I'm back in the blog world again!

Hey all,

FINALLY a new post! I have been neglecting my poor blog (and my poor friends who read it) for far too long now. Since the rain has kicked into high gear in Dominica (and every other Caribbean island), its a perfect time to do an update!

Where shall I begin?! I guess I'll start fresh, from today. It's been raining non-stop for the past few days, so I haven't really been outside much (unfortunately). Along with my growing "island fever", I am also starting to experience "cabin fever"! Speaking of cabins, we got a new one..well, its not a cabin...more like a barn. Literally, that's what it looks like. It's basically the Kootney storage shed..but with an apartment upstairs which is REALLY NICE!! So the story is, our landlord Trish emailed Martin to ask whether we wanted to see a larger apartment that was newly available. She wanted to show it to us before she advertised it. She mentioned that it was more appropriate for a married couple than our small 1 bdrm, so we agreed to check it out. When we first pulled up to the place (which is tucked away in the back of the property), we were a little skeptical. As I mentioned before, it is shaped like a barn and has a garage with a bunch of old equipment stored in it. I looked at Martin's face and thought "he must be thinking what I'm thinking...this can't be a nicer place". Well, the old saying "you can't judge a book by its cover" certainly rang true for us when Trish opened the door and took us upstairs... It is BEAUTIFUL!! We had no idea that such a place existed at Kootney. The selling point for us I think, was when we saw the big plush couches.. that is SO rare to find here! And of course we feel less like we're stepping on each other, which is nice. Martin has a great study area with lots of shelf and desk space.

Some pics inside "the barn" AKA our new apartment:















(Wondering what that is on the screen door?? Nope, not a bug... a sweet little bat! We heard him chirping last night, but had NO IDEA that he was cuddled between the screen and glass door!

So that's it ladies and gents- "THE BARN" :) Our new pride and joy! (Along with our new bat friend, "Joey".. I just named him that now..)

What have I been up to lately you ask?? Well...not much. Trying to keep busy indoors while it rains cats and dogs outside.
Today I decided that I would actually attempt to make Dominican cocoa tea. I bought a "kit" a while back from Caribbean Magic Spice in Roseau (AKA "The Spice Man"). The "kit" consists of a tiny grater, a stick of cocoa, a bay leaf, nutmeg, cinnamon stick, and instructions. Well, it turned out well, but I am still warming up to the taste. We had to put sugar in it, because its far to bitter otherwise! I actually enjoyed using real spices and grating the cocoa myself. There is something really cool about doing things the old-fashioned way.

Here are some pics:





For those who want to try a little taste of Dominican "bush tea" in your home, here is the recipe:

COCOA TEA:
(serves 2)
Ingredients:
-Ground cocoa
-Nutmeg (optional..for a garnish)
-Cinnamon stick
-Bay leaf

Instructions:
1. Bring 1 cup of water to boil in small pot
2. Add approx. 3 heaping tbsp. of cocoa (or grind 1/2 inch of cocoa stick)
3. Add milk (I added approx. 1/4 cup)
4. Add bay leaf and cinnamon
5. Boil for 3 minutes
6. Strain into cups (I poured pot contents into measuring cup, and then used a small strainer to pour into each cup)
7. Garnish with nutmeg
8. Sweeten with sugar as desired (I added about 1 tsp.)

VOILA!! Authentic Dominican cocoa tea :) Not everyone's "cup of tea", but you gotta try it to know!

And in other news:
We got to see Mulligan as a grown up puppy! Henry (the Kootney gardener) brought him by on Sunday. Here is a before and after pic of him:

BEFORE:






(Notice how tiny he was; he fit in Martin's hands!)

AFTER:




He is so big now!! His name has also changed to "Bruce". So he is no longer our little Mulligan :( I am so thankful that I was given the opportunity to give him a good start at life though. He looks like a happy and healthy puppy now, and I know that Henry and his family love him!

Well, I think that's about all the updates I have for now, but I will try my best to continue updating my blog :)
Next Tuesday I am taking a trip to Victoria Falls, so I will put some pictures up from that trip. Apparently these falls are the most beautiful in Dominica!

