Weekends and Surviving the First Mini

Here's a run-down on this last weekend.  Kim had her first big test coming up on Monday (called a mini), worth 10% of her semester grade so we kinda knew she would be busy most of the time.

The Counseling Center showed us these helpful graphics:

Saturday morning was the beginning-of-semester rummage sale, so the boys were excited to see if they could earn some Eastern Caribbean $s.  Elijah sold his 'Wimpy Kid' books along with some coloring books and some food items - he made $50EC pretty quickly (about $19US).  We also got rid of an extra DVD player & speakers that we decided not to use here.  Kim was studying.

Elijah was excited about meeting up with a new friend at noon to could play Legos and Minecraft.  They did that most of Saturday afternoon while Miles took a nap and later played with them.  Kim was studying.

Then, after catching the last bit of 'Edward Scissorhands' on TV, we walked Elijah's friend home and decided to hit the pool since we were close to campus.  They met more friends at the pool and Elijah worked on his snorkeling some more.  Kim was studying.

After the sun set at 6pm, we took the shuttle back home (only a mile from the pool, but so nice to get a free ride!) and had some dinner.  Kim was studying.

Saturday night was movie night so we watched the DVD Elijah had picked out at the Activity Center earlier -- "JAWS".  Maybe not the best for kids on a tropical island, I was thinking, but I really enjoyed it.  I don't think I've ever seen it before.  Kim was studying and came home around 10pm.

Sunday we walked to a small local church close to us.  We are enjoying the services there and starting to meet some folks.  The kids have a ways to go with sitting through a service with no AC, but they did much better than last week!

On the way home, we saw this friendly goat grazing right next to the main road we live on.

After lunch, Kim started studying again and I mostly wasted the day watching NFL and MLS.

Monday, Kim left early to get to the test site on time and was done by mid-morning.  She passed and even scored above the class average!  She wants to improve in a couple areas (micro-anatomy, I think) and with settling into a study routine hopes to start killing these tests!  We took a quick lunch date at Sister's Beach Bar and Restaurant to celebrate!  

On the beach, just of campus, at Sisters

Enjoying Kabuli, Guava juice & carrot cake at Sisters!

One Mini down... a few more to go!!

Great Danes!

We got invited over to a home with a lot of dogs.  Elijah and Miles were excited to play with these guys!

Typical sighting along the trail back home!

Swimming and Sunset

We had a school trip to the pool on Friday get cancelled due to rain, so I took the boys there today (Sunday) while Kim studied.  When the sun started to set, Kim came down and we walked less then 2 minutes from the pool down to the Portsmouth Beach Hotel area to take in the views.

Elijah really took to the snorkeling gear I got him and Miles started going underwater, which he hasn't done in a long time.  I was really proud of both of them!

This is a 20-25 min walk from our house, but totally worth it!  We caught the free night shuttle back to our house.

Might be my best panorama with Kim on the pier.  Would be cool to crop this a bit and blow it up as a poster.

Home Sweet Home

We are starting to settle in after being in country for a week.  Some requested more pictures of the house, so I documented it today.  We are in a 3/2, slightly above ground with storage in the 1st floor below us and our landlord on the 3rd floor above us.  We have a huge eat in kitchen with a propane stove.

Elijah and Miles have their own room now.  There is no hot water, but you can turn on a switch to get room temperature water for a shower.  Electric is 220V, so it takes some getting used to - especially in the kitchen where we juggle appliances, so we don't overload the transformer.  There is usually one outlet per room, which means I had to find extension cords for each room so we can have a bed lamp. Each outlet is supposed to be turned off except when needed to save on electricity.

Water has been off and on due to the rain.  It is becoming common to not have any water in the morning, so we save buckets of water for emergencies.  The water is safe to drink, but often has a bit of sediment and can be slightly brown after strong rain.  We have wifi and cable - was surprised to find college football and all kinds of American shows on TV.  They have quite a few European soccer games on through SkySports and ESPN.

Elijah in the doorway with some of our shipping barrels stored out front; we have a washing machine & line to hang clothes

Our front door, we have screen on all windows and doors so we leave everything open as much as possible

Living room is comfortable, came with a ceiling fan.  Took me a while to figure out hanging pictures on concrete walls!

We have a very large fridge by local standards, we utilize a transformer to run the bread machine

Tons of counter space, I added a spice rack.  Top of cabinet is loaded with cereal we brought from the states.  Small box of Cheerios is about $8 here.

Propane stove is very big and was easy getting used to, we keep a Scripto handy for lighting.

Eat in Kitchen with space for 8.  You are welcome to swing by anytime!

Elijah's room with Miles' room across the hall.  Previous tenants left some cool word art.

Elijah's room has turned into a Star Wars Lego battlefield.  Nice wardrobe and I hung a wall fan facing the bed.

More word art in Miles' room.  This is how he makes his bed with a neat row of stuffed animals!

Boys bathroom has a huge shower and small corner sink.

Master bedroom - I added the ceiling fan which makes a world of difference

Master bedroom and bathroom.  Kim has a built in desk and large whiteboard.

All 3 bedrooms have this wardrobe.  Gives us more than enough space.  We also utilize underbed for storage.

View from our front porch.  This area was all banana trees 25 years ago.  The road is Ross Blvd and takes you to campus - just a 1/2 mile walk or so.  Landlord built this up from nothing, original structure had no electricity or water.  The yellow building is six apartments and they also have another apartment building in town.  The husband past away three years ago, so now his widow and grown children manage the properties.  She taught school here for 30 years.

Animals in Dominica

Hi class this is Elijah,

There are a lot of stray animals in Dominica.  I've seen cats, snakes, crabs, a lot of dogs and many other animals.

Just caught fish at the Farmer's Market in Portsmouth

Chickens walking about are common

Can you see my new pet Lizzy?

This is a snake skin

These stray dogs are catching scraps from the table at the Farmer's Market

This is a video I made when I found a crab near our lunch spot (about 1/2 mile from the Caribbean Sea)

Second First Day of School

The boys started school at Wesley in Atlanta on August 5th and then started Ross Prep School yesterday.

The school is pretty unique and everyone seems to rave about it.  Classes are small - about 12/combined class.  Miles is in a Pre-K and Kindergarten class.  His teacher is from the UK.  Elijah is in a 3rd-4th-5th grade class. His teacher has to commute via water taxi due to the storm damage so doesn't get there until 10am.  There is an assistant that handles the class in the morning.  

They really enjoy the playground and are making friends quickly. 

I met Kim on my walk back to the school and we all ate lunch together, which we plan to keep up. Can't do that in Atlanta!

Safe in Dominica

We took the ferry from Guadalupe to Portsmouth, Dominica on Saturday and made it to our new home late last night. It was a 2.5 hour ride, but really took much longer with the loading/unloading and immigration process.

Pictures really can't do justice to the stunning beauty of this island.  I think we got some of the best views of it as we came in by sea.