That One Time We Shot A Guy With a BB Gun...

My sister in law Nicole always says that crazy stuff happens to me and Jonathan because we are good at telling stories.  So tonight he and I were reminiscing about our first year of marriage and all it's debacles and I was reminded about a few particularly funny events that occurred after we moved into our first house as a married couple.  If this post seems totally left, field...you're right, it is.  But it made me laugh tonight so I thought I would share it with you... ;)

We moved into 415 Buoy when we were 23 and 25 years old.  Just a few months after getting married.  We moved out of a teeny tiny one bedroom apartment into this amazingly awesome rent house that I actually miss frequently...

And man, we had some good times in that little house.  Here are some of the highlights:

"Rachel can you cut my hair.  I think I want a buzz cut..."

• So I get out the scissors and decide it would be funny to cut his hair as close as possible with the scissors first before getting the clippers after his head to even it all out.  I'm snickering the whole time I'm cutting and he has no idea what I'm doing.  I don't keep an eye on the time and then suddenly realize it's time to go to church.  We have to leave *right then*!  But Jonathan has a head full of chunks cut out of his frock and is looking something like a burn victim/cancer patient/fledgling.  I am literally DYING of laughter.  He goes to the mirror and stares agape at his head and says "What. The. Heck??"  And then he dies laughing too.  So we throw a hat on his head and go to choir practice.  People were...confused...to say the least...

"Oh crap...I think we shot him!"

• We used to LOVE to watch the birds on our bird feeder in the backyard.  But it was always quite disturbing when we would find a dead (or half dead) bird lying underneath the darn thing.  It was also quite annoying to have to wrangle said dead/half dead birds away from Matilda when she would grab them and try to play with them.  We figured out that a neighborhood tomcat was coming into the yard and using our birds as play things.  We needed a plan...this carnage was just getting to be too much.  Jonathan's grandfather was apparently a beastly good aim with a BB gun back in the day and would scare the neighborhood cats out of his yard with it.  We decided to try our hand.  But we needed target practice.  So we sat on our back deck and shot the BB gun at targets like a couple of backwoodsy hoodlums.  We were both TERRIBLE shots.  I shot the top of the copper roofed bird feeder by accident and thought that was pretty cool.  It made the coolest little *ping* sound!  So we kept shooting at it.  The BB's were ricocheting off into who knows where.  It was so much fun!  Until...  We hear "OUCH!!" from the neighbor behind us.  He's been hit!!  So we scramble and HAUL BUTT into the house to hide behind curtains and wait for the paddy wagon to come and take us downtown for assault with a...deadly?....weapon...

"We suck at the BB gun.  We need live bait..."

• We decided we had to lure this cat into the yard in order to actually hit it with a BB.  A live bird was obviously the best choice.  But our ideas there were foiled.  So we decided to take one of the dead birds out of the yard and use it to lure the tomcat.  What to do, what to do?  Ah!  Fishing line.  We strung that dead bird up by fishing line (you know...optical illusion...) right in the corner of the fence.  It was brilliant.  The thing hung there looking as if it were levitating.  SURELY this was our ticket to getting that pesky cat into the yard and interested for long enough for us to ping him with a BB and teach him a lesson.  Days went by.  No tomcat.  But the bird was still swinging there by his imaginary noose.  Until...  Our friend and neighbor Jamie came to pick up his lawn mower that we had borrowed.  The three of us were chatting in the backyard until Jamie's attention was stolen by "something strange".  He squinted at the back fence and shook his head and squinted again.  I thought "Oh no...he's seen it...".  And he says, "Um...is that?...I think...yeah I think there is like a dead bird hanging out of your tree back there.  What the..."  Jonathan and I are bug eyed.  How do we come off looking clever and not like a couple of kooks?  Jonathan says, "Oh, it's bait for a cat," and Rachel says, "Yeah.  We strung him up there so the cat would think it was levitating."  Nailed it.  He *definitely* doesn't think we're crazy...  o_O  We promptly cut the darn thing down and gave it a proper dead bird's funeral...

"The neighbors are saying there is some gnarly chicken in your driveway..."

