Well, Sorry we haven't posted very often over the last few months... I've been crazy busy with school, and Trina... well... she just hasn't updated the blog. anyway, we are home in Colorado, and Christmas has been awesome. We got a new camera from Santa, so we should have plenty of new pictures, and I finally got around to putting our cabrits movie up on youtube, so check the video links for the new movie. That's all for now - first semester went off without a hitch, and I'm looking forward to getting back and learning more. Merry Christmas to everyone, and a happy new year.
-Sam
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Friday, November 23, 2007
Finally...an update
One Saturday, Sam was able to take the day off so we bought a Cutlass and went to Cabrits. It was really nice to spend a day together.
This is Mooch, the dog who has adopted us. She'll eat everything but lentil stew.
This is Mooch, the dog who has adopted us. She'll eat everything but lentil stew.
Sam had to buy a machete, or cutlass as they call them here, because pretty much every man has one, and uses it to do every project you can imagine. Here we tried to get some coconut milk, but they weren't ripe yet. :(
The beautiful Caribbean Sea.
A big hermit crab
Me, the cutlass, and a coconut
Hey Everyone!!
I cannot believe it's already the end of November! The time has just flown by, as is obvious since the last time we wrote on here was the beginning of October! Things have been going really well for us here, and we just love living here!! Sam's been keeping busy with school, but so far it's paying off. He only has 3 weeks left until the final test for the semester, but between now and then he has a bunch of tests. So he will continue to be very busy, and is definitely ready for the break! I have been keeping busy myself. My classes are going well, although a little bit busier in this half of the semester than they were at the beginning. My theology class is really interesting, giving me a lot to think about.
In the midst of school and the everyday stuff, we have been able to get out and enjoy the island and relax a little. We've been able to go sailing several more times, mostly during the week because I babysit most weekends. One saturday Sam took off after his last mini, and we took a transport to the capital and just spent the day exploring. It was fun to just wander around the streets and see what was there. We found a place called "The Spice Man" who sells a bunch of different spices, as well as tons of flavored rums that he makes. He's a really neat guy who will give you samples constantly if you wanted them. We ended up buying 2 different rums, but will definitely be back. His shop is a really cool environment. We payed a little extra to eat at a nice restaurant, where we had a creole dish made with fried octopus, with okra on the side. It was very different, but very good. Although the capital isn't exactly glamorous, it has it's own character that is really starting to grow on me.
A couple of weeks ago, my friend Mary and i put together a trip with a bunch of the other spouses to go through the Carib Territory and take a couple of short hikes to some waterfalls. There's a bus driver that is affiliated with the school who we usually hire to take us on trips, his name is Theo. He took us on this trip, and is a wonderful guide. He knows Dominica inside out and there were several times he would stop on the road, jump out and run into the bushes, and then come back with some random branch or fruit. He brought us bay leaves, oranges, showed us a cocoa pod, and even got one of the girls an herb that he said would cure her asthma. He's a really sweet guy, and is really careful to protect us spouses whenever he takes us places. We got to see some more of the island and get to know the other spouses more, so it was a really cool trip.
Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and although they don't celebrate it here and so Sam still had class, we were able to have a nice celebration. Mary and I braved the Dominica "grocery stores" and found enough stuff to make a relatively American Thanksgiving, complete with turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberries and pumpkin pie. It was a lot of work, but we had fun. It was Sam and I, Mary and James, and our friends Marc and Ericka and their son Nicholas, and then another couple joined us for desert. It was really fun, but we still missed family. But for our first holiday out of the country, it was really fun. That's about it for us! We are so excited to come home for Christmas!! T-minus 3 weeks...we're getting close. We cannot believe how fast the time has flown by here, and are very ready to see family, eat beef, go to a real grocery store and be cold!! Love you and miss you all!!
