A Few Dominican Memories

I lived in the Caribbean on an island named Dominica (NOT the Dominican Republic!) for 16 interesting months. I went there with Anthony who attended the first portion of medical school there. We got married and went on a honeymoon to the Bahamas, then some may say we went on an extended honeymoon to Dominica. I wouldnt really call it paradise, more 3rd world country-ish. I met some fabulous people on that island. We were all there supporting our husbands, working at a bookstore, which sold way more than books, and we found interesting ways to spend our time. Here are some of my favorite memories from that island.
1. The van ride from the airport all the way to Portsmouth (the city where the school is). We had gotten off of our little jumper plan that landed through a sea of trees and I swear my life flashed before my eyes. We collected our bags (which were tossed in the middle of a small white room and we were left to sift through them ourselves.) We then went through "customs" which was an islander forcing us to open our bags and then he would take out whatever looked interesting to him and bring it back to his family or try to sell to other islanders. The wives figured out that if you spread a sea of tampons on top of your clothing and other items you were sneaking on the island, they would leave your stuff alone. Anyway, back to the ride. We loaded into the "taxis" which were small mini vans and then we had 2nd semester students encouraging us to take anti-nausea medication for the 45 minute ride into the town. What a welcome to the island!!
2. The random power outages. So the islanders found it to be immensley entertaining to turn off our power for hours on end, especially when the students had an exam the following day. Stuck on an island/rainforest with temperatures exceeding 90 degrees + wretched humidity does not bode for a good night sleep.
3. The mud beaches. On our "resort island" we had these fabulous "beaches made of rock type mud. The water resembled a dirty lake rather than the warm carribean sea. There were also "no see ums" that would attack your legs and leave these attractive looking bites that would turn to bloody scabs, fall off then you would have scars. It was GREAT!
4. The monsoons. Rainy season would last about 6 months on the island. An umbrella was a useless defense against the sky's rage against us poor helpless wives/students. I remember my in laws came to visit a few weeks after we had moved down there and they were exposed to this relentless rain. My mom in law said she wasnt dry for the 6 days she spent there.
5. The Laundry. Our laundry mat was located up this enourmous hill. Imagine carrying a 40 pound bag of clothing in 100 degree heat/humidity up this big hill with islanders standing with machetes staring at you while you tried to keep yourself from screaming in pain and frustration. Then to drop your clothes off with complete strangers who would pretty much destroy your clothes once you dropped them off to them. This is why I would insist on sitting there for the afternoon to do my own laundry.
6. The Bookstore. This was more than just your average bookstore. This was a 7-11, Starbucks, bookstore, and drama central all in one. What do you expect when you have bored housewives, one househusband and a bunch of restless stressed out medical students? You get drama and lots of it. It was highly entertaining to us who worked there to enforce these ridiculous rules such as absolutely no returns on books, and if you do try to return a book, you will only get 75% back rather than the full amount. Also, no free bagel if you accidentally burn yours on our warped toaster. Why were we such bitches?? Because we could be and it was oh so much fun.

i'm sure i'm forgetting a whole bunch more and purposely leaving out some activites that were engaged in to preserve my image. But EVERYTHING was legal in Dominica, so it wasnt bad, right?

Parent Day Out aka school

Yesterday was Anthony's first day at Parents Day Out at a local church. We prepped him a few days before hand telling him he was going to "school" and he would need to share and play with all the kids, not just cousin Brooklyn who is also in the class. From the minute he woke up, he was asking if it was time to go to "tool" yet. I would give him little deadlines, like, after we change your diaper, after you eat your pancakes, etc. He was in high gear for all these little tasks, something he never does on a normal day. He usually spends 45 minutes tasting each delicate morsel of his pancakes and yesterday it took maybe 2 1/2 minutes to wolf them all down. After his jobs were done, we loaded Jack in the car and did a mini photo shoot outside our house. At "school" we waited in the parking lot for both grandma's and two aunts and one cousin to show up. We took more pictures until we were told "dat'th nufff momma" by the prince. He practically ran into the building, we signed in, and he tried to go in the 5 classrooms before we made it to his. He threw his backpack off and ran in the class. No goodbye, no tears, didnt even notice I left. I am so proud of him. I never wanted a kid who was so clingy and never wanted to try new things. (Although I did get one and his name is Jack aka the beast). The day went smoothly for Anthony, not quite as much for Jack and I. Jack decided he didnt like the idea of PDO so he refused to take a nap at all yesterday, but he chose to be pleasant, so I suppose it's a trade off. I am starting to seriously rethink my homeschooling decision when I saw how happy he was to be with other kids and teachers. I'm counting the days till next Friday..maybe I'll be more productive if Jack will let me.