• We survived Hurricane Ike in that little Buoy house.  Well...the house weathered the storm while we hauled buns to OKC.  While packing up the house in a frenzy we thought "Meh.  Don't worry about the stuff in the freezer.  Even if the power goes out it will come back on in a few hours.  As long as it stays shut the stuff will stay frozen or at least cold."  So we left it.  When we returned 2 weeks later, the power was STILL out.  And our house smelled like...well...rotting things.  We had to do something.  So we staged a garbage can at the back door in the garage.  We wore surgical masks.  Jonathan would suck in a huge breath, hold it, sprint into the kitchen and unload as much as he could out of the rotten freezer into the garbage can, sprint back, and "tag me in".  Then I'd do the same.  Each time after a "run" we would stand there dry heaving in the driveway until it was our turn to make another run.  Finally we had a garbage can full of rotten meat and veggies and an empty fridge.  We quadruple bagged that nastiness and put it on the curb for the garbage men.  We showered and went out for dinner obviously.  We got a call from our landlord several hours later: "Ummm...I just got a call from one of the neighbors.  Apparently there is some 'gnarly chicken' in your driveway and it's made its way into other peoples' yards.  They aren't happy.  What in the world are they talking about??"  Well...we *knew* about the "gnarly chicken"...but how the heck was it in "other peoples' yards"??  We came home and figured it out.  A neighborhood dog was confused as to why we were throwing away this veritable smorgasbord of meat delicacies that had been aged to perfection.  He decided to tip our trashcan over and share the wealth around the neighborhood.  We could smell the "gnarly-ness" as soon as we opened the car door.  Rotten meat for the win...

Ok, ok.  I'll stop.  There are probably several other stories I can tell about living in that house.  But for now, I hope you're laughing as much as I did writing this.  What a trip down memory lane...

The Final Countdown-8 Weeks To Go!

 It's crazy how quickly time begins passing when you're closer and closer to something this big.  This past weekend I went into Roseau and placed my big bulk order with The Ruins for the coffee, tea, rum, and spices we will be bringing back with us.  Such a sweet little Rastafarian family they are.  I am doing some serious stocking up with them because their product is second to none and I won't have access to anything like this in the states.  I bought all this good stuff as Christmas presents for family and friends over Christmas, and now I get to do some purchasing for myself!  Last things on the "to buy in Dominica" list include a tie dye satchel from Janice and a couple of really big Kalinago baskets.  Then we can ship our barrels once the stuff from The Ruins comes in and we are set!  So without further ado, though, here is #8 in our countdown...


#8 Thing I Will Miss About Dominica

Being outside.  We are outside pretty much all the time.  We eat lunch outside, sometimes Jonathan studies outside, our breaks are taken outside...heck I even teach school outside from 1:00-3:00 every day!  I was sitting by the seaside the other day while my kindergarteners were working on math centers.  I was just looking out across the turquoise water, smelling the salty air, and feeling that ocean breeze whipping through the palm trees.  And I thought, "Wow.  This is something you only do in Dominica."  And it's true...I likely won't be spending much time near the ocean in the coming years.  I won't have the option of going for a quick snorkel, or a jungle hike, or just sitting by the ocean with a fresh pina colada in my hand.  As tough as it can be to have to walk both uphill and downhill both ways coming from the house to campus or vise versa (and I'm not exaggerating), I rather enjoy the cool morning air and listening to the birds.  I like looking out from just about anywhere I am and seeing the ocean.  I like living in an apartment that has only the bare minimum separation from the outside.  Waking up in the morning to the cheeping of bananaquits and hearing the rain hit our tin roof are sounds we're are unlikely to wake up to in the states.  So I will miss being outside as much as we are here.  A/C is overrated... ;)

#8 Thing That Will Be Awesome About Living in the States Again

HOT SHOWERS!  This semester (and the better part of last semester), for me and Jonathan, has been spent with frigidly cold showers.  Our landlord has had lots of trouble getting the right attachment for our shower head and thus we've been taking cold showers.  It will likely be perfectly fixed just about the time we leave, but alas...for now piping hot showers are almost foreign to us.  As a matter of fact, I'm certain I won't be able to handle as hot a shower as I used to be able to because of this.  We walked by a guy the other day and I turned to Jonathan and said, "Yum.  That guy smelled like clean clothes and body scrub!"  It's a luxury man!  Though it is nice to be able to send your laundry out in the mornings and it's on your doorstop that evening freshly washed, dried, and folded...it will be nice to have our clothes (and bodies!) smelling fresh ALL the time.  It was one of the things about going home in December that struck me.  Everything just smelled so good...so clean!  It's not that it stinks in the Caribbean...it just smells like outside.  Which sometimes is a really nice thing (hence what I wrote above).  But when your shower is freezing cold, you try not to spend more than about 3 minutes in there.  Wash your hair and your body and get the heck outta dodge before you get hypothermia.  Plus a quick cold shower never leaves you feeling very clean.  It will be so nice to have a hot shower every single day and to not sweat off that glorious smell of body scrub the minute you walk outside...