Take care everyone!!

Peace, love, happiness, (and rain),

Stef D. xoxo

p.s. I am COMING HOME IN 5 WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
can you tell I'm just a bit excited?!

Break is almost here! Countdown: 3 days

FAREWELL, SEMESTER 1!! (or almost..)
I can't believe that semester 1 is almost over and we have been in Dominica now for almost 4 months. Time has just flew by!! Martin wrote his 3rd mini on Thursday of last week, and has one more final exam to write on Tuesday. He is studying hard for that one, because its cumulative!! I (and he) cannot WAIT until the break. We have just over two weeks until Semester 2 begins, so we will finally have a chance to do some things on the island together. Beach, snorkeling, cliff jumping, etc. etc. so many options!! The students are ready for a break- they are starting to go a bit nuts! I suppose I don't blame them when class, anatomy lab, studying flash cards, and reading textbooks is your entire life for 4 months straight.. I would be going crazy too (but that would have happened a long time ago!)

Here are some updates on my end:

I LOVE THESE KIDS!
Inlightin was awesome yesterday and the week before last! Yesterday we did an activity called "helping hands". The kids all traced their hands out of paper and wrote positive, respectful words like "love, peace, joy" etc. They also decorated the hands with rings, nail polish, and fun designs. They taped them around the plate and wrote their name and the date. It was a fun activity, and they all really enjoyed it!!
The mural and instrument activities were really awesome too. I am so impressed with their focus and creativity when it comes to arts and crafts projects!!
Here are some pictures (taken by me and a few of the kids..they love playing with my camera!)








SHHH.....
I went on an awesome trip to Secret Beach with my usual "Thursday day trip" group. It is my favourite place to swim on the island so far. The water is so clear that you can see exactly where there are rocks, which makes it easy to avoid them! I took the boat there from Coconut Beach, and then kayaked back. It was fun, but it wore my muscles out! I took one of the kids out on the kayak too and she loved it :)
Here are a few pictures of Secret Beach:





LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!
Yesterday we did a photoshoot with a very talented photographer named Genoveva Wayment. Her husband is a student and they are moving to the Bahamas very soon. I am so glad she could fit us into her busy schedule. Martin and I had a lot of fun! We felt like models :) Photos to come soon!!


Peace, love, happiness, (and art),

Stef xoxo

April Fools!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyone do an awesome prank??? I didn't.... but Martin is gone for a couple hours...hmmmm ;) Shall I introduce Mr. Saran wrap to Mr. toilet seat perhaps???? ;)

Okay, so once again I must apologize for my crappy-ness with updating the blog! I have no excuse... at all. I am just lazy sometimes!!

Nothing much has happened in the last little while- I have been dabbling in snorkeling, which I never thought I would love in a thousand years (I used to hate sharing my swimming space with fish). I actually do love it though!! It is amazing to see, if the conditions are good. Unfortunately, the last two attempts we made didn't really work out so well! First attempt, we went on a trip to Champagne Bay and Scott's Head. We did get a chance to swim in Champagne Bay which was INCREDIBLE! The volcanoes create these bubbles which are fascinating to swim in. And there's beautiful fish :) The water was a bit murky, so we couldn't see everything. The water at Scott's Head unfortunately was far too rough to swim in. Jenn and Victor (our transport driver) were brave enough to go in, but I hesitated, because at one point the water pushed me back (on my back) across a bed of rocks to shore.. yay... that was fun! We did see a turtle swimming though, which was really cool to see. I want to definitely go back to Scott's Head though! Let's hope the conditions will be better!
Second attempt resulted in pure craziness!! The girls and I (Jenn and Grace) decided that we would try at the "PBH", which is the beach in Picard, where we all live. Conditions again were not ideal! The waves were just HUGE! So what did we do?? As a throwback to our childhood, we decided it would be awesome to ride the waves a little bit.. so I saw this massive wave coming at me, so I swam over to it, turned around, and just let it take me to shore...well, it kinda sucked me down which was totally weird and a bit scary!! For a split second, drowning definitely entered my mind. But I eventually swam back up and decided that my wave adventure was probably over after that one! Just got some watery ears, salt water up my nose, and a great story for the blog! I think Mother Nature reminded me that it was WAY bigger and WAY more powerful than me. Wave: "1", Stefanie: "big fat zero". I think the other girls had a better experience :)

So now I'll "surf away" to another subject (cheesy much??)

