10 Days in Dominica: Day 9

Has anything made this journey easier for you?

YES -- Charlie and my friends!

I feel so lucky that Charlie and I are getting the chance to experience life in another country together, and I cannot imagine being here without him.  Even though he spends most of his time studying, we have still had so many great adventures here, and I know we have many more to come!

I also cannot imagine what this experience would be like without my friends here.  I have met so many wonderful, interesting people from all over, many of whom I know will be lifelong friends.  This journey would certainly not be the same without them!

There is a saying that I've always liked: "Wherever you are, it's your friends that make your world."  This rings especially true here in Dominica, where friends truly become like family.

Here in Dominica there are always friends to see and adventures to be had.  Cheers to wonderful husbands, fabulous friends, and good adventures!

10 Days In Dominica: Day 8

Does your spouse like it here?

Why, yes.  Yes he does.  Although Charlie spends most of his time studying, he loves the island and all the adventures it has to offer.  He loves all the hiking and swimming.  He's a beach guy at heart, so when he has the chance to enjoy Dominica, he feels right at home.  When he's not busy studying all of this...

He loves doing things like this...

And this...

And this...

I know Charlie is looking forward to spending more time enjoying the island {and some time with me!} after his test on Tuesday. We're planning for a fun afternoon together - an outdoor adventure of some sort, followed by a lobster dinner at Sunset Bay. Can't wait!!!

10 Days In Dominica: Day 7

Day 7: What is the best meal you've had on the island?

There is only one answer to this... fresh, local fish!

The best meal I've had on the island was something I cooked one night, fresh tuna tacos with fish straight from this guy:



I think what made it so tasty was how fresh the tuna was, straight from the sea just a few hours before I cooked it.

Me with our dinner, so excited to have finally caught the fish guy on our street!

Only in Dominica

10 Days in Dominica: Day 6

Share an "only in Dominica" moment.

Ha.  This one makes me laugh.  I feel like I have many, many of these stories, but my favorite involves our bank account.

Opening a joint bank account  with your spouse here in Dominica requires a handful of documents -- several forms of ID, a letter from your bank at home stating that you are in good financial standing, a marriage certificate, and a letter from Ross verifying that you are your medical student's companion.  Once you get all of these documents rounded up, opening the account is fairly painless.  It took as a handful of trips to the bank to actually receive our debit cards, but we finally got them figured out and now Charlie and I are both the proud owners of a National Bank of Dominica account.  Woo hoo!

We are fancy and have debit cards and a check book (normal for real life = fancy for here!).  We use our checks to pay our rent each month and have done this since we arrived on the island.  Last semester, we shipped a couple of barrels from home and I ended up paying Alexis Taxi (for picking them up from customs and delivering them to our apartment) with one of our trusty checks.  I received a phone call several days later from Alexis Taxi; the check hadn't gone through and they were told that our account had been closed.  This was strange because 1) there was plenty of money in our account and 2) we had not closed our account.  I apologized and told them that I would call the bank and get to the bottom of it.

I called the bank and of course my call went straight to the voicemail of someone who was on vacation for the next two months (seriously?).  Then I scoured the internet for another phone number so that I could talk to a live human who was not on a two month vacation.  I called the number and a human answered so I told them about my problem, only to find out that yes, the account had closed, and our checks were no longer valid.  Fabulous.  I was quite confused so I asked more questions but really didn't get to the bottom of the situation, so I marched myself down to the bank on campus to figure it out in person.

The soft spoken bank teller kindly helped me through the enigmatic crisis.  He asked to see my checks, debit card, and the small National Bank of Dominica business card with my account number written on the back that was given to me by the bank.  He spent a long time typing God knows what into the computer, while I stood there wondering where all of our money had gone.  Finally, he explained to me that the account number written on the back of the card was some random account number, not the account that was linked to our debit cards, and the checks that we were given to us by the bank also had this random account number on them (???).

So, the random account was closed, but our actual account was still open.  Then he crossed out the incorrect account number on the back of the card and wrote down our actual account number, and ordered us a proper checkbook linked to an account that actually belonged to us.  What blows my mind is the fact that we had been using these checks for 6 months.  Had our landlords even been getting money from the checks written from our random account?  Was the random account even linked to our actual account?  To this day, I still have no idea, and I am still confused about what exactly went on there.  Luckily, we still have our real bank account and the money in it, so all is well.  Only in Dominica...

{My runner up "only in Dominica" moment is best seen in the photo below that was taken from the Miss CALLS pageant held at CALLS, the alternative high school in Portsmouth.  The school is run by the Catholic church.  Only in Dominica would a boy be allowed to cross dress, dance, and strip down into skimpy women's lingerie only to shimmy and shake his butt in front of classmates, teachers, school administrators, volunteers, and local government officials.}

Only in Dominica!!!

10 Days In Dominica: Day 5

What don't you miss about home?

Easy!  What I don't miss at all about home is... working!



I am loving having the freedom to do what I want here, and I love not having to get up and go to work everyday.  When else in my life will I be able to take a break like this?  I thought that after a few months off I would be bored and miss working... but 13 months later, I'm still loving my time off.  LOVING IT!!!