We are under the 60 day mark at this point.  We can't believe it!  Jonathan took his final for Semester 4 yesterday and should be receiving the scores for that any day now.  He feels really good about the test and I feel certain his score will be right in line with that 4.0 he's been hanging on to.  I'm so proud of him!  He is officially a 3rd year med student now!!  Just one more test between now and when we leave, and then the USMLE Step 1, and then he's no strings attached for a whole 12 weeks!  Of course he's planning lots of shadowing and surgery observations during that time (you just can't peel the boy away from medicine for too long!), but I'm excited about some nice QUANTITY unadulterated time spent with him over those 12 weeks.  We're almost there!

The Final Countdown-9 Weeks to Go!

Wow...that week went fast!  Single digit weeks left...I can't believe it.  Jonathan just received his scores back on his last ever mini on this island and he got the highest grade he's ever gotten on a mini.  I mean literally almost aced the darn thing.  I'm so proud!  He only has 2 more tests between him and the end of this semester...then he'll be considered a 3rd year med student!  The COMP is basically just to qualify him to take the USMLE Step 1 and we know he's going to do really well on that.  After his Semester 4 final on the 31st he will just be in a 4 week long review session to prep him for COMP as well as Step 1.  Home stretch man!  I'm so proud of him and what he's accomplished.  I seem to be a magnet for drama (and probably the catalyst to it lots of times too) sometimes, but he is so clear headed and even keeled.  He's got his eye on the prize, yes, but he has also been so great about making time for me and making an effort in our marriage even though he's stressed and pressed.  I sure do love that boy.  I'm a lucky, lucky woman to have him.  These past few weeks, and in the weeks to come, I am trying to make a point to focus more on Jonathan and why we came here to Dominica in the first place.  It was for him to waltz through med school and lay the foundation for the rest of our lives.  And he has done that, praise God!  Almost exactly 2 years of our lives have been spent on this season, and if we had to do it all over again we most definitely would.  Can't believe we've been at this that long (and longer if you count the year and a half of prerequisites!), but that makes me optimistic that the 3 more years we have before he starts a residency will fly by as well.

But I digress...here's #9 in our countdown!

#9 Thing I Will Miss About Dominica

The Treehouse.  Oh how I will miss the Treehouse.  We are hoping and praying that the new tenants will be good stewards of the space.  This apartment has so much history!  For a while it was just a sanctuary for me and Jonathan, then it morphed into the community gathering house where we had anywhere from 10-30 people in it every Friday night for grill night, then it became the holding place for all things charitable, and now it's a Kindergarten school space.  I've done girls nights here, our giant Friendsgiving Thanksgiving celebration was held here, Lincoln's 3rd birthday was held here.  So many memories.  Such a great place to live.  I won't miss the hike to get here, but I'll miss the beautiful flamenco trees, the bananaquits, the goats, the cozy cabin-y feel.  I would argue that the Treehouse is one of the best apartments in Picard and we were so lucky to have snagged it...

#9 Thing That Will Be Awesome About Living in the States Again

Running.  Running is something that I started in the Bahamas and then have let go by the wayside here in Dominica.  I don't enjoy running here.  It's super hot and humid and SUPER hilly.  It feels like punishment to me, and since my relationship with running is a love/hate one, it's a bit of a delicate balance.  I've gone running just a handful of times and each time I came home feeling worse than when I left.  Soooo...no.  However I am REALLY excited about being back in the dry Oklahoma air with flat places all over to run.  This girl is gonna wear down some running shoe treads in no time!


By the end of this week we will have less than 60 days left on this island.  It's SO crazy to be able to say that!

The Final Countdown-10 Weeks to Go!

