Week 1 Continued (and some of Week 2)

Ok, so by now we are getting better adjusted to life on the island.  We have rearranged our apartment (see photo below - don't judge the mess oh and keep in mind the couch is across from the bed) and we have gone to the market (well 2 times by this post). 

The Market - let me explain....

Picture if you will a small little town with narrow roads and minimal transportation.  Insert multiple vans, cars with vegetables being sold our of the trunk, trucks with watermelon and coconuts being chopped before your very eyes.  To your left there is an elderly gentlemen with a wheelbarrow of sorts with a large (what appears to be dolphin) fish on top of which for the right price you can get a slab of wrapped up in a bag for you to take home.  Further down the road and down a side street are rows and rows of stands.  Stands with tomatoes (bruised, over ripe and under ripe), bananas (bright green), plantains, potatoes, something that looks like lettuce, onions, brown eggs (warm yes warm), green peppers (about half the size of what we see at home), cooking peppers (even smaller), mangoes, pineapples, and some veggies, roots and other fruit I've never seen before.  THIS is the market.  You must bargain to get a good deal, you must wash right when you get home in salt water (or the eggs that have been laid will become actual animals, bugs, whatever).  And yes after my first trip to the market that resulted in throwing away a nest of pupae (at least that's what Kelsey called them) that had made a home in my spinach.  And most importantly you have to get EVERYTHING you would want for the week because the market is only open on Saturday mornings and if you want to GOOD stuff you have to get there by 5:30 or 6:00am!  YES you heard right 6:00am!!!!  Believe it or not Kelsey actually went to the market with me this past Saturday and did quite a good job - athought I think once school starts I'll be going solo.

This brings me to cooking and the does and don'ts of Dominica.

Cooking - it is almost always cheaper to cook than go out - most meals will be around $15 per person.  Second we cook with gas stoves that use propane tanks - which usually are replaced every month or so.  Lastly - we have a small kitchen and counter space so cooking has become something of an essembly line and cook in pieces, but I'm getting the hang of it and hopefully with the Ross University Cookbook and the Spouse Organization Cookbook, I'll be great in no time.

That about sums up our life here on Dominica - Stay tuned for more updates and stories as our time here continues..........