4th Semester Sales

We just got home from the 4th semester sales which is basically a yard sale on campus for all the students leaving the island. The sales are traditionally held under a big tent on the lawn in front of the library. They are supposed to start at 8:00, but people start showing up much earlier than that.
I went to the sales this morning hunting for several things including:
Textbooks for the next two semesters
Christmas presents of any variety
Cheaper food items to give to people arriving on the island
Coloring supplies and paper
I was quite successful in my bargain hunting, but I paid dearly for the bargains in the form of patience. Since my husband's major study day is Saturday he had left for school before the rest of us had even woken up. I dragged myself out of bed, and then tried to get the girls to get up so we could get going. They must have stayed up late since they wouldn't wake up even at our normal time to get ready for school! Then the whining started. But I was determined, we were going to find a good sale... It had rained all night and I had forgotten to put the cover on the stroller, so no transportation for the girls to campus, they had to walk, and no where to store purchases except for one backpack. We ran into friends on our way, and at thank heavens one of my girls got to hitch-hike a ride on the front of a stroller!
We finally arrived on campus around 7:40 and the sales were all ready off to a good start. I hastened to get in under the tent and start shopping and as I was completing my first transaction my littlest one cried out "Oh no, Mommy! I need to go potty!!!"
"No big deal," I tell myself, I can take her to the restroom and make it back before half of the things are sold, but then the oldest didn't want to come to the restroom with us, and the youngest decided she was going with or without her mother, and before I knew it both children had disappeared through a crowd of people in different directions. I located the oldest first and made sure she could stick with a friend before turning to chase after the little one. She had come back and was right behind me. I'm still not sure if she realized that she'd better wait for Mommy, or if she realized she didn't know where she was going.
The saga continued as I realized I had forgotten the list of textbooks I was supposed to look for, that I had miscalculated and needed to run to the ATM, and though my husband was supposed to take a break from studying to come and join us at the sales he had still not shown up. By the time we got back to the tent it was after 8:10 and paraphernalia and money were quickly changing hands.
We plunged into the sea of people, dividing our lists and attempting to haggle for the prices we were willing to pay. It started raining again. Hard. The water cascaded off the grass and into the dirt under the tent and before you knew it we could have had a really decent match of mud wrestling going on! My darling husband realized that the girls were driving me crazy by this point with comments like "Mommy, I want this!" "Mommy, I want that!" "Mommy, I don't want to step in the mud!" "Mommy, please can we get this?" "Mommy, I REALLY want this!" "Mommy, I WANT THIS!" repeated ad nauseum while I was attempting to find the items on my list. Between the muck and the whining, he decided it was time for them to take a break. He took them over to Subway to get pancakes that cost four times the price that we can make them for. I got my shopping done, and even including the superfluous breakfast we found almost all the coveted items at great prices.
My oldest even charmed a student into giving her a radio, the youngest went home with her prize in the form of a little stuffed turkey that gobbles, someone gave my husband a free textbook, and I now own shaving gel.
Maybe next time they'll hold the sales on the deck where there's no mud...

Happy Holidays and Merry Christsmas!

'Tis the season, and the children's program at the Ross University Preparatory school really helped welcome in the holiday season! Ms. Autumn spent hours and hours helping the children prepare a beautiful holiday program, which both of my angels participated in. Of course, it was a collaborative effort involving all of the RUPS staff, and Ms. Bethany playing the piano. They were fantastic!
The program started out with a skit by the older children, which unfortunately I did not get to pay attention to, for as I turned my camera on I realized that the girls had filled up my memory card! I sat erasing photo after photo of toys and blurs of their room and their posters, and even several shots of half of each others faces. By the time I got enough shots erased to take some video they were coming out 'on stage'.
Out the younger children came, each with a paper letter that spelled the words "Happy Holidays" and said, shouted, squeaked or clearly pronounced a little statement regarding their letters. As they formed their lines, my youngest looked at the half of the room we were not sitting in, and said "Hi Mom!" and waved at all those parents. They (the parents) of course started laughing, knowing that I was sitting in the other direction. People also highly enjoyed my oldest's articulate and animated statement regarding her letter.
The children continued with their program, singing their renditions of Jingle Bell Rock and Happy Holiday. Again, my youngest disrupted by waving and saying "Hi" throughout the songs, and even left the program to come give me and her Daddy a kiss in the middle of the program!
Several parents commented on how she 'stole the show' and how entertaining she was.
We decided to reward my husband's poor performance on the Physiology Shelf exam by eating out at Subway, a rare (and expensive) treat for us. The girls were being children and I was trying to keep them in check while standing in line and exchanging pleasantries with the rest of the que, when suddenly I realized that the youngest had climbed onto the soda machine counter and was prepared to start dispensing drinks into the drain.
Oh, my little drama queen. How I love her, even when she adds such disorder to my life!
I wonder where in the world they get their fun-loving and fancy free spirits from? ;)

New Haircut Rocks the Caribbean

At 1:30 pm today I was getting my hair cut. At 2:00 pm my hair was cut and the coloring process begun... at 2:45 pm we walked to school to pick up our children. Promptly at 3:00 the entire Eastern Caribbean started shaking. Yes, that is how great my new 'do is. Good enough to trigger an earthquake!

