Only 11 days til I'll be home sweet home!

I'm very sorry that I have not done a good job of keeping the blog up to date this week. Ryan has needed to take the computer with him to school and he does not come home from the library til late late late. Let's start where we left off...Wednesday. On Wednesday Ryan and I went to RCF, only they do not have bible study at night, it is during lunch. That was a good way for us to spend Ryan's lunch time and the message was encouraging to us both. We are becoming better friends with a couple from Ohio, Kyle and Andrea. They live very close to us and we have a lot in common. I can't remember too much more about Wednesday, it seems like it was forever ago. On Thursday morning I went to the gym on campus. I need to try to get in the habit of doing that. With all the cooking I've been doing things could get out of hand if I don't start exercising! Thursday night I went to the football game and it poured! Most of the 1st semester team does not have cleats, so there was some major slipping and sliding. During the game several of the other wives and I decided to cook up a trip to Roseau for Friday morning. After the football game Marissa came over to watch the Office and Grey's Anatomy. That was tricky since they come on at the same time. Life is just not as simple as it was with my dearly departed DVR! Anyway, we planned ahead and brought our VCR with us, along with a blank tape. It seems we forgot to bring some kind of chord we need to actually plug the VCR into the TV. When the shows were about to start I got desperate and set up our video camera to record Greys in one room while we watched the Office in the other room. The picture turned out great, but the volume was terrible. To make matters worse, you cannot go to abc.com and download the episodes if you are not living in the U.S. Anyway, moving on to another topic. Friday morning I got up bright and early and went to Roseau with 6 other girls. We were supposed to leave at 8:30. At 9:00 the driver was still not there. When he finally got there he was all frazzled and was telling us how his aunt had died this week and the funeral was supposed to be the day before but when everyone got to the burial there was a big problem. They had not measured her and she would not fit in the coffin, so they had to reschedule. The poor man was having a tough week. About 20 minutes outside of Picard he turned the car off and said he was experiencing a difficulty. As soon as he turned the car off we could all hear what sounded like 4 pots full of rapidly boiling water on the stove. We were very much overheated. So we sat there in the van for about 45 minutes until another van came to pick us up. We were not off to a good start getting to Roseau. The trip ended up to be very good and we accomplished a lot. I even got to go to KFC. It smelled fabulous when I walked in. :) Friday night was bible study at our house. It went very well and I am making good friends with the girls in my group. Saturday was a lazy day for me. Ryan went to the library early, came home for lunch, and then went back until late. I read a book, about 220 pages. I watched some football and cooked a little. That was about it for Saturday. Today we went to church, which we love. After church we went to Subway (as we do every Sunday). They just finished doing construction, so you can sit outside on picnic tables and see the ocean. It was very peaceful. After lunch Marissa and I were going to go to the beach but due to the tropical depression that hit, we hung out at the house instead. At about 5:45 Marissa left and I headed over to a ladies house from church who invited several other girls over for dinner. There was so much rain that the creeks are all totally full and sound like rushing rivers. We drove over two areas where the water was rushing over the road. Kind of like you see on the news. Once we were on the other side I told the taxi driver that I had been nervous. He said that he had driven through much worse and I said "well I haven't!". Dinner was fun. There were a bunch of kids and they were hilarious. One of the 3 yr. olds had to come in our house at the end of the night to see if it was "beautiful". I told her that it most definitely wasn't, but she needed to judge for herself. Well, Ryan thinks he will leave the computer here tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be able to write more tomorrow. By the way, the water was turned off at 7:00 and is still off (it's 11:45). This is why we have to keep a stock...to brush our teeth, flush toilets, etc.



Oh yeah!! I got my first pieces of mail on Friday! From my mom and Katherine and it really made my day! Judging from the postmarks, it takes anywhere from 15-20 days for mail to get here.

