Sarah's Birthday and a Cricket game

So this past weekend end was quite jammed packed. Friday night was the booze cruise, Saturday was Sarah's birthday and Sunday was cricket of course, what else do you do on a Sunday?

We went to Sarah's birthday dinner at RedRock. We hired out a driver and took 15 people up to the restaurant and ate the best food we have had on the island so far. We had some drinks, great conversation... I can't say enough about this place, it is literally paradise.

We had a tree lined "roof" the restaurant is outside on the sand.. Just wonderful!

So cricket... it was the first international cricket game played in Dominica in over 30 years. They played Bangladesh. About 8 of us headed out early Sunday morning. The game started at 9am but we didn't make it down until 10am, it was in Roseau which is about an hour with these roads. Anywhere you go around here you have to take a transport but all of them seemed to be packed due to the game, it's like the whole island shut down. So on the way down me, mark and 3 of our friends hopped into a VERY small pick up and hit the road. Junior (the delivery driver from my job) drove us down. I had to sit on Mark's lap in the front with my feet on the dash, it wasn't safe but we got there! When we got there the first thing on the agenda, figure out what the heck cricket is. It took quite a bit of time for us to even get somewhat of a clue of what we were watching. There are only 2 guys from one team on the field that are "batting" and they stay out there until they get out. (this is seriously ridiculous if you ask me.) The one guy was at bat for 192 minutes, I mean really, is that necessary!! Anyway, we soon came to the realization that everyone on the team bats and the game isn't over until both teams bat.... hello... can you say an ALL DAY event.... I really wish someone would have told me sooner. We sat in the stands that the republic of china so kindly built for the folks of Dominica to use and I have no idea how long it took for this match to actually come here compared to when it was built, for 6 hours before we called it quits. The stadium was impressive for this island but I have to be honest, every single one of you reading this in the states would have something to say about a professional sport being played in a "high school "stadium. All the vendors were out selling chicken and roasted plantains (our favorite!). I have over a year left on the island and I already miss roasted plantains and being able to pull over on the side of the road and buy one from a lady with her 5 kids using a grill made out of a bucket sitting under a kubuli umbrella. (side note: kubuli is a local beer on the island, pretty tasty.) Ok, sorry, back to cricket. The game ended up finishing after nine hours of play. We bailed after 6 of them. It was an experience but I am not certain I will be an avid cricket watcher. However I did find myself stopping on the cricket channel last night. I can say Australia and England are more exciting to watch then Bangladesh and West Indies. Getting home was an experience in itself. It took a good amount of time trying to find a transport that was running. Mark finally saw a driver that the school uses to bus the students to and from an annex building and convinced him to let us ride back with him. It was a long day!

List of Random things to do:

1. attend a cricket match (check)

Snorkeling

Tuesday after I went to Screw's Spa, I went snorkeling with the Spouse's Organization. We went to a spot called Douglas Bay, it wasn't too far from campus and has great reefs and lots of sand dollars. I tried to get a few sand dollars but I kept breaking them when I picked them up. I never realized how fragile they were. So this was my first time out truly snorkeling and I loved it!!! But ever since I went, I kind of get creeped out knowing what's swimming at my feet....

A girl I went with had an underwater camera and took a picture of the craziest fish I have ever seen.... when we swam close to it the fish would spread wing like things in between it's body and flippers ( I know that is what dolphins have but i don't know what the heck to call them, I have never seen a fish with Arms before !!!) At the end of the wings it was bright purple... just crazy. After so research it seems to be a flying ganuard.

I really have enjoyed snorkeling since and have ordered some of my own equipment. I love it so much I am actually going to get my PADI at the end of August. It's my certification for scuba diving.... SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!

