Waves on the West Coast??

Here are a couple pictures of the waves. I know the camera can't really show you how big they were or how loudly they were crashing. We felt like we were back in Cabo.

After sunset, we met Mike and Marissa at the Tomato. I wanted to post a picture of Marissa and me, but Marissa refused because she did not think it was a good picture. Oh yeah! I almost forgot to tell you what I did yesterday. Confession time. I did something that was wrong yesterday and I had to make it right. I worried about it all afternoon. I was grocery shopping and I reached down to get a carton of eggs on the bottom shelf (they aren't refrigerated). Well, they were stacked high, and not very well because when I picked up one carton, seven others fell down! I panicked and picked them back up. I wanted to tell the lady at the register, but there was only one register and a long line. I was super embarrassed, so I left! When I got home I wrote a long letter to the store and enclosed money for 7 cartons of eggs. Whew! I can finally sleep with a clear conscious!

Sisters at sunset

Our favorite part of Dominica...the sunset. The colors are amazing. We can't capture it on camera. Last night Ryan and I went to Sisters to watch the sunset. The waves were huge. We could hear them as we were walking down Lizard Trail. I don't know if I've told you this or not, but there are no waves on the west side of the island. It's like lake water. The east side has waves, but not our side. It was very beautiful, but very strange. The locals were terrified. That made us nervous. When we were leaving, our taxi driver was so worried and said he wanted to get away from the water "as soon as possible". Ryan asked our waitress what was going on with all the waves. She said "I don't know, it's scary. Sometimes there are earthquakes in the sea". Everythings fine, obviously, but it's never good when the locals are worried!

Ralna's parents arrived last night. They are staying for a month. They are in shock right now. Ralna's mom keeps crying. It's funny to us because life here has become normal. Ralna had painted a clear picture for her parents of life here, but you really can't prepare people in the U.S. for what it will be like when you get here. Just like us, they'll be fine after they've been here a few days and gotten their hands wrapped around the situation. To make matters worse, they turned the water off this morning. Our friends were calling to see if they could come shower here, but our water was off, too. Oh well, what can I say? It's all part of the experience.

Oh, the cupcakes!

Monday was Dominican Independence Day. Everything was closed. It was a very quiet day. I got up early to get the laundry ready to be picked up (I make a list of every item of clothing and separate lights and darks into 2 bags. I also include my own fabric softeners.) I am not a morning person at all. In fact, I can't really talk like a normal human being until around 9. Julie understood this. When we lived together we did not say 2 words to each other in the mornings before school or work. We actually had an 8:00 class together and the first time we spoke was when we got in the classroom. Some people were just not made to function early. All that to say, I do not normally cook breakfast. However, after I sent the laundry off I decided to surprise Ryan with breakfast. He said he woke up and thought he was dreaming when he smelled bacon. He was very excited to see that I had made pancakes, bacon and eggs. It was really nice starting the day off together like that. When Ryan left for school I left to go to the Tomato to pay for our trip to Guadeloupe (Les Saintes) this weekend. The weather was not hot yet since it was early and it was a very peaceful walk. I think I might like mornings, after all.

Monday night Marissa came over to watch Dancing with the Stars. I made study snacks for Ryan, Mike, Adam & Rabbi. I made homemade choc chip cookies but, for whatever reason, they were horrible. The dough flattened out while they were cooking and the choc chips were much taller than the cookies. I guess it was the flour?? We can't buy flour in packages, we buy it in plastic bags that says "bakers flour". I threw the cookies away (sad for all the wasted ingredients) and made chocolate oatmeal cookies, strawberry muffins and a smokey cheese ball with crackers. I made cute little notes to stick on the snacks that said "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God..." James 1:5.

Yesterday, Ryan had a test. This is medical school and there are going to be lots of tests and practicals, etc. Ryan always seems to be calm but I get nervous. Yesterday I started baking to help pass the time. I kept baking until I realized, well...you saw the picture. I made 60 cupcakes!! I made funfetti with funfetti icing, lemon with lemon icing and yellow & choc marble cake with choc icing. I've been trying to give them away to everyone I see. We gave Adam and Rabbi 21. Maybe I'll set up a booth on campus and try to sell the rest.