Ok folks...so Jonathan and I are winding down our experience here in Dominica.  Exactly 10 weeks from today we will be boarding an airplane that is USA bound.  We are so excited about what this new chapter of our lives is going to bring, but part of us is also a little sad about leaving this island.  When we left the Bahamas after MERP, I did a "Top 10 Countdown" for our final 10 days.  I've decided to do something similar for Dominica, but I'll do it one week at a time (cuz ain't nobody got time for a new blog post every day for 10 days!).  These last few posts will be the last posts of this blog too.  We will no longer be "Caribbean Daydreaming".  We will be moving on to what promises to be a great adventure beyond this little island.  You can follow along with "the next chapter" at our new blog Thinking Positive.  So I hope you enjoy these last little tidbits from an Island Housewife!  Without further ado...

The #10 Thing I Will Miss About Dominica:

Community.  One thing that is so great about living here in Dominica and specifically in the Ross community is that you have a built in bank of people who are going through exactly what you're going through.  You don't have to look far to find someone whose husband is getting ready to take a really stressful exam, or someone who hasn't showered in 2 days because the water has been out, or someone who misses their family in the states exactly when you are dealing with those same "lemons" in your own life.  It's a bit like a 0-60 in under a second kind of situation when it comes to making friends because of that.  There have been positives and negatives to this...though the positives so far outweigh the negatives.  There are people here in Dominica which I only met in December of 2012 or later who I *know* will be our friends for life.  People we have only known less than a year of our lives!  So I will miss the intensity of new found friendships here.  There's no time to try and "feel someone out" in this community.  You just latch on and hang on for dear life and hope they're who you thought they were.  And praise God when you find out they are!  I will miss the close-knit-ness of our friend base.  How you can call someone at 5:00 and say "Hey wanna come over for dinner at 6:00?".  Wether your house is filthy...even if you haven't even figured out what the heck you're  cooking...and they come over anyway and you sit and talk for hours.  I will miss the casualness of our friendships here.  Nothing frilly...outings that are usually not planned more than a few hours (at *most* a day) in advance...no makeup, workout clothes and messy hair, dirty feet, and MacGyver-ed dinners.  That is our life here in Dominica!  And I'm not sure how we will transition back into the daily routine of *not* being able to live like that back in the states.  I mean...I'm sure we will manage...but man we will miss this community and the impactful people we have met.  We can only pray that we would cross paths with them again along this crazy journey, and make a concerted effort to keep these special people as close to us as we can in the coming years we will likely spend apart.  After all...we've all become experts at maintaining long distance friendships haven't we??

The #10 Thing That Will Be Awesome About Living in the USA Again:

PATRICK and MATILDA!!  Man we are SO excited about setting up shop somewhere and getting to have our precious fur babies with us!  We have missed having them in our house SO much and we can't wait to get back into the routine of them living with us again.  I was really skeptical about my ability to live an entire year plus without my girl by my side...it has been TOUGH, let me tell ya.  So tough, in fact, that the 2 times I've gone home in the last 14 1/2 months I cried a few times just snuggling with her in bed because I missed her so much.  I miss that puppy smell behind her shammy ears, I miss scooping up my little chunky kitty and giving him neck sugars.  I miss Sunday afternoon family nap time with the 4 of us all snuggled up in our big cozy bed.  Our little family just hasn't been the same without them.  Just writing about that makes me even more anxious to bring ourselves and a little bit of Dominica home to them for good...

So there ya have it.  Our 2 number tens on the list.  Stay tuned for next week's number nines!

The Accidental Death of Candy

So, my friends, a noteworthy event happened today in Kindergarten.  The stretching of Mrs. Womack's comfort zone and the death of a dear class pet (ahem...lizard) named Candy.  Today we came back up to the treehouse after lunch and the kids were SUPER sugared up.  Today was their pseudo Valentine's Day (since tomorrow is a field trip to Crescent Moon Farm) and they had all eaten their fill of candy from this morning and cookies from yesterday's Kid's Activity on campus.  So I decided to let them burn off a little energy before we started our reading block.  They had caught a second lizard (who has lovingly been named Sven Rainbow Smack) and wanted to have him join Candy in The Lizard Sanctuary (aka-a terrarium that was the former home of hermit crabs).  But upon opening the cage to put Sven Rainbow Smack in, Candy leapt out!

