Typical weather??

So obviously the normal thought process that goes through people's minds when you say you live in the Caribbean is that hurricanes are a norm from July through November. Not really...well, maybe...I guess it depends where in the Caribbean you live.

I myself, being from NC, was used to hurricanes. We usually got one once a year(ish). So I've been in Dominica for 2 years now (this is my third hurricane season). Right after I arrived in 2009, there was a tropical storm that went over us. Nothing fancy. Last November (2010) we had a Category 1 hurricane (Tomas) that passed between us and Martinique (that one I actually felt because I was on the very south part of the island. They said that where I live in the north part of the island, you didn't really feel any of it!).

This hurricane season (2011) has been pretty active. We've had 3 tropical storms that have affected us one way or the other. The earliest was in July (Emily), then Irene, and then Maria (apparently on the ladies love us). Now none of them went right over us. Luckily Dominica is in the Windward Islands (Lesser Antilles) and is too far south to really be affected by the major hurricanes (most of the time). If they graze us, it is usually as a tropical storm and then they pick up speed and intensity after we've been passed (yeah us!). I thought for sure we were going to get Maria (projected to go right over us). We got the outer bands with heavy rain and some wind, then it jump straight north and we had a sunny day! Bummer.

Actually my parents in NC had more issues with hurricanes so far than I have. They lost 13 trees out of their yard from Hurricane Irene!

I mean, it's only September so we are still at the "beginning' of this year's hurricane season. So it'll be interesting to see what else will be happening.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't want a major storm to hit us. That would really suck. But a little rain and wind never hurt anyone. :)

PS- When I woke up this morning it kinda felt like I was home. It was sorta chilly and its been rainy today. Everyone's facebook status is talking about the cool weather in NC right now. I miss it and everyone back home!

Stir crazy

Stir crazy, island fever, whatever you want to call it, I think I've got it. :( I switched lectures at school with one of my colleagues this semester, so I lectured the first 6 weeks of the semester (before I lectured the middle third of the semester) so after week 6 (realistically week 7 due to lab exams and module director responsibilities) I've not had that much to do (we're on week 9 now). I want to go somewhere, do something, with someone, anyone. Unfortunately there's been at least one if not two people in my course gone for a month (the last two weeks and the upcoming two weeks) so I don't feel that I actually can leave because I need to make sure everything is getting done and is covered (aren't I such the responsible one). So I was banking on some down time in August between semesters but don't know if that'll happen or not.

Originally I had planned on going to a meeting in Vienna, Austria, but I decided to back out of that (didn't really want to go to another meeting and the timing of the conference was just NOT optimal). So I then implored to my friends to see if anyone wanted to go on a trip somewhere, anywhere (just not Vegas~ I'm doing that at Christmas with my parents). Thought I had a shot with Matt to LA then Vancouver, but looks like that might be a bust (won't know for sure for another 2 weeks but that cutting it close, and the airfare has already gone up $500 in two weeks). I just want to go on a vacation and NOT BY MYSELF!!!

Guess I should be used to it. Most people go on vacations with family members (love you mom and dad but I will have already done three trips to see you guys this year), siblings, significant others, spouses...need I go on? I'm no stranger to travelling by myself (Bermuda, Scotland, part of Australia). I just want to share an adventure with someone. Maybe I'm just getting lonely in my old age. Which would open a whole other discussion which I know you don't want to hear about, so I'll just stop there.

I guess I shouldn't complain too much...David (Danielle's husband) just left the island for the first time in 10 months! At least I had somewhat of a break in April! I guess I need to look at the bright side. If I don't go anywhere then I'll save some money (though my mind might explode for not leaving from April to November)!!

Movin' on up!

So, shortly after I moved to Dominica, they started clearing land close to the school to build a new grocery store. Most of the grocery stores near school are more like convenience stores in the US. You can get your basic supplies, and live off them, but it's nothing special. If you wanted to go to a more "proper" grocery store, you'd have to go to the capital, Roseau, which is an hour long bus ride and I personally can't stand Roseau. It's hot, crowded, and everyone thinks you're a tourist off a cruise ship just because you're white! I can't stand Roseau so much, that I haven't been in a year (now it's just a matter of principle to see how long I can go without needing to visit it!). So, since I've been here, grocery shopping consists of starting at one end of Picard (where Ross is located) and visiting the 3-5 grocery stores to get as much stuff as you can find (just because they had it last time, doesn't mean they'll have it this time). Which I don't mind doing, it just makes grocery shopping a little more complicated. You have your favorites at some stores. To this day, I've only found one place that has chocolate chips (James Store...which is actually pretty gross). So I know that if I need chocolate chips (or laundry detergent...they actually sell detergent as opposed to fabric softener, which everyone else only sells...but you must read the bottle carefully and be able to translate spanish in order to determine this fact), that's where I need to go.