Same ole, same ole

Sunday night Ryan and I went to the RCF fellowship to welcome the first semester students. We met some great people that we will hopefully become better friends with over the next months. Yesterday I cooked for four hours! Cooking has become my new hobby to help me pass the time. I made tacos for our lunch. After Ryan went back to school I made lemon bread. Something I should mention...everything I cook is completely from scratch. When I was living in the U.S. and I said I made brownies, that meant I bought a box of brownies, mixed in some water, eggs and oil and vwa-lah. Here, everything starts with flour, sugar, etc. I actually squeezed the lemon juice out using fresh lemons. After I made the lemon bread, I made fudgy brownies with cream cheese icing. After I cook, I'm actually not in the mood to eat. Luckily, Ryan and his 2 friends that live below us are very happy to eat anything that is homemade.
Yesterday was maid day. The maids come on Mondays and Fridays. The maid and I appear to be best friends, however, I have never understood one word she says. Supposedly it in English, but it is not Tennessee English. I usually talk and she understands and then she responds and I just smile really big and nod. Yesterday she was pointing to the floor and talking jibberish. I just nodded and smiled and said "Oh, yes!". She left and returned a few minutes later with a big, old, dirty rug. She put it on our floor and I just smiled and said "OH! Thank you so much!" What am I going to do now? Hide it and then whip it out on Mondays and Fridays before she shows up? I don't want to hurt her feelings! She was trying to be very helpful and I sound like a big brat right now, but I just don't like having the rug in my sight.
Not too much exciting going on here. Today I typed a bunch of Ryan's notes for him. We did have an incident with a jumping spider in the kitchen today. We were jumping around and frantically trying to kill it but it was a hyper little guy. Oh, I almost forgot. We saw a moonbow the other night. That's really what it's called. It looks like a round rainbow around the moon. It was very cool. Tonight the sunset was hot pink. I had never seen the sky that color. The kitchen sink was hot pink from the reflection. I tried to take a picture, but the colors did not turn out as bright as they were in real life.

Drum roll please...

Ta-dah! Here is Ryan with a buzz. He has been trying to get some sun on that forehead. Notice how shiny our faces are? That is the permanent, sweaty glow you have when in Dominica.

We had a large spider in the apartment on Friday. Those of you who know me, know that I have an unhealthy fear of spiders. I have nightmares about them all the time and Ryan has to wake me up because I think they are in the bed and I'm trying to get away from them. This has been going on for a long time. Since high school. Anyway, when I saw the spider I was home alone. I ran outside to see if there was anybody who could help me. When I didn't see anyone, I knew it was all up to me. The spider was on the ceiling, so I got a broom to knock him down. I was screaming while I did it because I was very worried that I would knock it down and it would fall on me. Once he was on the ground, I sprayed him with some bug spray we bought here (I wasn't trying to step on him with my skimpy flip flop on). He ran around in a circle for a few minutes, then shriveled up and died. I had to sleep with a flashlight that night.

Women's bible study was good on Friday. The only problem was that everybody else in my group either has kids, or is a student. So I didn't relate too much to anybody in my group.

Last night I cooked dinner and Mike and Marissa came over. I was very excited to make chicken parmigiana. Dinner was supposed to be at 7:00 and at about 6:10 I realized that the "boneless" chicken breast I bought and thawed did, in fact, have bones in it. I started trying to cut the bones out as quickly as I could and I cut my finger pretty good. I called Ryan and said "Please come home now! Dinner is a disaster and I've cut my finger and it's bleeding a lot and I'm probably going to get some weird chicken disease from holding the raw Dominican chicken when I cut myself." The pressures of entertaining, especially in a kitchen that is not mine and I do not have everything I need, was overwhelming me. Ryan asked if he needed to pick something up for dinner on his way home. While this was a nice offer, it was also a joke. There is nothing to "pick up" on your way home here. Luckily, I had 2 chicken breasts without bones and I was able to cut it thin enough to make chicken parmigiana. There was plenty for everybody. I made "something chocolate" for dessert. Those of you who have ever had it at my parents house know it is the best choc. dessert...pretty much choc. butter! Dinner was fun and turned out to be good. I wish we had some board games here. We will bring some back with us next time.

This morning was church and it was my turn to help out with children's worship. There were about 14 kids and we talked about Noah. Tonight there is a fellowship meal after church to welcome the first semester people.

