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!

Rainbows and relaxation

Today was my favourite day in Dominica! For one, my headache was all cleared up, so I felt like I could actually get out there and enjoy the weather!
One of the first things I did this morning was brew a cup of Dominican coffee and sit outside on the porch, listening to the birds and enjoying the sunshine. It was so relaxing! I could get used to this life... I don't miss the hustle and bustle of North American life. I got to thinking that maybe I should just ship friends and family down here with us, and then we could all live happily! We may not have that cool car or million dollar house, but who needs it???!! People here have proved that money most certainly does not buy happiness. This is the fourth happiest country in the World, and you will not find one person with a BMW.
After my coffee, I was on my way to the beach when I ran into Martin on moocow trail. He decided to accompany me, so we went back over to the campus to take some pictures of the beach. I wish I took a picture of this, but some of the beach-front cottages had signs with the names of various crew members who stayed there to film Pirates of the Caribbean. One was Jerry Bruckheimer himself!! Note to self- take a picture of this and post it on the blog!

Here are some pictures of the beach and the views:

Love it!! Tomorrow afternoon we will actually take the time to suntan a bit on the beach and check out the pool on campus. To survive in this heat, it is a MUST to cool down in the water!!!!

Another really cool thing I did today was a yoga class on a platform by the beach. It was a wooden covered area that is raised, so it is a great location!! The instructor teaches Moksha yoga at her studio called Rainbow Yoga I believe. She generally uses images of rainbows for the relaxation portion of the class. I can't tell you how serene it was doing yoga right at the beach!! It is something that cannot be described. I felt like I could really stretch my muscles out with no pain because it is SO warm!! And hearing the waves is so peaceful. I LOVED it! And she will be running this class every week through Ross U. so I am pumped for the next one!

So not only did I visualize rainbows in my mind at yoga, but I also saw a beautiful rainbow today! I heard that there are a lot of rainbows that appear here, but pictures never do them justice. I tried to snap one, but sure enough, no dice. The rainbow came out faint and wasn't even worth posting! Sigh...next time I will give it another shot to see if I can capture its beauty! All I can say is that it is almost unreal. Something you only see in movies!

Peace, love, happiness (and rainbows),

Stef xoxo

CREEPY UPDATE!

Okay, so what do I see tonight after writing a blog about seeing no big creepies?? A CREEPY!! Smaller than a centipede, but centipede-like!!! And you know what the weird thing is about it? I somehow knew in my mind that I was jinxing it when I wrote all that stuff about not seeing creepies.... DARNIT!

Here is a pic of what I saw crawling in our bedroom (i know...the BEST place to find a bug right? As if I am sleeping tonight....)

Martin in his white coat!

Here is a picture of Martin sporting his snazzy white coat (that he will wear for the ceremony on the 16th). I am so proud of him!!!!
Doesn't he look precious?? hehe

Finally, we figured out the coffee situation!

It took a couple trials to get the Dominican coffee tasting how we wanted it to. First, I tried to make it (and being foreign to coffee makers), it was WAY too weak! (eg. would you like some coffee with that water???) Second time Martin made it, and it was better, but still not quite how it is supposed to taste. Third time's a charm! Martin made it again (I have learned not to attempt these things), and it tasted great!! I am still getting used to the "Dutch Lady" milk here (the stuff in the boxes that has a shelf life of like 7 months or something, and yes, it is really called that!). It is very rich and it bothers my stomach a little..either it was that or the coffee! This is the one thing I hate about being in a new place- adjusting to the food and drink. Otherwise, I love experiencing a new place! Especially if it includes palm trees, sand, and hot weather!
My headache finally feels better, but that could be because its evening and the humidity has dissipated. It is definitely the most comfortable here in the evening. You can actually walk outside without sweating to death!! I know, you are all saying "shut up Stef, its better than freezing in Canada"! Agreed, my friends :)
So I must remember to bring a camera on my next walk into town so that I can take pictures of the lovely cows grazing on the side of the road. They are actually quite cute!!!