44

That is the number of bug bites I have on my legs right now. 44!!! Friday night after bible study I met some friends at the Tomato. The power went out during bible study and the girl's apartment we were at did not have a generator, so we met in the dark with flashlights. The Tomato has a generator, so we went there to eat and visit. I had on a skirt...bad idea. I woke up Saturday morning, jumped in the shower and shaved my legs (since Wednesdays and Saturdays are shaving days). It was hurting so bad and I could not figure out why. I later found that I had 44 bug bites on my knees and below. I kind of freaked out and put neosporin on each and every bite. It looked like I had bathed in Vaseline. I went to Andrea's to make the birthday bags for church and I took a break to put anti-itch cream on. The cream and the neosporin formed some type of paste on my legs. It was not pretty. I've been doctoring the bites very carefully, and they look much better today. Last night we were looking at them and they looked more like chicken pox than they did bug bites. Ryan tried to play it cool, but I noticed he got on the computer and started researching dengue fever (pronounced din-gay). He casually asked "Have you had any headaches". I said that I had had one constantly for 3 days. He asked if I had been having an upset stomach...my answer was yes again. He asked if I had been dehydrated and I definitely have been. He then brought up a picture of the dengue rash and it looked exactly like the bumps on my legs. He closed the computer and said "you don't have it". Way to play it cool, Ryan. This morning before church he called the doctor and he met us at the clinic to examine me. He said that I do not have dengue but if the rash gets worse that I should go back on Tuesday. Whew! My friend Katie, her husband, her 4 year old daughter and her 6 month old son have all had it. Needless to say, I've worn jeans the past 2 days. I'm about to die from the heat, but I can't spray bug spray on my legs, it would hurt a lot!

Anyway, moving on to another topic. Adam's dad is in Dominica so last night we all went to PBH restaurant to meet him and have dinner. During dinner a big fat cockroach ran across the table. Ryan killed it and everyone kept eating. Scott actually made the comment "at least it wasn't a rat"! I thought..."this is where we live!". I mean, at home if a roach was on the table everyone would make a huge scene and walk out of the restaurant. I didn't scream and throw a tantrum, but I didn't continue to eat. I was going over to Ralna's afterwards for game night, so I knew there would be food for me there. Game night was fun, but there were 11 kids there and it was like a zoo! There were 2 instances where a child got locked in the bathroom. The kids definitely keep life interesting! This morning when I was walking to church I passed another girl on the trail. Well, the cows loved her. Two cows were following her and it was really making her panic. She would walk in a circle to try to confuse them. It was quite a show!

Ryan and I are very excited because we are going on a boat trip next weekend to Les Saintes. It is one of the French islands. Several of our friends are going too. We leave at 8:00 AM and head to Les Saintes for the morning/afternoon. The boat leaves to bring us back to Dominica at 4:00. We are looking forward to white sandy beaches, french cafes and commercialized shopping! Basically, just a day of fun! :)

With a MOO MOO here...

...everywhere a Moo Moo. Does anyone know how to make the cows shut up? The only thing I can think of will get me a one way ticket to a Dominican jail.

Anyway, I've been having trouble with my asthma lately and have been using an inhaler (which I haven't done since elementary school). Theo says that he never takes medicine, he uses herbs to heal any sickness he has. He cut some leaves from a plant for me that he says will help with my asthma and coughing. He said that I should just boil some water at around 6:00. You wash the leaves, cut them (they're really big), and put them in the bottom of a glass. You pour the boiling water over them and cover the glass. Let it sit for a couple of hours til it cools and then drink it before you go to bed. He says that if you do this you will sleep well and not wake up coughing. I told my mom and she was worried he had given me a drug, like marijuana. Wouldn't that be perfect...if Ryan came home from the library and I had been drinking marijuana tea. I made the tea and took a few drinks but I'm not very good at drinking weird flavored tea. Jennifer U. probably would have loved it because she loves colored tea that smells like plants. I do think that the "natural healing" remedies are interesting. I might try to learn some more. It sure would save me some money at the pharmacy! I've been kind of busy this week, suprisingly. Monday was hiking day, Tuesday I went to Roseau, Wednesday I ran some errands around Picard and cooked a lot, today I shopped for a place to live next semester and had dinner with friends. Tomorrow I am going to Andrea's to make birthday goody bags for people at church that have birthdays this week. She and I are in charge of the "Birthday Ministry". Every week before the service starts we pass out goody bags (containing homemade treats and a bible verse) to those who will have a birthday that week. This just started last Sunday. Tomorrow night is bible study and then one of the girls is having a game night at her house. That should be fun! Ryan update: school, eat, lab or pbl, study, eat, sleep. Please keep emailing and posting comments, it makes my day! I always love to know who is keeping up with us and following the blog. Thanks so much for all the prayers. :)