And the winner is...

So, it's election time in Dominica. Interesting to say the least. The political system here is modeled after the British parliamentary system (since Dominica used to be owned by England~ and the Queen is still on all of the money). Dominica has only been independent since 1978, so she's still in her independence infancy. As best as I have it figured out, which is not very well I might add, there are two main parties. And since it's the Caribbean, they are fittingly usually referred to by their colors. The red party (the Labour party) and the blue party (the Workers party) seem to be the main ones (akin to Democrats and Republicans back in the US). How the two parties differ, I have no clue. I do know that the current party in power is the red party and the current prime minister is the youngest elected in the world (yes, you read that correctly. He's only 37~ now whether that's how old he is now, or how old he was when he was elected, I dont' know). There are also some smaller parties (think Independent party back in the states), the green party (Freedom party) and the yellow/orange party (the Para party, that one i really haven't figured out yet. I think it broke off from the Labour party) and probably another small one that I haven't heard of yet. So campaigning is pretty harmless (see picture). Mostly flags hanging on telephone posts, trees, cars, houses...basically anything you can tie that color fabric to, as well as some posters and signs (the large blue signs with the question marks in them are for the Workers party. It took some digging but we finally found out that supposedly for each sign they have around the county~ and they're EVERYWHERE~ it represents a question that hasn't been answered by the current government).

So, anyway, elections are every 5 years (which should make the election next year), but this year it was called early (it can be anytime within the last year, and is called by the current party in power). I think one of the reasons it was called early is because the prime minister's speech got stolen and read on the radio before he gave it. So, it will be December 18th (and I will be glad when it is over). Riding around are pickup trucks decked out with speakers and bullhorns blaring music and covered in their parties colors (at ALL hours of the day... and night~ I was rudely awakened by one at 2am that decided to essentially sit outside my door for 5 min with music so loud you couldn't sleep or drown it out with pillows!). So since an election has been called, the president of Dominica is now in power. He's more like a figure-head really (like the Queen of England), doesn't do the work, just signs the documents and goes to parties or what not (I actually have seen him and his wife on occasion~ they were at the White Coat Ceremony this past semester).

Election is done the old fashion way, paper ballots and hand counting. Luckily, since the population of Dominica is around 78,000 people, the results will be in by 8 or 9pm the night of the election. And I've heard that there will be partying all night long. So, stay tuned, we'll see who the next ruling party of Dominica turns out to be.

Smorgasboard

I know, I know... I've been slacking on the blogging. It's just that I need to be inspired to give to you guys and there just hasn't been that much going on other than work! I generally like to keep it light and funny, so I need good subject matter. So, right now nothing is jumping out at me, so I guess this'll just be a smorgasbord of things! (Some of which may just be reiterations from before.)

First and foremost, I've decided that I hate roosters. If I were any better at cooking than I am, I would become the worlds foremost chef at making Coq au vin (for those of you less culinarily inclined, this is a French dish whose main ingredient is old rooster). Don't get me wrong, they are interesting to watch (especially when they are climbing trees~ yes, they do this in Dominica) and are decently attractive (much prettier than a chicken), but when they are crowing or cock-a-doodle-doing or whatever it is they do at 5am when you are still trying to get that one more hour of sleep, you just want to shoot them! I've gotten to the point where on most nights I don't need my A/C anymore, but will inevitably have to turn in on at 4-6am bc they're waking me up! Those damn roosters are running up my electric bill...they must pay!

Secondly, don't start thinking that you haven't felt an earthquake in a while, bc as soon as you do, you'll have one (as I write this, I just had a small minor house shaking one and then another little aftershock)! Ah, the life on this island...

Let's see, what next? Did you know that it is really hard to hang pictures here. See all the houses are generally made out of concrete and therefore don't really have any drywall or plaster on the walls (just painted concrete). So obviously, you can't just put a nail in the wall to hang your pictures. You need to actually drill holes and what not. Well, I don't do power tools (I plead the estrogen clause on this one). But, I've found a way around this lack of easiness. There is crown molding at the top of the walls, so I've put two nails into this and then attached fishing line to the pictures/paintings and made them hang from the two nails (think of the fishing line making an upside down triangle). It actually works pretty well (i hung my hummingbird feeder outside like this too~ when you're on a roll...), but obviously the pictures aren't flush against the wall. It works, and it's not causing me any sleepless nights over it, so why worry.

Anyway, I think I've taken up enough of your time on randomness, so I better sign off. Hopefully I'll become inspired for the next blog and you won't be subjected to the random workings of my brain! Tata!