Ha! In reality I'm not surprised to have experienced an earthquake during our stay on Dominica. After all, the island is volcanically active, with vents under the sea. It is this geological force which provides the island with so many hot springs, including the second largest boiling lake in the world. Dominica is one of the few islands that is 'growing' rather than eroding. You can read a news report on the earthquake by clicking on this link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071129/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/caribbean_earthquake.

I've never been in an earthquake before, and this one will make a good story. 7.3 on the Richter Scale, but no one got hurt. I found the experience to be exciting, but many of my friends were quite frightened by it. It was strong enough to be felt by all, and to trigger feelings of nausea, but not quite strong enough to knock things off shelves. My husband hardly noticed it at all, his comment was "I was walking and I thought there was something wrong with the building I was entering."

In other news, I had my haircut A-line style, a 'do I have been wanting ever since Junior High. I love my new cut, and can't wait to grow the front longer, increasing the angle that gives the hairstyle it's descriptive name. According to several sources, it's taken 10 years off of me. Wait a minute, does that mean I used to look REALLY old?

Spani Falls

Spani Falls in one of the less frequently visited waterfalls on Dominica, but so far, it has been my favorite. First we hiked up a rocky path that seemed very much like a cement road that was laid over unprepared ground. Then we got into the rain forest where the plant life ranges from the miniscule to the extra-large. Eventually we came to a narrow trail which featured occassional wooden railing. The poles/logs that made up the railing were completely covered in moss and looked like they could be very deteriorated. Then we got to this cliff(?) that was covered in vines and it was like the entire thing was a waterfall. It was literally dripping from the top down and it was almost like rain! (I wish the picture would have turned out better.) Spani Waterfall has great height, and the water was colder than I would have cared to swim in. I loved the solitude of the natural beauty, and secluded feeling the area offered. I also loved seeing that raining wall. I've seen lots of waterfalls, but never an entire cliff side that just rains!

Halloween on the Rock

Halloween was so much fun! My only regret is that I didn't dress up as Wonder Woman. When I was a little girl I always wanted to be Wonder Woman, and my parents always got me to pick something else because it was too cold (I'm sure it had as much to do with modesty). It was definitely warm enough here to dress up as skimpily as you could wish to, remembering that you normally get hit on while wearing army boots on the island.

The spouses organization threw a carnival the Saturday before Halloween. I've been attending Halloween carnivals since before I can remember. I've seen more than my fair share, and this was THE BEST ONE EVER. Combine amazing refreshments with adorable children who are happy to be there with lots of supportive help from spouses without children and students who wanted to pitch in, not to mention a variety of great children's activities and plenty of candy to go around... you get the picture! Then the kids got to trick-or-treat through campus, attending most of the classrooms and administrative offices during the last part of school Halloween day. Our church held a little get together Halloween evening that was also very well done, and it was fun to see the reactions of the local children who do not celebrate the holiday.

Overall I would say Halloween week was the best one on the island yet!

