Island Tour

As one of the orientation events, my school sponsored a 10-hour island tour. It sounds like a lot, but at least half of it was spend in the car. Maybe this island isn't as small as I thought. We all met at 8am in front of the library to load the buses (which are really more like big vans), but we didn't actually leave until maybe 8:45. After a lot of winding roads going up the mountain, we reached Freshwater Lakes around 10am.


I didn't get a great picture of the lakes. This is near the top of a mountain where it's cloudy probably 99% of the time. This island is basically a rainforest, so it was really cold and rainy at the lakes. It would usually just rain for 5 minutes, stop, then you can see the rain coming again moving across the lakes. It's actually pretty cool. I should've shot a video of it. It was too wet on the hiking trail here, so we didn't really get to hike. But there were a few brave souls who jumped in the freezing water.


We then drove down the mountain a little bit to get to Trafalgar Falls which is a set of two waterfalls. From the parking lot, we hiked up and down a few hills to get to the point where we can see both of the waterfalls. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to go down to the actual water because the trail was so wet and slippery from all the rain. They don't call these things rainforests for nothing. It was damp and rainy the whole time, and eventually, there was a massive downpour. You really can't survive on this island without an umbrella. Anyways, hopefully one day I can come back when it's safe enough to actually get in the water and possibly the hot springs.

Next, we had a buffet lunch, which wasn't anything spectacular. One thing to note about buffets in Dominica is that you're only allowed one plate and one round around the buffet. Also, people serve the meat and fish to you, but not the other stuff. So basically, load up on the starches and veggies.


My favorite part of the tour was Scott's Head, which is at the southern tip of Dominica. It's the point where the Caribbean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean. It was really beautiful there. We walked on the landstrip that separates the two bodies of water, then hiked up a big hill to get to the viewpoint. You can definitely tell the difference between the two because the Caribbean is more tranquil and turquoise while the Atlantic has more waves. After getting a bunch of pictures, I walked down the hill and around to the part where people were swimming. It was so humid outside that I didn't feel like swimming and getting back onto the bus all wet. Next time, I'll go snorkeling there though.

Even though I wasn't a fan of the rain, the humidity, and all the driving, I'm really glad I went on this long island tour. It really gave me a chance to see the southern part of the island and all of the different environments. There was everything ranging from the cold lakes up in the mountains to the wet rainforest, the dingy and very undeveloped city of Roseau to the the beautiful and sunny oceanside. Even though Dominica isn't really the greatest place to live, I'm starting to appreciate it more and more. I'm actually glad to know that I still have many more Dominican sites to see because it gives me something to look forward to in regards to living here.

More orientation week

This is the view from Ross University's campus. It's quite beautiful. But other than that, the campus is ugly minus the insides. However, I can't expect any more than what they give for a third world country.

Aside from boring and sometimes useless orientation lectures, I honestly haven't been doing anything else except get adjusted to living here. It's a good thing I talked to people who've been here, so I knew what to expect. I think if I hadn't done that, I'd be pretty unhappy here. One thing that I do like here though is that the locals are really nice. It's custom to say hello to everyone you walk by, and that's something that I have to get used. You just don't do that in NY. Not only are there too many people there, but it's an unfriendly city. I've been good about saying hi to everyone here, or at least the locals.

But of course there are things that I don't like that I have to get used to. First of all, the weather here really sucks. Yeah, I'm in the Caribbean, and I shouldn't be saying things like that, but really, the weather is pretty awful. It's so hot and RIDICULOUSLY humid. 3 minutes of walking can get me profusely sweating. It also rains pretty much everyday, but only for 10-15 minutes or so. We did have a mild tropical storm a couple of days ago when it rained for about 2 hours. That resulted in brown water for about a day, which was not cool. It's a good thing I had enough water in my fridge to brush my teeth with.

Also, there are these tiny flies that come SWARMING after it rains - like a serious mass exodus of these flies that come swarming to the light. After maybe 30 minutes, they all of a sudden commit suicide and drop dead. It's really bizarre. It turns out there's a tiny gap between the door of my balcony and the ground, so all of a sudden, there were a million tiny flies entering my apt. After that, we taped the gap, left my apt, battled the even more tiny flies by my front door, and ran to get some bug killer spray. But by the time we got back, they had all dropped dead. I just use packing tape to pick up the tiny dead flies. It actually works really well.

Overall, I think I'm getting used to all the annoying island things. Strangely enough, the heat is the one I'm having the most difficulty with. It's just so brutally humid. I'm sure I'll be complain more the day I get caught in the rain. Hopefully, I'll grow to like this island though. There's nothing to do around here, so it's actually quite conducive for studying which is exactly what I need.

Settling In

So I'm pretty much settled in here. There haven't been any surprises. It's pretty much what I expected, so it's good that I talked to other people who've already been here. It is a poor, third world country, but there's hardly any crime, and locals are extremely nice. I have to get used to saying hello to every single person I walk by. Island life is of course really slow and laidback, and there are cows that just chill on the side of the streets. Unfortunately, they are not for consumption. They're just wild animals here. It's seriously very amusing to me to be walking next to a cow on the way to campus.

Probably the one major downfall of being here is traveling here. You usually have to spend a night in Puerto Rico on the way here, and if you don't, then you're probably going to miss your connecting flight. Also, one shouldn't be surprised if their luggage doesn't arrive at the same time as they do. My parents and I had an overnight in Puerto Rico, so we checked in at American Eagle 3 HOURS prior to the flight to make sure our luggage would arrive. Lo and behold, our luggage wasn't on our flight, possibly because they put the early luggages at the end of the line. It was kinda annoying that all 6 of our luggages didn't end up in Dominica at the same time as we did, but it ended up being on a charter flight after us, so it all arrived on campus that same evening.

So flying into Dominica is interesting. When you begin descending, it really looks like the plane landing in Jurassic Park. It's all green, and it looks like you're landing on top of trees. It's kind of bizarre because it makes you wonder where the hell you are, but it's pretty cool.

Aside from having to wait around for my luggage, Day 1 wasn't so bad. A welcome committee took us on a campus tour. It looks pretty shabby on the outside, but that's expected since this is a third world country. However, the inside of the classrooms are pretty nice. Every single chair in the lecture halls has it's own 110v plug, and there are big LCD screens hanging around the bigger halls. However, the library is really small. Do note that I'm really used to Bobst at NYU...sigh, you have no idea how much I wish I could study there.

After the campus tour, we ate at Brother's Chinese Restaurant. For whatever reason, it seems like Chinese food and Subway are the only two things to eat down here. It wasn't that bad though. I mean, it was good considering it's Chinese food in the Caribbean. It's definitely edible Chinese and seems clean to eat. Possibly cleaner than a lot of places in Chinatown. However, it's nowhere near Chinatown or Flushing.

Finally, all of our luggage came, and we were ready to get driven to my apt in the building called New Avies. It's a brand new building, which is both good and bad. The place is really well taken care of, and the landlord/lady are so helpful and nice, but my cable isn't set up yet, and the internet is inconsistent. Overall, it's pretty nice and definitely way nicer than most affordable places in NY. Electricity is pre-paid here, and it's pretty expensive, so it's a good thing that I've already been in the habit of turning off the A/C before I leave my apt and only using it when absolutely necessary.

Aside from extreme tiredness, my first day here wasn't so bad. Hopefully, I can catch up on the other things that have been happening in the last few days. I'll eventually put up pictures too!