intense steps. There are roughly 500 of them and some are about half my height which forced me to climb down them. While going down all I could think at one point was "holy crap! I am going to have to climb back up these." Mark was a great sport for all of this. He is not a hiker at all and held is own for the trip.We all got the best workout that we have had in quite awhile. The ones in the picture were the "easy" steps. They were quite narrow so you had to walk them sideways.

We were getting close to the bottom of the mountain when the man made trail ended. From here we climbed down a few streams before reaching the bottom. We walked through lots of streams throughout the hike, but this one in the picture we actually had to scale down the rocks to get around the curve in the top of the pic.

>At the base of the volcano is what they call the valley of desolation. This is where the the sulfar water starts coming through the ground and you encounter more lava clay and lava rocks then anything else. This was my favorite part of the hike. It was incredible to see boiling water and steam just running through the ground. I almost felt like I was in make believe land. Since when is water boiling in the ground where we can see it? Crazy!!! Check out the video below. The steam was VERY hot.

The view from the valley was almost overwhelming. To be in this valley where everything is dead and nothing can grow and to look up and see this site was hard to wrap your head around.

There is clay that you can actually grab from the ground and use as a mini facial. I had to try it! The best part, I got to wash it off in warm water stream. I am telling you... make believe land.
After leaving the valley of desolation, you climb up the side of the volcano which is steep but nothing compared to the mountain. Half way up there is a hot water whirlpool big enough for about four people to sit in. I didn't sit all the way in but definitely stuck my feet and legs in.


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These are some pictures from the lake itself. It is the second largest sulfar lake in the world. Again... make believe land that there is a lake, a big lake, that is just boiling! Some students have actually climbed down and cooked soup in the can or veggies in the can. They open the can and have it tied with string and drop the can half way in the water. I did not try this. I don't mind the hike but I am not leaning over a cliff above boiling water, just not gonna happen.

The hike back was pretty demanding. Going up the backside of the mountain with over 500 steps proved to be more than what my legs really wanted to do. By the time we got to the top both Mark and I had shakey legs. It was kind of fun to what the other's legs shake uncontrollably. So we realized on the hike back that it seemed tuffer than before, and we seemed to be going faster. Our guide, Victor, told us that we were making impressive time. I didn't know what that meant until the end. When we reached the beginning of the trail he told us that we made it back in 1 hour and 58 minutes! He said the best time he had before that was 2 hours 40 minutes. He was overly happy along with our fellow hiker Lila (she is an avid hiker). Mark and I just said " so why did we have to do it that fast? That is why our legs were so shakey!" Either way it's fun to say we did a hike that averages 3.5 hours in just about 2 hours!

First Week in Dominica

Well, it has been officially a week since I arrived on the island. The island is known for its export of bananas, its world rated scuba diving sites, being the nature island of the Caribbean (2/3 undisturbed ecosystem), last but not least filming site of Pirates of the Carribean 2 and 3. My first night here, Mark showed me thing that he thought I may need to know for basic essentials- food, grocery, campus, beach (didn't need much help with that one). I have to say I was exhausted from the travel here. I flew from Philadelphia to San Juan, San Juan to Antigua, Antigua to Dominica. The approach to Dominica on the prop jet was AMAZING. This is such a beautiful country. There is something magical about these huge green mountains sitting in the middle of the ocean. So, once off the plane, it was on to customs, much easier than I was expecting. There was a nice local gentleman that immediately helped me with my bag at baggage claim. First off, let me tell you that baggage claim is one belt going around in a very small circle. It was somewhat amusing. So, this gentlemen, ended up wanting nothing but a tip (somethings don't change wherever you go :) ) My ride to Picard (which is where we live) was about a 60 minute drive on a VERY windy road. By the time I got there I was a bit nauseous. Picard is a small community of students, some restaurants, campus, and lots of hills. The roads are pretty much all dirt except for the main road. The people here are very friendly and helpful if you take the time to ask. Within two days of arriving on the island, I landed a job at the local American restaurant called the Tomato Cafe. This is a popular spot with the students, good ol' american junk food; burgers and fries, pizza, etc. Yummy :) Some of the biggest changes that hit me in the first week: driving on the opposite side of the road;cars that I have to enter on the left side as a passenger (just weird); cows, dogs ,crabs just all walking around next to you on the road;no meat to really purchase unless you order it from an hour away; flipping a switch before you get in the shower to heat your water; pay as you go electric (not so bad actually-keeps you in check); missing a REALLY good cup of coffee- milk is not milk here- its fake. I went on a hike with Mark as well the first Sunday I was here. I will post that in a separate blog.