So this "new" grocery store that is supposed to be built is slated to be a proper grocery store (like they have in Roseau) and was supposed to be open last November (2010). Guess what...TID (this is Dominica) and of course it's not open. Fast forward to April 2011...It's supposed to open on Friday...think again...Monday...psych!!...Tuesday at 10am...just kidding...Tuesday 5pm...We're in business! Of course this Tuesday falls on the day of our lab practical (which is an 11 hour work day for me), so I don't get to partake. Plus, I leave the next day for 2 weeks back in the US, so I guess I'll miss the grand opening and all the amazing things they have inside. As I'm sitting in the waiting area in the airport, I'm reading everyone's facebook status about the "amazing new grocery store" and "they've got strawberries" (which pisses me off bc I know that when I get back they'll all be gone) and "civilization come to Dominica." Yeah yeah...you guys enjoy your grand opening, but I'm going back to the states to enjoy great food and variety for 2 weeks!

Fast forward 2 weeks...I come back to Dominica. It's time to check out this new hot spot. Yep, well worth those posts. Proper US grocery store (on the small side comparatively), with a deli and a bakery and freezers that actually work! Guess what...they even still had strawberries, sorta. I enjoy perusing, grabbing things off the shelf that i don't need, but take bc I haven't seen them since I've living down here. I go to checkout and surprise surprise, my strawberries don't ring up, they're not even in the system, and the manager and no one currently in the store knows how much they cost. So they don't let me buy them (I'm seriously cussing some people out in my brain at this point...I'M OBSESSED with freaking strawberries, or any berries for that matter bc you CAN'T get them here~ it's too hot to grow them!!) And wouldn't you know, I've not seen strawberries since then. So obviously they've still got some kinks to work out. It's a great addition to the community, but it's still Dominican! At least now I pretty much only have to stop at one place to get all my groceries! Happy shopping!

Turtle watching that was...

This past weekend there was a faculty outing to Rosalie Bay Resort. This is a new resort that has been in the headlines recently (Top 10 Romantic Caribbean retreats on CNN!). And it was extremely nice. The purpose of the trip was to watch for the sea turtles that come ashore to lay nests of eggs and to relax and get away from campus. But, let me start from the beginnning.

So, Rosalie Bay is on the eastern side of the island (it's about an hour and a half drive from campus) midway between the northern and southern tip of the island. When we left it was nice and sunny and hot, but the closer to the eastern side of the island we got, the more rainy and dreary it became. So essentially the entire Saturday was spent in the rain. :( We took around 50 people (their largest crowd yet) and about half of those stayed the night. (When I booked my room, I got upgraded for free plus a 30% discount for the weekend for being Ross, divided between myself and my roommate = US$80 for a room that would normally be US$250!!) The people at Rosalie pulled out all the stops for us. They even had a 13 person steel drum band that played for us by the pool (They were actually really good! I've got a 2 min. video up on facebook if you want to check it out!). I don't know that I've ever seen that many people in a steel drum band actually... Good food and great service! We also had a turtle presentation given to us by DomSeTCO (Dominican Sea Turtle Conservation Organization) and NET (Nature Enhancement Team). We learned that there are 3 types of sea turtles that lay their eggs on Dominica (Leatherback, Green, and Hawksbill). Of these three sea turtles, the most common is the Leatherback. These are the largest of the sea turtles weighing 800-1000 lbs. In fact, there was a Leatherback that laid a nest the night before we arrived. They measured it at around 180cm (5ft. 9in). The picture I've posted is of the sea turtle tracks from the ocean up to the higher beach where it laid it's eggs (around 100 eggs per nest depending on the species). We were told that the process takes about 2 hours (from the time the sea turtle leaves the ocean, makes its way up onto the appropriate type of sand, makes a nest, lays its eggs, and then goes back into the ocean). The sea turtle nesting season begins in March, peaks in May/June, and ends in September. From 2003-2006 and 2008-2010, there were an average of 150-200 sea turtle nests reported on Dominica, and in 2007 there was over 700 nests reported (don't know what caused the huge spike)! Unfortunately, there was no sea turtle that came to lay the night we were there, but now we know to come back in May/June to see if we can get lucky!!

Even though there was a lack of sea turtle excitement, the getaway was nice, and the sun even decided to come out for a little while on Sunday so we could enjoy the pool and swim in the river. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to relax!