Pudding

Yummmmmmy! It's amazing how a simple box of pudding can be a fantastic treat that the whole family loves. Jell-O and Pudding are great little things to stuff in a barrel to take up all the extra little space from packed items that are irregularly shaped.
This last week has been a pretty tough one for us. Being sick is always difficult, but when you add being stir-crazy and sick with stir-crazy sick children... yeah, fun. Then there are the inevitable bumps we all run in to or step in, like my youngest yesterday who was standing on some grass on campus when she was attacked by ants. Hundreds of them were all over her shoes and socks. I ripped them off of her as quickly as I could, and she was only bit a couple of times (thank Heavens) but during that time my oldest daughter and the little girl I was walking home just kept walking! Then the youngest ran off after them and I was trying to bang the ants off the socks and shoes and follow the children along with three backpacks, waterbottles, and various other necessitites including an umbrella because of course it was raining during this whole episode. It's amazing that I was only bit once. Man those little buggers can sting! A student who recognized that I needed help stood with my girls while I caught up, but the little girl I was walking home just took off and ran all the way home! Then I carried my youngest the rest of the way home because I couldn't get the last couple of ants out of her shoes and socks.
In addition to that, she woke up after she'd only been in bed like an hour and begged and cried for a milkshake. So I gave in (it was late and I thought it would get her in bed). She couldn't fall asleep after that, and kept getting up and complaining about a tummy ache, which I of course figured was her way of trying to stay up since this has been a major issue lately. Right after I put her in her bed and chewed her out for getting out of bed, she got up for like the 10th time and promptly vomitted all over the place. I felt so bad. Poor kid. So then Shane sticks her in the shower (we don't have bathtubs) and I'm cleaning up the mess and when I go to check on her I realize that she has found the economy-size bottle of Aussie shampoo that is supposed to get us through our stay on the island and she is pumping it all over the shower floor. So, of course, despite the fact that I was still feeling sorry for 'yelling' at a sick child I can't help but tell her off again. (This isn't our first experience with her wasting my shampoo.)
Add to that the battle I'm waging to try and help other spouses with their island experience and the frustrations that develop from that and I'm just grateful tonight for pudding. Seriously, after our ummm.... whirlwind.... trip to the island and the subsequent trials I promised myself that I would find a way to make it easier for those who follow. It just seems like I'm banging my head against a brick wall lately. I really want to get a sponsorship program started, but how do you do that when you don't know who the new spouses are? Seriously, I thought the RSO website would be a decent way to find new spouses, but so far it's only helped locate 2. This is still progress, and at least I can help those 2, but I know there are so many more out there who could benefit from our knowledge and experience. Oi! I just don't get why grown-ups can't figure out how to get along with each other and how to help each other. I know it's not surprising, this is why there are wars in the world, but still, come on people! Why can't we all be a little less selfish and a little more concerned with helping our fellow men!

My Favorite Things

Seeing as we are home, sick, again, I figured I'd take the opportunity to address what items we packed or had shipped that have been of the most use on the island.

Let's see, ummm.... not that I haven't mentioned it before, but THE STROLLER. It's like our car. I consider it indispensable.
MY LAPTOP. Yes, it is my link to the outside world. I can use the internet to find almost anything I could want and have it shipped to family to ship to me, or download it directly, or even print off coloring pages, games, activities and recipes, which brings me to my next item....
MY PRINTER. Okay, so really, maybe it shouldn't be on the list. I've seen printers here for pretty decent prices. I don't know whether the ink cartridges would be at decent prices though...
MY IPOD. Man, I sound like my husband with all this digital stuff. Really, the iPod is my DVD player and my radio and my portable television.
THE EXTERNAL HARD-DRIVE. 500 gigs of whatever I want... most of it movies, but room for Shane's school stuff too!
KEEN SHOES. I can't imagine life here without them. They're almost a part of us....
CLOTHING. I think I'd go crazy if I tried to find clothing for the whole family here.
SCHOOL SUPPLIES. We saved a ton of money by buying these in the States and then bringing them with us.
KITCHEN STUFF. My Pampered Chef food chopper, the Magic Bullet blender, the slow cooker, the rice cooker, a good spatula/flipper, princess cups... I cook a lot here. It took a lot of time to buy all of the kitchen things that I needed, and I should have found a lot of the stuff in Roseau in our first couple of weeks on the island, except that we got here so late that Shane was all ready in school so going to Roseau was a fond dream. Buying a lot of this stuff at the 4th semester sales saved us some money, but it was difficult living without them for an entire semester until then. I think our best purchase on the island was either the sandwich maker or the area rug.
WIND-UP FLASHLIGHT. Oh yeah. We even use it as a night light.
RECHARGEABLE LANTERN. The electricity is out again? No problem.
RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES. Batteries are not candy, but we go though them like they are.
OUR PILLOWS. Yes, the pillows truly suck here.
LIFE-JACKETS, SNORKELING EQUIPMENT and beach toys. The safety of my children is paramount and once I've strapped them in I worry a lot less and actually enjoy myself on the beach.
MAGIC ERASER. I have children. Enough said.
MY CAMERA. There's no way I could feel good about living here in paradise and not chronicling it with a camera. ;)
SUNGLASSES. All though you can purchase them here, at least we have the types we like at decent prices.
TOYS. Yup. Toys.
PAPER CRAFTS. We can always find something to do with some construction paper and markers and glue...
5 GAL. WATER CONTAINERS. The collapsible ones on the camping aisle at Wal-Mart. I sleep a lot better knowing that we have water stored for an emergency.

Okay, okay, so I admit it. Everything we brought has been pretty useful. You can get a lot of things here, it's just that they cost triple what they should, or they are only available once in a three month period. I'd put the sunscreen and repellant on the list, except that they are available here. Like everything else they cost a lot more here. It really was worth flying to Miami and purchasing all sorts of food and items to ship back here. We could have done without, but it was a small price to pay compared to trying to get all the stuff we need on the island. We've all ready noticed a big difference in our comfort level and our budget. A lot of my friends have been using Beach Groceries for their food and they are loving it.