Katrina
I cannot believe it's already the end of November! The time has just flown by, as is obvious since the last time we wrote on here was the beginning of October! Things have been going really well for us here, and we just love living here!! Sam's been keeping busy with school, but so far it's paying off. He only has 3 weeks left until the final test for the semester, but between now and then he has a bunch of tests. So he will continue to be very busy, and is definitely ready for the break! I have been keeping busy myself. My classes are going well, although a little bit busier in this half of the semester than they were at the beginning. My theology class is really interesting, giving me a lot to think about.
In the midst of school and the everyday stuff, we have been able to get out and enjoy the island and relax a little. We've been able to go sailing several more times, mostly during the week because I babysit most weekends. One saturday Sam took off after his last mini, and we took a transport to the capital and just spent the day exploring. It was fun to just wander around the streets and see what was there. We found a place called "The Spice Man" who sells a bunch of different spices, as well as tons of flavored rums that he makes. He's a really neat guy who will give you samples constantly if you wanted them. We ended up buying 2 different rums, but will definitely be back. His shop is a really cool environment. We payed a little extra to eat at a nice restaurant, where we had a creole dish made with fried octopus, with okra on the side. It was very different, but very good. Although the capital isn't exactly glamorous, it has it's own character that is really starting to grow on me.
A couple of weeks ago, my friend Mary and i put together a trip with a bunch of the other spouses to go through the Carib Territory and take a couple of short hikes to some waterfalls. There's a bus driver that is affiliated with the school who we usually hire to take us on trips, his name is Theo. He took us on this trip, and is a wonderful guide. He knows Dominica inside out and there were several times he would stop on the road, jump out and run into the bushes, and then come back with some random branch or fruit. He brought us bay leaves, oranges, showed us a cocoa pod, and even got one of the girls an herb that he said would cure her asthma. He's a really sweet guy, and is really careful to protect us spouses whenever he takes us places. We got to see some more of the island and get to know the other spouses more, so it was a really cool trip.
Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and although they don't celebrate it here and so Sam still had class, we were able to have a nice celebration. Mary and I braved the Dominica "grocery stores" and found enough stuff to make a relatively American Thanksgiving, complete with turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberries and pumpkin pie. It was a lot of work, but we had fun. It was Sam and I, Mary and James, and our friends Marc and Ericka and their son Nicholas, and then another couple joined us for desert. It was really fun, but we still missed family. But for our first holiday out of the country, it was really fun. That's about it for us! We are so excited to come home for Christmas!! T-minus 3 weeks...we're getting close. We cannot believe how fast the time has flown by here, and are very ready to see family, eat beef, go to a real grocery store and be cold!! Love you and miss you all!!
Katrina
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Another week...
well folks, i meant to update this on monday and now here it is Saturday and I'm finally doing it! Better late than never, I suppose. This was kind of a crazy week.
Last weekend it RAINED. and when I say rained, I mean, I never knew that much water could come out of the sky for that long! It wasn't a tropical storm or anything, but we certainly got wet. Which shouldn't be a problem, except that Dominica's water supply system, whatever that may be, somehow gets overwhelmed when we get a lot of rain. We've noticed before that the water pressure gets really low and you sometimes can't shower for a couple of days but can still do things like wash dishes and flush the toilet. But we got so much rain this weekend that we lost our water completely. For those of you who don't know, I'm a bit of a procrastinator, and although I'd been told that you should always have 4-5 gallons of water around to drink, I hadn't exactly gotten around to it. And when the water runs out like that, of course none of the stores have any left to sell. But we did ok in the drinking department, because it was only out for the night and part of the day. The problem was, this was the night my body decided to have diarrhea issues, and we couldn't flush the toilet! Yeah, it was pretty bad. I felt like a true Dominican as I made trips back and forth to the little river by our house carrying every bucket i could of muddy rain water up to the house so that i could flush the toilet. All I need to do is learn how to balance one on my head while carrying two others in each hand, and then i'll fit right in! That was a lesson learned. STOCK UP ON WATER!!!
