All of these islands are considered "The West Indies". That's us there almost in the center. We are far south and a little east of the USA and only a couple hundred miles north of South America. We are on Atlantic Standard Time which makes us 1 hour ahead of Eastern Time, 2 hours ahead of Central Time, 3 hours ahead of Mountain Time, and 4 hours ahead of all you West Coasters. Dominica is a volcanic island (there are apparently 8 active volcanoes on this teeny little island!) so it's very mountainous. I'm not sure if this is geographically correct or not, but the island is somewhat of a rain forest. It rains multiple times a day here, but it's usually only for a split second and most of the time there are blue skies even when there is a downpour! It's a little strange and takes some getting used to. You have to bring an umbrella and/or a rain jacket everywhere you go because inevitably it WILL rain at some point while you're out. There is a constant sound track of birds and frogs and other things that surprisingly enough is quite pleasant. With the windows open (which they are ALL THE TIME) it sounds a bit like we're camping. But I rather like it! Out the front of our apartment, we are looking onto the hillside. There are other apartment buildings (they definitely are NOT considered "complexes" here...) and a spectacular view of the mountains. Out the back of our apartment...well just see for yourself:
That's right folks. An ocean view! Oh it is so spectacular and the picture doesn't really do it justice. We rented this apartment sight unseen (welcome to the world of a first semester Dominican med student!), and the pictures showed a sliver of an ocean view out the back balcony. Honestly, though, I figured that was just a pitch to try and get people to rent here. When Jonathan and I got here, it was already dark out, so we couldn't see anything. Our landlord, Clifford, pointed out where the ocean was. But it wasn't until the next morning when we got up and went out on the back porch that we saw that gorgeous view. Totally worth it. Our apartment is located about a 3 minute walk from the main campus, about a 7 minute walk from the annex (where Jonathan will be taking most of his classes this semester), and we can literally throw a rock from our back porch to the building they call "The Barn" which is the multi-purpose building where lots of students study at night. There is also a pool on campus which is visible from my back porch. I will be frequenting there I think!
So even though we have only been here since Saturday, we've already got TONS of stories (I know that surprises so many of you). I will bring them out in small doses, though, so you won't have to read a novel. For now, let me just give you a small picture tour of our sweet little island home. And also remind you that we would LOVE to have you come down and hang out! It's a once in a lifetime opportunity, and (though it's small) the Womack Bed and Breakfast is open for the next 16 months y'all! Buy your plane tickets and then just come stay with us!
This is actually a view of Barbados as we were flying in (we caught a connecting LIAT flight from there into Dominica...). It was so spectacular! We will definitely need to make a trip back there at some point...
This is the view from what they call "The Upper Seaside Deck". This is actually on campus! Behind me in this picture is a sweet little open air place to eat (there's a Subway inside!) where lots of students enjoy their lunch. Down on the shoreline (that little brown deck) is where they conduct yoga classes. Sign me up!
This is an old "ruin" from a rum distillery. And yes...that is on the campus of the medical school. Only in Dominica y'all...
This is our little apartment building. It's called Comfort Zone. To the far left you can sort of see the sun going down over the ocean. That is a sight to see lemme tell ya. We are on the 3rd floor and our apartment is smack in the middle (#13). The Wellses are in #15 which is the end unit on the right. You're looking at the front of the building now. That's Jonathan on the left and Matt on the right. Stay tuned for the story about the floor fan he's holding...
This is Portsmouth Beach which is on the Caribbean Ocean side of the island (it's the ocean/beach that we can see from our apartment). Our apartment is about 150 yards to the right of this shot. I know the sand looks like it's dirty, but it's not. Dominica has lots of different colors of sand! The front of the picture shows the chocolatey brown sand and just beyond it you can see the black sand. Even though it looks like just mud and dirt, if you had your eyes closed and were walking in it, you'd think you were on a powdery white sand beach. It's very strange, but I'm in love with the black sand. It looks like black diamonds when the sun hits it and it sparkles! The next three are several views of Portsmouth Beach. You can actually walk about 200 yards up this beach and find yourself on the main campus. Pretty sweet!
Panoramic shot! The building on the right is the Portsmouth Beach Hotel which houses some students as well. There is a restaurant called Le Flambeu which is associated with that hotel and it's right on the beach. Their food is delish!
(that's Matt and Michelle)
Blue skies and a charcoal grill! I think Sunday nights at Sunset Lodge might be resurrected...
A very serious sign located near the entrance gates to campus. And of course...Jonathan doing his best iguana impression...
More to come later including a tour of our apartment, some more beach pics, Portsmouth Market, getting our barrels full of stuff, and a floor fan from a Chinese restaurant (yeah...you read that right...). Stay tuned!
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