My first yoga retreat

Let me clarify that...as a teacher! This was definitely different than being a participant. So some background first. I've been doing yoga off and on for about 4 years. I started being much more serious about it once I moved down to Dominica. I was taking a great class from an awesome girl, Jess, who was a spouse of a student at Ross. Unfortuantely they don't stay students forever, so they left at the end of last summer (August) to go back to the states. I was definitely bummed, because it's hard to find a good yoga teacher, that teaches a class like you want to take (I'm more of a fan of the workout and sweating type and not so much of the feely relaxation aspect of yoga). So I decided that even though I don't have any certifications, but I have enough experience, knowledge, and ability that I could do a decent job of teaching a yoga class. So...I began teaching an intermediate level Vinyasa yoga class one day a week at Ross. I must say that I've developed quite a following this semester, because I routinely have 15-20 people at my Friday afternoon class!

One of my friends, Natasha, begged me to do a yoga retreat this semester (Jess used to do these when she was here, but I didn't do one last semester), so I gave in and basically threw one together within 2 weeks. So we left school at 9am and drove to Red Rock park and did yoga on the big red rocks overlooking the ocean (if you're my facebook friend, you should check out the pics, they're pretty awesome!). We did a normal yoga class for about an hour and 20 minutes, then spent the last 40 minutes doing partner yoga poses. Luckily for us, the weather was beautiful that day (low 80's, breezy, sunny at times, but other times partly cloudy~ which was nice bc I definitely got sunburnt on my back!). After yoga, we made our way down to Red Rock Haven (a favorite relaxation spot on the island) for some great food (I literally have dreams about their tostones~ fried plantains in a spicy garlic aioli sauce) and a few hours of relaxing on the beach. Trust me, there were exams this week and the students and the faculty needed some down time! So I thought it was a success! No major mishaps, 20 participants plus me (21 total), and everyone had a great time! Maybe I will do this again next year!!

Carnival 2011

It's that time of the year again! Carnival!!! So last year I didn't participate in any of the Carnival activities (sorry, large crowds of drunk people really don't appeal too much to me), but Molly's family was visiting so I decided that I would tag along with them if they did anything related to Carnival. I actually did want to see what it was all about. The opening festivities actually started about two weeks ago, but I only wanted to see the main thing. So on Monday, there was all sorts of activities in Portsmouth. It started at 3am with J'ouvert (pronounced Jew-Vay) which means "dawn or daybreak" (hence the 3am start time!). Of course, I decided to stay in my comfy bed for this and let everyone else get up at the crack of dawn (or more likely the case, still be up from partying the night before!). Molly and her mom did decide to go (they went at a more reasonable time of 6am) but only stayed 45 min.

I did however go and watch the parade in Portsmouth on Monday afternoon (as is any caribbean fashion, what was supposed to start at 3pm, didn't actually begin until closer to 5pm). My friend Susie (see earlier blog) is back in town, and she dressed up and participated in the parade (second picture of her in her costume on the beach). This is more of the traditional get-up that you will see in Trinidad or Rio (Brazil). The first picture is what a lot of the people here actually wear (complete with the ghoulish mask). The parade in Portsmouth was very short (I was under-whelmed, so maybe next year I'll have to go to Roseau and see it proper). There was a whole bunch of little girls in white and red cowgirl costumes (they had to be cheerleaders or a dance team or something of the sort), very cute; the ghoulish guys running around, and the Ross t-shirt "band" (no they weren't playing music, but they were walking behind a two story speaker truck!). That was pretty much it...see, now you're disappointed too!

So historically Carnival (or Mardi Gras in the states) is the very beginning of Lent (for those of you not religious inclined). So basically Tuesday was Mardi Gras, which literally translates as "Fat Tuesday." That was the last day to engorge yourself before Lent actually begins, which is on Wednesday or "Ash Wednesday." During Lent, you are supposed to give up something. This year, I've decided to give up desserts (chocolate, cookies, cake, and ice cream...please God, give me strength!!). A few years ago, I gave up Starbucks, which didn't turn out so good (I blame my professor, who is Catholic and told me about the "loop hole." So Sundays apparently don't count for Lent, which is 40 days and 40 nights and signifies the time Jesus spent in the desert being tempted by Satan. If you count the days, it's closer to 50, so Sundays are free days and you can have what you gave up. Once I found that out, I only lasted half the time.) Hopefully this year I'll do better and ignore the "loop hole" days.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to next year, and maybe I'll get to see all the cool costumes! Can't wait for Lent to be over, luckily I'll be at my Grandma's for Easter so great food awaits!!