That's about all I know right now. I want to publicly congratulate Katherine and Mary Morris. They both passed the BEC section of the CPA exam!! This is a super huge accomplishment and I am so proud of them! Keep Ryan in your prayers because the first exam is 2 weeks from tomorrow. =)

A dream that you wish...

On Wednesday night I had a dream. I went to the local grocery store and they had everything that was on my list! I got more and more excited as I came to each item on the list, found it, and then crossed it off. Of course I woke up on Thursday morning and realized that was only a dream and would never be a reality here! Yesterday was a good day. I met Marissa at the PBH (Portsmouth Beach Hotel) for lunch and then we laid out on the beach. The beach has dark sand, which is not too pretty in my opinion. It is also very hard to wash off your skin. There were crabs running around everywhere. I had my eye on a really big white one. I think he was an albino. When we got in the ocean we noticed a big crab running around on our blanket. We threw a stone at him and he died! We didn't really mean for that to happen. We were just trying to protect our territory. I hope it's not illegal to kill crabs here! While we were at the beach a really large bird flew over us. Marissa thought it looked like a dinosaur. That fits, since it looks like we are living in Jurassic Park.
After the beach we had Ryan's football game. They were playing the 3rd semester students, who have never lost. The game was tied until right at the end. The other guys won by one touchdown. Oh, I almost forgot, Ryan buzzed his hair! I'm not sure if he wants me to post a picture yet. He's not sure if he likes it. I like it, but we have decided that the growing back of his hair starts today.

Mmmmmm!

This picture is especially for my cousins, Chris & Brad, who made cookie dough for me every Wednesday night after church the summer of 2001. I found all of the ingredients to make cookie dough and have been having a one-person party ever since!

Ok, let's see...what's been going on... Last night when Ryan got out of lab we met Mike and Marissa at Perky's Pizza for dinner. Ryan still had his scrubs on and he looked so handsome and professional. Then we went to a vending machine to try to buy all of the diet cokes. Believe it or not, diet drinks are very hard to come by here. I couldn't find any in Roseau. Since they are so rare, they are very expensive. We'll be packing a case in our suitcases when we come back after Christmas! Today I spent a few hours typing up Ryan's Cell Biology notes for him. I can tell you anything you want to know about phospholipid composition, peripheral proteins or desmosomes. Do you know what the 3 most abundant ions are? I do. Tomorrow I am going to the beach with Marissa and Ralna. Ryan has a flag football game tomorrow night. Also, Ryan has a hair appointment at the Can Cut salon tomorrow. I'll post a picture of his buzz...unless he panics at the last minute. Friday afternoon there is a women's bible study at our house. That's about all that is going on here. Have a great day and keep posting comments! We love hearing from everyone back home.

Our new pet

This is a tiny lizard that was in our apartment. I trapped him and am saving him for Ryan to deal with when he gets home.

Trip to Roseau

Yesterday I went to Roseau, the capital, with the spouses club. It took us a little less than an hour to get there. The drive was very curvy and up and down...I felt a little car sick. One of the other girls said she had to take Dramamine the first 2 months she was here. It's funny that we have to take a bus into the city and spend a whole day grocery shopping. You have to go to several different stores to find all of the items on your list. My list had 57 items on it. I found most of what I was looking for, so that was exciting. They sell lasagna noodles here, but no ricotta cheese. No one carries it. I would like to know what the locals are doing with their lasagna noodles. When Ryan was at the library last night I made hashbrown casserole and a sour cream pound cake. I probably shouldn't have made the cake because now I'm out of sour cream and we're not going back to Roseau for several weeks. Oh well. If anyone has good recipes that do not require fancy ingredients, I would love to have them. Also, if anyone has ingredient substitutions, I would love to know those as well. I brought one cook book, but I am definitely open to new ideas. (Emily S., we love that "Quick and good potato soup" recipe you gave us at one of our showers. I left my recipe box in the U.S. Can you email the recipe to me?) Also, our gas oven does not have degrees, it just says high/medium high/medium/medium low/low. I cannot figure it out. I was supposed to cook the hashbrown casserole at 350 for an hour. After 30 minutes on medium low, it was totally ready. Anyway, we had fun in Roseau and I got to know a lot of the other wives. Ryan is in gross anatomy lab right now. Today was the first lab that they were actually going to start dissecting their cadaver. I have a feeling he's going to come home stinking. He hasn't had a chance to get a haircut yet, but we have read and enjoyed all of the comments. I'll keep you posted on his hair. I know you'll all be on the edge of your seats between now and then.