Caribbean Sea + Sting Ray II + Wine and Cheese = Booze Crusie

On Friday July 24th, I went with a few ladies on a booze cruise out of the port of Roseau. It was part of Dive Week (Fun Fact: Dominica ranked in the top 10 in the world for diving). For $60EC (roughly $23 US) we got all the wine you can drink and all the cheese you could each. We were on the boat for about 3 hours. The wine was great, the music was great, and the view was well.. priceless. Sometimes here you have to take a step back and really look at what your doing. You get so caught up in everyday that you really forget you are on an island.

After the booze cruise we went into Roseau for a bite to eat. We ended up at a restaurant called the garage. All the food was named after cars and parts. I had a lowrider and a chevy. Check out the pics below. The whole album is on facebook if you want to see them all.

The Catch Up

OK. July has turned out to be quite a busy month here on the island. I started my MBA program on July 6Th (which takes way more time than I thought), working, and fitting some time to go to the beach and on a few trips. Go ahead and feel bad for me, I know, it's rough.





July is the very beginning of rainy season and we have had quite a few cloudy days with nothing but rain. When it rains heavy here there are chances of mudslides and lots of flash floods. And funny enough, sometimes your water doesn't work. ( I know raining you would think would equal water but nope, not in Dominica! ) The rush of water is carrying more mud so it ends up clogging the filters and if your lucky your water will only be brown and not completely gone. The locals here say that we haven't seen anything yet. So I am stocking up on some can goods!!





I will cover my trips in the next few entries. Hope all is well on the mainland! :)

Gintingles, Jelly Nuts, and Screw's

This weekend started off pretty slow. We went to dinner with Dave and Emily at DeChamp's. It's a bar/restaurant on top of the hill on banana trail. I am not sure if I mentioned this in earlier posts, but Mark and I do not have an exact address, we live in the section of Picard called Banana Trail. Around the campus the other trails are Lizard Trail and MooCow Trail. When you speak with the locals and need anything delivered they always ask who your landlord is and what trial you live on. I am telling you, this is like Gilligan's island (there is even a skip wrecked boat about 2 miles from my apartment!). Ok, so back to DeChamp's, this restaurant may just get the best breeze coming through in all of Picard ( LOL! I wish you all could see Picard, not big at all!) either way the breeze is fantastic. You are on top of the mountain so you get an incredible view of the sunset. After dinner we went to the coffee shop Stabox (not kidding, they really couldn't think of anything better... it's a shame.). The coffee there is ok, but they sell these homemade ice milk sandwiches there.... just incredible. Two chocolate chip cookies with cookies and cream ice milk, just yummy!

Mark and Dave with there girly drinks!

Saturday was a study day for both Mark and I . I had lots of work to finish up for my first week back to school. I don't know who thought this was a good idea! I had 13 chapters and 7 discussion questions, I mean seriously, do they not know I need to go to the beach?? I had to work that evening so I left Mark to fend for himself... He ended up playing Basketball with a bunch of students and then came to visit me at work. I work with a lovely Canadian girl named Kelsey who says Aye! all the time ( I choose not to hold that against her!) Mark and Jordan (kelsey's fiance) sat and drank strawberry daiquiris and gintingles all night. For those of you who are curious a gintingle is gin and a grapefruit soda here called Ting. Kelsey felt that gintingle was a perfect name for the drink!

Sunday was our day out and about on the island. Mark and I went with 6 other people to Titou Gorge and Screw's Spa. Titou I have been to before but was happy to get Mark there! The gorge is hard to take pictures of since you are swimming the whole time, so I will have to post those at a later time. Screw's spa is 4 different sulfur pools (hot, cold, and two warm) that a Rasta man named Screw put together. This place was AMAZING. Basically he took the naturally running water and harnessed it into these rock lined pools and the temperature of the different pools comes from the water coming down the mountain in different spots. Screw is a true Rasta Man... he lives in a tree house above the spas... I am NOT kidding. It was incredibly relaxing as well as just fun to see! After we enjoyed our time in the spas, we were given fresh fruit.

