Dominica (Day 2)

I am seriously in love with this country!  I had another beautiful day in Dominica today and was very sad to leave.  

I decided to be a bit gutsy and didn't even bring my wheelchair on the field program today.  Turns out I didn't' need it even though I was a lot more tired today.  Today the trip was a bus tour to the Carib Indians, the indigenous population on the island.  The drive was beautiful and our guide was fantastic.  I'm going to call our bus The Little Engine that Could because it definitely had to struggle up those hills and through the potholes!  The roads in Dominica can get quite rough.  Sometimes we were driving through the rainforest on a tiny uneven road and then a car would be coming at us head on!  What seemed to barely be a one way road then had to become a two way road.  Despite the rough condition of some of the roads, I felt safer there than driving in LA.  The drivers all knew what they were doing and went as slow as was needed to be safe.  (Something many LA drivers should learn.)

We stopped briefly to hike through the rainforest to a waterfall and emerald pool.  I went about 3/4 of the way and turned around because I was getting tired and the rest of the way was really steep up and down hill.  I'm already putting my poor body through enough!  haha  It was very peaceful walking back through the forest alone (don't worry mom and dad, I asked my guide if it was safe first).  I also had some time to peruse the two little shopping booths at the entrance to the trail.  I didn't buy much because it was pretty touristy, but I did get a couple trinkets.  I also got the rare chance to see an agudi (correct spelling pending…) which is kind of like the awkward love child of a gunny pig and a weenier dog.  With long skinny legs.  

Back on the bus and some more treacherous driving (to us city kids) we arrived at the Carib Indian community.  It pretty much was like any other place we had driven past which was  a little disappointing at first.  We had brief glimpses of daily life (which is pretty much like our own: work, school, laundry…) but mostly we toured a few different set-ups where community members showed us some daily tasks from their lives. 

First stop was learning how to juice sugar cane.  It was pretty cool and a few of us actually got to try our hand at it.  The juice tasted very strange, not just like sugar like I expected.  It had a kind of grassy aspect to is, but wasn't unpleasant.

Next we learned about basket weaving and tried a bit ourselves.  The baskets are made with different patterns in each community so you can tell where they came from.  In daily life, the baskets would be used to wrap gifts and store jewelry.  The lady said that one basket would take her about two hours to make. 

The next stop was something about medicinal herbs but I couldn't hear because:

A.)  I was pretty tired at this point and seeing more of the view bellow than whatever herbs were being discussed.

B.)  A very cute distraction in the form of ATTACK PUPPY.  (I think you can see where he go this name.  He really enjoyed chomping on whatever he could reach.)  Don't worry mom and dad.  He didn't break any skin and I purled the heck out of my hands afterwards.  haha

The final station showed how they make flat break out of powder from a root.  I tasted the powder pre-cooked and it tasted pretty much like flour.  The bread however was fantastic!  It kind of tasted like really good sourdough bread.  We also got to sample some fresh coconut on the way back.

BEfore we got back on the bus, there were more local treats for us including green bananas (tasted like bread!), slices of a root (also tasted like bread!), more coconut candy, and a really good fish salad.  

The ride back to our ship was rather subdued since everyone was so tired.  I got a last few pictures of the island and then it was unfortunately time to leave.  I am DEFINITELY coming back here!