On Monday, my friend Mary and I ventured out to the other side of the bay to a national park with a bunch of hiking trails and old fort ruins. We loved the chance to get outside, hike around and explore our island a bit. The fort was used by the british to defend the ships in the port against enemy attackers. In the eighties they restored the main part of the Fort which you can see in the pictures. But if you take a variety of hiking trails through the forest, you find the rest of the fort that is overgrown now. They are absolutely beautiful. We definatley are planning on returning again, because the view from the top of the Cabrits (the hills surrounding the fort) are supposed to be amazing. The nice thing is that the area is only about 3 miles from here, so it's easy to walk to and free to get in. Like I said, it was wonderful to get out and explore and do some hiking.
The rest of the week Sam was focused on studying. He had his first anatomy lab practical on friday afternoon which he is "cautiously optimistic" about the results. He said he thought it went pretty well, but we won't find out what the actual results are until next monday. The major test is this coming monday, his first "mini" over all the lectures they've covered so far. Keep him in prayer for that--he's put in a lot of study hours that should pay off well. We're excited to see how he's doing so far.
We've unofficially added another member to our family--her name is Mooch. She appeared on our doorstep last week sometime, and because you can see every single bone in her body, and could tell that she has puppies somewhere, I of course had to feed her. She's a very friendly dog and is actually really polite about getting food. She will just randomly show up, I'll feed her and she'll sleep here for a couple hours and then go back to wherever her babies are. We aren't allowed to have pets in our apartment, so she just stays on our porch. It's kind of fun having her...we'll see what happens when she shows up with 8 little puppies, all wanting food!! Sam already swears we can't keep any, but we'll have to see. :D She left today before I could take her picture, but she'll be back and I'll get one then and post it for you all to see.
well, that's about it for now. I'm finishing up my last couple weeks of these classes, almost ready to start the next two. I've also been babysitting quite a bit. Last Saturday I got to take 4 of the kids i babysit with one of the dads and mary and go visit a dominican fruit farm! It was on a hill in the rainforest, but was really cool. Next time I'll bring a camera.
We really miss you all back home. Hope everything is going well, hope to hear from you soon!
Love, Katrina
Last weekend it RAINED. and when I say rained, I mean, I never knew that much water could come out of the sky for that long! It wasn't a tropical storm or anything, but we certainly got wet. Which shouldn't be a problem, except that Dominica's water supply system, whatever that may be, somehow gets overwhelmed when we get a lot of rain. We've noticed before that the water pressure gets really low and you sometimes can't shower for a couple of days but can still do things like wash dishes and flush the toilet. But we got so much rain this weekend that we lost our water completely. For those of you who don't know, I'm a bit of a procrastinator, and although I'd been told that you should always have 4-5 gallons of water around to drink, I hadn't exactly gotten around to it. And when the water runs out like that, of course none of the stores have any left to sell. But we did ok in the drinking department, because it was only out for the night and part of the day. The problem was, this was the night my body decided to have diarrhea issues, and we couldn't flush the toilet! Yeah, it was pretty bad. I felt like a true Dominican as I made trips back and forth to the little river by our house carrying every bucket i could of muddy rain water up to the house so that i could flush the toilet. All I need to do is learn how to balance one on my head while carrying two others in each hand, and then i'll fit right in! That was a lesson learned. STOCK UP ON WATER!!!
On Monday, my friend Mary and I ventured out to the other side of the bay to a national park with a bunch of hiking trails and old fort ruins. We loved the chance to get outside, hike around and explore our island a bit. The fort was used by the british to defend the ships in the port against enemy attackers. In the eighties they restored the main part of the Fort which you can see in the pictures. But if you take a variety of hiking trails through the forest, you find the rest of the fort that is overgrown now. They are absolutely beautiful. We definatley are planning on returning again, because the view from the top of the Cabrits (the hills surrounding the fort) are supposed to be amazing. The nice thing is that the area is only about 3 miles from here, so it's easy to walk to and free to get in. Like I said, it was wonderful to get out and explore and do some hiking.
