First post of 2008

Hi Everyone!

I know it's pretty pitiful that it's already the 20th of January and I'm just now posting my first post of the year, but I have decided to be better at updating this thing every week, so it is going to improve...don't give up on me!

Well, after an awesome but short visit home for Christmas, we are back in Dominica. We had a great time catching up with our families and everyone else back home, and were very sad to leave. But once we actually landed in Dominica, we remembered how much we really do loving down here and then it was ok to be back, even though we stillr eally miss our families. I for one do not miss the cold weather, but Sam definately does. Actually, it has been really nice weather down here. Today is a very comfortable 80 degrees, and we are just laughing at the 1st semster students who think it's hot.

This semester we are living in the same building as before, but we were able to move upstairs to a two-bedroom apartment in anticipation of the guests we have coming soon. It's nice having a little extra room, but we have discovered that it's a lot harder to make feel homey, especially on our budget. All-in-all though, we really like it and have settled nicely. Our friends Mary and James moved closer to us too, so that makes life a lot easier.

Yesterday we went into Portsmouth for the start of Carnival season here in Dominica. We're not exactly sure yet of the origin of this holiday, but it is a prelenten celebration with parades and music and tons of colorful costumes. The parade we went to lasted about 3 hours and went through Portsmouth, and the reason it took so long is because it was a "jump up." Basically, it started as a parade with dancers and musicians and people in costume, but the idea is that the hundreds of onlookers (who are encouraged by plenty of available Kubuli) join in whenever they want. So by the end of the day, there were just hundreds of people dancing in the street following the very slowly moving trucks with the band on it. It was quite an impressive sight, definately something Sam and I have never seen before. I took tons of pictures, and will begin the hunt to find a reliable Dominican photo developer, because I took them all with film because we've been having battery difficulties with our awesome digital camera. So once those come I'll definately put it up. The whole day was pretty amazing. Dominicans will take any excuse to party, and they certainly do it well. This was quite the production.

Other than that, we are just settling back into our routine here. Sam's already working on a stack of lecture notes about 6 inches tall and excited to keep moving forward, even though the amount of work between now and april is a little daunting. Last semester turned out well for him, so we're excited to keep moving forward. Classes are going well for me as well, although I have a speech class this year that I am not looking forward to. This is my last semester with any gen-eds, from here on out I can focus completely on my religion major, which is exciting.

Hope all is well back home, we really miss you all a lot. Stay warm!! :D

Katrina

Christmas Update

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

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.

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