Day 15-07.14.11

Today is Bastille Day!!!
morning:
-breakfast
-wait for the beach-clean up taxi and practice lassoing 

Dylan lassoing

Moss, who actually got it, lassoing

James, pretending to be a cowboy, lassoing

  group:
   Moss
   Jeff
   Ora
   Dylan
   James
-met a group of French tourists with a baby who were really nice...they were going on the same hike we had done before, only the other way; they also told me I spoke very good French which made my day!
-a lady gave us juices and oranges to snack on because she was so thankful/felt bad for us because we were working on a holiday when no one else was out

Ora chilling out in the cabana on the beach

-we had to walk at least half of the way back to home base (all uphill) because the taxi never came due to a paint spill when we were finally picked up along the road
-went to l'anse-a-dos for a Bastille Day Party and swimming fun
Then...this happened:


I was swimming in the ocean. All was good. Then I went to get out on this pier/dock thing that was really the only manageable way to get out. Cool. So you have to make sure you go with the wave to get out, and I just missed the wave so I let myself fall back into the water. In the midst of falling back into the water, I managed to kick a sea urchin and perhaps the stone wall as well. So, I wound up with 12 spines on the top of my foot, and an ankle injury.

It was Bastille Day, of course, so there were a bunch of people around as I am sobbing on the beach. EMS arrives and hauls me away in the ambulance to the one doctor on the island who of course was not there that day. So, they took me back to the place we were staying where they put candle wax on the spines and then put a flame on my foot in the hopes that the spines would come out, but no...it just burned my foot. 

ahhhh!!!!!

I spent the rest of the day soaking my foot in water, and icing it.  
When the pain returned, the staff figured out that it might be an ankle injury, so they made a makeshift splint and tied me to a bench.


That night, I was tied to the bed post because they were afraid of me moving my ankle in my sleep...ahh the life!

Day 14-07.13.11

morning:
-breakfast
-prep for kids camp
  Juliet
  Jeff
  Erica
  Andrew
  Lindsay
  Cam
  Matt
-only four kids showed up due to the large amount of rain
  Ann Sylvie, Giovanny, Axel (telephone man), and Emmanuel
afternoon:
-lunch
-lunch clean-up
-stages~salako hat making...fun!

sewing the hat

Cam and I with machetes

the finished product...of course we never got to that point:)

  Sophia
  Cam
  Jeff
  Casey
  Molly
  Rebecca
 *machetes

machete"ing" bamboo with Patrice

oh yeah! I love wielding machetes!

oops...accidentally cut myself with the machete

 *sawing bamboo

Patrice sawing bamboo

 *fruit=carassol

C'est bon!

 *Patrice was super nice to me
 *saw Chantal and Bernard
-had a nice chat with Lindsay
evening:
-dinner
-dinner clean-up
-started reading Claire's trashy book...didn't make it too far
-bilan
 *long business meeting
    La Souffriere
  *sharing
  *small group discussion: 2 emotions that are easy to express and 2 that are hard to express
     Jess
     Claire
     Meghan
     Andrew (staff)
*talked with Erica afterwords
-bed!

Day 13-07.12.11

morning:
-home base set up
-breakfast
-clean up
-home base duties
  showers, sinks
  bathroom clean
  sweeping staff room...whoops, Andrew was still sleeping!
-a bit of kids camp with James
-Gwo-ka with the two funny guys

  dancing
  rhythm
  singing
  circle time
  family with the little girl and the baby girl
   mom had cool glasses
   the little girl was lost...but was found eventually
   the little baby started to like me!
afternoon:
-lunch set up and shopping on the way back from Gwo-ka
-lunch...probably the best lunch we have had...little pumpkin/squash fritters

-lunch clean up
-talked with the musicians
-went to la stade
  capture the flag~we won 3 times...I only fell once!
-town with Molly
-prepared for home stay
evening:
-dinner stay
  with Lucy and Sophia
  toured their amazing garden

  played with Rachelle

  the mom works for the mayor
  lemon leaves, apple fruit thing
  went to Grande Anse...in a car!
  saw the internet cafe

comic books for sale at the internet cafe

  had a bokit in la place a Grande Anse with Brigitte~jambon et fromage (ham and cheese)

  returned to their home for dinner
   fish sausage thing
   chicken and rice
   passion fruit with sugar
   coke and water
***they gave us fruit to take back to home base and a medicinal grain to make into an oil to soothe bug bites

-my bug bites are back and are really bad again
-took a Benadryl
-went to bed....super hot!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NAOMI!!!!!!!!

sorry that is sideways...did not know how to fix it...