On the way back home, we always see locals on the roadside selling, grilled corn and plantains, or some sort of fruit. More often then not the van that we are in will stop for the grilled corn or plantains, the are very delicious. We also were stopped by a few local men with a truck bed full of JellyNuts. What is this you ask?? That is what we said! Apparently they are coconuts that are not ripe yet. You drink the water out of them (coconut water) then you scoop the jelly substance out of the shell. The jelly substance is the coconut before it is fully hardened. We all got one, it was interesting. The water was good, tasted just like from an actual coconut. The jelly was good but it was hard to get past the texture. It is even more interesting how they just walk up to the windows of the van and say... "here you go my wonderful woman, a jellynut just for you!" I had to look at mark to make sure it was ok, for some reason it just didn't sound like I should be taking that as a married woman and all.... Mark is "confused" as a local around here sometimes, the men with the jellynuts thought he was a fellow Dominican. This usually works in our favor.... cheaper prices :)

The JellyNuts.....

Mark is on the homestretch of his first semester. He has 5 weeks left and is pulling all A's and B's!!! Yeah Mark!

Secret Beach

Mark had his second test on Monday so he had the day of yesterday! I had to get him outside since he has been here for a little of two months and has not yet gone to the beach!! (Don't ask me, I have no idea why he didn't go!) Either way we ended up lounging around in the morning then met up with Emily and Dave to go to secret beach. You can only get to this beach via the water, it is at the bottom of a some cliffs. This beach is not too far away from the beach right by campus. Originally we were going to kayak there but they only had 2 left to rent for the day, so we ended up having a local bring us our in his motor boat. ( sidenote:When you are on the boat you can see mountains in the distance, they were too far to really take a picture but it is Guaduloupe and Les Saintes... can't wait to visit!) It was only the four of us on the beach for most of the 3 hours we stayed. We packed a lunch and stayed in the water most of the day. It is so clear, you can see your toes. Emily and I went into a cave that formed in the rocks, it was fun until we saw bats flying around. I don't think I have ever moved so fast! After the beach we went to dinner with a few of his classmates and it was served on a banana leaf, it was yummy! It was a wonderful day off!!

The view from the boat coming up on secret beach...




On Secret Beach...

Emily and Dave (they are from Seattle and are wonderful!)

Things I miss, Mark, and muddy water

Today was the first day since I have arrived that I did not see the sun. It was raining and cloudy ALL day. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing. The second test for the school is Monday morning so the rain just encouraged Mark to stay in and study. He has been studying days and days for hours and hours. It is incredible how much information is thrown at these students, and even more incredible that he can actually sort through it and make sense of it. Mark has been quite diligent when it comes to staying focused and studying, occasionally I will "catch" him playing on the Internet or happen to walk in while he was "resting his eyes.." But honestly, he has a pretty good system going on, he times himself and every hour he takes a 10 to 15 minute break before moving on to the next topic. This seems to be working quite nicely. But just before the mini, which is what the school calls these exams, the study habits increase and if you didn't know he was studying you may think he is loosing his mind due to the pacing and the talking to himself. According to some of the other spouses it is a good sign if he is talking to himself while studying, a bunch of the students do it to talk through it and he isn't shutting down, it was nice to know that is normal but what about when he talks to the dog?? (just kidding... well, maybe.) Either way I am proud of him for the hard work and dedication so far and how he just jumped into it and didn't let things overwhelm him.

Mark and mason when I walked into when they were JUST resting their eyes.....

So surprisingly I have adjusted pretty well to the island. There are a few things I miss desperately in the first few weeks...

1. Water pressure ( I would love it if I could actually get all the shampoo out!!!)

2. Not having to check expiration dates on absolutely EVERYTHING you buy.

3. A mirror- we have one in the bathroom on the medicine cabinet but all I can see is the top of my head- it is WAY to high. Not that I am vain but it would be nice to see if my hair is not all over.

4. Sharp Knives.... you have to be somewhat creative sometimes with what you can get and what you want, but when you can't even cut a piece of chicken it brings the frustration to another level

I am sure there will be plenty more in the coming weeks, but it has only been three weeks since I arrived.

