Black Friday

After our delicious Thanksgiving feast, I had another day of traditions we were missing back home. We aren't the crazy Black Friday shoppers who stand in line for days. We're the ones who go around 8 a.m. when everyone else has gone back to bed.

But here in Dom, there of course isn't Black Friday shopping in stores. So, I had to make due with online shopping and other adventures. Side note, online shopping is definitely the way to go. You can still get the same prices all from the comfort of your PJ's.

My friend Ashley and I decided to go on a little adventure and do some sight-seeing here in Dominica for our Black Friday. We went to Trafalger Falls, Screw Spa, and then to the French Bakery in Roseau for lunch. It was a fantastic way to spend Black Friday. Maybe a new tradition?

Trafalger Falls is park of the national park here. It's a set a twin waterfalls. Absolutely gorgeous!

Our favorite driver stopped along the way to Trafalger for a sneak peak of the falls. You can see them off in the distance. Isn't Dom beautiful?

The path is well kept. It's just a few stairs and about a 10 minute walk to the falls.

And when you get there, you see this.

Lovely!

From there, we went to Screw Spa. I've been here a couple times already, but it definitely doesn't get old. The natural sulfur spa makes your skin feel so soft and refreshed. And it's just a great place to go relax. We were there when it was a little rainy, but it made the hot pool that much more enjoyable.

Then we were off to Zam Zam's for lunch - a great Mexican restaurant right on the water. On our way there, Bruno drove us through the Botanical Gardens and showed us this school bus. This accident happened when Hurricane David hit the island in 1978. The bus is still here today. Thankfully, no one was inside the bus when it happened.

Then we got to Zam Zam's. I had been craving Mexican food, so I was really excited. Their food is delicious. But when we got there, it turned out it was closed. A car had crashed into the side of the building, so it was closed for repairs until further notice. Only in Dominica folks.

So we decided to head to the French Bakery for lunch instead. It does have a real name instead of French Bakery, but to be honest, I don't know what it is. The food, though, is wonderful. I went there first my first semester here. Then they were closed for a bit while they changed management. They are finally back open and serving wood fire pizzas. Hands down the best pizza on the island.

And after that, it was back to Picard. Of course, I had to bring the rest of the pizza home for Matt to enjoy. He loved it as much as I did!

As we were driving out of Roseau, we saw the cargo ship that transports all of our barrels. Each of those containers carries several items of cargo. Pretty cool!

There is a place on the drive back to Picard that is my favorite overlook on the island. And Bruno, being the fantastic driver that he is, always makes sure that we get all the photos we want. And I'll tell you, that's a lot of photos. So he pulled over and let me get a few shots. This is overlooking the town of St. Joseph.

On another note, Matt is down to his last final of this semester! He takes it on Wednesday, and then he'll be done! So keep him and the rest of the Ross student body in your prayers as it is a very stressful time for the students. 

He'll be done on Wednesday, and then we leave for home on Friday! We fly to San Juan, then direct to Chicago. We were talking about our plans for the weekend, and it was so exciting to be able to say 'next weekend' instead of next month, etc. To say we are looking forward to it is an understatement. Matt especially since he hasn't been home since April! And I'll tell you this, sitting around and talking about all of the delicious places to eat doesn't make the time go any faster!

So anyway, I should mention that Matt had class on Black Friday, so he hasn't gotten to enjoy any adventures yet. But soon enough, we will hopefully be able to enjoy them together!

My First Dominican Adventure

Things have been so busy here with work and Matt studying, all the while adjusting to Domininca, that I haven't been out on any trips to explore the island. Besides going to Rosalie Bay, but I don't really count that, as we didn't leave the resort once we got there.

So Saturday, myself and several other women here that I've gotten to know went out to celebrate Leah's last full weekend here on the island. We went to Freshwater Lake, Screw's Spa and then lunch at a French Bakery in Roseau.

The Freshwater Lake was incredible. It's near the top of one of the mountains in the Morne Diablotin National Park. (This park is home to the largest mountain in Dominica, Morne Diaboltin.) On the way there, we passed the highest road point in Dominica.

The weather got progressively cooler the higher we got. When we finally got to Freshwater Lake, we all had goosebumps. I treasured every chill!

The lake was stunning! We were high enough that the clouds rolled in and out.

It was very peaceful up there. And it looks nothing like the other parts of Dominica I've seen. It's so surprising all of the different scenes Dominica has to offer.

Some of the girls were brave enough to get in the lake. I chickened out because it got rather cold.

On our way down the mountain, our fabulous driver stopped a few times to let us get some great pictures of our beautiful home. We don't have scenery like this in Indiana!

After the cold, we took a trip back down the mountain to Screw's Spa. It's a natural sulfur spa that has several different temperatures of pools ranging from cold to very hot. You make your way back and forth between each pool, and soak in each temperature. It's incredibly relaxing, and the sulfur makes your skin feel so soft afterward. Plus the scenery itself was stunning.

After relaxing in the spa, we headed the rest of the way down the mountain to this adorable little french bakery where we had some delicious wood fire pizza. 

From there, we did some shopping in Roseau. There were two cruise ships in, so all of the vendors were open. I've certainly got a list ready for when we go back. It was interesting to see prices in U.S. dollars. The vendors all gave you a funny look when we said we had E.C. currency. Typically, their customers are the tourists coming in off the ship.

Roseau is an interesting capitol city. The streets are rather narrow, but there's always a lot of traffic. It's not what you think of when you think of a big capitol city of a country, such as Washington D.C. as there are no street lights, high rise building or things of that sort. 

I'm anxious for the time when I can find my way around the city. Luckily, the girls I was with knew their way around along with the best places to shop. So we stopped for some fruit smoothies and visited this cafe for some souvenirs. 

We then made our way back to Save-A-Lot grocery and picked up some groceries you can't find in Picard. It's the little things that make your day so great.

It was such a great experience exploring some of Dominica's treasures. And it was wonderful to share that experience with such great women! It was a fun-filled day, and I can't wait to experience more of our new home.