days twenty-four and twenty-five

No classes on Thursday, just field trips. We began the day bright and early, leaving the hotel around 7:30. Two vans this time, much more room to breathe! We headed towards Morne Trois Pitons, one of the highest peaks on the island, for a hike. Originally, we were scheduled to scale this mountain, which would take just as long as our Morne Diablotin hike. But, after some pleading and puppy dog faces, we were able to convince the professors for an easier walk. We hiked away from the mountain towards the Emerald Pool, a waterfall with teal water, a popular tourist attraction. The hike was much easier than climbing a mountain, that’s for certain. Granted, I managed to wind up stuck in calf-deep mud, but it was still and fun and relaxing walk. Slippery rocks and muddy ground defined the hike, highlighted by a walk uphill through a cow pasture of ankle deep mud, but overall it was enjoyable. Making it to the Emerald Pool was so rewarding – after crossing multiple streams (more slippery rocks! And three bridges (a rare sighting), the end to this “family friendly hike” was welcome. We immediately jumped into the pool, swimming under the waterfall and taking in the view. As we got ready to leave, a (literal) boatload of tourists showed up – the cruise ship passengers were here, fanny packs and all. After being here for nearly a month, I am not a local or a native. But I feel mildly entitled to giggle at all of the flashing cameras and tropical shirt clad folk running around my wilderness! We headed to the exit, where the van drivers were ready to take us to the Kalinago territory. On the walk up, we could see the Atlantic Ocean – gorgeous! Booths at the parking lot sold Dominica knick knacks, but one woman was selling local food, so we all wound up at her stand. She had the standard coconut and sugar cane, but she had something that caught my eye: coconut fudge. I am 100% my mother’s daughter, so I bought some without hesitation! So delicious, one of my many “I wish my mom were here” moments. We ate our lunches in the van and travelled for a few minutes to the Kalinago territory. We had an hour to kill, so Skell took us to the Atlantic cast for some sun. After a power nap on the rock beach, we headed up the road to the Kalinago (the native island people) territory. We were greeted by two natives, who guided us down a trail to a view of the Atlantic. At about the middle of the island on the eastern side, we had a spectacular view of both Martinique to the south and Guadeloupe to the north. We stood on a platform above a cliff, going right down to the swells of the immensely powerful ocean. The boys walked right down to the water, they are crazy! The water and wind were so strong – a seemingly innocent wave would come up to the rocks and create a 20 feet high spray of foam. Such a great view! The water was a mixture of white and blue from the churning water. After that we climbed back up the hill for a relaxing bus ride to a gift shop. We had planned on seeing replications of a native village, but the unexpected entrance fee turned us off. We instead spent time in the craft shops, looking at gifts made right there by Kalinago people. We ate dinner at the hotel before heading to bed – an exhausting but a fun day!

After classes in the morning, the city was ours to explore. We headed as a group to Cocorico for more brie sandwiches, but were but they had run out of the cheese! I suppose we’re the only customers who ask for it, so I got a salad instead. Kristen and I walked over to a grocery store we had yet to visit, the IGA, expecting another four aisle, very small building. Instead, we were pleasantly surprised to see something closer to home – lots of aisles, lots of options, multiple check out lines. I got some snacks and yogurt for lunch, then hunkered down to catch up on my journal. Most of the group headed to a dock for some sun and swimming, but I opted for staying indoors after getting burnt the day before. After vegging out for most of the afternoon, I was excited for more relaxing with a hotel-provided dinner (I love mahi mahi!). We left for Fort Young for the last Friday night happy hour on our trip, some quality group bonding time. The professors, as it turned out, were having dinner at Fort Young – too funny running into them even though we weren’t planning on it. After about an hour, I was falling asleep in my chair – a long hard day of doing nothing had made me even more tired! Kristen and I left early with the professors as our bodyguards, ready for bed. But we didn’t get all dressed up for nothing! We had a roommate photoshoot just for fun, before settling in with some Next Great Baker, excited to sleep in on Saturday.

days twenty-two and twenty-three

Have I mentioned that I never get out of bed when my alarm goes off, the first or the second time? One of those days. Getting to breakfast before 8 is always a struggle, and Tuesday was no exception. I spent a quick meal trying to wake up by picking seeds out of my grapes and watermelon (no genetically modified foods here) in preparation for 4 hours of class ahead. In GEOG, we split into groups and worked on the class paper. We finished in much less time than given, so I spent most of the class on Web Sudoku. No complaints. In FREC we did some more economics. Kristen wasn’t feeling well, so she opted out of the day’s activities. Another lunch at Cocorico (brie sandwich with ketchup is my go-to order) where we ran into some Semester at Sea students. We talked just long enough to be jealous of their trip before heading back to the hotel. We were scheduled for community service up the road (more like straight up a mountain) at a local garden, so we jumped in the van and were off. Giraudel Garden was gorgeous – so many flowers and trees. But, as I’ve learned to expect, things were not as planned. They didn’t have any work for us to do, so instead we got a brief history of the place and pulled a few vines out of bushes. Fine by me! Ferns here are a big weed problem, so we had some fun pulling those out. The vines overtaking the bushes are used by local children as jump rope, as one of the older volunteers demonstrated. Alex, Felicity, and I tried some double Dutch, but it didn’t work out too well. We then took a trip to Mr. Martin’s garden estate, named Exotica (just as awkward to say in person). His property is amazing – he grows seemingly every fruit that grows on the island, from mangoes to strawberries, sorrel to sour oranges. Fun fact: pineapples grow out of the ground, they look so strange! He has eight guest houses on the property, each named after a fruit grown in the front yard. They look like mini beach houses, and the view of the Caribbean made me ache for Dewey a little bit. Mr. Martin treated us with some freshly squeezed orange juice and sorrel juice – it’s the best I’ve had since being here! Another not-such-a-surprise, dinner was not provided as we’d been told. That left a very limited selection back in Roseau – I opted for Chinese. Some chicken lo mein hit the spot, and going to bed early made it even better.

