this in my cozy bed since my cabin doesn't have an outlet (the
conjoining room does) and my suitemates are sleeping. I'm overly
tired, to the point of delusion, so this might come out a little
funky. It's so funny, everyone is walking around like zombies. We're
so exhausted from these past to days in Dominica.
Why I'm writing this now instead of sleeping is because I've been
dying to write about my incredible days in Dominica all day, and I
couldn't wait to share my experiences and didn't want to forget
anything. I've been on cloud 9 all day. I've just had this huge
smile on my face, you guys know it. The "Kat's in an insanely good
mood and nothing can bring her down smile" :) Me and the friends I
traveled around Dominica just cannot get over our time in the
beautiful island. All day we'd take turns saying "How is this real?"
Thats honestly the feeling that kept going through my head. I know
that it probably will, but I honestly cannot imagine having a better
experience than I just had. Everything was PERFECT.
So here's the story. We arrived in Dominica, pronounced "dah-mi-NEE-
kah". Not to be confused with the Dominican Republic. Most of you
probably haven't heard of Dominica. I hadn't either. The reason is
that it's very hard to get to (besides a cruise ship you have to first
fly to Puerto Rico). And its very untouched by the tourism industry.
You won't find a single large or chain hotel. Dominica is simply
nature basically untouched. Its one huge rainforest with luscious
greenery, palm trees galore, hot springs, gorges and even a champagne
reef. The mountains are insanely magnificent and beautiful. The
tallest mountain is 4,700 ft. Dominica reminded me a lot of Hawaii.
I've never seen a more beautiful place (Hawaii may be tied). It's
inhabited by basically all black people and very few original natives
(creoles). The island is poor, as are most caribbean islands. I
learned so much, I could go on and on...now for my experience there.
We got there at 8 AM Monday, while Ithacans were heading to their
first day of classes. ;) Bryana, Ryan and I headed into town at 8:30
and were on a mission to find a hotel for tonight. We were celebrating
Bryana and Kael's birthdays so we wanted to make it special. As we
were walking downtown searching for a hotel a nice native lady asked
us what we were looking for. She immediately called her friend and
said he'd be down in a minute. A couple minutes later a native named
Ken pulls up in a Roseau Valley Hotel Van. He tries to sell us on his
hotel and we ask him to bring us to it to see for ourselves. It was a
beautiful villa located 10 minutes out of town. The backyard had a
beautiful view of the "rainforest" covered mountain. It was cheap
also so we rented out the whole upstairs. We planned on going to Krazy
Koconuts for the night and said he'd bring us there for a good price,
so things were working out great!
We then headed back to the ship where I met with a group to go on a
SAS field trip to the Emerald pool and tubing around a river. We went
up this insanely windy mountain (very similar to hawaii..like a
corkscrew). We then walked through a rainforest to this waterfall
that poured into an emerald pool (beautiful turquoise color). We
jumped into the natural pool from a rock and were in complete awe of
the beauty around us. We were swimming in a natural emerald pool in
the middle of a rainforest. UN.REAL. you'll see pictures someday
(hopefully sooner than may). This is where the whole "is this real
life" saying starts popping up a lot among all of us. It was on this
trip I met this girl that I REALLY clicked with named Andrea. She's
so so so sweet, christian and we have in a lot in common. THANK YOU
GOD. Prayers were answered asap. I was feeling super blessed at this
point. Then we went tubing down a river. Such a blast..there were
rapids and everything. It was like one of those tubing rafting rides
at an amusement park but the real thing, only on your own innertube.
They served us cocunut, mango, oranges and rumpunch afterwards.
We headed back to the ship for dinner and then caught a cab to our
adorable villa in the rainforest. There were about 20 of us there
having a grand time in the living area, huge balcony and whole
upstairs of the house before we called Ken to bring us to Krazy
Koconuts. We all squeezed into Ken's van, with me in the front next to
Ken. I talked to Ken during the ride and learned so much from him. He
is such a great guy. He drove us around and honked and said "whago"
which means "whats up" to his friends. (Which was everyone..such a
small island, he knows everyone). Ken loved us and we loved him. We
had so much fun talking and hanging with him. We went to Krazy
Koconuts after stopping at a local bar first. Tons of SAS kids were
at Krazy Koconuts..which was HUGE and awesome. Dominican people
really have good music. So much latino and reggae. I'm adding so much
to my itunes. We had a blast dancing and socializing. We then headed
back to the hotel while bonding with Ken some more. When he dropped
us off he started talking to Hannah, Ryan, Lindsay and I about love,
God, and how he lives his life. Man, he is an amazing guy. He talked
about how he loves everyone, and he feels so blessed to have what he
has and to live on this beautiful island. We were touched so much, and
overwhelmed by his heart, and just the amazing way he lives his life.