The rest of the week Sam was focused on studying. He had his first anatomy lab practical on friday afternoon which he is "cautiously optimistic" about the results. He said he thought it went pretty well, but we won't find out what the actual results are until next monday. The major test is this coming monday, his first "mini" over all the lectures they've covered so far. Keep him in prayer for that--he's put in a lot of study hours that should pay off well. We're excited to see how he's doing so far.
We've unofficially added another member to our family--her name is Mooch. She appeared on our doorstep last week sometime, and because you can see every single bone in her body, and could tell that she has puppies somewhere, I of course had to feed her. She's a very friendly dog and is actually really polite about getting food. She will just randomly show up, I'll feed her and she'll sleep here for a couple hours and then go back to wherever her babies are. We aren't allowed to have pets in our apartment, so she just stays on our porch. It's kind of fun having her...we'll see what happens when she shows up with 8 little puppies, all wanting food!! Sam already swears we can't keep any, but we'll have to see. :D She left today before I could take her picture, but she'll be back and I'll get one then and post it for you all to see.
well, that's about it for now. I'm finishing up my last couple weeks of these classes, almost ready to start the next two. I've also been babysitting quite a bit. Last Saturday I got to take 4 of the kids i babysit with one of the dads and mary and go visit a dominican fruit farm! It was on a hill in the rainforest, but was really cool. Next time I'll bring a camera.
We really miss you all back home. Hope everything is going well, hope to hear from you soon!
Love, Katrina
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Update 9-29
Well, one month down. I am hitting the books trying to get ready for my first round of tests... lab practical on Friday and our first marathon 5-hour-every-subject-covered exam (ironically called a "mini" exam because it is not a final) on Monday. The amount of information so far is pretty crazy, but I'm loving it, and so the long hours are ok. The island is still awesome -Trina and I are finally figuring out the places to buy stuff, and last night we went to an independence day celebration for the island... which is a little weird because their independence day is in november. Oh well, these people don't need much of an excuse to party - they all get together at the park and put up grandstands and a stage and random people sing and play music and everyone dances. There is plenty of beer and grilled plantains stuffed with salt cod (sounds weird, I know, but it is actually pretty good). that's about all that's new - we're hitting our stride with school and life on the island, and life is good. hopefully we'll get pictures posted for you guys soon, but since the digital camera broke, all we have is Trina's film camera, and we have no idea where to develop film here, much less get the pictures scanned to post online. anyway, if we find out, we'll get them posted, if not, there may not be new pictures until December. Hope is all well back home in the States.
-Sam
-Sam
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Settling In...
Hello everyone!!
We hope this new post finds everyone back home doing well. We are starting to settle into a routine here, which is good. Sam is almost done with his second week of school at Ross and as he says, is maintaining his 4.0! (which is pretty easy to do when you haven't had any tests :) ). The White Coat Ceremony was last friday and it went really well. The Prime Minister of Dominica was there and welcomed the students. This class is made up of almost 400 students, so the place was packed. Us spouses got pushed to the very back row and were not able to see anything, but it was still pretty cool to be there. Even though we ironed the patch on his coat on the wrong side, Sam looked great in his white coat. Pictures are below.
Since Sam is busy for most of the day, I have been having to entertain myself. Fortunately, we've made friends with another couple that's been married for about the same time as we have, and so I hang out with Mary (the wife) while Sam and James are in school. We've been spending lots of time "shopping," which mainly consists of long walks to the random small grocery stores and buying a few more food things and random pots and pans to make our latest cooking experiment. We made cookies the other day without any measuring cups or a cookie sheet, and they actually turned out really good. Everyone was excited to have them and we've already gotten a bunch of requests for more. Yesterday was the first meeting for the spouses club here on campus, and it looks like that's going to be another fun thing to do here. I'm anxious to start hiking and seeing the other attractions on the island.
All the people here have been so nice and welcoming. We're really settling in comfortably. We have dinner with James and Mary almost every night, Mary and I are taking yoga classes on the beach twice a week, and we've also joined a christian group on campus. Today, we're signing up for other various organizations such as AMSA (american medical student association) and the sailing club!! Life is good here. We really miss everyone at home, and really wish you could all come out here to see this incredible place!!
