A housemate has arrived!

I've got a new neighbor!!! Back story first though... So when I first moved into my apartment, and English couple (Tess and Kevin) lived below me with their three dogs (Honey, Bell, Ocho). They moved out in March of this year (have their own land and have built some eco-cottages near where I live). So for the past 5 months, I've essentially had the whole place to myself. Nice and quiet, but always can be unnerving at times (no male presence or dogs, just deter any potential problems). Also, lucky for me, I never had any issues with no one living below me. But all that has changed now!

At the end of August, a new Ross faculty named Molly (from Wisconsin/Minnesota~~and yes, she has the accent to prove it) moved in with her dog Cocoa (chocolate lab- who doesn't have the accent and rarely barks at all). And lucky for me, she's my age so potentially an instant friend. As fate would have it, we get along great. I love her dog (and my cats are adjusting to the dogs visits~ they're not running away as much and actually are coming to investigate) and it's nice to be able to take walks with someone else and an animal (safety in numbers, especially from all the locals trying to pick you up!), watch tv shows or movies with someone, and have dinner parties and eat on the patio furniture she brought with her! She gets along great with my friends that I have introduced her to as well, so extra special plus.

So hasta la vista empty house and buenos dias to company when you want it!! Woo hoo!! BTW...I may have several adventures (a la: the hiking kind) lined up for this semester so look forward to some new posts coming in the next couple of months!

I'm YOUR weather girl....

AAAAHHHH.....Hurricane season. :) Yes, that is a smiley face. So unless you've been living under a rock for the past two weeks you know that the Atlantic hurricane season is in full swing. Growing up on the southeast coast of the US, this is nothing new. I've been in my fair share of hurricanes (luckily I've lived a good ways inland so I haven't really been horribly affected by them), so nothing new to me. You would think that living in the caribbean, where all the hurricanes usually pass through first before they get to the states, I would see a lot more. Not so says I. Luckily for me the Windward Islands (of which Dominica is considered) are a little more southern so the hurricanes usually turn north before they get to us. Such as Earl and Fiona did this past week. (Sorry to all my peeps in NC who got battered by Earl yesterday.) Now, Fiona turned north much earlier and was of lesser caliber, so we didn't see any effects of her at all. Earl on the other hand...

Right now Dominica is hot. Hot, sunny, and humid. Yeah yeah..tough life, I know. But believe it or not, sunny tropical days get old (especially if it's upper 80's or low 90's and 80% humidity!). So when Earl in all its massiveness came through the area last week, it was actually kind of a nice change. (I know you're thinking, "What kind of crazy girl actually likes hurricanes?") See Hurricane Earl went much more north of us, so we didn't get it full on, just some of the southern leading bands. This meant cloudy skies with a little rain (not much), the wind picked up a bit (more so right on the water, I really couldn't tell that much at my house), and crazy seas. Crazy seas meaning 10-12 foot swells on the normally calm and flat Caribbean side of the island. A welcome from "gorgeous" weather. AND....I'm NOT the only one that thought that (three of my girlfriends said the same thing I'll have you know)! We actually sat on the beach and watched the waves and had a glass of wine and birthday cake.

Dominica does get hit head on by hurricanes and some nasty ones at that. I don't mind if they stay away while I'm here. The next storm (Gaston) is actually tracking to hit us dead on sometime in the middle of next week (luckily it is just a tropical depression so it should be a cake walk...but it makes me giggle to see everyone squirm who's never experienced one before). So the lesser of the hurricanes...BRING IT ON (you bigger ones can keep turning north however) this chica is excited for cloudy and stormy days every now and then! (Disclaimer: This blog may be updated next week to cancel out everything I just said if Gaston and the one behind it get bigger, hit us head on, and really mess things up! However, let's hope not.)