First Arrival

I have officially arrived at my new home in Dominica! I have met with my housemother Shirley, who is very kind and has jumped through hundreds of hoops to ensure our stay with her is as pleasant as possible. The house is vibrantly colored with bright blues, yellows, and greens. I will upload more pictures tomorrow when the sun is up to ensure they do the beauty it's full justice.

My travels to Dominica were successful (minus one of my peanut butter jars being seized by the TSA) , as I left my house at 3:AM and arrived to Dominica at 4:00 PM. The time in the middle was intermixed with disrupted airline-sleeping and idle chit chat among my fellow group mates. One unanticipated mistake I made during travel was to fill up my Nalgene water bottle in the Miami airport and carry it through to the St. Maartin security checkpoint. I was promptly stopped by security, and told that I had could not bring any liquids on the plane. Unfortunately, their checkpoint lacked a sink to dispose of liquids, and I was running late to catch my flight, and I knew there was only one way for me to make my flight. So, with a scared grin and an empty bladder, I swallowed my pride and then proceeded to swallow the  32 ounces of water I had in my bottle in one massive full chug. I then was whisked through security, and placed on a bus that shuttled everyone on my flight across the tarmac to the plane. We were then instructed to walk onto the double propeller plane, however due to an uneven distribution of weight, we were told by the stewardess to disregard our assigned seating, and were then placed at strategic points in the front and back of the plane to ensure an even distribution of weight. Lucky for us, the stewardess's game of balance was correct, and we then arrived at Dominica without problems or crashing.

Once through customs, we were picked up by a representative of the Dominica Manufacturers Association, who drove us through the most beautiful hour long drive of my life through the mountains. Once we reached Roseu, our driver took us to the local grocery store, (which was much like an american grocery store, except with less products, less light, and less advertising.) After showing us the store, he took us across the street to the local market, where a group of men with a machete and a truck full of coconuts were selling "jelly." Jelly is basically a non ripe coconut, which the butcher will strike powerfully several times with the machete to cut the coconut into a shape that allows the user to drink the sweet water within it. After the buyer drinks the water, the coconut is then struck with the machete several more times, and is returned to the buyer to scoop out the sweet white meat of the coconut with a chipped "spoon" made of coconut shell the the machete master skillfully removes with his machete. The coconuts were absolutely delicious, and I hope to add a picture of the process in the future.

After the coconuts, we returned to the cab, and drove up the winding mountain roads to Eggleton, where we met with Shirley, our house mother. She showed us around her lovely house, and were shown to our rooms. After eating a peanut butter jelly sandwich and the freshest mango I have ever eaten ,we all then retired to our rooms and family room to reflect on the day, and prepare for bed.

I am told that the sun will rise around 5:30 tomorrow morning, and that if the sun's blinding rays do not wake me, the cockadoodeldooing roosters certainly will. Tomorrow we will have our first full day on the nature island, and I can not wait to rest up and seize the day.

Adventure is out there!

-Michael Stewart