More updates to come as we head out for more adventures! We love you all and miss you TONS!!
We hope this new post finds everyone back home doing well. We are starting to settle into a routine here, which is good. Sam is almost done with his second week of school at Ross and as he says, is maintaining his 4.0! (which is pretty easy to do when you haven't had any tests :) ). The White Coat Ceremony was last friday and it went really well. The Prime Minister of Dominica was there and welcomed the students. This class is made up of almost 400 students, so the place was packed. Us spouses got pushed to the very back row and were not able to see anything, but it was still pretty cool to be there. Even though we ironed the patch on his coat on the wrong side, Sam looked great in his white coat. Pictures are below.
Since Sam is busy for most of the day, I have been having to entertain myself. Fortunately, we've made friends with another couple that's been married for about the same time as we have, and so I hang out with Mary (the wife) while Sam and James are in school. We've been spending lots of time "shopping," which mainly consists of long walks to the random small grocery stores and buying a few more food things and random pots and pans to make our latest cooking experiment. We made cookies the other day without any measuring cups or a cookie sheet, and they actually turned out really good. Everyone was excited to have them and we've already gotten a bunch of requests for more. Yesterday was the first meeting for the spouses club here on campus, and it looks like that's going to be another fun thing to do here. I'm anxious to start hiking and seeing the other attractions on the island.
All the people here have been so nice and welcoming. We're really settling in comfortably. We have dinner with James and Mary almost every night, Mary and I are taking yoga classes on the beach twice a week, and we've also joined a christian group on campus. Today, we're signing up for other various organizations such as AMSA (american medical student association) and the sailing club!! Life is good here. We really miss everyone at home, and really wish you could all come out here to see this incredible place!!
More updates to come as we head out for more adventures! We love you all and miss you TONS!!
Monday, September 3, 2007
School Again...
Well, this past week amidst orientation Trina and I did some sea kayaking and snorkeling. Trina flipped her kayak twice and lost her shorts at the bottom of the sea. She says it's sad, but I still maintain that it is in fact hilarious. we went to a secret beach only accessible from the ocean, only it wasn't very secret and there were a zillion people there. The first day of classes came and went today, and there's nothing much to report on that front... suffice it to say I'm not making people refer to me as "Doctor" just yet. Oh, and trina broke the camera, so there's no new pictures. we are probably going to go to rousseau and pick one up next week. I'm way excited to be starting up with school, so the reality of how much I have to learn hasn't quite set in yet - I'm just loving life right now. I'll post again on saturday and let you all know how white coat and everything goes.
Monday, August 27, 2007
We have officially survived in Dominica for one whole week!!
All in all, things are going very well, we are really liking the island, the people and everything else we've discovered so far.
Now that we are more settled into our apartment, the past couple of days we have spent exploring different parts of the island. The school has sponsored a variety of tours for the 1st semester students, so that has really helped us get around (for free!!!) and meet some of Sam's classmates. Let's see....
On Friday we took a bus down to the capitol city of Roseau. It is about an hour's drive over curvy narrow roads, but the views were magnificent. All along the coast are scattered little villages of brightly painted houses that are tucked into the lush hills overlooking the coast. Although we don't have a lot of white sand here, the water is still crystal clear and is always beautiful. the capital itself is very unique. A third of the islands population lives here, and most of the streets and buildings look like they haven't seen a bit of change since they were first built. Walking in them feels like you've stepped back in time for several decades. While there we found a Dominica-version of Walmart that had a little of everything for very decent prices. It was reassuring. The one thing we have had difficulty securing so far is meat. We have the basic staples, but so far any kind of meat is few and far between. Next Saturday we are planning on going to the open market in Portsmouth, so hopefully we'll have better luck there.