As some of you may or may not know (depending on whether you know me personally, or are just snooping on my blog..which is totally cool as long as you don't post creepy nude pictures of yourself or something...and no, that is NOT an invitation to do so..) I volunteer with an organization called InLightIn, which was started by a spouse a while back, who worked with youth back home. It is an after-school activities program for Dominican kids. Basically we play games, do crafts, and just hang out with them. Oh, also, we feed them (which is their fave part I am sure!) Usually we make spaghetti or mac and cheese (which they LOVE!)
This week I am planning on doing a mural with them, which I think they will really enjoy. They have an issue with respecting each other sometimes, so we might make that the theme!!

Here are some pics:

Using the new markers (thanks Mom!!)




Me and one of the little girls:



One of the boys (and Tricia, one of the leaders, in the background):



So that's about all the updates I have!!! Martin is coming home with pizza soon, so I am excited about that, though it won't be as good as the homemade pizza he and Asif made :)



Peace, Love, Happiness (and Pizza),

-Stef xoxo

No gas + moldy cheese = FRUSTRATING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday we ran out of gas for the stove... this is one of the most frustrating things to happen on the island. A lot of the time you can't just run to the store and buy another tank, especially because there is a shortage right now (so I heard anyway). Thank goodness for neighbours though!! This morning we went over to Asif's and made some pancakes on his stove. The plan is to also use his oven for pizza tonight! Oh, speaking of pizza, another frustrating thing is when the cheese goes moldy after 1 week! I just bought some Mozzarella cheese in Roseau last Friday (to shred for pizza) and its already going bad... AHHHHHHH. And it is very expensive!!!!

On a good note, I had lots of fun with my parents last week!! They flew to the island for a visit March 10-17, and they really enjoyed it. Now they understand what I mean when I say its paradise! (well except when the above frustrations happen!)
We got a chance to see quite a bit of the island- Swam up Titou Gorge, hiked to Trafalgar Falls, soaked in sulphur springs (sooo nice), rowed up Indian River (where Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed- when they visit Calypso), toured a Carib village, and hiked out to Emerald Pool (which I swam in as well- cold, but awesome!)


Well that's all for now! Time to get some more ingredients for the pizza :) I will post a pic of it when its cooked! This is our first attempt at making pizza from scratch... wish us luck!

Peace, love, happiness (and homemade pizza),

-Stef xoxox

Chaudiere Pool trip- a source of inspiration!

So as I mentioned before, I haven't really been inspired to write much lately. Some crappy things happened in my life that made me feel FAR from inspired. Both of my pups (Mulligan and Monty) have moved onto new, and hopefully better, homes- the former physically, and the latter spiritually. Either way, I miss them both very much and its hard not to have a dog with me here and at home. Dogs will always have a place in my heart, and I can't wait until I finally get the chance to have another one (and will not have to give it up to anybody). Though I suppose you can never keep your dog forever, as much as you wish you could!

Anyway, today is the first day I have felt inspired to write more entries and add pictures. Today I saw some of the real beauty that this country has to offer, and its a miracle what nature can do for your soul. It is truly uplifting, because you see its many gifts; none of which are material. And this country is not about material things; it is about the joy of living in a natural environment.

A while back, I really decided to embrace the phrase "Carpe diem"- "Seize the day". Today, I did. I realized that if I didn't do some scary things, I was not really living. I didn't want to look back on today and say "I really wish I did that". I wanted to say "I did it. And I won't regret it." So what exactly did I do?