Cast your vote!

We are always sweaty. Always. I don't even dry my hair after showers because I would rather people think it was wet from a clean shower, rather than from sweating profusely. Many guys have started buzzing their hair. Ryan is considering it, but seems a bit reluctant. I think he should do it because he would be less sweaty and, if he hates it, it will grow back quickly. What do you think? Buzz or no buzz??

More pics from the white coat ceremony

From top left:

1) A medical student and a proud wife

2) Mike & Marissa, Ryan & Ashley

3) The entrance to Moo Cow Trail

4) Mike L., Adam, Rabbi, Craig & Ryan

Crabs are the new squirrels

This is another resident of Moo Cow Trail. Crabs are everywhere. When we are riding in taxis, they are scurrying across the road. You will see dead ones in the middle of the road that were hit by cars. Kind of like squirrels at home.

Holy Cow!

We found this lying on the ground at the apartment next to ours. They tell me it's a beetle.

Friends

From the left: Mike M., Rabbi, Adam and Ryan

**This is not the Mike that is married to Marissa. We have three Mikes that we are friends with here.

Heavens Best

We were getting a little nervous in the taxi because we took a 15 minute drive through the jungle! It was completely worth it. We went a little overboard when we saw the menu. We had chicken and french fries...for our appetizer. For our meal we had steak and shrimp and for dessert we had a banana split. Everything was great. I don't love the steaks here, but it was still good. When the waitress brought out our basket of bread at the beginning of the meal, we noticed there was an unusual kind of bread in the mix. It was delicious. Marissa asked the waitress what kind of bread it was and she said it was coconut bread and that she had made it herself. She brought us extra because we loved it so much.

Sisters by the Sea

After the football game we walked down the beach with Mike and Marissa to Sisters by the Sea. Mike and Marissa had gone in August and the lady told them they could not order food because the staff was on vacation. Mike asked when the staff would be back and she said "I don't know, maybe September". When we got there last night she said that the staff was still on vacation and would probably be back in another month of so. They do business differently down here! We watched the sunset and were impressed that we could see the sun's rays coming out of the water. You know how when you were in elementary school and you drew the ocean with a half sun coming out of the water and straight orange lines coming from the sun? Last night was the first time I actually saw the sun look like that in real life. I'm not sure if you can tell by the pics. Since we couldn't order food we went to a place that our taxi driver recommended, Heavens Best.

Flag Football - Game 1

Friday night the first semester team played the fourth semester team. We had heard that in the past two years, the first semester team has only won one game. They played really good last night! Ryan played QB. I think the final score was 14-8. Ryan did great and threw a touchdown pass. Even though they lost, they had a lot of fun and it was a great study break.

Dinner of Champions??

Tonight we decided we wanted to make pancakes and eggs for dinner. I was cooking away on my gas stove and even though the burner was on as low as it would go, the pancakes were all burning! When Ryan came out of the room from studying, the kitchen and living room were filled with smoke. We had to open the doors and windows, turn on the fan and cancel the pancake dinner. However, Ryan wanted to eat the two that were ready (even though they were burnt...just see the pic above). Clearly this was not going to be enough dinner, so I asked him what else he would like. He chose ABCs. As we sat down to dinner and turned the TV on Ryan said "Can you tell what's on? There is very low visibility in the room tonight." There really was. The room stayed smokey for a while.

More cows hanging out around our apartment

How Ryan spends his time in Dominica

Studying hard!

Bird poop in my hair

I really have nothing else to say about that. I think the picture says it all.

Watch out for this guy!

This is our newest neighbor. He has been living above our apartment door. (On the outside, thank goodness.)

OOPS!

The email should be childrenofdominica@yahoo.com. Ryan just pointed out that I had typed a web site, not an email address. Sorry!