On Friday night the school sponsored a bonfire at the beach. It started at 7 pm (which is already dark here), and so we showed up at about 7:45, waited around at least another half hour, and then they finally started burning something. I wish we had brought the camera, because boy do they know how to have a bonfire. They started by stacking logs into a square until it was about 15 feet high, with the middle open, and then they laid palms from the palm trees over the stacked wood, making the whole structure probably 20 feet tall. Then they just lit it and left! they definitely don't have to worry about things burning there that aren't supposed to be burning, but still it was quite the experience. Continuing on the whole fire theme...the best way to dispose of trash here is to burn it, because they don't have a lot of land to spare for a landfill. So walking through town you can almost always catch the smell of burning trash, but it is actually a really good smell. The weird thing is that you'll also see just random columns of smoke coming from the mountains, as people get rid of trash, but I always have to do a double take whenever i see it, and try not to get excited. :)
On Saturday we went with the group up to a place called Syndicate Falls, which you can see in some of the pictures. It was at the end of a beautiful little hike through the rain forest, which was really nice.
Yesterday, (Sunday) we took a tour along the east coast of the island, which winds through Carib territory. The Caribs in Dominica are the only original people group that was here when Christopher Columbus landed. They still face a lot of economic hardships, but they weave beautiful baskets. They also make Casava bread, which is made from the root of a casava plant. It was very good. While we were there we also got to see a native dance performed. After going through the Carib territory, we went into Morne Trois National Park and walked to the Emerald Pool. This was a beautiful pond that was VERY cold. But we tried to enjoy it while we were there, because it is probably the only place on this whole island where you can feel cold.
So now we are back home and ready to tackle orientation this week. Sam's classes will start on Monday, but this week is just orientation, registration, etc. It was been really nice having some time to just relax and explore here, we're definitely glad we came down early. Things will be a little different once he starts classes, but we're excited for him to get started.
We hope everything is going well back at home. We are definitely starting to miss everyone, so keep us updated on everything going on in your lives. We will keep posting pictures and stuff when we do something interesting! That is, as long as our camera holds out (I discovered that perhaps taking the camera to the beach is probably not the best idea, after our one outing almost killed it. So pray that our camera hangs in there for awhile longer. lol). Anyways, we love you all and pray that everything is going well for you--bye for now!!
Love, Katrina
All in all, things are going very well, we are really liking the island, the people and everything else we've discovered so far.
Now that we are more settled into our apartment, the past couple of days we have spent exploring different parts of the island. The school has sponsored a variety of tours for the 1st semester students, so that has really helped us get around (for free!!!) and meet some of Sam's classmates. Let's see....
On Friday we took a bus down to the capitol city of Roseau. It is about an hour's drive over curvy narrow roads, but the views were magnificent. All along the coast are scattered little villages of brightly painted houses that are tucked into the lush hills overlooking the coast. Although we don't have a lot of white sand here, the water is still crystal clear and is always beautiful. the capital itself is very unique. A third of the islands population lives here, and most of the streets and buildings look like they haven't seen a bit of change since they were first built. Walking in them feels like you've stepped back in time for several decades. While there we found a Dominica-version of Walmart that had a little of everything for very decent prices. It was reassuring. The one thing we have had difficulty securing so far is meat. We have the basic staples, but so far any kind of meat is few and far between. Next Saturday we are planning on going to the open market in Portsmouth, so hopefully we'll have better luck there.
On Friday night the school sponsored a bonfire at the beach. It started at 7 pm (which is already dark here), and so we showed up at about 7:45, waited around at least another half hour, and then they finally started burning something. I wish we had brought the camera, because boy do they know how to have a bonfire. They started by stacking logs into a square until it was about 15 feet high, with the middle open, and then they laid palms from the palm trees over the stacked wood, making the whole structure probably 20 feet tall. Then they just lit it and left! they definitely don't have to worry about things burning there that aren't supposed to be burning, but still it was quite the experience. Continuing on the whole fire theme...the best way to dispose of trash here is to burn it, because they don't have a lot of land to spare for a landfill. So walking through town you can almost always catch the smell of burning trash, but it is actually a really good smell. The weird thing is that you'll also see just random columns of smoke coming from the mountains, as people get rid of trash, but I always have to do a double take whenever i see it, and try not to get excited. :)
On Saturday we went with the group up to a place called Syndicate Falls, which you can see in some of the pictures. It was at the end of a beautiful little hike through the rain forest, which was really nice.