Lindsay was in tears after hearing what he had to say. God was doing
some pretty cool things. He told us he would take us to places the
next day and show us around the island. The next day (today) we took
him up on his offer. He stuffed 15 people into his car (people in the
trunk and all). Don't worry, they don't drive fast because there's
only curvy roads, and he was careful. He took us to probably the most
beautiful place I've ever been. I swear it was a taste of heaven. A
whole lot of "how is this real?" was heard again. Its hard to describe
it but basically on the coast were these magnificent angular beautiful
mountains and you look out on the sea and there's this thing that
looks like an island, but really there's a small strip of land that
goes out to it. On one side of it was caribbean water and the other
sides was the atlantic ocean. We swam in the caribbean part which was
the perfect temperature and the water was so clear. Un.real. We then
had a short hike up the "island type thing". I forget the name of
where we went was. The view...undescribable. I wish I could upload a
picture. I felt overwhelmingly blessed. Which reminds me, Ken says
what they say there is "bless" (kind of like God bless). A lot of
people are christian there and there were verses around a lot (backs
of cars and billboards). I loved it. Anyway we headed back down the
"island type thing" with ipod speakers and all :) And then Ken took us
to botanical fruit garden with a restaurant in the middle. Once
again.."how is this real?!" We picked grapefruits, cocoa, mangos,
passionfruit and oranges off the tree and ate them. YUM!!! We ate, and
then after an amazing day Ken brought us back to our ship. He so
badly wanted to bring us to the hot springs but we just didn't want to
risk being back late (you cant enter the next port for hours if you're
just 1 minute late). We got there an hour and a half early. I bonded
with Ken so much today (and last night). He swam with us, hiked with
us, ate with us (which was at his cousin/godfather's place). He only
asked for $20 from each of us. You must realize that is NOTHING..when
a cab is $5 per person for a 5 minute drive. He was probably one of
the kindest, most remarkable and inspiring men I've ever met! Also, he
talked about how he adored his 3 yr old son. The lifestyle here is SO
different. I commented on how much I loved his reggae music and he
said he'd give me his CD. Then others commented and he slowed the car
down and yelled at his window, "i need 5 CDs of the CD you gave
me" (to the store where he got his CD). Also today he said he'd show
us his son. So as hes driving through town he stops and yells out the
window directing the teacher to bring out his son. She carries him out
within seconds and puts him on his lab in the cab. He was so adorable
(pics eventually). Other amazing quotes by Ken I won't forget, when I
asked him how his morning was so far he replied "Blessed, man. I
dropped my son off at school." And today as we're hiking up the
incredible "island type thing" I go, so are you having fun Ken? He
goes, "I have fun every day man. I am happy every day." ...This is
how he lives his life. Incredible.
This is what this trip is supposed to be about. Not being a tourist.
REALLY learning about the culture. Interacting with natives. Going out
of your comfort zone, and being blown away in a positive way because
of it. I can't believe this incredible of an experience happened at
the FIRST port. We were all so touched and so overwhelmed by the
PERFECT experience we had. We can't see how it can get better than this.
When Ken dropped us off and we said goodbye he gave us his contact
info. Hopefully we can send him a postcard and then keep in touch when
we can get on Facebook again. When I said goodbye to him I was
genuinely sad. I made such a great friend and really influenced and
inspired me. So blessed. So blessed.
So I get back to the ship and I'm on a cloud. These past days were
just unbelievably perfect. Julie (my roommate who is WONDERFUL) and I
get dinner together and these 2 old ladies (probably late 70s or 80s)
sit down next to us. They're sisters and are lifelong learners. How
cute?! We had a great time chatting with them. One was a pilot. Martha
said, "you have so much to look forward on this trip." "I've just been
so blessed in this life I can't believe it." We chatted with them for
about an hour. The day just kept getting better.
Now we're somewhere between Dominica and Brazil. We reach Brazil in 6
days i believe. I was sad to leave Dominica. I definitely want to come
back to Dominica someday. I'm the only one left in the lounge. Its
1:20AM. The ships rocking again and I'm loving on it...I think I may
work on a ship someday :) haha I'm loving life. I tell you what
though, its awfully hard to do school work when you have an experience
like that and 500 students all around you at all times to share
experiences with and just share your joy with! I had a long
conversation with a kid named Matt after almost beating him twice in
ping pong.
I'm headed to bed now. Thanks for reading this crazy long post. I just
couldn't leave anything out. I'm having the time of my life already :)
Love <3
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