10 Days In Dominica: Day 4

Day 4: What has been your favorite trip?

There have been so many good ones, but I think that my all-time favorite trip has been the Seven Waterfalls hike, which I have been on twice so far, once each semester, and I hope to continue the trend! This five-hour hike is difficult and is the perfect combination of difficulty, astonishing beauty, adrenaline-pumping jumps into waterfalls, and refreshing icy swims in the waterfalls pools. I know I've mentioned the hike before, but I absolutely love it. When you finish, you are exhausted, but so proud of how far you've hiked, trekked, and adventured.

The fact that you see seven "official" waterfalls, plus several more if it has rained recently is just awesome. Swimming in the waterfalls is the best part of all, and you can swim in about five of them.

What is really cool is how different the same waterfall can look, just a few months later, based on the weather and amount of rainfall. Check out the photos below of the same waterfall, taken in February (during the dry season), and in June (during the rainy season).

The waterfall was so much bigger in June, that looking back at my photos from my first trip, I had a difficult time matching up the two.


Although I've been lucky enough to go on this trip twice (once with strangers, once with friends), I am still dying to do this hike with Charlie. He's also been wanting to go on this adventure, so we're hoping to make it happen this semester... we'll keep you posted!

***Update: I have now done this hike three times - Charlie joined me last time! It was, as usual, awesome and impressive

10 Days In Dominica: Day 3

How does the weather affect you?

For this one, it really depends on the day.

There are those perfect Dominica days, made for a day at the pool or beach, hot but with the perfect breeze.

Then there are those days where it is so humid and the air is so thick you can hardly breathe {like the day I was so deliriously hot I swallowed wrong and started choking on my own spit} ... but these days are perfect for swimming in icy rivers and waterfalls... or for having a Real Housewives of New York City marathon in the CAC {student activities center} on campus in the free and also icy AC... or catching up with friends at Rituals, the American-ish coffee shop which also makes good use of their air conditioner.

There are the "rainy season" rainy days where the clouds pour buckets and buckets, then pause briefly before continuing to pour and pour and pour (this goes on for several days at a time). These are the days that are perfect for hibernating, napping, Pinterest-ing, and discovering a favorite new TV show (and then watching an entire season of that show in less than week).

And lastly, there are the days like today that are hot and typically Caribbean with brief and magical sprinkles of rain coming from invisible rain clouds... {Seriously, the sun is out and there are no clouds, where do those rain drops come from?} These days? These are the days made for anything and everything. Just ordinary days... unless you choose to make them otherwise by having an adventure or two! It's up to you!

Just another rainy day at the beach! Luckily, island veterans don't leave home without an umbrella!


Although I may complain about the weather sometimes {the super hot days are good for that, too!}, I like that it builds character, keeps me on my toes, and makes me appreciate things more: if it was never so hot, then I probably wouldn't appreciate how freezing cold refreshingly cool the rivers were, and I probably wouldn't enjoy swimming in a waterfall near as much!

{via}

When you live on an island where 6 months of the year make up the "rainy season," you certainly learn to "dance in the rain," or at least go to the beach in the rain!

10 Days In Dominica: Day 2

What has been better than you expected?

I knew that moving to Dominica was going to be an adventure. Before moving to Dominica we spent 4 months in Freeport, Grand Bahama for Ross University's MERP program. That was our first adventure. I absolutely loved our time there -- we lived in a nice, beachfront condo with a pool, poolside lounge chairs, and a restaurant/bar downstairs. Our condo was small but very comfy and recently renovated, with a fully stocked kitchen. We even had two bikes (that our local friend J.C. let us borrow during our time there). 

I was, however, the only spouse around, so my days were spent with a close group of friends: the Barefoot Contessa, Giada, and the Neelys; Mariska Hargitay (somehow Law & Order SVU was on at least two channels at all times of the day and night); and the hosts of Income Property, House Hunters, and pretty much any other show on HGTV. I read almost 15 book while in the Bahamas, attended yoga class religiously twice a week, and walked to the end of our beach and back every single night. You know in Eat, Pray, Love, when Elizabeth Gilbert goes to the Ashram in India for three months? Well, the Bahamas was my three months at the ashram, months full of introspection and reflection, healthiness, calm, and quiet.

By the time we moved to Dominica, I felt like I already knew about "island life", even though I'd never been to Dominica and Dominica was much further from home than the Bahamas. I was already used to: 

• Scavenging for groceries.
• Having minimal access to "normal" groceries and grocery stores.
• Learning to cook with what you have rather than what you want.
• Being creative in the kitchen since the grocery stores were often completely out of stock.
• Not having any restaurants around.
• Not having any stores around.
• Having to carry groceries long distances home.
• Acclimating to "island time."
• Not having a car.
• Bargaining with locals.
• Expensive prices.
• Dealing with the astronomical cost of electricity.
• Power outages.
• Living on an island during hurricane season.
• Having "back up" food and water supplies.
• Sweating profusely.
• Dealing with very vocal Caribbean men (i.e., the "hello, beautiful" comments).
• Being by myself while Charlie studies.
• Training my ears to understand Caribbean accents.
• Stray dogs everywhere.

