Getting down here was such a hassle, I'm glad that now I can relax and have a bit of vacation time. If you've ever thought about moving to another country, I would recommend thinking about all the nice things you like about America and changing your mind. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I'm here and loving every bit of the adventure, but applying for a visa is no joke. I had to get four shots, my medical history, a police report, an [expensive] international money order, a passport, letters from people I know testifying to my character, you get the picture. Some of the visa requirements didn't even make sense. I had to get a statement from my bank documenting that I had over $3,000 USD so I wouldn't be a hobo when I got here, but then I also had to have Chris write a letter saying he is responsible for me and any debt I accumulate. Is that not a contradiction?
And then there were my two cats. To get them here it took over a thousand bucks and enough stress to almost kill me. In order to bring a cat into Dominica, they need to have a rabies shot, then after 30 days they need a blood test to show that the level of the rabies antibodies are over a certain amount. You have to send your blood test to a lab that is far, far away and hope that it gets done in time. Our vet was not very knowledgeable in this area and we almost didn't get the results in time. We got them on the very day I decided it was going to be too late if we didn't have the results, and I was going to have to beg and plead with everyone I've ever met to look after them for over a year. Then two days before we left, Chris had to drive the paperwork to Lansing for an official stamp, and we sent all the paperwork to the vet in Dominica after we had already left Michigan, hoping and praying we would get our import certificate within the next two days.
Also, during all of the preparation I was working full time, right up until the day before we left. It's hard to quit your job at a small office without feeling guilty, plus I was trying to make as much money as possible since who knows the next time I'll have a job.
Whew. I feel stressed out just thinking about all that. Moving on.
"Where are all the pretty pictures of Dominica," you may be asking yourself. Hold your horses. You can read my boring words for a few more minutes.
We spent about five days in Florida before we left. This is because we flew on standby to Orlando, and needed to make sure we could get on a flight. Plus, Chris needed a vacation before putting his nose to the grindstone for the next four years.
Since this blog is not about Florida I'm not going to go into much detail there. I will say that we did a lot of relaxing, went to the pool every day and ate and drank some delicious delicacies. We wanted to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter or whatever it's called at Universal Studios, but then we found out it was $85. Eighty five fricken dollars! We are not made of money, we are a med student and a jobless girl bumming off the med student. So that was out.
The last day we were there, we were driving to go out to dinner at Sonny's, the delicious barbeque chain that I begged and pleaded we visit, when Chris got an email from American Airlines. Since Hurricane Irene was down in the Caribbean at that time, they were letting him know that his flight from Miami to Puerto Rico that night was still expected to be on time. Um, WHAT flight from Miami to Puerto Rico? Our itineraries from the travel agency we were using said we were flying out the next day, not that night. Chris called the travel agency and they told him they had changed the dates from the original plan and emailed him a new itinerary. Lies! No such corrected itinerary existed in his inbox.
At this point we were freaking out since we had already missed our flight from Orlando to Miami that we didn't know we were supposed to be on. We had to turn the car around and head back home to eat a frozen pizza and frantically repack all our bags. Alas, no Sonny's for me. The travel agency had to rebook us last minute on a flight from Orlando straight to Puerto Rico. On the plus side, we got to go from Orlando right to Puerto Rico, instead of Orlando to Miami to Puerto Rico, but I really could have done without the stress.
Normally I love everything about flying. Airports make me happy and I enjoy the thrill of takeoff and landing. But I think that was the one flight of my life I didn't like. Looking at two maps side by side, one of our flight path and one of Hurricane Irene that was still in the vicinity, we appeared to be flying directly into the hurricane. We could have avoided it altogether if we flew over Cuba, but apparently that is frowned upon. Stupid international politics. Every time we hit turbulence I death-gripped my armrest and prepared myself for disaster. I thought to myself "This is it! We're going down!" more times than I can begin to estimate.
Luckily, I know nothing about weather or flying planes, so we were fine. We stayed overnight at a Best Western in San Juan at the airport and flew to Dominica the next day.
Here is where the pictures should start, but now I have a bit of an issue. I had to check my backpack in Puerto Rico since we flew to Dominica on a turbo prop, which only allows you one item carried on to the plane, and my item was a cat. I took some photos from the plane while we flew over other Caribbean islands, landed, and sat at the airport, but I had to take them from my cell phone since I left my camera in my backpack. Now I have no way to get those pictures onto my computer, since I don't have wifi [yet] and I seem to have lost the cord that connects my phone to my laptop. Whoops. Perhaps I will be able to share those pictures at a later time.
Landing in Dominica was amazing. The plane flies really low over the jungle, so you have a great view of all the tropical vegetation with tall palm trees surrounding you. And the airport is hilarious. It's so tiny, it's hard to believe it's a real airport. I suppose some of my more well traveled friends have seen an airport so small it doesn't have a real terminal, it's just one little building with a mini luggage carousel, customs and everything in one little room. But this was my first trip outside the US [we all know Canada doesn't count] so to me, it was amusing.
