Dominica was BEAUTIFUL. I thought the ride there took a long time so I don't know how being at sea for 9 whole days is going to feel. On the first day in Dominica, we got up (early. at 7 am) in the morning and tried to watch our ship dock but the times got messed up. The pilot was supposed to come aboard at 7:30 but by the time we were looking at like 7:45, we were in port. We snagged a cab into town and walked around taking pictures of everything and ran into a tour guide who told us that, if we were running low on time for the day, to go to the botanical gardens and the "45 steps". The steps brought you up to a point where you had a panoramic view from above of the island. I was sincerely not ready for the hike so we were all in flipflops and everyone knows I'm extremely clumsy soooo I slipped and skinned my knee :( it was so gorgeous though so i was okay with it. But a casual note to self: never wear flipflops on a hike again.
While walking through Roseau to get back to the ship, the ground was super uneven and I stubbed my toe and split it open. Seriously, I'm a walking menace. I went on my first FDP that afternoon (Faculty Directed Practica) and went to see the Carib Indians. They were, I believe because we got cut short on time, the people who inhabited the island first and their settlement was awesome. I took awesome pictures so that's cool. We took the hour and a half bus ride around the island to Carib (Kalinago) territory and saw how they make their Casava bread, how they practice homeopathy, how they juice sugarcane (no, not my bbz), and had snacks of traditional food. By this time, it was 5 pm and we still hadn't made it to the Emerald Pool so I opted out of that; by the time we reached it, the sun would have set and it would have been pointless. The Kalinago tribe are also the indians from Pirates 2 and our tour guide and other people we met were extras in the movie. I'll have to go back and watch it now to see if I recognize any! The huts used in the film were dropped off at the Kalinago reserve after the film was done!
We went out that night to a local bar where, we were hoping, we would have dinner. It had a burger place with it and we were starving. In preport, we had the warnings about "don't eat this in the country, don't eat that" and they literally said we couldn't eat red meats, grouper, barracuda, salmon, burgers, fruits that don't have a peel, etc. so of course I ordered BEEF burger and forgot about the warnings. But don't worry, it was literally the most disgusting smelling thing I've ever had. I didn't feel well earlier, must have beent he fact that I still felt like I was rocking on a ship, so I couldn't even try to stomach it. I took a bite of a fry and spit it out right away and did the same with the burger. Thinking about it now, I'm starting to feel queasy. My friend C ate most of it and another girl, K, took a bite and said it tasted wild. Welp, we came to find out that it WAS wild because it was GOAT. When I told my new friend who works at the pool that it was goat, he was relatively offended because he likes goat. But I don't. I'm a little scarred from this experience now... We each had the local rum punch and, let me tell you, the rum here is EXTREMELY sweet. It was so difficult to choke down. I also won't share the name of the drink but if anyone cares to ask, you can email me and I will.
The next day, K, P, and I went into town again for an internet cafe and to walk around some more. After the hike in flipflops, I wanted to take it a little easy because my leggies were hurting. I'm not all that upset about spending two days in Roseau because it was so pretty, it was definitely worth it. At the internet cafe, I had literally the most delicious Croque Monsieur I've ever eaten. It was on a fresh baguette and the top was cut off and toasted with butter and herbs. It tasted just like garlic bread. I would go back to Dominica just for the Croque Monsieur. Seriously. Then K and P wanted KFC, because Yum Brands (? maybe?) is the only fast food chain on the island and their southern blood sent them into a biscuit craving frenzy. When we walked in, the smell smacked us in the face and it must have been left over from the day before but I couldn't stand to be in there. So no, M&D, I passed up KFC :) We also went food shopping and I bought more nutella, better to be prepared. On our way back, we ran into two men doing SAS and asked if they'd accompany us back as to stop traveling in a group of three girls. We stopped at a fresh fruit market and bought bird bananas and fresh mangos. They aren't even in season yet and it was literally the most delicious thing i've ever eaten. We rinsed it with our water bottles with the water we couldn't bring back on the ship and peeled it by hand while sitting in the back of the market that was set up at the dock. It looked like we were eating baby food but it was delicious. Apparently the pool bar sells fresh fruit smoothies so that might be my new go-to snack, especially when C and I have snacktime... Classes are okay and I find myself actually reading for them because it's so interesting. So hopefully that will stay the trend. We have a reading day tomorrow and I'm planning on actually reading to get ahead. That might be the first time in... ever. But that's all for now! Miss you all! xxx
ps: the buzzing finally stopped after a good 35 minutes. I know you were all dying to know!