I did this:



...And slid down this:




Was I scared??? YES!! There are a couple times that I second guessed it. But I said to myself, no... I hiked ALL the way here (which is a feat, let me tell you..) and I am not going all the way home just to say "that would have been fun, but I was too scared to do it..I wonder what it would have been like?"

So, having said all of this, looking back I suppose the crappy things in my life recently may have been a source of inspiration after-all. They made me realize that life is short and we have to enjoy it while we have it. And we have to seize the day, and seize all of the things we have each day because they will not be there forever.

In summary, we crazy spouses endured a puke-inducing drive through the Dominican mountains, hiked through difficult terrain in the rainforest, convinced ourselves to jump off a scary cliff into the river (MORE THAN ONCE), rode a waterfall (SOME of us more than once), and took a "shortcut" up a very steep mountain (where I was sure we would lose someone and/or their child). Why?? "It was all for the blog." (inside joke...)

In all seriousness, many of us conquered our fears and truly LIVED! (really, all of us made it through unscathed...except for the rock that got a little too comfy with my elbow....)

CARPE DIEM.



Peace, love, happiness (and life),

Stef xoxox


Some more pics of our adventure!

The Cabrits Wine Cruise

Hi all!

I have been REALLY BAD at updating my blog lately, so I apologize for that. I guess I haven't been too inspired to write about anything... until today...which I will get to :)

But first, I haven't put up pictures of the wine cruise yet! That was a really fun event that the Cabrits Dive Centre offered to the Ross Spouses. Basically we sailed out a little ways, drank some wine, swam, snorkeled, and took lots of fun pictures!

Enjoy :)

-Stef

Carnivale!

Enjoy my picture slideshow from Carnivale, Dominica's annual celebration, in Portsmouth which took place at the end of February!

Enjoy!

-Stef

Adventures with Mulligan the Monster!!

hi there,

happy valentines day to all!!! hugs all around :)

sorry i have been really bad at updating my blog! i have a good excuse though!
as of right now i have a sleeping puppy in my arms so i am typing with one hand. i picked him up on campus because he didn't have a home and was abandoned in portsmouth. It was obvious that he was sick with worms and was malnourished. one look at this pup and I was hooked!! Even though we are not allowed to have dogs at our place, I took him anyway to at least take care of him for a little while and make sure he was dewormed. I told my landlord (but was really nervous about her response) and she actually agreed that he could stay for a while until we found him a home. I still consider him my puppy though!! I am really careful with whom I let take care of him, and my one major rule is that I will not give him to a student. Ideally, I would like him, but that may not work out unless we moved to the river house which is a bit more expensive per month. It is hard because I am completely attached, and we have watched him learn so much. I feel that no one else will be able to take care of him the way we do. No one is good enough in my eyes!!

Asif has been really good with helping to train him and babysit him. He taught him how to walk nicely on his leash, how to retrieve his toys (which he is still trying to master) and to sit nicely. He is a way different puppy now than the day I brought him home! He was a monster... I hardly slept at night. He still likes to chew anything in his path, but he is starting to understand what he can and cannot chew. He has a stuffed duck toy (named "Jean Luc Canard"..long story), and Martin made him a rope toy. Those are the only two things we allow him to chew!

It is so nice to see him getting healthier! His has taken his full dose of de-wormer and it has worked wonders. His belly has gone down quite a bit and he is looking more like a normal size puppy.

So other than that, nothing much is new around here! It was a stressful couple of weeks, as Martin had his first mini exam and a practical exam in the same week. Crazy!!! He got through it though :) I am proud of him for all of his hard work.

Hope all is well back home!


Peace, love, happiness (and pups),

Stef xoxoxo

My lovely birthday and other happenings!

First, I have to apologize that I have been so crappy at updating my blog lately!! I have had a few more shifts at work, which seems to make the days a lot busier (even though they are just a couple hours). So here goes! I will try my best to update more frequently.

To start off, I would like to thank (this sounds like an Oscar speech), the special people in my life who made my birthday a great one!

-My family with their cute birthday party via webcam (hats and all!) :) Thank you, it was really sweet and special!