Now I have to let you know, for your mind's eye's sake, that all the kids I had up at the treehouse were girls (we were missing our only boy).  So when Candy leapt from her plastic prison, the blood curdling screams commenced.  From them AND from me!  She was running all over my bathroom so Lovise had the grand idea to grab the top to the cake tupperware from the kitchen to trap her under.  Success!!

Now...to find a way to put Sven Rainbow Smack and Candy into The Lizard Sanctuary together without either one of them jumping out.  The plan was to put Sven Rainbow Smack in first.  He seemed to be the least excitable of the two.  Though the task was a little tricky, it was a success!  Jozlyn and Helena had been given the task of keeping Candy firmly trapped under the cake tupperware top until it was her turn to enter The Lizard Sanctuary.  There was so much excitement when Sven Rainbow Smack was finally apprehended that some pushing of the cake tupperware happened.  And, in the style of a meat grinder, Candy's tail got smooshed under the edge of the cake tupperware.  And then some more scooting commenced and her body was...well...see for yourself:

If you just said "Ew" in your head, you're right.  It was pretty gruesome.  What you're *not* seeing is that Jozlyn and Simay have both gasped and turned away while Solveig, Helena, and Lovise are all three staring on in horror with mouths agape.  You're also not seeing the tail still wiggling and Candy's mouth opening and closing.  The kids had a moral dilemma on their hands because they all thought she was still alive but none of them thought she had much hope for long term survival...

Teachable moment:  "She's really dead, guys.  Sometimes little animals still have nerves that are working even after they're dead and those nerves make their body parts keep moving for a while.  But she's totally dead.  Let's get some paper towels and scoop her up and put her in the trash..." :(

"But Mrs. Womack, we have to bury her!"  "Yeah!"  "She needs a funeral!"  "She needs a coffin!"  "We have to dig her a grave!"  "We should sing her a song!"

Ok, ok.  But *I* am not touching her.  Here's a cupcake liner cup you can use for a coffin.  Y'all figure it out...

Success!  Then out they went to find a proper resting place for their beloved class pet...

Now it's time to get ready for her "memorial service".  Lovise decided that everyone needed to say a few words about Candy.  Simay suggested they sing "Waves of Mercy"....

And so, while trying not to giggle audibly, I recorded their little funeral.  It's adorable...and VERY serious mind you.  When I can get my phone to sync up, I'll post it here.  Solveig and Simay both said "I Like Candy", Lovise said "She was a very nice and sweet lizard and we all loved her."  Jozlyn said "She walked a lot.  She played a lot."  Helena was a little reluctant to say anything nice about Candy (even though Lovise told her she had to), but finally she mustered the courage to say "We all liked her".  

And so goes the story of how Candy the lizard went to lizard heaven.  Her mangled body is buried in a cupcake liner cup somewhere in my front yard.  Poor Sven Rainbow Smack has a look of terror in his eye in The Lizard Sanctuary.  Hopefully he won't suffer the same fate... o_O

The Unexpected Becomes the New Plan

Ok, so LOTS has happened in these past 4 1/2 weeks since we've been back on the island.  Plans have changed drastically and our world looks a little different so far this semester.  And the coming months are going to look MUCH different than we thought they would (what's new??).  So bear with me as I lay this all out for you.  I'll tell you what our original plans were (Plan A) and then I'll tell you the new plan (Plan B):

#1

Plan A-Jonthan completes Semester 4 on April 25th and begins studying for his Step 1 (his first and most important national board exam to become a doctor).  He returns to the states sometime in mid June to take the Step and then begins Semester 5 in Miami on June 23rd.  Rachel stays in Dominica to finish out the academic school year which ends the last Friday in June and then she returns to the states to get things squared away for clinical rotations.

Plan B-Well...Jonathan still completes Semester 4 on April 25th, and he will still begin immediately studying for his Step 1 exam.  *But* he and I BOTH will be returning to the states in the last week in May!  Some things got tossed around at my job at the prep school.  Suffice to say that after much contemplation, Jonathan and I decided that working there was not good for my state of mind or my health.  It was shaping up to be a pretty miserable working environment.  So after receiving a pretty upsetting email (which I will not go into detail about) on the morning we were leaving Puerto Rico to return to Dominica, he and I decided we were all done with the prep school and would be leaving at the end of April.   Ok, so new Plan A.