Our drive from the airport took about an hour. It was probably only 20 miles or so, maybe even less (I don't feel like fact-checking), but it took forever because of what the roads are like here. If you've ever driven on side streets on a mountain, you've experienced these kinds of roads. It reminded me of family vacations when I was younger, when we got a cabin in the Appalachian mountains in Tennessee. The roads go up, down and every which way, twisting and turning, often so tightly you need to honk your horn in case anyone is coming the other way, so they don't hit you. The school recommends you bring Dramamine for car trips here, and though I don't normally get motion sick, I can definitely see why you might need it.
If I could have taken a video on the bus ride, I would have. This place is amazingly beautiful. I gave myself a minor headache on the drive craning my neck to see as much as possible. It's very mountainous here, and no matter where you are on the island, you have a view of either lush mountains, valleys, the Caribbean Sea/Atlantic Ocean, or some combination of these things. Literally, no matter where you are, the view is gorgeous. For example, I live in a little village of mostly local people, and when I step out onto my front porch I see mountain peaks so tall they are brushing the puffy white clouds in the sky. I will probably take a picture of this for a future post, in which I describe where I live.
The first couple days we were here, we mostly spent getting settled in, figuring out what stores sell what items, finding food, getting a bank account for Chris, etc. Daily life is something else I'll describe later. For now, I'll go into detail on a school-sponsored trip we took the other day. I have probably already lost some readers due to lack of pictures, so here we go.
This was a two-part trip. First we went to the Carib territory, the last holdout for indigenous people of the Caribbean, and then we hiked to Emerald Pool, which is a natural waterfall and pool you can swim in.
The Carib territory is on the east side of the island (we're on the west coast), so the drive was pretty long. Along the way our driver made a couple stops for photo ops. And now, pictures:
The driver also pointed out a site where part of Pirates of the Caribbean 2 was filmed. Remember the scene where the giant water wheel was rolling along and Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom were swordfighting on it? I drove right by that area:
When we arrived at the Carib territory we first had the opportunity to get a snack and check out the items the locals were selling. They make a traditional food called cassava bread, made from the cassava plant, that we tried. It was a bit sweet and pretty tasty.
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| This picture doesn't do justice to how smoky and hot it was near the bread-making. |
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| Also check out the beautiful handcrafted baskets in the background. |
Study the above picture carefully. Can you see what has changed about my appearance since you last saw me? Hint: I'm not talking about the lack of bangs. Second hint: that thing on my nose is not a booger...
While milling around the vendors I also bought a pair of gorgeous little earrings, made of wood and shaped like leaves, with little beads on them. They cost $5 EC [East Caribbean Dollars are the currency here] which in USD is less than $2.50. Amazing! I'm too lazy to take a picture now, maybe I'll show them off later. I would have bought more jewelry, some baskets, wall decor, and souvenirs for people back home, but I'm trying to spend wisely until Chris gets his loan refund check. Everything that was for sale was beautiful, handcrafted and amazing!
After that we got to see some Carib musicians and dancers, which I loved! They performed in a hut that reminded me what I want my ceilings to look like in my future tropical retirement home.
And the band!
The guy on the right playing the flute was called "Grandpa." He danced while playing, and to signify the end of a song he bent down and wiggled his knees... he was awesome.
After they played some music for us, some dancers came out and did a few traditional dances.
I wish these pictures weren't so blurry... my camera doesn't like action shots. I toyed with idea of getting a DSLR before I came down here, but decided it was smarter to keep some money in savings.
I also took a video! The song/dance they are performing is I think supposed to welcome visitors to eat, drink and be merry, if I remember correctly.
After the presentation, we walked around a bit and saw some nice sights.
You could give a camera to a one year old here and come away with pictures fit for a calendar. Sometimes I can't believe I'm really here, seeing this stuff with my own two eyes.
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| I guess I am here after all! |
I tried to take a picture that would show just how clear the water was. It didn't work out as well as I hoped.
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| Still, you can see this girl's feet plain as day, and all the rocks on the bottom of the pool. |
We were some of the first people to arrive at the pool, which was too small to accommodate all the students trying to get to it. So Chris dried off and we hiked slowly back up the trail, stopping to take pictures and admire the views.
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| Please excuse my gross and sweaty appearance for the rest of the time this blog is in existence. It's physically impossible to go anywhere and do anything in this heat without sweating like a pig. (Do pigs have sweat glands?) |
Some of the wildlife here... I'm just not sure how it was named. Check out this sign:
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| Bananaquit? Rufous-Throated Solitaire?? Sadly, we saw neither. |
And just in case you thought all the nature stays out of our apartment, think again!
Here's a close up:
Hello, welcome to Dominica!
That's it for now. We were going to go on a trip tomorrow down the river where they filmed Pirates of the Caribbean 2 (yes, a lot of the movie was filmed here) but it was booked full by the time we got to sign up. Booo! I'll have to fit it in some other time.
By the way, I'm on Skype now. My username is kimfillmore. Add me if you'd like to chat while I'm down here in the West Indies!