WONDERFUL GIVING OPPORTUNITY

I had a discussion with another wife yesterday about working on a Christmas project for the children in Dominica. Our goal is to go to the largest school in Roseau and have a Christmas party for the children. The children here are extremely underprivelaged. The schools are in desperate need of school supplies. There is such a shortage, that each child does not have his/her own pencil. They are actually having to share one pencil with other classmates. Many people here are living in tiny houses (we probably wouldn't even call them houses) that are made of tin. They are smaller than a one-car garage. Our landlord said that the average family income in Dominica is $3,800 per year. I cannot say if this is accurate, but after seeing some of the living conditions, it is not hard to believe. We are trying to find out how many students are at the school, as well as the age and gender of the children. We are really going to try to at least be able to give each child his/her own school supplies. We would really like to be able to give the children toys as well. We need to get the ball rolling because shipping to Dominica takes a while and we need to have the party in the beginning of December since we are all coming home for Christmas! We need as many people to help as we can find! I have created an email account that you can email if you would like to find out how you can help. Also, please let any of your friends, coworkers, etc. know about this great opportunity to do something for others who truly need it! If you would like for me to tell you more, please email me at childrenofdominica@yahoo.com. Thanks!

Turn the water back on!

You know how sometimes when you're in the shower and you're all wet and soapy and all of the sudden no more water comes out? Well, you probably don't know because you are not living in Dominica. As I sit here and type this I am dripping wet. I had been in the shower for one minute - two at the most and the water turned to drips of water and then nothing. None of the sinks will turn on either. You would think they would send all the tenants an email or something to let us know that the water would be off during a certain time block today. We had no warning. That's all for now. I'm going back to the bathroom to anxiously await the time when I can finish this shower. Have a good day. :) Everytime you flush a toilet, wash your hands, or basically just turn on the faucet and find running water today, think of us!

Coming home!!!

I am going to come home in October to be in Ashley's wedding! I am so excited. I was so frustrated because I could not find tickets that would let me travel in the same day. I was going to have to stay overnight by myself going to Nashville and coming back to Dominica. Today, after tons of searching online, I finally booked my trip home! :) I am getting to Nashville on Thursday, October 11th at 9:40 PM and not leaving until Monday, October 22nd!!! I'm nervous because I bought my tickets through a Caribbean airline and they haven't emailed me or charged my credit card yet. I've been checking every 15 minutes! Please say a prayer that my travel plans will work because I am so excited and would be extremely disappointed if they fell through after all this! I'll be in Nashville 4 weeks from tomorrow. Can't wait to see everyone! =)

Helpful hints

Here is a pic of our broken broom and deformed mop. I am also attaching pics of our refrigerator (thanks for the photo magnets Julie!) and our bedroom. I can't send pics of the guest room yet because that is the room Ryan studies in and there are books and papers everywhere. I am not sending pics of the furniture in the living room yet because my mom is shipping some fabric for me to use as slip covers to give the furniture a cleaner feeling and a more attractive look. Here are a few helpful pointers if you ever plan to visit Dominica:

1. Don't bother bringing lotion. Your skin is constantly moist. Rubbing lotion on your legs is as useful as rubbing it on a tile floor. You could rub all day long and it's not sinking in.

2. After a big storm the water is muddy. I was not warned about this. We had a major storm a couple of nights ago. The next morning I walked in the bathroom and noticed that the toilet water was dark brown. No matter how many times I flushed, it kept being brown. I wish I had a picture of this. I'm sure I'll have another opportunity to get one.

3. There is a store called Best Buy. Do not be confused - this is not the Best Buy you are used to.

4. There is really no such thing as "buying in bulk", unless you buy a lot of individually packaged items. For example, toilet paper comes one roll at a time. We are not familiar with any of the brands they have here. The kind we are currently trying is called "Big Boy".

5. There is a coffee shop called Stabox. I thought this was the local pronunciation of Starbucks. I should have known. There is no Starbucks here.

They say the best time to buy fresh fish and fresh fruit is at the market on Saturday mornings at 6:00 AM. I wouldn't know because I've only been here one Saturday and was not awake to see 6:00 AM. There is a road with small open-air restaurants on campus called "The Shacks". You can get all kinds of stuff there... grilled chicken, sandwiches, fresh fruit, spaghetti, wraps, fruit juices, etc. Slowly but surely we are getting adjusted to life on the island.