Another guest lecture by Mr. Shillingford started the day, this time focused on Dominica’s geography. I learned that Dominica is on the western part of an underwater mountain ridge, which creates the enormous, 2,000 feet drop off just a few hundred feet off the coast on the Caribbean side. Our day after that was completely booked – we set off for the Dominican State College (the Del Tech of the island) after class. Just a few minutes away from our hotel is the most colorful school I have ever seen. Decorated in bright green and yellow paint, the school can be seen from down the road. A smaller school, with just over 1000 students, requires uniforms to be worn dependent upon majors. The tourism and hospitality students we met were in green and yellow tops, and everyone wore black bottoms. Dr. Seraphin had no trouble joking around with him – they thought he was hilarious, and our group just sat there confused (I suppose we don’t get Dominican humor!). But we all found Dr. Hastings’s comment about getting a weave to be hysterical (he’s mostly bald). The students took us on a tour of campus, showed us the greenhouses, the livestock, the fruit trees, and the classrooms. We came back together in the hospitality building for a group lunch, rice and chicken with some carrots and cabbage. I learned that a favorite topping on seasoned rice is ketchup – not too bad! We ate some cool pops before heading out back, where we hand printed the wall. Each student from UD and the tourism and hospitality students made a teal hand print on the back wall, writing our names underneath to commemorate the day. Guess I left my mark on Dominica! After some homemade cherry and raisin cake, we headed back to the hotel to prepare for the cultural show. We dressed up to go to the old mill, which is now a museum for the cultural history of the island. We took a tour of the museum, saw some native costumes, ate local food (plantains wrapped in bacon = delicious), and were treated to the coolest show I’ve ever seen. We saw stilt walker, local dances, heard jing ping (Creole music), listened to native songs, saw Kalinago dancers (the indigenous island people), and had a great time. The music was awesome, and so were the costumes. The show finished with some men running onstage in giant costumes, made of potato sacks and Viking hats – so funny to see them dancing! We were able to dance with the performers afterwards and talk with them about their culture. It was definitely my favorite night in Dominica so far. We hung out at JRs for a bit afterwards, played stupid ninja, and headed to bed early. The sky was alight with stars and a crescent moon, you can see so much here because there aren’t many streetlights. A wonderful day!

Sidenote: the resemblance between the Kalinago people and the Lakota of South Dakota was uncanny.

days twenty and twenty-one

Sunday’s mission: recover from Saturday’s hike. After 12 hours of sleep, a late breakfast was just what I needed. Embracing the day of rest, most of the girls and I walked over to Fort Young to enjoy the pool. Five hours of swimming, laying out, eating fruit, and sipping pina coladas was just what I needed to recuperate. The pool looked awesome – it’s an “infinity pool,” so when you’re in it, it seems like it just connects to the Caribbean Sea. As we were getting ready to leave, we were treated to a Pirate looking ship on the horizon. As it came closer, its resemblance to a ship from the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie was remarkable – each day I’m reminded how Dominica is so cool! As was continuous throughout the day, the hotel barman was signing along to the constant stream of Celine Dion songs (fact: seeing a large black man hit Celine’s high notes is an unforgettable experience). Dinner was comprised of snacks and a leftover wrap from the Laughing Lobster a few nights back. Sunday – Once Upon a Time night! The episode focused on Snow White, my favorite character, which was a great way to wrap up the day.

A change up from the typical Monday – a guest lecturer, Mr. Shillingford, came to speak to the group. Aka no class and an extra hour of sleep! His talk was all about the banana industry in Dominica and the cultivation of the plant. Here’s some knowledge that he shared: “musa” is the botanical name for bananas, an individual banana is called a “finger,” and the dots in the center of the fruit are where the seeds would be (but bananas don’t have seeds). Learn something new everyday! Felicity, Kristen and I had planned on going to Middleham Falls, but Jared suggested that three girls wandering in the woods was best to be avoided. Instead, we joined Alex and went to Cocorico Café – we wound up running into the rest of the group for lunch. Such a cute place to eat! They have local artwork decorating hanging everywhere, brightly colored walls, and cheap food: good for everyone! I got a cheese sandwich, my new favorite lunch. A cheese sandwich in Dominica is so different than in Delaware, no onions or pickles, but cucumbers instead. Loving the change up. We had a touristy day, walking around the shops and buying souvenirs. Another snacks for dinner kind of day, not going to miss restaurants closing early! A cruise for the program Students at Sea was at port (they travel the globe for a semester and get college credit – so awesome!), so the bar across the street was insanely crowded. Of course our group went over, knowing all the words to the local songs and on a first name basis with the DJs (well, they rest of the group did…my early bedtimes have prevented me from being a frequent attendee). After getting my loud music fix, I went back early and read the book Heaven Is for Real (read it!!! It’s so excellent!), courtesy of Alex’s Kindle. I got in my social activities by hanging out on the roof with the group for a bit, and headed to bed, exhausted.