A new approach to reading

Since November 2009, my counterpart and I have started an after-school reading program for the young children in our village. The program is three days a week and consists of a total of 41 students, however the average is 30 per class. For an hour on each day Lil and I open with a song...

Reading time, reading time, reading time Reading time, reading time, reading time Take a seat and be comfortable, everybody has a right to read, Reading time, reading time, reading time!

Lessons are given through workbooks according to age and grade level. We started by aiding to K-5th grade but due to all of the interest are now accommodating Preschool through Grade 6. It is difficult to assist so many children and such a wide range of ages at the same time. Luckily some youth from the community are helping when they can, taking some pressure off Lil and I. The students love the class, whether they are there to read or socialize with schoolmates, the turnout is bigger than planned for. Fridays are our ''fun days'' where we play games. This past Friday we did ring games; an important cultural tradition.

The Boiling Lake

Dominica has half of the Eastern Caribbean's twenty active volcanoes. Although they have been silent for the past 1000 years, bubbling sulfur springs, fumaroles, solfataras, and a massive boiling lake indicate that the volcanic activity below the ocean floor reaches the island's surface. Dominica's Boiling Lake, second in size to the Frying Pan lake of New Zealand, is 200ft wide. It is located five miles from the city at the core of the Morne Trois Piton National Park, a World Heritage Site. This steaming basin of earth is one of he most amazing geothermal features on earth.The Valley of Desolation, just a few miles from the Boiling Lake, is another of the island's spectacular hot spots. The floor of the valley resembles a multicolored spattered canvas, from which solfataras and fumaroles spurt.discoverdominica.com

Volunteers and myself took the holiday to hike the toughest route on Dominica. The boiling lake was intense and beautiful at the same time. After about an hour of hiking we reached "breakfast river", filled our water bottles and had a snack.

Christmas in Dominica!

Where to begin... festivities began for me with an annual tradition of slaughtering a pig. My friends spent the Monday before Christmas searching the island for a pig for their tradition. (Not hunting but finding a place or person to buy it from). The following day at 5am I was awoken and pulled out of bed to join the event. There was a large fire blazing already. I went to the back yard to get the pig with a friend. The 200lb pig lay sleeping in the bushes. After awhile my friend got the pig up the hill and near the fire. The slaughtering itself was quick and quiet (a knife is stuck into the pig's heart)-it didn't squeal at all. From that they poured boiling water over the pig and shaved the black hair off entirely. Then it was cut open, cleaned and the meat was divided and given to friends and family members.

Christmas eve was a busy day in the city. The buses run non-stop, and for my village that is unheard of. It is an hour and a half drive and he usually makes one trip and stays for the day. The buses were consistently packed while people came down to finish their shopping. I went down to see the activity but was back home by the afternoon because it was just TOO TOO busy. The rest of the day was spent at my friend's house visiting with family that came in from neighboring islands. The night was full of eating and drinking. Carols are done... Caribbean style. Using a harmonica and a bamboo with ridges Dominicans sing their original Christmas carols.

Christmas day began with friends stopping by the house to exchange Christmas greetings. Gift exchanges is not common. Small gifts may be given between friends and some children get toys. I was able to ''Skype" home to see our traditional gift-opening morning but was beckoned back to my friend's house for lunch. The woman served a pumpkin, beef, potato and spices soup. It was fantastic, simple but able to to make in a big pot to feed the large numbers of visitors for the day! It is such a wonderful feeling of hospitality and enjoyment just relaxing and visiting. It was good to see because Dominicans work so hard all the time I think that is why I enjoyed the togetherness.

Christmas time is here...

My (Charlie Brown) Christmas tree. It is making a wonderful addition to my home. The kids think it is sooooo beautiful.

Note the Dominican fabric as the tree skirt!

Creole Music Festival

Every November around Independence time the island has Creole Music Festival. It is a weekend, 3 full nights of concerts. Bands and artists come in from all over the Caribbean and perform at the new Windsor Park stadium. The tickets were very expensive; you could by night by night or season tickets for all 3 nights. Outside the park is vendors of BBQ chicken, fries, cheeseburgers(!), bakes, juice, beer, and rum. The event started at 10pm each night and bands perform until the sun comes up. I attended Saturday night and left the park about 5am. Things seem to completely end at 7am. After Sunday nights concert folks left the stadium at 7am and headed straight to work. Tough people!

The week leading up to the event was 4 days (Mon-Thurs) of "Creole in the park". This was an afternoon/evening event in the Botanical Gardens. Vendors outlined the park and a stage made entertainment from local school dances to famous Caribbean bands.

Rosalie Hike

There is about a 2 mile trail just below my home leading to a beautiful beach and river. For the first time I made the hike! It took about 1hr and 15mins. The track was not bad just muddy from the rain, it is so wooded that apparently it is rarely a dry path.

BAMBOO!

This span will soon be a car-traveling road. The people have been asking for it for over 20 years now and finally it is in progress. It will be extremely beneficial and connect the village I live in to its neighboring village. As of right now if you want to drive to Rosalie you must drive about 1/2hour out of your way on the only road available. Here you can see the beginning of the project; it is estimated to take one year.

Independence celebration

The island of Dominica celebrates its Independence on November 3. The entire month consists of cultural events such as dancing, parades and music festivals. I was lucky enough to join my village during their weekend of semi finals in the dance competition. For three nights they traveled to different venues on the island to perform a variety of cultural dances. Each night was about 5 hours of dancing from high school age to adult age groups.

(Above) View from top of Cabrits national park (Below) Near entrance to dancing venue; This was the host of the third and final night of the semi final dance competition