I need to keep this updated more, or else I have too much to write about. Thursday didn't bring too much excitement. I went to a Yoga class with one of the girls I've made friends with. The class was outside on a deck by the beach off of campus and it was really relaxing to be so close to the ocean. English class was after that and it was entertaining as always. We worked with the French speaking people on making the "th" sound. I thought I would fall out of my chair laughing so hard. I was able to learn more about the people in the class and found out that a lot of them are from Haiti. I was a little bit curious as to why there is not any females in the intermediate English class, but found out that a lot of the men in the class have left their families in Haiti and come to Dominica to work. I can't imagine what life would be like in Haiti if they are coming to Dominica for a better life and to earn money to send home. I have heard that it's pretty bad though and Mothers feed their children dirt due to lack of anything else. If they are able to get flour, they mix it with the dirt and eat it. The trees have all been cut down to make shacks and because of the lack of foliage, when it rains it washes all of the good soil down into the ocean. Since there is so much soil in the ocean it covers the reefs and things and makes it inhabitable for fish. It sounds like one big vicious cycle. The brave men are here though, learning and earning what they can to hopefully make their families lives better. I don't know how they do it.
Friday Keith and I were able to go on an amazing hike to Aba Wavine Cyrique waterfall. It was a challenging hike but completely worth it! The first part of the hike wasn't too bad at all, but once you get to the side of the mountain, it's pretty straight down. There were sections that were straight down, then a section that was just really steep (you had to hold on to something still) then another straight section. We had a rope to hold on to for part of it, but it was easier to just hold on to the tree roots that were sticking out of the ground as they acted more like handles. It was a bit of an adrenaline rush for me and I was extremely nervous, but it was good to push myself and find out that I can conquer such a challenge. When we were almost to the base of the mountain, we reached a rope ladder and climbed down that and then pretty much scooted on our butts the rest of the way down while holding onto roots and plants. The waterfall was totally worth it and the beach and ocean were amazing! (it was the atlantic side of the island) The waves were pretty big, making it a little bit of a challenge to get out to the waterfall, but some of the people did it. Depending on the waves, the level of the sand varies and can almost bury the big rocks that we were standing on, making it possible to walk to the waterfall without a problem. The sand was low though and the rocks were exposed enough that we could climb up on them and the waves would splash up on our feet and sometimes (when sitting down) over us. We weren't able to stay for very long before we had to hike back up the mountain. Going up was so much easier than going down! All in all, it was amazing but I can barely move....still! Yesterday after Keith got done studying at about 5:00 we went to the beach (they only had 3 classes this week) and swam until the sunset. It was beautiful! The water was so calm, glassy, and clear. It was perfect for swimming and we could see little fish darting around by our legs. We took countless pictures of the sunset and the boats on the water and even then, we still didn't feel like we were able to capture the beauty of it. We are so blessed to be here!
Blah! I was so sick yesterday and although I felt better today than yesterday, I'm still not feeling great. Keith didn't feel well Monday night but was fine yesterday, tonight right before he went to bed he said he stomach was gurgling. When I called the principal of the prep school to tell her I wouldn't be in today, she said that a lot of people have the same thing. She said something must be going around, but I blame everything on the water. I didn't do well with the tap water when we first got here, but they say it takes a week or two to adapt. 6 weeks later, I've given up and I haul water jugs down to campus (where the water is triple filtered), fill them up, and haul them home. That seemed to take care of my problems until yesterday. I don't know if we ate something, if it's the water, or if something is really just going around. Whatever it is, I'm ready to be done with it! We don't have much food, but yesterday I didn't dare get any further than about 20 feet from the bathroom. One of the grocery stores here is supposed to have free delivery, but every time I ask, they tell me they can't. I called today and they said no deliver today, call back tomorrow. Due to our lack of food and after sitting in the apartment all day yesterday and half of today, I decided I had better get out before I drove myself crazy. Luckily I was able to catch a transport soon after leaving my apartment. There's not much food that sounds good when you're sick, but rolls or tortillas were sounding good, plus making them would give me something to do! We had about 1/2 cup flour left so I was planning on getting soup, flour, and some bottled water since I didn't feel like packing gallons of water home from campus. I get to the grocery store and what do you know.....they are out of flour! Last week they were out of eggs, this week, it's flour! The other grocery store may have had some, but the tiny little ants that crawl all over the shelves there have really discourage me from buying anything but canned goods and charcoal. So I bought some cheap crackers, some expensive soup (canned goods on average are about 2x as much as back home) and headed home. Keith studied late, so by the time he got home I was about ready to go crazy! If I had been at home (in the states) with this much time on my hands, I could have easily filled it with about anything. Scrapbooking, studying, organizing things, about anything. Being home all day alone here is a completely different story! With no car to even go anywhere, it's been a long day. I guess to look on the positive side, I don't have classes that I've had to worry about missing, I don't have to call in sick to work, I just call to let the places I volunteer at know that I won't be there and everything is taken care of. Oddly enough, long days like this make me miss school so much! I really was missing my job in the Infant Room today as well. Homesickness is always magnified by physical sickness. I saw a commercial for Wal-Mart on TV and (this totally weirds me out) I actually missed the place! Some days it feels like we'll be here forever!
