Once again, an early morning for a good cause. Today the group packed into vans and traveled for an hour to the eastern side of the island. Our goal: hike to Sari Sari Falls. An hour after our treacherous hike began (I say treacherous because the path was about a foot and a half wide, slippery, and on a steep hill), we reached the viewing platform. So gorgeous! Another 15 minute climb down the hill to the falls itself, we were able to jump in. The force of the water coming down made looking at the waterfall difficult, but the breeze helped me to cool off. We swam around for a bit before heading back. On the path, we had to cross the river in two different spots, one of them with no good rocks to stand on. Needless to say, my boots got soaked both ways – totally worth it, though! Minus the pain of a sunburnt back, that was a bit of a downer. Completely exhausted, we stopped at a local mini mart for some fuel (loving the peanut butter crackers) before heading to Roseau. Skell, the van driver, pulled over near a resort on the way back. Taking this as a photo opp, a few of us clambered out of the van and walked towards the shore. Totally worth it! We saw a baby estuary, where a river meets the Atlantic. We attempted to climb a coconut tree, ate some coconut Dr. Seraphin opened, and collected driftwood. The waves of the Atlantic here are a bit rougher than in Dewey, glad the Caribbean is gentle enough for swimming in! Back to the van for a ride home. Even though Dominica is the size of Sussex County, all of the mountains make it seem huge – what could be a 15 minute ride in Delaware takes over an hour here, with the hairpin turns and vertical roads. Christopher Martin, the favorite artist down here, sound tracked the rides to and fro. After eating a few ghetto cookies and attempting an ab workout on the sliding throw rug, a shower was much needed. After journaling and catching up on the past week (so much awesome stuff!), Kristen and I went to the only open place for dinner – Pizza Hut. Best way to kill two hours of hiking right there – the bruschetta is delicious. We joined Felicity, Alex, and Kasper for some FREC homework (yay learning!) and youtube surfing, and I hung around for Once Upon a Time (Hansel and Gretel week – straight up addicted to that show now). Time for bed now, I’ll need it for class tomorrow!
Boo, school! We didn’t have off for MLK Jr day, but I guess it’s ok because we’re in the Caribbean. FREC was a challenge today – all those years of computer class went out the window as I realized I had no idea how to use Excel. Thankfully, a mix of Dr. Hastings, Mike, and Kristen got the assignment to work so that I could enjoy the day without the homework hovering above my head. For lunch, Kristen and I walked around the eat side of town for Perky’s Pizza. We didn’t find it, so we settled for a local bakery/sandwich shop. I like how a cheese sandwich here comes with cucumbers, definitely taking that idea home. I also bought a slice of cornbread, as it’s my favorite food. This was the dessert version, basically Ms. Flo’s apple cake but the cornbread version – delicious! We did find Perky’s as we continued to walk around, and mozied our way back to La Flamboyant. After some Lord of the Rings (this book runs on Dominica time, it’s so slow!), Kristen, Felicity, and I walked around Roseau. A local restaurant/store called The Ruins sells island tea; I’ll have to give that a try before leaving! The passionfruit tea smelled awesome. The “Juice Man” was our final stop, carrot+mango+papaya smoothie=yum! I had the rest of cheese sandwich for dinner in my room (still loving the cucumbers), and I hung around the hotel with the group until I felt tired. Excited for the week ahead, hopefully I can get some potato chips or something from the homeland, I'm craving American junk food!
Sidenote: I won't miss the catcalls from the locals and the exclamation, "Hey Barbie!" I will miss the trashy TV.
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