Tonight! Dreams Come True!

Tonight I accomplished my 2 greatest goals for life on this island:

1) my friend Paul and I built a bonfire  on the beach with our bare hands! which was particularly impressive because:
 a) it just rained for 3 days and all the wood in the jungle was wet
 b) we didn't have lighter fluid or any of the fancy stuff you have in the US
  c) we actually cooked hotdogs and made smores!

2) I swam in the ocean at night with biolumenescent plankton!!!! The most amazing swimming experience here; at night at least. They sparkle all around you!

Tonight was amazing and I am so happy that I had some really good friends to share it with! The moon was full, the weather (which has been stormy) held out, and we ended the night with a light drizzle which put out our fire for us. What an amazing time! I finally feel like I've used my experience on this island to it's full potential. :)

Tonight, I love you Dominica. But I still hope that in a month, I will never have to return again.

Til Next Time Folks!

Sun Set Bay: Snorkelling, Lobster Dinner, Relaxation

Sun Set Bay: Lobsters, Snorkelling, Relaxation

Yesterday my friend Paul and I realized that we meant to plan a trip to Sun Set Bay; a resort with beach access and a seafood restaurant. So we quickly made a plan, emailed friends and I called my Rasta friend "Charley" to give us a ride.


After getting some work done this morning, I headed over to the Main Gate to meet Charley and the others to head out. This day started out so chill and relaxed, that after getting some work out of the way I was ready to have some fun.


The restaurant is only about 30 minutes away from campus. When we arrived around 4 pm we were the only ones there, aside from some French tourists who were staying on the grounds. The sun was out and smouldering and I decided to get some food--fish soup and garlic bread--before joining Paul in the ocean. I brought Jamie's old snorkel gear along just in case we wanted to dive. I have never been snorkelling before, mostly because I'm like a skiddish cat in the ocean and in water in general. I don't trust my swimming abilities against the strong ocean currents and the fear of the "unknown great deep" always scares me too. What's out there? Will it attack me? Etc.


But today, with the sun shining on my face, surrounded by the beauty of a new part of the island, standing in the cool Caribbean waters, I decided to take the plunge. I told myself that I only have 40 days left on this island and I may as well try something different.


Paul instructed me how to use the goggles/mask--since it was cracked--with out getting water inside and showed me where he had seen some fish. I quickly caught the hang of preventing water from seeping in, but of course this involved released air through my nose, and shortening my dives. 


Just looking at the pebbly ocean floor covered in algae was so cool to me. I was estatic when I started noticing tiny fish, then swam further out to see schools of tiny black and white fish, as well as larger silver fish. The silver fish swam in a large school of 40 at least, and would turn and flee en masse when spooked. 


After snorkelling around for a while, Paul and I decided to walk to another part of the beach toward some boulders. I collected some volcanic rocks and an interesting piece of white coral.  We climbed a large boulder, that was inhabited by a few black crabs. Were they land crabs or sea crabs? I feel like there is a species for every habitat on this island. The beach was scattered with tiny hermit crabs as well. 


We noticed the sun was beginning to set so we climbed back down and joined Jadden and Will in the water again. We showed the others where we had spotted fish and Jadden mentioned seeing "a fin". We all thought he was seeing things. Then 15 minutes later when we were all planning on swimming back to the beach I spotted a large, black fin as well, around the same area that Paul and I had been standing. Now that I think about it I'm a bit scared because we had been investigating why these silver fish had been jumping out of the ocean. Now it makes sense; they were trying to escape a predator. Despite my fear of sharks, I think that the predator was probably just a large fish---some of the tuna here are 2x my weight. But still...scary


The dinner was amazing! Small lobsters with garlic cream sauce--an entire platter-ful--mussels swimming in garlic sauce, rice, salad, French fries, complimentary Chardonnay, mango juice, and for desert a Caribbean banana split. 


My corset-style dress was feeling much tighter by the end of that meal. But it was so worth it. We all agreed, it was the best food we have eaten on this island so far.


I took plenty of pictures to capture the day. Here are a few...

Me, and Paul, being weird

Sun Set Bay

Lobster dinner!

Into the Wild

1/2 of a rainbow taken from my balcony

Sometimes I forget where I live. Most days and hours I have my nose in my notes and rarely even look up at the sky. Today I had a spare moment (island holiday) to look up and as usual it struck me how beautiful the surrounding mountains are. I sometimes forget I live on the small percentage of land that contains asphalt and buildings. The rest is lush, tropical forest, and it pretty much looms above and around our small town one one side, while the other side ends at the ocean. I can't complain.

Tonight I ended an extremely productive study day (gotta love local holidays) with a movie at my friend Paul's apartment. After several attempts at getting the laptop sound just right and picking a movie we both had remotely heard of at some point...we decided on Liam Neeson. Always the right choice.

"The Grey" is about a group of airplane crash survivors, led by Liam of course, who are gradually being hunted and picked off by a huge pack of wild, super-wolves. Yea it was pretty bad, but also quite entertaining.

After I left his apartment I realized how late it was; midnight. Although it rained on and off today the sky was surprisingly clear. The moon shined eerily bright in the sky; a large crescent hung low on the horizon above the sea. Not an unusual sight here. But what made the night so amazing was the silence. Usually the night creatures--frogs, insects, bats, night birds--sing together in a cacophany of jungle noise that is sometimes deafening. Tonight, nothing. It was unsettling but not ominous. Guess this what I get for watching wilderness survival movies while living on a remote island.

