Rain, Rain, and more rain

We wanted to give you all an insight into our almost daily life in Dominica. This amount of rain is not uncommon and can be highly inconvenient. Ironically, our water has been turned off for about 4 hours now and will be brown and cloudy for several days. We are lucky to still have electricity. This is also the time when we see the big creatures in our apartment i.e. the 9 inch centipede...

YUCK, YUCK, YUCKY!!

Video #1

Video #2

...But what a pretty rainbow for the finale.

Savanne Paille School

On Thursday, 4 spouses and myself travelled about 30 minutes to a little school on the mountain called Savanne Paille. The school consists of around 50 students ranging from grades K-6. The principal was telling us that they haven't been receiving adequate funding from the government partially because they are so far away from Roseau (almost 2 hours). He also told us the government has neglected to send professional counsellors to help some of the students cope with various issues. The building and the windows are in lousy shape so local thieves have been breaking in and stealing desks and random school supplies. Who does that?

So some of the spouses have built a relationship with the school and have been volunteering either by reading with the children or painting the school. I have been assigned to this boy who struggles with reading and math. He is 12 years old and has been called a midget by the principal on several occasions. (And he wonders why this boy lacks motivation!) I am really hoping to "light a fire" under this boy and really get him excited about reading and math. It will be great to be able to devote more than a year with him. I think it will be great to give him that consistency.

View of Portsmouth from Savanne Paille The School (4 classrooms)

The SchoolIt doesn't matter which country you are in, the kids LOVE cameras!
The two mountains are called Caprits

Our First Month in Dominica

We just celebrated our one month anniversary in Dominica and are about to celebrate our two month anniversary as Mr. and Mrs. Adamow. We are shocked how quickly time is passing. Only 15 months to go and if you include breaks, just 13 months! I think it is fascinating how easily we have adapted to this different way of living.

Examples:

• Hot water switch for the shower - which 9 out of 10 times only makes the water tolerable. And the other time the water is boiling hot. What is that about?!


• Stray dogs EvErYwHeRe. We have a pile of rocks on our front porch that Josh uses to scare barking dogs away at all hours of the night.


• Overpriced groceries even for a first world country.


• Pre-paid electricity - it is really depressing to see the power meter drop rapidly. We use about 2-5 dollars a night for the air conditioner and another few dollars everyday for our fridge, microwave, and TV. I guess I have a new appreciation for my parents tolerating and paying for my addiction to long hot showers and lots of heat in the cold New York winters. Thanks mom and dad!


• No Car- As sad as it is, we are so dependant on our vehicles. There is a jeep for sale by the university and everyday Josh says, "Please?!" It would be so handy having a vehicle but really not necessary. It forces us to walk everywhere which is great.

Even though we have had some hard times adjusting and still have really bad days (mostly just me), we really like it here. The produce is so fresh, the ocean is a 5 minute walk away, we go kayaking and sailing, Monday night football, having started figuring out cooking here, we can even get pizza, and we have already made some really great friends. Josh has his first big exams in two weeks. So expect more frequent entries!

Church News

Josh and I wanted to show you what church is like in Dominica. Prior to this August, a formal congregation of members in Portsmouth was virtually non-existent. The nearest church would have been an hour bus ride down to Roseau. Fortunately in August, the church opened the building we now use. It is about 2-3 miles from our house but we can usually catch a transport for about 35 cents each. (Not a bad deal!) Surprisingly there are about 40 members who attend every Sunday. A good majority of the members are fellow medical students with their wives and children. But a large portion of the congregation are local Dominica members. They are very humble and devout members. I heard a story today of one man who has to walk around 10 miles to church every Sunday. And he never misses a week.

This Saturday, Josh and I attended a baptism on the beach! This was our first oceanside baptism experience. Since the church building doesn't have the proper facilities for baptisms, the church resorts to the ocean. The boy being baptized was an 8 year old son of a 4th semester medical student. I think he is going to remember this day for his whole life. We have really enjoyed going to church here. It is nice to have something familiar from home as well as to meet fellow med students. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Picture Post

Hope everyone is having a fabulous Tuesday. Today is mostly going to be a picture posting day because I have many random pictures. But first, today I went snorkeling this morning with 5 other spouses to Champagne Bay. It is a private beach about an hour from where we live that has some beautiful coral and of course fishes! It was really relaxing and refreshing to swim in the ocean which thousands of different ocean creatures. It was an exciting day for Josh too because today was his first day cutting open dead bodies. He didn't sleep at all last night because he was so excited. (Ok I am kidding, that would be weird!) So the Adamow Family is doing well in Dominica. We had very intense thunderstorms two nights ago accompanied by some torrential downpours. Since then, our drinking water has been a brownish foggy color. But I guess that is better than no water at all. So here are some new pictures. Hope you enjoy!

Me @ Champagne Bay

Champagne Bay

A stray dog we have named Cam Cam because he is half carmel and marshmallow!

The road leading up to our house.

White Coat Ceremony

On Friday, Josh was initated into the field of medicine at the White Coat Ceremony. There were several doctor speakers including the Dean of Ross Medical School. The Prime Minister of Dominica was also a guest speaker. This was probably the highlight of the event. (In my opinion at least!) Here are a few pictures of the ceremony:

One of our friends, Andy, and Josh after receiving their white coats.

The Newly Weds

Courtney and Andy. (There will be many future stories involving these two since we have attached ourselves to them!!)

The Annex: This is where Josh has all of his first semester lectures. Pretty nice huh?

We are here!

Commonwealth of Dominica: Portsmouth

After minimal flight delays and with all of our luggage in hand, Josh and I arrived into Dominica around 5 pm on August 22nd. We were picked up by school representatives and placed onto a bus for the unavoidable "ride from hell." For the next hour, we drove on the most windy, rolling, narrow road I have ever been on. We were either dodging other cars or making a sharp curve around a cliff. The word on the street is there are 220 turns between the airport and Portsmouth! (One of Josh's professors was bored). I had my head in my lap the whole time trying not to enjoy lunch a second time and Josh was also looking pretty pale. We were happy to arrive at the housing office especially since we were informed that our apartment was ready for us!

Fredrick Lawerence Apt #1

(First door on the first floor)

About a 5 minute walk to campus