Adjusting

Matt and  I have been adjusting rather well here in Dominica. We certainly have Freeport to thank for that, as Freeport gave us a crash course in island living, life as a med student, and being so far away from friends and family.

We made a major grocery purchase to get us started on basic necessities here, and have been catching up on random supplies here and there. The major grocery, IGA, is about a five minute walk from our apartment, but there is a smaller grocery, Picard Grocery, that is just across the street.

Picard Grocery is a small store with only about two aisles, but it carries the basics if we are ever short of something.

We also made a trip to the Portsmouth Market to get some fresh produce. This is on the streets of Portsmouth and local vendors come out to sell their products. We came away with eggs, green beans, passion fruit, cocoa, onions, peppers and more! It felt like home with roosters and chickens just roaming the streets.

The weather here in Dominica has been rather 'mild.' We are typically in the mid-80s, but there is usually a nice breeze, so we haven't had to run the AC. It rains here quite often, but not for long amounts of time. It rains sporadically here and there, then there will a rainbow and it will stop. We've learned to never leave without an umbrella, because even if the skies look clear, a rain cloud is likely brewing just over the mountains.

Yesterday we took a walk along the beach by our apartment. There is a cozy little restaurant there that is perfect to watch the sunset.

Just down from the restaurant are the Picard Beach Cottages. This is where the cast and crew of Pirates of the Caribbean stayed while filming the movie. They have the names of the people who stayed at each cottage above the door. I'm determined to find Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp's cottages.

Speaking of Pirates, there is also a restaurant here where they ate the majority of their meals. It's called The Tomato. They have everything shipped in from Miami, so we are able to get some American type meals down here every now and then.

We don't have anything too exciting going on, as we are trying to enjoy the downtime before classes start up. Matt starts bright and early tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. and has class till noon. For the most part, his class schedule is structured similar to MERP, so he should be able to adapt quickly.

Our biggest task is determining which Chinese restaurant is the best, and what to do when there is no milk available, as the IGA only gets milk every other week. We are also getting back on island time.

One thing we've learned, are that the sunsets here are incredible. A place full of rainbows and gorgeous sunsets can't be all bad!