We really didn't do too much this afternoon, as we are waiting on a guy who is going to pick up Martin's books for him from Roseau, the main city in Dominica. Soon we are heading into town to have some dinner, but first we have to wait till this crazy rain stops!! When it rains here, it RAINS! It was actually so loud a couple nights ago, it kept me up. Usually it blows over in a matter of minutes (or a an hour or so), but I most definitely would not want to be caught in it!! I always bring an umbrella with me for this reason. I guess you can't have a beautiful tropical, green lush island without significant rainfall! Plus, we are told that it is the rainy season here... oh joy!

CREEPY UPDATE: just some tiny ants in our closet and the bathroom, who marched their scrawny asses outta there when we introduced them to the deadly VINEGAR!! haha that'll teach ya!!! So far no big ones to report (knock on wood)!
Oh, for those of you who don't know the word "creepy", this is my nickname for the Dominican bugs. They are called "creepies" in my dictionary!
How would you like to see one of these handsome devils??


...exactly... me neither!!!!!

(photo credit: oceallaigh)

My Dominican theme song

This is Michael Franti and Spearhead with "Say Hey", one of my fave songs. The video reflects the spirit of the Caribbean, though it was actually filmed in Brazil.

"Hey I'll be gone today, but I'll be back from around the way. Seems like everywhere I go, the more I see the less I know, but I know one thing, is I love you".

Miss you all, love you all, and I will be back :)

Enjoy!

Damn you, headache from HELL!

So today was not the most fun day on the island.. I woke up with the same headache I had yesterday, but WORSE! It was throbbing! I took Advil, I slept, but nothing would tame this beast.
Most of the day I spent in bed trying to get rid of it so that I could go out and enjoy the sunshine.
The only time I really got outside was to go grocery shopping at Tina's store down the street. Thankfully our landlady Trisha is amazing, and she offered to drive us there. Our neighbour, Asif, came with us as well to pick a few things up. He is a super nice guy and he has the coolest (and most ghetto) sunglasses. They are like the ones we used to get from the gas station in the early 90s- you know the ones; big, square, flurescent colours.
So I basically stumbled into the store with Martin and Asif, trying to keep focused as my head pounded! I was impressed at how much was available though. We got local bread, peanut butter, deli meats, cheese, eggs, crackers, Pringles (which cost A LOT here), pickles, yoghurt, etc. etc.

Martin tried to open up an account here and get his student ID, but the lineup was HUGE. Some students waited 5 hours!!! Crazy!!! So he is going to wake up early and try tomorrow. He did get his white coat though, which is really cute! It is a basic lab coat with a Ross badge on it. Makes him look very official! I think his white coat ceremony is next week, so that should be cool. Basically it is a ceremony to welcome students to the medical profession.

So that's about it for now, nothing else to report. I am sure these blog entries will get more exciting when we actually go out and do more on the island!

Peace, Love, and Happiness,

-Stef

Arrival in Dominica!

Hi everyone,

Welcome to my blog!

So today was our first full day on the island of Dominica! We arrived yesterday evening after two flights and a crazy drive to Portsmouth from the airport. The views were breath-taking!! Literally, this island does look like Jurassic Park! Mountains of palms and other vegetation, remaining untouched. I can see why they call it "Nature Island".

Today was busy and very tiring! As much as I love this weather, it is hard to adjust to coming from frigid Canada. Just one half an hour walk to and from the town with groceries made me sweat through my clothes! Gross, I know.. but still far better than ice and snow. For once my shoulders are not in pain!

There is not much open on Sunday, but I did manage to find a couple stores that were open. I bought some fresh fruits and produce, which was really nice! It is definitely a different experience than going into a grocery store- I like this method of buying fruit MUCH better!
The pineapple was the best I have ever tasted!!! I had to pick up some big bottles of water too, because I could feel myself dehydrating really easily.

Poor Martin has been sick lately, so he spent most of today in bed resting. We did go into town together before dinner, because the school's welcoming committee had a party and bonfire going on at the beach. We got to meet a couple other students and walk along the beach, which was really nice! One thing that really caught my eye here was the brightness of the stars- even brighter than in Northern Ontario!

Well, we are off to catch a few zzz's as tomorrow is another big day.

We miss everyone, and will continue to update our blogs!!

Until then, take care.

-Stef

p.s. everyone will be happy to know that I have not seen any outrageously disgusting bugs yet (knock on wood!!)