Yesterday, (Sunday) we took a tour along the east coast of the island, which winds through Carib territory. The Caribs in Dominica are the only original people group that was here when Christopher Columbus landed. They still face a lot of economic hardships, but they weave beautiful baskets. They also make Casava bread, which is made from the root of a casava plant. It was very good. While we were there we also got to see a native dance performed. After going through the Carib territory, we went into Morne Trois National Park and walked to the Emerald Pool. This was a beautiful pond that was VERY cold. But we tried to enjoy it while we were there, because it is probably the only place on this whole island where you can feel cold.
So now we are back home and ready to tackle orientation this week. Sam's classes will start on Monday, but this week is just orientation, registration, etc. It was been really nice having some time to just relax and explore here, we're definitely glad we came down early. Things will be a little different once he starts classes, but we're excited for him to get started.
We hope everything is going well back at home. We are definitely starting to miss everyone, so keep us updated on everything going on in your lives. We will keep posting pictures and stuff when we do something interesting! That is, as long as our camera holds out (I discovered that perhaps taking the camera to the beach is probably not the best idea, after our one outing almost killed it. So pray that our camera hangs in there for awhile longer. lol). Anyways, we love you all and pray that everything is going well for you--bye for now!!
Love, Katrina
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
We have arrived!
We made it!!! It is now Tuesday night, we have been in Dominica since Sunday afternoon, and are just now enjoying having a place to call home that has an internet connection. The flight to Dominica went well, although landing here is definately an adventure. The runway is very small, and the plane has to circle down over the mountains and the ocean, come down over a mountain, hit the runway and stop before it lands in the ocean (literally). The airport here is one decent sized room with 3 desks in it, one where the Ross University representative sits to welcome you, one for the customs desks, one for the inspection and then the door leading out to a little parking area where taxis and buses await your arrival. We have posted pictures taken on the ride in. Everyone drives on the left side of the road with the driver sitting on the right side of the bus, so that takes some getting used to, but from what we've seen so far, the left side is more of a technicality. On the curvy, narrow road coming in we generally just drove in the middle until another car comes racing around the corner, in which case both drivers hit the brakes just enough to pull off to the left side and bit and allow the other to pass with maybe 5 inches to spare. It is quite the experience.
The first thing you notice here is the humidity. As soon as we stepped out of the plane it was like stepping into a "wet blanket" as Sam describes it. We are hoping that we adjust to that well, right now the most valuable thing we own is the fan we paid about US $30 for. The scenery here is amazing. It is definately a thick, steep jungle. The banana trees took the largest beating from Hurricane Dean, so hopefully that doesn't hurt the locals too much. You can see pictures of them all blown over. Everything else appears to have stood up well despite the hurricane. The people are prepared for them. A lot of the windows across campus still have boards over them, and the beach is strewn with what we imagine to be excess debris, but those are the only obvious signs that we can see of a hurricane passing through. Another thing that I love about the island is that all the buildings are painted in bright yellow, green, purple and pink. They look absolutely wonderful.
We were able to find a good apartment on the second day we were here. The school brought all us new arrivals on a tour of the available apartments, and it was obvious that everyone was going to be fighting for the cheap ones, so we grabbed what we could in a hurry, and lucked out. Although it isn't big it has everything we need: screens and burgler bars on the windows, kitchen, internet, bathroom...the basics. We will try to get pictures up soon. It is very nice and I think we'll really like it. The best part about it is the view. From the front porch we can see down the mountain over part of the "town" and out onto the ocean. Absolutely stunning (Katrina's favorite part). And in the back, there is a nice, healthy avocado tree (Sam's favorite part).