Did you notice the Dates?

Yeah. So did you know that you can open a blog, lose it, search and search for it, and then find it on accident when you start a new one? Yes, that's what happened to me, and now I have tons and tons of catch-up to play! And the worst part is that the most helpful things that I could have chronicled for new spouses coming to the island mostly happen during the first semester!!!

Recently I was asked about whether or not I regret our decision to come to the island. I'm not sure why, but I've spent a lot of time reflecting on that. I answered that I absolutely do not regret it, but truthfully what do I have to compare it to? I don't know what it would be like at any of the other Caribbean medical schools that we could have attended. I also realize that I really won't know how I feel about our adventure until it's over. In the mean time, I plan on enjoying every bit of island life that I can. We've had a couple of slow days lately... we've had a mysterious illness that has manifested itself as a cold, a fever, general crankiness, and fatigue... a different symptom for every member of the family! Having children home all day from school in the confines of a small apartment when you're not feeling well works out for some s-l-o-w days.

We recently had a visit from one of the few creatures of the island that I had hoped we would never meet - a 10 inch long poisonous centipede! I was groping through the toy box (read 'big suitcase') in the dark to get sand toys for going to the beach the next day. I thought I had flipped a necklace out of the toys, and that it was sliding to the floor, but then it kept moving and I realized it had legs!!! Lots and lots of legs!!! I still can't believe I didn't scream, but I went and woke up my husband and had him kill it. Now here is the kicker... if you try to kill these wicked creatures and don't succeed on your first try they charge you! By the second strike the centipede was dead, but all we could do was sit and stare at it for a half an hour to make sure it was really, truly dead. Then we had a hard time falling asleep. So freaky!

(We had another little friend visit a several weeks later that I got a picture of. The one in the sink is one third the size of the one I blogged about.)

The first semester on the island

Our first semester on the island was full of adventures, adjustments, and lots and lots of walking. We lived about a mile from the campus and after a few days of taking busses and walking while carrying children I knew we needed a stroller. My friend Angela came through for us in a big way, buying the stroller we needed and shipping it to us so that we could get it in a matter of days and pay her back later. The stroller made our lives so much easier! We got to take a tour of the island within our first week and went and hiked around Fresh-Water Lake, bathed in a hot spring under Trafalgar Falls, and swam near Scott's Head where the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea are separated by about 30 feet of land. The following weekend we went whale watching. Shane was sick the entire trip, but we did get to see the fluke of a baby whale.
Shane completed orientation and registration and non-stop school and studying quickly became the norm for him. We had a couple of issues with our landlord, who was elderly and couldn't handle the noise if we had any of the girls' friends over to play. Setting up a home here was very difficult. Most of the products are the type that you can find at a dollar store, but they cost a whole lot more than a dollar. We ended up having Shane's parents ship us a whole box of kitchen supplies.
My days have been mostly spent doing the 'Mom' thing. School starts at 8:00, we are responsible to supervise our own children during lunch from 12:00 to 1:00, and school ends at 3:00. I quickly discovered that by the time I walked home from lunch I only had 20 minutes before it was time to head back and pick Chandee up from school! So, Kira and I started hanging out on campus during this time, every day. There is a playground under the full strength of the sun, and a semi-airconditioned room where we spent most of our time. It was taxing on both of us.
Truthfully, it was a rough semester. I'm glad it's over!

Where in the world is Dominica???

Dominica is at 15.8 degrees north lattitude, 61 degrees west. We're closer to Venezuela than the States. Shane is attending Ross University School of Medicine (a subsidiary of DeVry.) We flew in through the mountains of the island on April 30th, and moved in to our apartment on May 1st. If you want to know what our little piece of paradise looks like you can watch Pirates of the Caribbean 2 or 3 or you can watch "Pirate Master" on CBS since they were all filmed here. The island is 16 miles wide and about 29 miles long, with the capital Roseau being about 25 miles to the south from us. Those 25 miles take about 45 minutes to an hour to travel by bus because of the mountainous terrain. There are many things to see on the island, and even more things to see around the island if you care to snorkel or scuba dive. We've all ready toured several of the "nature island's" tourist attractions, and we are looking forward to experiencing many more of the island's natural beauties.

In an effort to maintain friendships and share our knowledge we are opening this blog. I say "we" but I really mean "I" because my husband won't have the time and the children are too young to add their own thoughts, all though I will probably catalogue their advice from time to time! If I am able to devote the time, I would like this blog to be available to future families of Ross Students so that they can prepare and learn from our advetures, in addition to keeping our family and friends posted on our whereabouts and adventures. I'd like to open this blog with a picture I took from the airplane of Dominica. I figure it's a pretty decent opener to this chapter in our lives....