Day 12-07.11.11

morning:
-breakfast, rain=yuck
-carpentry with Vince
   built a wall!

the wall we built!

   saw horse=finished
   used a hammer, electric drill, and a hand saw (the electric saws were not working)
  group:
   Casey
   Cam
   Naomi
   Sophia
   Erica
   **Gaby (a man from the island who owns a store and helps out with the carpentry project)

Sophia, Erica, and Naomi working away

afternoon:
-lunch
  really good today-fish, rice&beans, fruit, cukes, mango, roasted veggies
-language partners
  letter game
  elephant, jello, house, etc. game
  list of questions (similar to Madame's oral activities at school)
  Leila and Chloe were in our group
evening:
-shower
-did sidewalk chalk
-dinner
-dishes
-corassol sorbet, but we didn't know what it was...thought it was coco sorbet that had curdled
-chatted with Naomi
-bilan
  1 thing we contribute to the group
  1 thing we lack
-nice chat with Lindsay

Lindsay and I, obviously not on this day

-bed...home base tomorrow!!!
  

Day 11-07.10.11

***today a tropical storm blew through Terre-de-Bas***
morning:
-late wake up...breakfast at 7:30!!!
-went to the bathrooms
  ~tried to flush a gift someone else left
  ~wound up throwing up behind the bathrooms...yummy
-ate cheerios and had some soda
-went on an amazing hike

trail head...after we walked for 45 minutes uphill

an interesting tree

stopping for a pic...hey mom! there are trees in Guadeloupe

first peak at the water

jumping the fence...with a little help from my friends

  ^crazy inclines-Route du Nord
  ^ON TOP OF THE WORLD...when I reached the top

I was on top of the world...

  ^lots of falls

then I fell off the rock that I was standing on...

  ^2 asthma incidents...nothing serious
  ^watched rain come onto the island from Terre-de-Haut

beautiful

kind of epic, if I must say so myself

and then scary...on top of a mountain

  ^hung out with James, Jackie, Jeff, Lucy, and Ben

about 10 feet away from a cliff

Ben being Ben

Ben freaking us out by being up in a tree?

interesting cactus

back of the pack-pack

-got to Grande Anse soaking wet
afternoon:
-sat and shivered

and the rain is gone

about 50 yards out, there was still run-off water...brown and nasty

-had lunch
-did a pre-clean of plates by dipping them in the ocean
-Magnum Bars...2
-played pattern games with Naomi and Andrew
-hung out with Julianne and Ocean
evening:
-dinner
-yum=Casey's birthday
-dishes x2 due to not really washing them after being at the beach
-played Mafia in James' group...he did lots of funny accents...British one was the best
-bed

Day 10-07.09.11

morning:
-breakfast
-prep for Terre-de-Haut (the other island that makes up Les Saintes)
-took taxi to the port...Andrew's suit remarks:)
-took a nice boat to Terre-de-Haut

trying to quick learn how to snorkel

-SCUBA TRAINING!!!

the place where we got the equipment and got "prepped"

-SCUBA DIVING

the area the boat left from

   *probably one of the most amazing experiences that I have ever had
   *beautiful, tranquil
   *hard at first but then Claire (my instructor) just kind of pushed me under
      ~saw amazing fish, coral, and eels
      ~the forced breathing became increasingly unforced and actually quite therapeutic

Pointe-Cabrit=where we actually dove

-the boat ride out and back from scuba diving was beautiful, and fast moving
-swam around after we went scuba diving with Naomi and Dylan
  my group:
   Dylan
   Naomi
   Melissa
   Moss
   Hannah
   Vince
   Andrew
afternoon:
-walked to the gelato place

a HUGE amount of flavors

-ate creme caramel and chocolate gelato

yum!

-ate my baguette and brie sandwich as well as an apple
-continued walking to the beach and got to walk past cute shops and vendors
-got to the beach (La Plage de Pompiers?)

la plage

  it was super beautiful and scenic
-went on a trek across sand, across the water (up to our chests), and up and across mountains while having an intense discussion about religion among other things
  Lucy
  Sophia
  Naomi
  Casey
  Andrew
-Andrew got a job offer, and told us on our hike...so proud of him!
-some of the most amazing views that I have EVER seen...we could see Dominica off in the distance, churning waters
-I WAS ON TOP OF THE WORLD!
-hung out on the beach and went into the water
-Andrew did 2 back flips on the beach
-Vince did a somersault...oh so impressive
-we walked back to the port

a view on the walk back

-went to the tourism office and got pamphlets
-took the ferry home

me with pamphlets at the dock

-showered...yes!
-super delicious dinner
 fried bread
 cucumbers
 watermelon
 chicken with onions
 salad with dressing
-what could possibly come next...dishes!
-bilan
 self-reflection
-spent some time in my crazy creek for awhile looking up at the moon
-bed