-My in-laws, thank you very much for the birthday cards! Martin did a very good job of hiding them from me :)

-My husband Martin, who took the time out of his crazy day to buy me an entire "Orlando Bloom Chocolate Cake" from The Tomato (complete with almond flakes, choc. chips, and coconut). It was very yummy!! Love you very much hubster. Oh, if you are wondering why its called "Orlando Bloom Chocolate Cake", it is because it was one of his favourite things to order at the restaurant when Pirates of the Caribbean was being filmed here.

-The many caring friends who wished me a happy one on facebook! I was really overwhelmed when I signed in and saw all of the messages. Some were even from friends whom I haven't seen or talked to in a very long time!

So thank you again everyone! I feel very loved, which means a lot to me especially being away from home.

So onto some other things that I have done this past week:

-Spouse Games Night was tons of fun! We played a card game (that I totally did not understand at first), and a game called "Celebrity" which was hilarious! I wish I had pictures of us playing it, because there were some moments that should have been captured (especially the impressions of Michael Jackson and Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman"). Basically, we wrote down names of celebrities on a piece of paper and put them into a cup. Each person gets a partner, and the first round you have to pick a name and describe the celebrity to your partner (without saying the name). That person has to guess, and you go back and forth until 1 minute it up. Second round, the same names go into the cup, but you can only say one word to describe the celebrity (so if we used "Pretty Woman" to describe Julie Roberts in the first round, we said "Pretty" to describe her in the second round). Third round, you can't say a word- you have to act it out! Such a fun game.

-We made it to the market this morning, which was good because we were running out of fruits and veggies! (and a lot of recipes call for specific veggies). I was so excited to finally buy a dasheen (a vegetable grown here that almost looks like an elongated coconut).. Oh the small things that excite us here in Dominica! I have a recipe that calls for dasheen, so I am looking forward to making that. Yes...I am actually looking forward to cooking... what??!!! WHO AM I??

So that is basically it, other than I am very sore from going to the gym this past week. I am really trying my best to fit workouts in at least every other day! One of my favourite things to do here is go for a jog, because the scenery cannot be beat (and even getting caught in the rain is kind of fun because its refreshing!)

Peace, love, and happiness,

-Stef

My address here in Dominica!

Just in case anyone would like to send any mail (which I would gladly accept!!), my address here is:

Stefanie Dragan c/o Martin Dragan (1st Semester student)
Ross University School of Medicine
P.O. Box 266
Roseau, Commonwealth of Dominica, West Indies


Make sure to write that exact address (even stuff in brackets)!

Thanks :)

-Stef

The Freedom Dance

Sunday was a day I will never, ever forget. I finally got to go whale watching! Something I have always wanted to do. This is the only acceptable way to view these mammals, in my opinion. Let me explain why...

I became interested in marine mammals when I took a course in University called "Recreation and Tourism in Marine Environments". I learned a lot about whales and dolphins in captivity vs. in the wild. The main message is this: in captivity, these beautiful animals become stressed out and depressed, just as humans do when freedom is taking away. Marine parks claim that they are able to "conserve" the animals and breed them in a controlled environment. Well, here is the truth- there is no shortage of whales and dolphins in the wild, so there is absolutely no need to conserve or breed them in captivity. They also claim that they can "research" them in captivity. Well how accurate is this research when you are studying the behaviour of a captive animal? Not at all accurate. Their behaviour is dramatically different in captivity vs. wild. Whales and dolphins have generations of families like humans. They stick together; babies feed from mother's milk; relatives babysit the young when their mothers are not able to. To tear them away from their families for tourism is far beyond acceptable and the only way to stop it is to make a simple choice, and that is to not buy into the crap that these tourism organizations sell you.

Also, I would like to add that touching dolphins (as they allow tourists to do at these 'dolphin swims') damages their skin. The slightest touch will cause scratches that will not heal. So please, DO NOT take part in these activities for the sake of the animals. It is NOT worth it. Do not visit marine parks, do not give money to organizations that keep these animals in captivity, and do not touch them.