The past couple of days have been something. The first test of med school is such a stressful thing! (Including for me!) It is starting in 15 minutes and although I'm nervous, I'm surprisingly calm. Wednesday night was when the anxiety and stress hit the hardest for poor Keith, but he has studied like a maniac since then and was surprisingly calm this past weekend. Saturday I went with the Ross Spouse Organization (RSO) to Sunsets Beach and it was nice. They had a nice pool for all of the kids to swim in and on the beach they had lounge chairs (which are not common around here) where all of the wives without children seemed to flock to. Sunsets is actually a hotel/restaurant and for $10 EC (eastern Caribbean $) which is about $3 USD you can pay to use the facilities. We had lunch there and I had my first decent cheeseburger and fries since I've been on the island! I was quite excited! It's funny how they prepare some things down here, every sandwich I've ever order has cucumber on it, including my cheeseburger. I am growing to really like it though. It was nice to check out a different beach and relax with some of the other wives. Last night I think that Keith needed to get out of the apartment and do something relaxing before today. We walked down to the beach after dinner and although the sun had just set, the sky was beautiful and still full of different colors. We stood on the dock, talked, and enjoyed the beauty of Dominica. The view was breath taking and the weather was awesome. It had cooled off a little and it reminded me of a summer night in Idaho. I know the next 14 & 1/2 months are going to fly by and I can't believe that we've already been here for 6 weeks! I don't think that I will ever see enough sunsets on the ocean.
Today I got to see what a Dominican "Primary" (elementary) school is actually like and it is more of what I envisioned things being like down here. I went with a group to help at Savanne Paille (pronounced Sav.on.Pie) and it broke my heart. Unlike the Elementary Prep School, a lot of kids couldn't read. I helped two 8 year olds who were behind in their class. One of them read fairly well, the other wasn't sure of all of the letters. I was surprised when they brought the boys out that I would be working with and one of them was white. I am guessing he has lived on the island for most of his life and I am pretty confident I saw his Dad at the market last week selling vegetables. His name was Obed (sp? Pronounced O-Bed) and he had just as strong of an accent as any of the natives. I tried to have him read "Green Eggs and Ham" to me but quickly realized that we would have to start from the basics. When the other volunteers told me that I would be working with 8 year olds on the basics, I imagined words such as "they" "when" "are" basic 3-4 letter words, but these children need the basics as in the ABC's and what sound each letter makes. I read them a book about snakes and didn't realize how much they have never seen when they thought that the gazelle a snake was eating was a cow. They've never seen deer and they are limited in the books that they have, so I did my best to explain what a gazelle might look like and how big it would be. There were multiple things that I figured all children new about but these kids had no clue about. (even some of the basic "farm animals") It broke my heart to see the lack of education in these children's lives, especially compared to the children at the Prep School. The 5 year olds I was helping yesterday were probably a couple of reading levels above these 8 year olds and one of the volunteers said that she helps a 12 year old who struggles with 3-4 letter words as well. Some of the other volunteers think that some of the children we help tutor are dyslexic or have learning disabilities, but there is no one here to test them and no help (other than volunteers) even if they do struggle with one thing or another. I think that Obed has problems with his eyes, when I would point to a word, he would always try to read the word above it. I would cover up every other word on the page, and he would put his face right next to the page and still struggle. I am making ABC flashcards to use next time and we are starting at the basics and hopefully before too long, it will make at least a little bit of a difference. We do only go for 45 minutes once a week but I wish we went more often. If it were closer, I would go by myself but it's too far and as of right now, not really an option.
