Saturday in Roseau

Woke up at 7 am today to meet up with Swati, Vishaka and Sara to head down to Roseau, the country's capital city. The ride was free, provided by Ross U and was fairly smooth. We passed through the mountainous jungle terrain and by the edge of the coast over looking the Caribbean Sea.

When we got there our friends wanted to just shop so Swati and I split up. We went into a cathedral that was built in 1864. It was nice; stain glass murals, painted depictions and some gold-leaf trim around the ceiling (nothing compared to the cathedrals I saw through out Peru).

The rest of the day was spent...

1. Eating lunch with Dr. Beevers (Chris) at a Chinese restaurant. It was the best chinese food I have had here so far; pricey but worth it! I had Miso soup + curry chicken...and plenty of leftovers for dinner!

2. Bought some really shiny, awesome flats at "Bijoux" the only upper-class store I've seen so far on this island for a mere 25 US bucks.

3. Hanging out with the Spiceman ("l'homme") and Cameron a young local guy who sells the spices. I tried their home-distilled rum: passion fruit and coconut flavored. After building a repoire with both the men and buying a small bottle of the coconut rum I asked Cameron if I could see the pet boa constrictors he has in the cellar. He had 4 of them and also a coy pond. The Spiceman, whose name terms out to be Serge, can be described as a modern-day pirate. He's charming and has long dreads that go down to his back, a gold earring on each ear, a gold-bar eyebrow piercing, and small gold rings imbedded in his dreads. He was very charming and knowledgable about Indian culture. We had fun talking to both of the men. The Spiceman really liked Swati (a little too much, haha) and he soon took to me when I asked if I could try the boa that they had the on menu. He showed me how he cooked and all the spices that went into the curry/sauce: coconut milk, his secret spice mix, chili pepper, thyme, garlic, ginger, and sprinkled some nutmeg on top for flavor. The sauce was gourmet. The snake, was chewy and reminded me of under-cooked or raw octopus. Not my favorite and I couldn't taste the meat at all because of the strong curry. He said he prob should have just fried the snake and put the sauce on the side. Next time I guess!
  

We took pictures with the Spiceman and continued on our way. What an awesome experience, hanging out with the locals. Swati and I are definately coming back!

4. Bought frozen food (Lean Cuisine, Hot pockets) from the Safeway; sad but I'm really excited about it! It's so hard to find basic things where I live.

At the end of the day we took a local bus back to Picard for 9 ECs.

All in all it was a great day. We definately felt refreshed and satisfied with taking a small vacation away from this tiny strip of land we live on. Hope we have another chance to go back soon! It's such a relief for me to know that we Can leave this tiny town and go somewhere different and fun. It gave me a real sense of balance and the whole experienced was very chill and relaxing for me.

More later!