We Made It!!

We flew inches above the trees, took a sharp right and landed on a tarmac the length of a football field...it was pretty awesome!!!

We arrived last Friday night and have been adjusting ever since.  It is really a paradise here and we love it.  Obviously, our family is experiencing two very different sides of paradise. One that is air conditioned, provides plenty of refreshments, and lots of adult interaction. The other mostly consist of a BOB double stroller becoming the largest pack mule that Dominica has ever seen while being pushed down dirt roads or side walks (clearly not designed for a double wide) by an out of shape, sweating, swearing, BUT SMILING mother of two precious children!! One is only precious half the day...best you can't guess which one ;)

So, let's dive into the fun stuff!!

The first day we arrived it was beautiful. David and I went to the fresh market at 6 a.m. while mom stayed with the girls.  BTW...The sun rises and is full on sun at 6 a.m. The sun then sets at 6 p.m.  I think this is the short, meaning days, season...they don't recognize daylight savings. We are very far East so I think that has something to do with it also?! The market was awesome...fresh everything and cheap!** Rightfully so because I realized very  shortly after that the local grocery store is crazy expensive because if you buy anything not produced on the island it's way overpriced!  An apple, bc imported, costs approx. $2 ($US)/apple.  We use EC's here...Eastern Caribbean money and the exchange is 2.67.**  We will now buy everything possible from the Saturday Market and get only necessities from the local grocery.  The cooking here is incredible and the local restaurants, called shacks, bc they literally look like a "shack" are really affordable. Another awesome quality about Dominica is the people are SUPER FRIENDLY!! They remember your name and give you advice on how the locals do things. It's refreshing bc everyone is in such a hurry at home and mostly in cars.

Ok, so i may start writing in text speak and not capitalizing my words for brevity so any of you grammar snobs can just kiss it :)

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Our New Home!!!    Kootney Resorts Cottage #12

The one thing that has not been an adjustment is our home. We Love It!!!  It's small but very functional so it's truly ok with me, Amberly :)  The bathroom and closet are really big and both "jack n jill" between the 2 bedrooms. The kitchen is a galley style that overlooks the living area. The living area is pretty small but we're moving to another cottage in Dec that is 3 times the size of ours now.  Our landlord Trish is an English Canadian married to a white Dominican...with a son named Kyle.  They are the coolest sweetest family! They take care of us :)

Fresh coconut water on the side of the road!

I am stopped in front of the shacks with the girls in the stroller letting a native fill up my nalgene bottle with coconut water...we try and drink as much as possible bc it keeps you really hydrated. Vita Coco doesn't have anything on this and it's like 50 cents to fill my whole bottle. Things like that are pretty cool and leave you with...for my brothers...a sense of "This is where we are"!! Sorry for the inside joke...

Ok, so I'm going to skip a few days and come back to them in post #2 but for now...let's just say we finally found a little sense of paradise today!!! This pic says it all. On the 3rd attempt, Mom, the girls and I finally found a route to the beach that didn't consist of 4 wrong turns a skinny ass sidewalk for my double wide, me cursing and sweating AGAIN!!!!  We played in the water and literally ran up and down the beach, Banks' favorite past time, for 3 hours and it was awesome!!! Eloise even got in...don't have a pic at the moment.

I have so much to catch u up on but since it took me 3 hours, a bottle of wine and have i mentioned cursing, to setup this freakin blog...I'm going to have to call it a night since i'll be up at 5:45 a.m. with the girls, yes they get up at 5:45 now...so fun...and then head to the market at 6 a.m. If you don't get there by 6:00 a.m. the freshest veggies and all the fish is gone!  BTW...we heard the conch shell blow...the way the fishermen let you know there's fresh fish...and raced over to find TUNA...we bought 5 lbs of Tuna for $30 EC's so that's like $12 US Dollars...and it was literally off the boat. I actually have a video of that and will post it in the next post.  Mom has been my little videographer/documentarianismER!!!! Kelly, that made up word's for you ;)

Pretty cool rainbow huh?! This was over the school where David was playing flag football.

I promise more pics and info about our adventures.  I have tons of stories to tell!

We love you all and miss everyone soooooo much!!!

xoxo

Amberly, David, Banks & Eloise