#2

Plan A-The Womacks return to the states in the last week of April and Jonathan starts immediately studying for the Step 1 exam in the states.  He takes Step 1 sometime in the second week of June and then Rachel and Jonathan together go to Miami for Semester 5 in late June.  We return to OKC in August and begin the process of IVF (read my new blog for details about that).  Jonathan begins clinicals in September.

Plan B-Well...Ross decided to move the start date for Semester 5 up to June 1st.  So in order for Jonathan to have the appropriate amount of time to study for Step 1 (which is arguably the most important test of his life), he would have to be taking the Step in the middle of his 5th semester.  Either that or he would have to rush through and take Step 1 less than 4 weeks after his comprehensive final here at Ross.  While we KNOW he is going to totally rock the Step, we don't want to risk even 1 point on it.  So neither of those options worked for us.  The advantage to trying desperately to make this upcoming 5th semester work is that he would match (ostensibly) with a residency in 2016.  The reality of that notion is that it is practically impossible for Jonathan's current class to match in 2016.  Or if you miraculously do, you have to sacrifice some potentially great learning opportunities and networking opportunities because you have to scramble and get the majority of your clinicals done before May 31st of next year.  He wants to be more selective in his rotations.  We believe that will boost his CV...which is critical when he's wanting to specialize.  So Plan B is that we are deferring our 5th semester and we won't start until September 15th.  I was asked to help with a homeschooling co-op here in Dominica and therefor agreed to stay and help teach until the end of May.  So once I'm done there, we will be returning to OKC...

"Ok Womacks, so what now?  What are you doing between April 26th and September 15th?"

Ok, so get ready.  God really did a number on our plans!  At first I was really annoyed and Jonathan was having to talk me out of going to administration at Ross and giving them a piece of my mind.  But thankfully Jonathan is so much more logical and even keeled about things...he laid the picture out beautifully for me and now I'm REALLY excited about what's to come in 2014!  So here goes...

April 25th - Jonathan takes COMP (Comprehensive Final...he has to get a passing score here in order to register to take Step 1)

April 28th - Jonathan begins his intensive study time for Step 1, Rachel continues teaching with the co-op

May 27th - Rachel and Jonathan leave the island for good and return to OKC

May 29th - Jonathan hunkers down in OKC to finish his last 2-3 weeks of studying for the step

2nd Week in June - Jonathan takes Step 1

June 16th - First appointment with OU Infertility to plan our IVF!!

June, July, August -  IVF Treatments and procedures with a hopeful transfer date sometime around the 1st or 2nd week of August or sooner

September 15th - Jonathan and (a hopefully pregnant) Rachel go to Miami for 6 weeks for Jonathan's 5th semester

October 31st - Jonathan completes Semester 5 and can begin his clinical rotations any time after this date

**GIANT ADVANTAGE TO PLAN B** 

Jonathan gets to be completely and totally responsibility free from the time he takes Step 1 until September 15th.  Effectively freeing up all 3 months for he and I to focus on our IVF cycle!!  Also, since we are now shooting for a residency match in 2017, Jonathan will be able to be much more selective about his clinical rotations.  And an additional bonus there is if we are successful in getting pregnant during this IVF cycle (*crossing fingers*), he will have much more flexibility in his time schedule for when the baby(ies) comes.  We won't have to worry about him not being able to be there for the delivery.  Hallelujah!

After October 31st, who knows where we will be!  The loose plan is that we will rent an apartment or house in OKC that will be our "home base".  We are seriously considering buying or renting an RV for Jonathan to travel around to rotations in, but that's not hard and fast at this point.  A lot is weighing on the success or failure of our IVF cycle this summer.  That could change everything!

We will keep you posted as we go through the year.  For now, if you're the praying type, please add us to your prayer list!  What a big year of changes 2014 is going to be for the Womacks...no matter what...

