InLightIn

I missed very few "things" from Dominica while we were home...I missed the people. This not only included my friends, but the kiddos we work with in Portsmouth. We hang out with them every Friday in a program called InLightIn and they LOVE it. We give to them and they have given us so much more in return. Next Friday will be our first InLightIn of the semester and this Friday we went walking around the neighborhood to let the kids know we were back. They were delighted to see us and greeted us with big smiles and hugs. I even got a kiss on the cheek from one of them...looks like Kyle has some competition.

Just a few of the beautiful faces of Dominica. Their big eyes and beautiful smiles melt my heart. They have so little and yet they love so much.

As we walked through the neighborhood, I was struck by the beauty. They don't have big homes, in fact, they are nothing more than wooden or tin shacks, but the colors are so bright and lively and the people still greet you with a big smile and a hello. The woman in the center picture, Honey, was so excited to see us and have her picture taken with her daughter and her amazing garden. Many of the locals have no photos of themselves or their family and for this reason they get a huge kick out of seeing themselves in the screen of the digital camera.

Dominica Apartment: Take 3

This is our 3rd place since we've moved to Dominica. The first 2 moves were by choice, the last one was not. It's a very long and complicated story and I'm not one to verbally bash over the Internet so let's just say that this move was unexpected and actually happened while we were in AZ and leave it at that. Thanks to some help from some amazing friends, our stuff was quickly moved and stored safely away. Kyle and I found this place online from AZ and we are very happy with it. It's called Passion Fruit, so Caribbean right? It is a lot smaller that our last place, and cheaper, but my favorite part about it is how close it is to Kyle's study place. I am officially done delivering meals (Woo hoo!!!). He can walk home in 2 minutes for lunch, dinner, or even to use the bathroom (haha).

Here are some photos so you can get a better idea of where we live...

bedroom closet

our balcony and view of the ocean

the kitchen

from the kitchen/living room (notice the ugliest "couches" ever!) looking into the bedroom


the office nook

looking into the bathroom

the bedroom

Yet Another Island Adventure

Tuesday I embarked on yet another island adventure. The spouses had a trip planned to Trafalgar Falls and a hot spring "spa". I have been to both of these things quite a few times, but I signed up to go anyway. Again, Dominica doesn't disappoint in teaching me something new.

Lesson #1: Flora and Fauna

(clockwise from top left)
Agouti (no, this is not a giant rat, although it looks like one), pineapple, waterfall surrounded by the rain forest, and a plant that the locals have a special name for (I'll let you form your own opinion)

Lesson #2: Skin care
There are many hot springs in the southern part of Dominica and I have now been to 3 of them. This particular one has a place for a mud bath. This mud bath consists of sitting in a pond of murky water, digging your hand into the ground, scooping up jiggly, gooey mud, and lathering it onto your body. As you can imagine, we all got a good chuckle out of this.

Lesson #3: Beauty
Although I know Dominica is beautiful, I can sometimes forget about it as I'm lugging groceries in the rain. With all the annoying rain comes lush greenery that is picture perfect. The only thing that could make the beauty more perfect is to sit in a tub with constantly fresh hot spring water flowing into it to keep you fresh and warm. That's exactly what all of us got to do. All that was missing was a glass of wine and a good book. It was relaxing refreshing all at the same time.

Lesson #4: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Now, I know this is a Cyndi Lauper song, but it really fits my life right now. I have so much fun with these girls and I think it's because we're all in this crazy adventure together and we're up for anything to stay sane. On this adventure it included sucking on slimy cocoa beans (ick!) and drinking warm, fresh coconut water (ick again!)

Great day with the girls!

Maybe?

Much like our refrigerator and freezer, our oven has gotten progressively smaller with each move. The brand of the oven is "Mabe". Kyle says, "This means maybe it will work...maybe it won't". So far I haven't had too many issues with it. I light the top burners and oven each time I want to use it, there's no pilot light, and I've yet to be singed. It does make a very loud hissing and humming noise every now and again. It just sounds like a small jet is in my kitchen. No big deal. There's no temperature like 350 or 375, it's just "1,2,3,4, or 5". I guess this means "warm, warmer, hot, hotter, and hottest". That's what every cook needs when she's baking cookies right?

Weekend Fun

This weekend was quite eventful! It started out with a "progressive dinner" with all the spouses. One of the new spouses thought of the idea as a way for them to see some different apartments. Most people move after their first semester when they realize what will work for them. With this dinner, in just one evening, they got a good look at a few options. The girls hosting had everything from chicken teriyaki to Jello shots. I made coconut chocolate chip blondies for my place and we finished the evening off with some night swimming at the pool. It was a lot of fun and a great way to get to know some of the new girls.

Saturday I spent the day at Batibou Beach, my favorite beach on the island. I didn't take any pictures, since you've all seen it many times, plus, I didn't want those of you surrounded by snow to be too jealous.

Saturday evening Kyle and I went to dinner with Luke and Megan, his girlfriend visiting from Tucson. It was great to finally meet her. I'll be seeing her more as the week goes on as I take her on a trip with the spouses and show her what we do around here.
Sunday it drizzled on and off so I stayed in, made pizza dough to freeze, baked chocolate chip cookies for some of Kyle's study buddies, and finished a good book. What a relaxing way to end a great weekend.