I went and helped with the English classes again tonight but I went into the intermediate class this time. Since Leigh is helping Blake in the beginning class, I thought I'd help Sis. White upstairs. This way, when the Whites and Blake and Paul leave, Leigh and I can still each teach a class and be familiar with the people in them. I really enjoyed the intermediate class and laughed at least half of the time I was in there. The natives like to joke about everything and although it made me extremely uncomfortable at first, (I couldn't understand them) I am starting to better understand them and laugh along. Every week a couple of the "students" are assigned to write 3 full sentences about their lives to present in front of the class the next time. This week about tore my heart out. The first guy got up and said that when he was little he dreamed about being a doctor. He worked hard in all of his studies and did well in school. When he graduated, his family did not have enough money to send him to a university and so he still works here on the island and dreams about being a doctor. The second man got up and said that when he was little, he wanted to grow up and be a rich man (as in, that would be his profession) so that he could have money for his family. His parents told him life is hard but he didn't believe it and thought that if he worked hard enough, he could be a rich man. Now, he knows his parents were right, life is hard, and he is not a rich man. The third guy got up and made up some sentences (he had not done his homework) and said that he wishes he had money to take his wife (somewhere I couldn't understand). They all have positive attitudes, but it's sad to see people who want to do things with all of their heart, work so hard and earnestly to achieve their goals, and get the shut down because of their economical situation. The next 15 months are going to be such a humbling experience as we continue to get to know the natives and spend more time learning about their lives and culture.
The adventures continued this morning as I volunteered in the elementary prep school on campus. It was fun and I'm excited to go again next week. I've volunteered to go in every Monday and Wednesday morning from 9:00-12:00 and help in all of the classrooms. Today I split my time between the PreK/Kindergarten classroom that had 7 kids in attendance but 8 in the class and the 1st-3rd grade class that also had about 8 children. I am so impressed with their school and the program they have. I worked with some of the 4 & 5 years olds on their reading and was blown away with all that they knew! Not only do they have a good program at the school, but having such small classes allows the teacher to give a lot more individual attention to all of the students. I would love to work in a similar school when I get my degree, it was neat to volunteer and I am excited to go back and continue working with the children. Principal Grogan is also very anxious to make sure that everyone has the best possible experience on the island and has given me handfuls of advice. She has been encouraging me to look into an on-line school (or just classes) that would allow me to continue my education and count the hours that I am spending in the prep school towards my degree. Mary (Grogan) said that she will write any type of letter that I need to prove that she is an accredited teacher and principal and that the work I'm doing down here is valid and could easily count towards my degree. I'll see what I can find, but I'm a little bit hesitant about the on-line degree scene.
Well, I'm still not entirely sure how to use the blog but I figure with all that happens on a daily basis I had better just start posting. Today, just like everyday, was full of adventures. The island is having a shortage of eggs due to lack of chicken food. Many of the chickens didn't make it during the famine and I am anticipating a long wait for the egg count to get up to where it once was. I went to both of the grocery stores and a vegetable stand that has eggs occasionally but had no luck. My afternoon was open and I had wanted to make more rolls and attempt cinnamon rolls again, but I guess that will have to wait. I have enjoyed having the time to cook real meals for Keith as well as fun things such as cinnamon rolls. I feel like such a better wife as well as a more skilled person as I learn to cook different dishes as well as with different foods. It has been a challenge to know what to do with some of the food down here, but talking to the other wives and the natives has given me some great ideas. After my egg hunt I had some time with Keith for lunch which is an hour I treasure every day. This evening I was able to start helping teach English to the natives. What an experience. I mostly observed and work with a shy girl who struggled to read and had a hard time pronouncing many English words. It is such a humbling experience to spend quality time with some of the people here. I helped in the beginning class, which is in the bottom level of the church and has 25 people in it. Sister White teaches the intermediate class upstairs and I would imagine it has close to the same amount of people. President White would like to be able to start another class because of the amounts of people that had to be turned away for this semester. Now that Leigh is teaching and I am learning to teach, we have enough teachers to start more classes but not enough space. Hopefully the Church will find land to build on before too long and we can move to a larger building, opening up all sorts of possibilities! In the short time that we have been here, we have been able to witness the branch grow and we are so excited to be a part of it. Every week it feels like the "chapel" has more people in it and before too long, the room will be to small. Pres. White is now searching for land to build and the branch won't have to rent the bottom two floors of the "Kool-Air" building. Keith talked to our native neighbor about the church and he (Rens) has already read the Book of Mormon. We talked to him on our way home from church on Sunday and he said that he will make it next week. We are hoping to see him there, but know that we might need to form a stronger friendship with him first. We'll see. After teaching English tonight Keith and I didn't have much time to spend together, but had fun while we could. We pulled out the marshmallows, the Nilla wafers, and a Hershey bar I bought at the bookstore and turned the propane stove on. It was all we had to work with, but the s'mores we made tonight were the best I've ever had. It was nice to relax and laugh with each other, even for a short time. We lit almost every marshmallow (that we were roasting on forks) on fire but it just made the experience that much better. We laughed and giggled with each other for a while and then just enjoyed our s'mores. I love this time in my life!