The food here has been good so far, although we haven't found any genuine creole food, which is supposed to be the dominant style. Everything right around campus is geared towards the students, so there is quite a bit of variety. So far we've found lots of chinese, some indian, some pizza and a bunch of "shacks" as they're called that supply basic american food for the students all day long. The best thing we've found so far is the fruit. It's everywhere, and it's amazing! So far we've tried Bananas, mangoes, pineapple, starfruit, guava (not our favorite), passion fruit, avocados (which technically are a fruit, i think), canips, and tomorrow we're going to try bread fruit. all of it is abundant, and very cheap, so we are likely to eat a TON of it.
Although it is an adjustment, I think we are really going to like it here. Sam is really excited to be a medical student, and we love what we have seen so far of the island. I have started working on my class work (and by working I mean, I've logged on, looked at everything i have to do and then started writing this) which started on Monday, and it seems like that should go pretty well too. We'll try to keep you all updated as we continue to explore the island. We have the rest of this week to run around on our own, then next week Sam starts his orientation stuff, and classes will start for him next Monday. It's so exciting!! Thank you all for your prayers as we carry out our new life here...We love and miss you all and are thinking about you! Please comment and send us emails and stuff, so we can keep posted on everything back at home. Bye for now!
Katrina
The first thing you notice here is the humidity. As soon as we stepped out of the plane it was like stepping into a "wet blanket" as Sam describes it. We are hoping that we adjust to that well, right now the most valuable thing we own is the fan we paid about US $30 for. The scenery here is amazing. It is definately a thick, steep jungle. The banana trees took the largest beating from Hurricane Dean, so hopefully that doesn't hurt the locals too much. You can see pictures of them all blown over. Everything else appears to have stood up well despite the hurricane. The people are prepared for them. A lot of the windows across campus still have boards over them, and the beach is strewn with what we imagine to be excess debris, but those are the only obvious signs that we can see of a hurricane passing through. Another thing that I love about the island is that all the buildings are painted in bright yellow, green, purple and pink. They look absolutely wonderful.
We were able to find a good apartment on the second day we were here. The school brought all us new arrivals on a tour of the available apartments, and it was obvious that everyone was going to be fighting for the cheap ones, so we grabbed what we could in a hurry, and lucked out. Although it isn't big it has everything we need: screens and burgler bars on the windows, kitchen, internet, bathroom...the basics. We will try to get pictures up soon. It is very nice and I think we'll really like it. The best part about it is the view. From the front porch we can see down the mountain over part of the "town" and out onto the ocean. Absolutely stunning (Katrina's favorite part). And in the back, there is a nice, healthy avocado tree (Sam's favorite part).
The food here has been good so far, although we haven't found any genuine creole food, which is supposed to be the dominant style. Everything right around campus is geared towards the students, so there is quite a bit of variety. So far we've found lots of chinese, some indian, some pizza and a bunch of "shacks" as they're called that supply basic american food for the students all day long. The best thing we've found so far is the fruit. It's everywhere, and it's amazing! So far we've tried Bananas, mangoes, pineapple, starfruit, guava (not our favorite), passion fruit, avocados (which technically are a fruit, i think), canips, and tomorrow we're going to try bread fruit. all of it is abundant, and very cheap, so we are likely to eat a TON of it.
Although it is an adjustment, I think we are really going to like it here. Sam is really excited to be a medical student, and we love what we have seen so far of the island. I have started working on my class work (and by working I mean, I've logged on, looked at everything i have to do and then started writing this) which started on Monday, and it seems like that should go pretty well too. We'll try to keep you all updated as we continue to explore the island. We have the rest of this week to run around on our own, then next week Sam starts his orientation stuff, and classes will start for him next Monday. It's so exciting!! Thank you all for your prayers as we carry out our new life here...We love and miss you all and are thinking about you! Please comment and send us emails and stuff, so we can keep posted on everything back at home. Bye for now!
Katrina
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