So, having said all of this, a dream came true when I got to see dolphins in the wild. No whales were spotted or heard by SONAR, but I was completely thrilled with seeing the dolphins playing and jumping around beside the boat. There were TONS of them!!! I try to avoid "personalizing" them and describing their behaviour as human traits, but honestly it seemed as though they loved the attention we were giving them. They seemed curious, like they wanted to swim close to us. I see dolphins as the 'dogs' of the ocean.

Why is this post called "The Freedom Dance"? For two reasons: First, I once had a gorgeous poster of the same title, which was a photo of a dolphin jumping against a setting sun; and second, I think there is no better way to describe what a dolphin looks like in the wild than "they are dancing to the beat of freedom".

There are not a lot of things more beautiful than witnessing the dance, and I encourage everyone to see it for themselves (and to go with a company that considers the needs of the animals first).

Please check out some photos of our excursion!!

White Coat Ceremony

We just got back about an hour ago from the White Coat Ceremony, which has been a tradition for many years. It is basically a celebration of the medical profession, and the white coats are placed on the students by members of the faculty. They also say a doctor's prayer to end the celebration off. The President of Dominica was there as well!

President (in the suit)


















The ceremony began with some speeches as well, from the Dean and also a guest doctor who spoke about ethics in medicine and the reason why one should be motivated to become a doctor (not for material reasons, but for the care of others). He also tied in the symbolism of wearing different coloured hats (black= bad, white= good). One of the faculty members also spoke about the history of the white coat, which is pretty interesting.
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_coat

I was very proud to watch Martin and his colleagues receiving their coats and pins, and being officially sworn in as new members of the medical profession.


















"Martin in the middle" - can you spot him??



















Hard, to see, but he is right under the U.S. flag





















Here is Martin back at his seat with his coat on (sorry, I couldn't get the pic when he was turned the other way!)





















Asif in his white coat.

After the ceremony, there were some appetizers, drinks, and plenty of time for more pictures!
















Martin and Asif
























Dr. and Mrs. M.D., MD (haha)























Tonight our landlady is putting on a social for us, so we are excited about that! Pics to come later.



Peace, love, and happiness,

Stef xoxo

Martin's first day of anatomy lab!

Martin in his medical gear!





















I could tell that it was anatomy lab today, because we sold mainly scrubs, dissection kits, and gloves at Island Thrift today. It was kind of funny seeing all the students in their crisp, new scrubs, creases and all!

By the way, Island Thrift is my job here on the island. Every day we set up on campus for a couple hours to sell textbooks, med. gear and other miscellaneous items! I will be working a few shifts a week. It has been crazy the past couple of days, but it will most likely slow down as the semester progresses. A lot of students ask me about which text books they need and which gear they have to wear to class, so unfortunately I can never really answer that for them seeing as I am not the student!


-Stef

Oh, the luxury of lights and clean towels!!

Yesterday we experienced what we were warned about long before moving to the island- and that is, blackouts. I knew that the Caribbean experienced a lot of those, especially because I lived in the Dominican Republic for a couple months, so really it was not a surprise for me. And those who made it through the "big blackout" in the summer of 2002 (0r '03?) know that it is not the end of the world to do without lights for a while. In fact, it can be a good excuse to get outside and do other things! We first lit some candles in the kitchen so that we could at least have a bit more light, as it was starting to get a bit darker.

Our lit candles: (we are thankful that we brought some!)













Since we pretty much have no food in the kitchen right now, we decided to walk into town and see what was open. Luckily a Chinese restaurant called "Brothers" was open, so we grabbed a table there. It was really cool, because the whole place was lit by candlelight. I have to say that I am really a fan of a candlelit ambiance. It was a nice atmosphere! Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on whether you see the glass as half empty or half full), the lights came back on about 10 minutes after, and you could see everyone very clearly (and that is not always a good thing, right???) Annnnyway, Martin ordered General Tao chicken and I ordered chicken curry. Very yummy!! And we had leftovers, which is always a bonus for poor med students.
There were some good parts to having the power back though- our cable and internet finally worked!