A few apartment pics

I want to thank everyone for all of the prayers, emails and phone calls. They worked because today has been good! :) Yesterday Ryan and I went to the store and found lots of paper towels, Kleenex and even Lysol! It was like Christmas! :) We also bought an over-priced broom and mop. When we got home from the store Ryan had to go to lab and I was excited to start cleaning with my new supplies. Well...the broom fell apart and I ended up sweeping in a squatting position holding just the bristles. Next the mop bent totally in half. I'm going to attach pictures of this in my next blog. I made a cake, using brown eggs, and it turned out great! I went next door and met our neighbors. He is a first semester student also and she was in my same boat. We went to a meeting for spouses together this morning. I was excited about that. It felt like a mini-sorority. We are taking a "field trip" to Roseau on Monday and they are going to show us where to buy good groceries! I'm really excited about that. Ryan and I went to the bank yesterday to add me to the bank account. After standing in line for a long time, they would not add me to the account because I did not have a copy of our marriage license. I wanted to say "Do you really have problems with fraudulent spouses trying to get bank accounts?!" I went back today with our marriage license and got added to the account. I actually like going to the bank because it is the coldest building on the island. I attached pictures of our lunch today because I was excited about how good it was. I went to Betsy's fruit stand and bought a watermelon, bananas, an orange and a tangerine. The orange and tangerine are both green on the outside. I pointed to a piece of fruit and asked what it was and she said it was an orange (but it was green). I said "oh, so it's just not ready yet?" and she said that it was. I was doubtful, so I just bought one. "I'm used to my oranges being orange", I explained. It was actually very good! And the bananas were fabulous! OK, well I'm trying to watch All My Children, so I'll write more later. :)

Moo Cow Trail

I'm bored! I don't go anywhere without Ryan. Since we don't have a car, I'm not comfortable walking the streets alone. Since Ryan is in class or studying the majority of the day, that leaves me stuck here with nothing to do. I can't get a job teaching at the elementary school because 1) they don't have any openings and 2) they only hire people who are certified and have experience teaching in the U.S. So, I'm not sure how to fill my days. I can't cook because I can't find anything I need to cook with! I am not only talking about utensils, but food also. I can't find olive oil, flour, sugar, milk, boneless skinless chicken breast, etc. I'm sure they have to have this stuff some time, but in my 3 visits to the grocery, I haven't found any. What I have found is powdered milk - has anyone ever tried that? I didn't bother getting any. I also found a box in the freezer labeled "chicken parts"... didn't sound appetizing. The eggs are brown - why is that? Are they the same as the white eggs we have at home? Basically, we've been eating spaghetti! I spent the majority of the morning yesterday cleaning our bathroom. I was going to clean the other bathroom this morning, but I used all of the paper towels yesterday and they did not have any at the store yesterday. No paper towels! I use these all day everyday! So that is why I can't clean. I can't do laundry because we don't have a washer or dryer. I'm not sure what to do with my time. Any suggestions? Ryan and I have both had a sore throat the past couple of days. I'm not sure why. I'm suspicious that the walls may be filled with mildew. Since it rains everyday, everything is always wet. We're probably allergic to mildew. Sorry if this post is depressing everybody. My mom (a.k.a. "annonymous") wanted me to post what was going on this week. That's basically it!

RCF

Today we went to church on campus. Ross Christian Fellowship is a student-lead service. We were very encouraged to see that there were close to 100 people there. RCF meets on Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, and Friday for lunch. We met some very nice people from all over the U.S. I signed up for the women's bible study and to help out with children's worship. Ryan signed up to help with the prayer ministry (to pray for prayer requests that are submitted), and maybe something else. Church was very encouraging, and we enjoyed worshipping with such a diverse group of people.

P.S. I hate ants. There are teeny-tiny ants that you can barely see everywhere. I've been killing them with bathroom cleaner. I know this is a random comment, but one is crawling in front of my keyboard right now.

