D-Day + 5

Although part of me thought the day would never really arrive, D-Day (Dominica Day) has come and went, and after a full day of travel and months of preparation, here I am.

The first thing I said when I stepped off the plane, onto the tarmac in front of the tiniest airport I've ever seen, was "Wow", and I've continued to say that word over and over as I see more of this raw, beautiful, rugged island. When I stepped off the plane and saw that the airport had an amazing view of the Atlantic Ocean, I knew that this was going to be interesting, and for the most part it has been a very good experience.

I promised to avoid long wordy posts, and I'm no writer anyway, so let me begin with the pictures, which is what you want to see any way:

(*Remember, if you click on the image you can see a higher resolution version*)

The plane we took on the final leg to Dominica

My first view of Dominica from the plane. As you can see, the interior is very rugged with dense foliage. In many regions the coast is also very rugged, with steep cliffs running into the water. However, other regions have beautiful sand or pebble beaches
The Airport is tiny with just one room sectioned into two areas, one for arriving passengers to get their passports stamped and another for inspection of luggage.

After a little issue with our luggage and a 1.5 hr wait (patience is a necessity in this country), we were packed into this bus to head to campus.
Most of the ride included views such as the above, although the road also traveled along the ocean at times giving us some amazing views of incredible beaches, coves, and natural harbors. The roads here are no larger than typical one lane roads in the States, but cars fly at each other and veer to the "shoulder", just avoiding crashing into each other. Riding with a Dominican driver is quite an experience. They negotiate the incredibly curvy, hilly roads with much talent, at relatively high speeds. Often times, however, you'll notice cars with side mirrors broken off, which is no surprise considering the closeness with with the cars pass each other on the tiny roads. And because the island was controlled by the British before gaining its independence, cars travel on the "wrong" side of the road, making it even scarier.
Much of the local population, especially those living on the eastern side of the island, are not very well off. During our hour drive from the airport to Portsmouth, we saw many of these small shanties. On this side of the island, rainfall can reach over 120 inches a year. Our side still gets a wet 60-80 inches. Up in the mountains: 300 inches.

After an hour drive through the mountains, and with a few of the people around me starting to feel sick from the sharp dips and climbs, we were dropped off at Ross University Housing (RUH), were we gathered out luggage and received a very brief introduction to the island. Those of us with housing already arranged were either picked up by our landlords or dropped off by Ross vans at the apartment buildings.


This road is an exception, not the norm, because it can actually pass two cars side-by-side. Typically the roads are about half this size and one car has to veer over to allow the other to pass. This picture is of the main road that runs down along the ocean and passes by campus and Ross University Housing.
This is a picture of a small part of the community surrounding campus. For the most part, campus, and its surrounding apartments and restaurants, are disconnected from Portsmouth and is really its own little town dedicated to Ross and its students. This picture was taken from a trail that leads up to my apartment.

The on which Portsmouth and campus sits is called Prince Ruperts Bay and is gorgeous. It in this natural harbor, with the relatively tranquil waters on the western side of the island, where Christopher Columbus anchored and came ashore. He named the island after the day on which he discovered it, Sunday (latin: Dominica). This is a picture from the student deck on campus. While taking this picture, right behind me was a Subway, where I'll be frequenting often throughout my stay.

During my first 5 days here, I have had some incredible adventures; too many to write about and put up pictures from right now. From snorkeling on a coral reef just a few hundred feet from the beach behind RUH, to climbing a mountain to get up to a patio bar with the most amazing view I've ever seen , to meeting tons of really cool people interested in the same goal as me, to learning about Dominica and Ross and about what it takes to become a doctor, to SCUBA diving and seeing eels, puffer fish, angel fish, and sea urchins, to cutting open a recently fallen coconut with my dive knife to taste what real coconut should taste like, to listening to a steel drum band play Bob Marley songs while eating at a BBQ thrown by the University, to walking through the rain but not caring because the scenery is still amazing and you know the sun will come out if you just give it a few minutes, to sweating like crazy all the time, to discovering that many of the items you thought you'd never see for 16 months are actually available (Monster energy drink, brandy, rice crispie treats, etc.), to forming a really good group of friends that will support and push each other in our studies, to getting an amazing tan already, to finding out that work-out room is very adequate and I won't lose my muscles but knowing that I will lose a whole bunch of flub because I'm walking endlessly up and down hills and mountains and sweating like crazy and swimming and working out while not eating nearly as much as before and eating healthier, to being able to sea the ocean from about anywhere I am, to stepping on a piece of razor-sharp metal fencing and it nearly going all the way through my foot (hmm... thats not a great memory, but one of the few bad ones), to playing sand volleyball with my friends on campus with a view of the ocean, to eating the freshest bananas nearly right off the tree, to seeing crabs scurrying across the roads as you walk by, to seeing random cows grazing just about anywhere, to playing a basketball with a little Dominican boy, and many more.

Although I am loving my experiences here, I also greatly miss much from home: my family, girlfriend and friends, a respite from the sometimes overwhelming heat and especially the humidity, real milk, my car, my queen-sized bed, Notre Dame... It is hard to be so far away from the things I love and cherish, and that will take some time to get used to, although I never think the longing and tug of home will ever go away. But, after being here for a few days, I am more certain than ever that I will grow tremendously from this experience. I'll come home a different and better person, and hopefully well trained and ready to be a doctor.

I'll be updating again soon with more pictures. I have plenty and may just start a photo-share account so you can see them all, rather than just the few I have time to put up and caption here.

My best to all.

-Jim