When it rains alot here, you tend to get quite a tint to your water. It is basically mud flowing through the pipes. It hasn't been all that bad until today. The water is pretty much brown. It's amazing how many things in life you adjust to so quickly...Muddy water, ants everywhere you go and everywhere you eat, cows in the road, crabs in the road, people peeing on the side of the road when you are walking to campus... crazy.

Middleham Falls and Titou Gorge

Yesterday I went to Middleham Falls and Titou Gorge. I went with the Ross's Spouse's Organization. We left around 8:30am on the hour and half trek to the state park where Middleham Falls is located. They are the tallest falls in Dominica, a little over 300 ft high. It was a pretty basic hike to the falls, it took about 45 minutes one way. Along the way we found raspberries growing so we made sure we ate at least a handful!! We also came across these flowers that look and feel just like wax, I told you it was the land of make believe... They call the flowers bluewax.

Some photos of the hike to the falls...

You can hear the water from the falls about 5 minutes before you actually get there. When we came up on the falls, there is a platform built off the side of the mountain so you can enjoy the falls without climbing down the rocks. Me and two other spouses of course climbed down the rocks and swam in the pool under the falls. The water is fresh water and was SO COLD!! I mean seriously, I am not sure if I have ever swam in that cold of water. Half way from the rocks to the falls, my chest literally felt so tight, I couldn't take a deep breath. I ended up sitting on a rock after that. Turns out everyone that did it experienced the same thing, the water was just too cold. We ate lunch at the falls and before heading back to the "van" we ate lunch/snack, while we were eating a good amount of people, actually the most Americans I have seen in the middle of the rainforest ever came up to the falls. We all looked at each other a little confused as to why so many and why are they all dressed in white shoes in the rainforest (lots of mud!!!) we soon realized the Carnival Cruise docks in Roseau (the capital) every tuesday year-round. When we came out of the woods it was like a circus, vendors selling snacks and baskets and whatever else you can try to sell to tourist in the middle of the rainforest. I felt like it was a Saturday at the market... there were a number of vendors. It is actually kind of sad how much the prices go up on things when the cruise ship is here. Another spouse asked how much for the bottle of coke? The lady said $2, that usually means EC (locals don't use US and we are considered "local" since we are not visiting). So she pulled out her two EC and the women was like NO! U.S.! the spouse immediatly put the coke back, that is like a $6 mark up in EC. These people are making TONS of money off these poor people. Everywhere we went the rest of the day they gave us prices in US, and we all kept putting the stuff back. Finally one vendor said, "why you don't want that? Only $7..." We said we are from Ross. She immediatley said "Ok, I give you it for $6 EC" That just went from $7 US ( roughly $19EC) to $6 EC.... big difference!!!

This was the Bamboo part of our walk...

It was to tall to fit in the picture... the second one is the swimming hole we had to climb to get in at the bottom.. FREEZING COLD!!!

Since there was small group of us we decided to go to Titou Gorge as well. When I went on my boiling lake trip, I took the pictures of this pool of water at the base of the trail, this is Titou Gorge. The water is a bit chilly but not nearly as bad as Middleham. It was more like Lake water, you could adjust pretty fast. When you get in, you swim between what look likes a crack in the mountains. What it is like caves, rock walls surrounding you as you swim. When you look up you can see the rainforest above you and the sun shines in the water at some parts. It was an experience of a lifetime!! The walls are only close together at certain parts of the swim, but still wide enough to get a kayak through if you wanted. Once you get to the end of the gorge there is a small but powerful waterfall, about 5 feet of gushing water. There is a ledge that you can stand on under the falls but only if you can fight the current. Luckily there was this nice young fella from Louisiana that helped pull us on the ledge (he was on the cruise ship). It was such an experience and am bringing Mark back after his next test!! I will add pictures of Titou Gorge in the next few days, due to the fact we needed waterproof camera, only one girl has pics.