Whale Watching

On Saturday Ryan and I went on a whale watching trip. We had lunch at Subway, which is the only chain restaurant from home in our town. It tasted so good to me! Our friends from Mississippi and their kids went on the tour with us. We were on the boat for almost four hours and did not see any whales! We did have some beautiful views. We were able to see the island to our north, Guadeloupe, and the island to our south, Martinique.

White Coat Ceremony

Friday was the White Coat Ceremony, which is the official acceptance into the medical profession. It felt like a graduation, with keynote speakers, etc. The prime minister of Dominica came and spoke. Ryan and I were impressed with him. After a lot of people gave speeches, each of the first semester students went to the front of the room and a doctor put their white coat on them. A second doctor put a pin on their lapel and a third handed them a scroll with "The Physician's Prayer" and shook their hands. I met the president of Ross the day before. He was on my flight from San Juan to Dominica. Ryan and I talked with him and he is a very nice man. After the ceremony there was a reception. The Prime Minister left in my car! It was a Mitsubishi Montero Sport! I thought that was kind of funny.

Friday night we went to dinner at a local favorite, The Tomato, with our friends, Mike and Marissa. They are from Cleveland. It was a good American meal. Ryan had lasagna and I had coconut shrimp. We take flashlights with us at night because the island gets so dark and the street lights are not bright enough. I shined the flashlight on the sidewalk and noticed a huge crab (big enough to make crab legs from) walking in front of us! After dinner we were all walking down the beach and we came to a small creek. We jumped over it and Marissa began to scream. We shined the flashlights in front of us and saw three huge cows just hanging out on the beach. We literally could have tripped over them if we did not have flashlights. It was hilarious.

The stars are absolutely beautiful here. I never realized there were so many. I want to get a book and try to learn the constellations because you can see them so clearly. I actually know what the Milky Way is now. You just walk outside at night and it is easy to pick out.

Arriving in Dominica

I left for Dominica on Wednesday at about 7:00 PM and arrived on Thursday, September 6th at about 3:00 PM. Getting here takes forever! The flight from San Juan was on a plane that seated about 60 people. When the pilot announced that we were preparing for landing, I was a little nervous about the fact that I could not see any land anywhere. A couple of minutes later a huge, green mountain appeared and I could not believe that this big rock was about to become "home" for the next 15 months!

Ryan had warned me about the airport, so I was prepared. When I asked him the previous day if I would meet him at baggage claim he started laughing. The reason that was a funny question is because there is no "baggage claim"... at least not the way we know it. When I got off the plane and walked into the "arrivals" room, I noticed it was just that, one room. In the room there were 2 wooden booths. One read "Domestic" and one read "International"... and that was customs. Behind the booths were tons of luggage...and that was baggage claim. Only 2 airlines fly into Dominica. American Airlines luggage was on the right side of the room and LIAT luggage was on the left. You just walk around until you spot your luggage. Luckily, my luggage made it.

I quickly spotted Ryan, who had come to get me with our landlord's son, Timmy. The airport is in Melville and we live in Picard (very close to Portsmouth). It is about an hour drive from the airport to our apartments. The drive was very interesting. First of all, they drive on the left side of the road. I was scared to death the first couple of minutes. I noticed that there are random bulls and cows standing near the road, just tied up with a leash. It was very strange to see people walking down the street with machetes. One lady pulled over and got out of her car with her machete. I asked Timmy what she was doing and he said she was a farmer and was going to cut some bananas. The drive was very curvy and long. Thank goodness the car was air-conditioned! By the time we reached our apartment, it was almost 5:00 and I had been awake for about 30 hours.

Ryan and I did not stop to rest. We had to hurry to the grocery store and to the cleaners. Since we walk everywhere we go, I was covered in sweat. I still had my jeans on from the plane and they were stuck to me. Gross! I was exhausted and hot and not sure how excited I was about living on the nature isle! When we got back home I started to clean. I just couldn't relax until I knew that things were in order. I had packed our own mattress pad, sheets, pillows and quilt. Ryan picked up a pizza from Perky's, which was good. I took a shower and got in bed and watched a Friends marathon while Ryan studied. I will post pictures of our apartment soon. I want to organize and clean a little bit more before I show it to you! :)