days four and five

I still cannot believe I have yet to be here for a full week - it seems like a month already! Yesterday was such a blessing - no classes, a guest lecturer at nine, and napping all afternoon. Our guest, Mr. Martin, is a well-known local for his work in politics in Dominica. He gave us such a crash course in the island's history, Dr. Seraphin mentioned we learned most of his class. For example, the British brought over African slaves to work sugar plantations on the island; however, this backfired when the native Carib Indians freed the slaves (you learn something new everyday!). He also showed us pictures of Bense Pool, a waterfall with rock jumping, so naturally the whole group voted to go there while we're here. During the afternoon, Kristin and I retreated to our room and slept for the better part of four hours - I suppose the lack of sleep finally caught up with me. We explored in the market and found a few other people from our group, and we decided that we'd all go to Fort Young Hotel for dinner. Going out with everyone, even the professors, was so much fun. There was a DJ and an open dance floor, we were dancing to a mix of island music and Pitbull - so much fun. Not very hard to fall asleep after that! Which was good, because today we had to be ready at 7:30 for our excursion. Even though I kept nodding off during the 2 hour ride there, what I managed to see was gorgeous - I can tell I'll miss colorful houses once I'm home. We traveled north to Cabrits National Park to visit Fort Shirley, once a stronghold for the British. After learning boa constrictors lived in the park, I was a bit apprehensive about walking around, but it was worth pushing the thought aside. We saw ruins of slave homes, restored cannons, ate lunch under a mango tree, and walked around the park. Our guide knew everything and had a good personality; he was drinking a beer as he gave the tour in the morning. I was surprised to learn that crabs and hermit crabs live on the land. Sure enough, not even a minute into the woods we were finding shells everywhere. At the turnaround point, we saw the islands of the neighboring country to the north, Guadeloupe. The sky was clear enough to see it, even 18 miles away! We finished the trip north by visiting the Portsmouth beach area, soaking in the sun and the clear water. A rope swing tied to a palm tree provided a lot of amusement, as most of our group (even Dr. Hastings!) used it to enter the water. We ate coconuts right from the trees, chewed sugarcane, and ate roasted corn from a street vendor - just another day in paradise! The hotel provided dinner, such a blessing because I had no energy left. Cannot wait for what tomorrow has in store! Note to self: passionfruit juice is very sweet and very strong, don't drink without water!