A Guide to Speaking Dominica

So I guess it's been a minute since I last blogged...sorry!  Jonathan and I went home for our 3 1/2 week break and are now back in full swing here in Dominica.  We are finishing up our last semester here on the island which is CRAZY to think about.  At the end of May we will be leaving the island for good and heading back to the states to start the clinical portion of his M.D. before applying for residency.  God kept reassuring us that this daunting task of "4 years of med school" was going to fly by and be completely worth the sacrifice.  And He wasn't lying!  Jonathan has been in med school for a little over a year and has completed over a year and a half of work toward his M.D.  Amazing!  There are LOTS of things that await us in 2014...lots of changes, lots of excitement.  We are ready to keep pressing forward into our bright future!  More details to come about our plans in the coming months, but for now I thought I'd keep it on the light side...

Here in Dominica, the locals mostly speak English that is laced heavily with Creole accent and slang. Patois (which is much like French Cajun...) is spoken intermittently as well.  After living here for over a year, I've gotten pretty accustomed to their slang and their terminology.  It took a while though!  So, for your enjoyment, here are some tips on "Speaking Dominica"

Irie (eye-ree) - This word can be used as a response to "How are you?", a greeting when you're feeling good, or a general term for "Chill out man, everything is alright."

"I Cool" - This phrase can be interchanged with Irie to express a feeling of contentment.  "How are you today Peter?"  "I cool, mon, I cool."

Vexed - Oh no, you should never be vexed.  This can be a state of mind, or an action.  If you yourself (or someone you know) is vexed, it means they are REALLY not happy.  If you are being vexed by someone, it means they are wishing you ill or angry with you and wanting you to be punished.  Sometimes if a Dominican is feeling particularly "vexed" they might even say they are "bexed"...that's Patois for "really stinkin' pissed"...

Pear - It's not the fruit that you think it is.  It looks and tastes nothing like a Bartlett pear or anything similar.  A pear in Dominica is an avocado.  And the avocados are MASSIVE here...

Jelly Nut - This is a coconut at a specific point of "gestation".  The insides are like jelly...not like the dried stuff you can find at the grocery store.  They are yellow on the outside.

Breze (breezy) - This is the general blanket term used to describe any and all laundry detergent.  I'm guessing it's because this brand might have been the one and only brand sold here for a long time.  It's basically grated up laundry soap in a plastic sealed bag (kind of like what you find brown sugar in).  To use it in a sentence like the Dominicans do, "I going to put it in de breze wata..."  Translation: I'm going to wash it with detergent.

Biscuit - Not like Jimmy Dean style.  A biscuit is a cookie here in Dominica...

Paw Paw - a papaya

For True - This means kind of like "Definitely" or "That's right".  Dominicans also us it as a surprised expression like we would use "Really?!"  For instance, "I saw her kissing that boy over there!"  "Oh no...for true??"  They also use it in the affirmative as in "Apple starts with the letter A Mrs. Womack!" "For true!"

Vest - This is the term Dominicans use for tank tops that you wear as underwear.  So like what I would call a "camisole" or a tank, they would call a vest.

Baggy - Learned the hard way that baggy doesn't mean like a ziploc bag here in Dominica.  Baggies are little kid underpants...

"Born Drunk" - This is a term (which sounds derogatory but really isn't) for a child who was born with fetal alcohol syndrome.

Not So - This term is used like we would use the term "Isn't that right?"  For instance, "There is milk at the grocery store today, not so?"

Provisions - This is a blanket term to describe anything on a plate of food that is not the "main course".  We would say "sides"...

Bajou - There's that French Cajun connection.  Bajou is how you say hello in Patois.  Sound a little like bonjour??

Sakafet - I'm not entirely sure on the spelling of this (I'm not sure the Dominicans all really agree on the spelling either).  But sakafet means "How are you?"  To which you might respond "Irie mon" or "I cool, mon, I cool"

Okay - This was a term I had to get used to.  When you pass a Dominican on the street, usually (if you don't know them personally) they look a little mean.  But the second you smile and say Good Morning!, Good Afternoon!, or Good Night! (i.e.-good evening), they light up with huge sweet smiles and say "Okay!".  Wait...what?  It sounds a bit like they're saying "Ok whatever you crazy white chick."  But really, that's an affirmative acknowledgement that they heard your greeting and are returning it...

Bonswa - This means goodnight. We say this to our favorite driver Peter whenever he drops us off in the evening.  Sounds a bit like bon soir, not so??


So there you have it.  Several of the Dominican terms we hear quite often around here.  Hope you guys enjoyed!  Bonswa!