In any case, as I was walking down my steep hill, I happened to gaze up at the sky at the perfect moment. And there, for 3 seconds I saw the most radiant meteor I have ever witnessed. It was low in the sky, just above the tallest trees and I could make out the entire thing, tail to head. From the brightest yellow tip all the way to the orange, glowing neck to the burning rock that tore through the dark sky. It was spectacular. I waited on my apartment step for a few minutes to see if it was one of many in a meteor shower. I didn't see any others. Talk about being in the right place at the right time.

I hate to say it, but I guess I will miss some aspects of living here when I move back to civilization.

Exploring trails with my friend Christian--Fall '11

Packed and ready(ish)!

I'm all packed (all 5 suitcases plus a carry-on) and ready to start orientation for medical school!
Packing was quite a feat; I constantly went back and forth in mind trying to talk myself into only bringing 2 bags but in the end I sided on bringing too much. I figure I need to be comfortable when I'm in medical school and creature comforts are necessary when one is under stress. Therefore...I'm bringing everything.

Moving on from packing...my madre is accompanying me on my initial trip. We have to stay over in Puerto Rico for one night because there aren't any direct flights to Dominica. My father will join us later. It feels weird having my parents with me but it will give them a good chance to see where I'll be living for the next 2 years and also they qualify me to bring more checked bags (haha).
Don't know what to expect at all as far as living situation, culture-shock and most importantly medical school-shock. These are the 3 main burdens on my mind right now (two of which a U.S. student never has to worry about). I'm "looking forward" to only having to stress out about medical school!
And so the adventure begins.
Stay tuned for more! :)

Logistics

My job at Planned Parenthood ends on Monday and I'm looking forward to having some time to prepare for my life as a med student on Dominica.

What I have accomplished thus far:

• buying a plane ticket to the island and a return ticket for December back to the States (very comforting to know that I have a way back in a few months)
  
• mailed a deposit for my new apartment at "Lucy Villa" which is about 3 minutes away from campus...the only apartment that was available was on the ground-floor. I was apprehensive about this at first given the flooding situation but from what I have heard these apartments do not flood and rainy season will be mostly ending by the time I arrive. Also I have an agreement with the landlady that she will let me move into an apartment on a higher level as soon as it becomes available *fingers crossed*
  
• mailed my VISA application (compling all the documents and medical records for this took me months so they better not gripe about some minor discrepancy and make me redo it)


• bought the essential school supplies including my brand-spanking-new laptop which should be shipped to my house soon (!)
  

What I have a month to accomplish:

• LOANS (evil but necessary)
  
• class registration


• textbooks


• hurricane gear including but not limited too: a nice rain coat from REI, a headlamp and iodine tablets


• packing all of my necessary possesions


• opening up a new bank account with Citibank (the only bank on the island)

Getting Ready!

Over the past couple of months I have been preparing for my journey and epic adventure studying medicine at Ross University School of Medicine in Dominica. The island (gained independence from Britain only 30 years ago) is located 30 minutes South of San Juan, Puerto Rico and is the middle of the Caribbean Ocean.

• Big Questions:

1. Will I survive?
2. Will I be well-equipped to pass the first Board exam? (goes along with question 1.)
3. What are my chances of becoming a Caribbean-doctor-pirate?
4. Will I have any time at all to do the outdoor adventuring that the island is known for?

This is what I know so far...

• Living situation: All apartments are a 5-10 minute walk from campus and are located at addresses like "Hill Top Road" and other vague directions which highlight the rural nature of Dominican life. I expect my new home of the next 16 months to be akin to Brownsville...with less recreational activities. Damn. At least there will be plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables being sold at local stands on the main road outside of campus. Oh and the beaches do look amazing.
  
• Weather: Two seasons...rainy and sunny...average yearly temperature of 80 degrees F. Possible hurricanes and definitely expect torrential rains at some point.
  
• School: best to buy school supplies ahead of time because all foreign imports (paper, pens, etc) have heavily inflated prices due to import tax...about 3 times U.S. price for basic U.S. goods. CostCo here I come! The classrooms look super hi-tech and I'm excited about the prospect of videotaped lectures (in case I have to miss class for some reason).
  Student demographic: from the "welcome videos" and interviews looks like there will be lots of Indian kids *shudder*, 90% Americans and some foreign students. I was hoping there would be more diversity but I guess I'll just have to try extra hard to find non-stereotypical, cool people. Okay, that's a bit harsh and premature, but I really just hope that I can meet others who are as eccentric and non-square as I am.
• Dominican culture: formerly a French colony, fought over by the U.K. Natives speak Patois (a creole French dialect) which looks very similar to basic French except for the "r's" are pronounced like "w"...I know I am oversimplifying but this is all I've been able to find out from the web so far. Of course basic every day words like "mother", "father", "friend" have more African and creole twists on them that differ from pure French. Either way my Spanish abilities will not be useful on this island. Perhaps some of my 1 semester of college French will come back? *gulp*

I arrive in Dominica for medical school orientation on August 27th and will be spending my 23rd birthday on the island. Hooray?
**National Geographic fact sheet about Dominica