Other than the blackout, the most interesting thing that happened is that we got our laundry done!! And you may be thinking okay, what is so exciting about laundry? To us, it is a luxury to have clean clothes that smell FRESH, and especially.... ready for it?? Drum roll please...... CLEAN, NON-STINKY TOWELS!!! That was by far, the one thing that made us jump for joy today. You know those commercials where people use laundry as a natural happy drug?? Well that was us today! Yes, we learn to appreciate very small things on this island.
See, it is so freakin humid here in Dominica that if your towel gets really wet, forget about it, it is going to remain disgustingly smelly until it is washed in a machine and dried in a machine. And by disgustingly smelly, I mean "wet dirty dog's bum" smelly. It would be like taking a fresh shower and then rolling around with your dog whom you haven't bathed in months... it just defeats the purpose!!! Not to mention the towels would leave a nice stench behind in the bathroom making us nauseous every day... we even tried washing the towels by hand and leaving them outside to dry, but NOPE! The dirty dog smell just came right back. Not only do the towels get gross, but so do our clothes because we sweat a lot in them. Even just a walk to campus is enough to cake the clothes in sweat on a really hot, humid day. So there was no escaping the nastiness, until we discovered Pat's laundry service. Thanks Pat! We owe you big time for making our laundry smell fresh and rosey!! Well, actually we owe you 27 EC for 17 lbs. of laundry..


The best part of our day, right here:





OH JOY!















Peace, love,happiness, (and clean laundry),

Stef xoxo

It was well worth getting up at 5 AM , especially for.. "The Dinner"!

Yup...5 AM is the time we got up this morning to get ready for the Portsmouth market at 6 AM (and even after a fairly late night of having a few drinks at the bar by the beach with our neighbour!)

Basically we stumbled to the campus to catch the (non-existant) bus. We ended up taking taxis, as there were plenty of students, but NO bus in sight. We ended up making it to the market at around quarter to 7, which was still early enough to catch the good buys!! So get this: 5 bananas for $1 EC, 4 grapefruits for $1 EC, etc etc. And $1 EC is about 50 cents U.S., even a bit less!! Very cheap locally grown fruit and vegetables, and they taste AMAZING! I also paid $1 EC for a coconut, which I drank out of with a straw. The water inside is very refreshing..but it may have been a bit too early for that!!

That evening, our neighbour came by to use our stove, because he was out of propane and no one had any for sale in town. That was when "the dinner" was born! He had the menu ideas, so we all pitched in to cook this awesome dinner with locally grown foods from the market that we bought this morning.

The menu was as follows:
-Sweet potato and plantain casserole
-Spinach, carrot and bacon side dish
-Banana fritters

And guess who did the cooking for this one?? The guys! I kid you not. They totally took over the kitchen. I was very impressed by the team work on this one! What did I do? Well, washed a couple things... stirred a bit..mashed the bananas. That's it! The guys did the rest. Want evidence??

Love it :)














Photos of "The dinner"


Banana Fritters- YUM!!!


We LOVED the dinner!! The most satisfying part about it was the fact that we had bought the produce directly from the locals, who grow it fresh and naturally.

The banana fritters were by far, the best! If anyone wants to have a taste of Dominica at home, please feel free to ask me for recipes!!

So other than our market and cooking adventures, we haven't done much else. The consistent rain has kept us indoors! Hopefully tomorrow will be better, as I start work at Island Thrift on campus!

Take care in the lovely winter weather back home! We heard that some nasty weather is coming your way from the States..

Peace, love, and happiness,

Stef xoxo

Our photos from Flickr.

Chinese restaurant on Lizard Trail

Look at this mohawk thing he has going on!!!
What a cute phrase! I am a sucker for classic red roses :)



Yes, that is right- there are Chinese restaurants on the island!! We had a pineapple chicken rice dish and some spring rolls- YUM!! The design of the restaurant was like a Caribbean/Asian fusion. Unique!