days seventeen and eighteen

I would like to acknowledge Kristen and myself for becoming semi-better at Microsoft Excel, now we’re able to do the FREC assignments without too much confusion. After the learning, Kristen, Alex, Felicity, and I headed to the Cartweel Café (Dominican spelling) for some lunch. The cheese salad was, as A.J. would say, banging! Lettuce isn’t used very much here; instead most salads come with cabbage and extra carrots. Different than home, but I’m a fan. The whole group headed up the road to the botanical gardens for an informative tour that afternoon. In 1979, Hurricane David ravaged the island and destroyed many of the trees in the park. Signs of the storm still linger, the most notable a flattened school bus and a tree growing out of it. We learned about invasive lizards from neighboring islands that have taken over the gardens, saw a tree whose fruit was thrown at Jack Sparrow in Pirates 2 (aptly named cannonball), and saw a heron on a telephone wire. After returning to the hotel, we retreated to the WiFi powered basement. Time to write a rough draft for GEOG. What was supposed to be five pages per group wound up being 12, but I’m glad my group had more than enough ideas for the project (how to utilize Dominica’s natural resources). Some white rice for dinner (still nursing my stomach back to health) and some more paper writing. After a great Skype conversation with Kevin – what a good cousin! – it was time for some TLC: Toddlers and Tiaras. Late start to classes on Friday, yay for sleeping in!

I love delayed school days – waking up on my own time is such a blessing! Only having a review class for the GEOG paper wasn’t terribly taxing on the mind, setting the stage for a restful day. After a bank trip, Kristen and I visited the Juice Man – banana and mango, totally in love with fruit smoothies. We walked to the equivalent of a bright yellow Wal-Mart, Astaphans, getting some bread (so delicious, and oddly shaped) and checking out the store. Everything here is so different than America! Most products say “Made in U.K.” or “Made in France” (written in French). I finally wrote my postcards, only two weeks after buying them, now I just need to take them to the post office. We found a strange movie on TV today, Nobel Son. Not trashy, just interesting. Kristen had her Skype interview with Purdue today, so Felicity and I walked around town while she was busy. This town does not sell granola bars anywhere; I suppose that must be an American custom. I bought some huge water bottles in preparation for our six (yes, six!!) hour hike to Morne Diablotin (literally Devil Mountain) tomorrow, aka the death march that might be my last. Keep me in your prayers! Group dinner at the Laughing Lobster and group dessert at the local ice cream store. Dairy craving, satisfied. Skyped home, got some words of encouragement for tomorrow’s hike, and blogged about the week. Time for bed – we leave for the mountain at 7am!