The Talented Mr. Holewinski

Just under 3 weeks ago, my boyfriend (the talented Mr. Holewinski) arrived on the island with an incling into a new hobby that he just happens to be REALLY good at - HDR photography.  Therefore, for those of you who do not know him, I thought I would share a bit of what he has been up to.  He's looking into selling them as well, so if you are interested in ordering prints (or seeing more), let me know and that can certainly be arranged.  Enjoy :)!

Turning 30 Dominica Style

Before I say anything, I apologize for those of you who are anxiously waiting for updates from Cocoa.  She is not as great at writing as she probably should be and after the pictures get uploaded onto facebook I always assume that they have been 'seen'.  I was alterted, however, recently that they are NOT always seen by all...so I will make a more conscious effort to put the pictures here as well.  That way, if Cocoa doesn't have much to say about what a crazy place this is, you can at least see it.  Plus, hopefully Mike'll share a few phenomenal pictures that can be construed as to how beautiful this place is and maybe we'll get some visitors!

An attempt at a needed update:  grill is set-up and working (although the charcoal here is very different then that in the states and has plagued both Mike and I in terms of figuring out all of the secrets to keeping it lit), I'm trying to take in all the beautiful nature i can, Mike has arrived on the island and brought with him all of the charm and love that i know him for, and its creole season around here (complete with creole night in Portsmouth, creole in the park all week in Roseau, and the world creole music festival this weekend in Roseau...we participated in the events in Portsmouth and partied with the best of them!).  Let the pictures tell the story:

Last week was the big 30, and although I do not feel a day over about 14, I was told that this means that I actually am officially an adult.  We celebrated with a few drinks by sunset at Purple Turtle Beach, and a creole-style boil with friends (although apparently you cannot catch crawfish when there's a full moon...so store-bought shrimp had to substitute).  It was a GREAT excuse to get some great new friends together and spend an evening drinking ginger wine (like gingerale having a party), attempting to make Dominican versions of 'black and tan', and staying out of the ever-present soothing rain.  It was a fun party!

More excitement will be coming, and I WILL make an attempt to post pictures (and mildly funny antidotes) here more often!

Jazz in the Jungle

Dominica is filled with adventure after adventure...whether it be biking to campus for a day of work, or searching the local stores or marketers for whatever food item looks the most delicious and/or will make up the rest of a recipe, but today's adventure was filled with a constant flow of rain, delicious food, great music, and an AWESOME surrounding of friends (both new and old) and atmosphere!!! It was DELIGHTFUL.  I know that the description will not do it justice, but I will try.  Basically, today we drove to the airport (about an hour) and kept going for another 20 minutes into the bush...we then came across two beautiful rivers and where they connected sat a delightful venue emitting relaxation, culture, and joy.  Here we sat for a great brunch while listening to the rushing rivers, the pooring rain, and the fantastic jazz.  All-in-all, River Rush and Jazz in the Jungle was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon and one that will be repeated again and again (at least until someone closer to Savanne Paille figures out how to market as wonderful of a Sunday brunch ;)).

'Stuff'

I have always thought it an admirable quality to take life as it comes and enjoy the most of it without worrying about anything else.  Therefore, I have aspired to be a person who can 'go without' and does not depend on material items.  When I went to Ghana, for example, I could fit ALL of my belongings in a small coat closet in my parents house.  Therefore, when I was getting ready for the move to Dominica (where Ross pays to move a 20' shipping container full of 'stuff' to start the new job) I was kind of disappointed to look around and see just exactly how much 'stuff' i really have, and that i WANTED to take it with me...it was kind of like a character trait that i was trying to deminish had snuck up on me... In interest of insanity, however, i chose to focus on and worry about things that were more pertenant at the time:  thesis defense, brand new nephew, laughing as much as possible, 'seeing' whatever i was missing or going to miss, and spending LOTS of time with family and friends.  Therefore, the movers came in, packed up my belongings (before i truely had a chance to decide what to send and what to take with me on the plane...a consequence of having them come a week after the defense and just 2 days after the grad-party) and they were put into a sealed container headed for the island.  I thought 'i've done this before, i'll just show up and 'make do' until my stuff gets there.  Well...i think i did a fairly good job.  I arrived with enough suitable cloths to get me by, enough toiletries to hold me over, a few coffee mugs for fluid intake, ALMOST enough dog food to last, a few things to hold off the homesickness, and an excitement about my new job.  The last few weeks have been grand.  The pup is beginning to adjust to her new surroundings and accept the fact that i'm not going to be near her all day.  I'm trying to get 'out' as much as she'll allow me to do FUN things in addition to getting to know the new job.  All-in-all, things are good... What i didn't anticipate, however, was the feeling of RELIEF i would get when my stuff would actually arrive.  Now, it is no where near unpacked...but its HERE!  A feeling of 'this is where you are absolutely supposed to be right now and all of the pieces are going to begin to fall into place VERY soon' came over me last night as i layed down to sleep in my OWN bed, with my OWN pillows!  It is certainly not easy to move period, to move around the world, to get to know a new culture, to get to know a new job/surroundings/friends/life, to take the next step at adulthood...but at least for now it feels like i may have actually made the 'right' decision and this place is actually going to become HOME afterall...and after a night of 'excited to unpack and get everything situated' restless sleep, its a pretty good feeling to have!