These were all things that I was prepared for, things that I expected, and things that turned out about right. Two things, however, stand out as being better than I expected.

{Beautiful Dominica: One of our favorite places here, Batibou Beach!}

The first: Dominica is so breathtakingly beautiful, much, much more so than I had expected. While I loved the Bahamas and my time for reflection, Charlie and I were both disappointed by the landscape there -- the beach was obviously very beautiful (white sand beach and turquoise water), but other than that, the island was not all that pretty. The land was not very fertile, and it was flat and rocky, and littered with garbage.

Dominica, on the other hand, is truly paradise. You can see the lush, green mountain forests from any point on the island. The view from our porch continues to amaze me every day.

{The view from our porch.}

The view here never leaves us disappointed!

{Car-sick-prone friends riding in the front seat.}

The other thing that really surprised me about Dominica is the ease of getting around. So many things are within walking distance of our apartment here. Charlie walks to and from campus several times a day, and the grocery store, "Bread Lady," and friends' houses are just minutes away. In the Bahamas, hardly anything was within walking distance (including school) so getting anywhere required taking a bus or hiring an expensive taxi. (Luckily J.C. loaned us bikes once I started volunteering at a nearby school, so I was able to get to school each morning!) Here, if I want to go from one point on the island to another, near or far, catching a public transport is pretty painless and very cost-efficient.

If you recall, getting around in the Bahamas was not so easy. The buses were very, very irregular and a "bus stop" sign really didn't mean a thing. You could spend over 45 minutes at a bus stop waiting for bus to appear. Here, I know exactly how to get where I need to go whether by public or private transport. I've been here long enough and go to town often enough that I know many of the drivers, and I never have to wait more than a few minutes to catch a public transport. While Frannie was here visiting, we explored Dominica on the cheap and took local transports all over the island with ease. As for private drivers, I have my favorite guys, Bruno, Victor, and Sampson, who I will happily call anytime I'm organizing a group trip.

{Victor and his van, nicknamed "The Lion."}

If you come visit, you will most certainly view and experience these things, the spectacular view and the fun of riding in a transport. If you're lucky, you'll also meet Victor and take a trip in "The Lion" -- always an adventure!

10 Days In Dominica: Day 1

My good friend Katie, from Priceless Adventure, is hosting a blogging challenge:

One post a day, for ten days, answering a question about life in Dominica each day.

What do you miss most about home?

Of course what I miss most are my friends and family.  Life moves on, whether we are there for it or not, and it is always bittersweet to miss celebrations, weddings, birthdays, and just good old daily life with those we love.

Besides family, what I miss most are these suckers:

{via}

Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs!

I miss the crabs because 1) they are a delicacy and are my favorite food of all time; 2) they are, for me, the embodiment of summer; and 3) they always mean treasured (and usually very hilarious) time with my large family.

"Crab Feasts"  in my mom's backyard, on my aunt's patio, or on the deck at the beach.  Step one: breaking out card tables, moving kitchen tables outdoors, and assembling a compound of newspaper-covered tables with a plethora of mismatched chairs on the deck or grass.  Next, collecting any item which can be used as a mallet/cracker/claw-opening device (for the weak) and placing it on top of the newspaper alongside the dishes of melted butter for dipping and the water bowls and paper towels for cleaning messy fingers (I am hardcore and prefer to just cover my claws with a piece of newspaper and smash it with my fist.  I also pass on the butter.  Just good ole crab meat for me.  And I never wash my fingers of Old Bay until I am finished... and that will take me at least two hours!).  And finally, the coup de grace: the fresh bushel of Old Bay seasoned local blue crabs, ready for barbaric picking.  This is one of my favorite family experiences.  Usually 7 to 25 of us gather around a table, the young and the old, enjoying the summer weather, delighting in the rewarding treat of crab meat extracted from an expertly picked crab.  The soundtrack is always the same: relatives sharing stories from their childhoods and pasts, many of which are classics, retold again and again.

There is always an annual crab feast, the joint birthday dinner held for my youngest sister, Margaret, and my mom, whose birthdays are just a day apart (August 20 and 22).  Growing up, my sisters and I were always allowed to choose the special meal we'd like for our birthday dinner.  Margaret always chooses, without fail (from age three until the present), "crabs and chocolate milk."  (Okay, so maybe not so much the chocolate milk anymore, but still the crabs!)

I also remember how excited I was when I first taught Charlie how to expertly "pick" a crab.  Now he's an old pro!

{In case you couldn't tell, I am very proud of my expert crab-picking skills.  It requires skill and patience to extract each small, but delicious piece of meat, and I will always be one of the last at the table (with Charlie and a few of my equally hardcore crab-picking uncles).  We eat all of the crabs and then move over to the "scraps" -- the poorly and barely picked crabs left by our less fanatical cousins/nieces (I think you know who you are) -- where we finish pickin' the crabs clean.}

Amen!