Rain, Rain, Come and Stay

So Dominica season's are definitely different than in the States. My poor family at home is freezing their butts off and getting tons of snow, while the temperature here hasn't varied more than a total of 20 degrees in the last 6 months. Haha! (Had to boast a bit!) The "winter" season as it is between November and March tend to be much cooler than the "summer" months. And let me tell you, I have enjoyed the temperature. However, now we are in the "dry" season. It hasn't rained more than one day in the last month (a few days after the volcano in Montserrat blew, so at least it washed the ash off of everything)! And for a country that gets an average of 350 inches of rain a year (in the mountains/ 40 inches on the western coast), that's a drought! Since it's so dry, we have all these brush fires that automatically flare up. (I recently saw one so big that I thought it was going to burn down the hotel near it!) My lovely green island is turning BROWN...and I don't like it. So, I really want (and it definitely needs) to rain. End this yucky drought. It's also gotten pretty hot again, and the rain would cool it down some. Rarely do people wish for rain, but I've learned since being here to make an exception and that sometimes rain is a good thing.

Manna from Heaven

Living in Dominica too long will make you a fruit juice snob. There is always FRESH fruit juice and it's so much better than juice you can get back home. This is one of the nice things about living in a country whose temperature variance is a total of about 20 degrees year round (never below 70F or higher than low 90F). Most of the fruits here are in the tropical or citrus variety. For example, in my backyard I have the following fruits growing that I can pick anytime I want to: lime, guava, papaya, orange, coconut, and banana. I get limes on a regular basis (great over grilled chicken) and on occasion oranges (on New Year's morning we picked oranges off the tree, squeezed them and had mimosas!!). There are also some variation in the names of fruits. What they call tangerines here are like clementines back home, while tangerines at home are mangerines here. They have ortanics (which is like an orange and tangerine hybrid). Passion fruit, avocados, plantains, etc. ABUNDANCE!! When you go to restaurants here, always ask what juices they have. Everyone is different and some things are actually seasonal. There are two separate juice vendors at the Shacks on campus. Roslyn is my preference (she's a sweetie) over the juice guy (don't know his name). She'll have juices ranging from orange, tangerine, sorrel (seasonal and my favorite!), cherry, lime (good in combination with cherry), passion fruit, guava, and i know i'm leaving some out, but there are just too many to remember! They're cheap too! For $3.50EC or about $1.30US, you get a 16oz cup! Sweet deal if you ask me. But this island is lacking in one of my favorite things...BERRIES. I love berries, and I miss berries. Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries... They don't grow here and they generally don't import them. (I've found frozen blueberries in Roseau, but it's just NOT the same.) So yesterday, we went out for lunch and on the counter there were two BEAUTIFUL strawberries! Now, I haven't had strawberries since this summer before I left and I'm going in total withdrawl. I asked them where they got these strawberries and after lunch we found the place and I got to buy some. Now...don't freak out or think I'm an idiot or anything, but a pint of strawberries cost $23EC, which is $8.50US. I know I know, you wouldn't be caught dead paying that much for strawberries back home (and I wouldn't either), but you gotta understand my pain and desperation for these beautiful red berries. And I had a few with my chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and they were totally worth it! I can tell you I probably won't be buying strawberries that often (especially for that price), but every once in a while, you just have to give in to indulgence.