The River Hike

There are 365 rumored rivers on the island of Dominica…so it is not suprising that there is one that runs right alongside the road up to my house.  Each river here goes one direction…from the mountains (which gets approximately 300 inches of rain/year) to the ocean.  This makes for a known route, an obvious direction that one can follow.  Plenty of jungle hikes can be sought out on this island, but without a guide on most of them you are almost certainly going to get lost…in the river, on the other hand, you know where you’re going…towards the ocean.  So…since I arrived on the island I have been eyeing the river for a potential fun hike.  Unfortunately last weekend brought in the winds and rain of hurricane Earl and with that extra rain in the mountains comes the dangers of hiking down a river.  You never know when the water is going to get as far down as we are, and the higher waters would have made it potentially life threatening.  Today however, we woke up to a beautiful ‘partly cloudy’ day.  So…Cocoa, my neighbor Kristjan (an Anatomy professor at Ross who lives in the upstairs of the house we live in and who has a similar sense of adventure as myself), and I set out to see what kind of a ‘river hike’ we could get ourselves into.  This particular river was suggested by an English couple who used to live in my apartment whom have 3 boxers.  She said that you can take the dogs there and let them off leash to just run ‘amuk’.  Since Cocoa has been on the leash outside of my house permanently since I arrived on the island (people here are afraid of dogs and kick them if they feel frightened…so to keep her safe from the rath of a fearful local and/or the cars/trucks/busses that go barreling down the whindy one-lane-equivalent road (without room for a walker) faster than some would go on the autobahn, I have kept her leashed and close to me), I thought it would be nice to allow her to have a little adventure as well.  It turned out to be easily the best day I have had yet in Dominica!

Pre-hike breakfast consisted of an egg and tomato (and I’ll point out here that if I’m EVER talking about fruits or vegetables in these posts that they are ALWAYS fresh) sandwich and Milo (brings me back to Ghana).  Sufficiently satisfied I dressed in my swimsuit (as I was certain to take a few routs through the river that would get me rather wet) and headed out for some fun.  We walked up our road about 50 meters and took an unbeaten path through some longer grass and we were into the river bed.  After a short discussion we decided that today we would go ‘down’ the river and another day we would go ‘up’ the river (so yes, there may be a river hike part II posting at a later date).  For the next two hours, we were emersed in a wonderous world of cool waters, beautiful tropical trees, wildlife, and adventure.  Climbing over boulders, dipping into cool 'pools', tripping over the little rocks, gazing at the amazing jungle scenery, watching out for lizards, crabs, and crawfish,and enjoying every minute of it!  We were completely enthralled with the adventure and kept saying what a great idea it was to hike down the river.  Cocoa has now proved herself as a champion hiker.   She not only will walk along trails for hours on end just waiting to see what her mom will take her upon next (see dog park photos on facebook), but she now has proven that she will find the right ‘doggie route’ through the river down to the awaiting oceans below with as much ease as a 70 lb lab can handle (enter in giggles here for each time she misjudged her footing and landed on her chin, butt, or belly...she was unhurt by the ordeal (thankfully), but it was quite adorable and funny to watch her try to judge water depth with her short little legs).

We were sad to see the hike come to an end when we reached the ocean, although quite exhausted and have learned of a few delightful swimming pools that exist for future visits and that the most enjoyable way to spend a Saturday afternoon in Dominica, may in fact be with your feet in the rushing waters of a river and your eyes looking at the beauteous wonders around you!