Back at it!

So it has been a while since our last blog, but that doesn't mean we were not doing anything. Where did I leave off?... Oh yes, the last week of our break was fairly uneventful. We stuck around home and got prepared to head back to school, which started on Labor Day.

Karissa is now a big 1st grader! I cannot believe how fast time has gone by. She has homework every night and a spelling test every Friday. She is doing really well and seems to be enjoying the structure of the school. Since there is only a few kids and even fewer teachers, grades are combined. So I figure that is a lot like the Montessori school she used to be in. Karissa shares her 1st grade class with "Senior" Kindergarten. The children that were kindergarten age, but not really ready for it are in with Jillian and the Pre-K kids.

Jillian stayed in her Pre-K class, but was joined by lots of little blond haired girls. It is really funny to see the little group of blondies all in the same spot (especially here). She has adjusted nicely to not having her big sister in class with her. I also think it is very positive that she has "her own" friends instead of being the shadow of her sister.

Wes is still the mighty fisherman and has quite a few friends that like to go out either early in the morning or late at night. He has made some local friends who have taken him out in a boat and are planning other "Atlantic" trips. He has actually shot a few fish that we have eaten. He has also started a little "business venture". We purchased a vehicle at the end of 1st semester, so he has now started hauling his friend who owns an ice cream business around (he has no vehicle) as well as the mobile "thrift" book store people (and books). So Wes is kind of like a taxi driver around here. He has also taken a couple of trips to the airport to pick up and drop off people. He charges less than the taxi service, but is making enough to pay for gas and a little extra for his time. It has given us enough to buy a little treat once in a while.

I have started back to school - 2nd semester. We have had our first Neurology practical and our first "mini" (mid term). It is pretty tough this semester since we have one extra class and what seems like less time to learn the material. I now know why medical students live on caffeine. I have started consuming large amounts of coffee and coke...which does not help the waist or the budget.

We have had new challenges such as financial aid not having a check for us. It is now 5 weeks into the semester and we are still without money. This is frustrating, especially since it was not our fault for the school not getting the correct info to the bank. Supposedly we will have a check next week, but the amount seems to be substantially lower than what we expected, so, off to the financial aid office I go...again! They know me by name in there and I'm sure they cringe when they see me coming.

Living on a tropical island means mold. Seems like lately nothing dries out and everything grows mold. Especially swim suits. Let me just say there are a few little girl swim suits that are ruined due to being moldy. Gross. Even a hat that Wes has grew a funky fur around it. We also have a few bats and rats living in our ceiling. That makes things interesting at 5:00 am.

Well, that seems enough for now. We will try to catch you all up a bit later.

More adventures on break

So last blog went through Tuesday which was my first full week of break. I should probably start with Wednesday to catch you up.

We were babysitting on Wednesday for a friend, so we had one extra child, Ben. We had planned to go to Red Rock again along with a lot of other families. Wes figured since we already had three kids, we could watch three more. So we ended up taking our friend's three kids along with us (friends were working, selling books on campus). That was quite stressful once we got there. It wasn't so much the kids, but the waves and current were really strong where we were and we had to constantly watch to make sure no one was swept out to sea. We were fortunate that no one was lost and all were returned to their rightful owner.

Thursday was just for the family. We took the kids through Syndicate park, which is a real gentle hike. It went through the rain forest where the parrots live. We actually got to see a couple fly over, which is a rare event. It was a very relaxing day. Later that night we went to our friend's house to play games. The Karissa and Jillian really love playing with the Farley kids and we enjoyed learning a new game of strategy (don't ask me what it was called).

This tree looks like it has been tattooed with "tribal art" but the ferns just grow around the trees like that. Really cool place to walk through.

Wes made friends with one of the professors who took us to Fresh Water Lake (near Roseau). It was quite a drive to get there, but a very beautiful place and much cooler (temperature) than home. Dave (friend) had three kids that went with us, plus our two...long car ride, especially for me who had to sit with all the kids. We hiked around the lake which took a while, since the trail was either going straight up or straight down. The kids did a great job. Jillian was packed by Wes sometimes and Laynie (~2 years old) was packed by Dave for the majority of the hike. All in all we saw some beautiful country.

After a hike like that isn't it natural to soak in a hot tub? Well, what do you know, there was a "hot pool" on our way home that we stopped at. The name of the place is odd...Screws. Yes, that is the name of the guy who owns it. It is an awesome place to go soak your muscles. It has 4 pools with varying degrees of heat. There is a 'cool pool' that they recommend dipping in before you leave. This place would be great to hang out at all day, or have some sort of family reunion...

Saturday we went back to Syndicate, only this time we went to the falls and we took some friends and their 3 year old daughter. The water fall was beautiful, but we were not allowed to swim, or even dip our feet in it since it is the drinking water source for a few villages around there. We hiked around the park again and were able to see more parrots...only this time they were further away.

Wes now knows what it is like to be a tree hugger. (this is all one big tree...the root system is weird.)

After getting home and relaxing for a bit, we were shaken (literally) by an earthquake. It was my first. It really felt like a big truck ran into our house and we were tipping over. Kind of freaky, but it only lasted a second. I guess that happens a lot on a volcanic island...just hoping our 30 year + old house can take it, especially since we now live on the top floor.

Today, Sunday, was another relaxing drive to the north most part of the island. We went through the "drive through volcano", which you really wouldn't know was the crater until you look down from the top. We also stopped and hiked into a spot that has the water bubbling up from the ground, kind of like Yellowstone, only this water was cold. We continued our drive through some of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. So far, the best village on this entire island is Thibaud...it is stunning! Of course, Wes ran into a local in the village that he knows! Seriously, you can't take him anywhere without him knowing someone. Anyway, for any of you who are wondering where to stay when you come to visit...it is not with us, but in Thibaud. I would move there in a heartbeat.

Until next time...

Activities so far...and its only Tuesday!

I figured I needed to post as many times as I can during my break so I don't forget what we did after school starts up again. So, the last post ended with Indian River...that was last Wednesday...Thursday, we went to Roseau to do some grocery shopping and took a couple friends along with us. Nothing much to see there, just a really cramped town, so we have no pictures to share.

Friday we all went to Red Rock beach. That is a beautiful place. It has such a quaint restaurant and bar with the palm branches as shelter from the rain. The waves were impressive, I think that was due to the storms that were passing us by (hurricane Bill). The kids loved it because you can walk out quite a way before the water gets deep. The boys tried to spear fish, but it was too murky and the current was strong.

Saturday our friends Brian and Anna took the girls for the entire day and night (woo hoo!) and Wes and I went hiking in to Victoria Falls with a few other friends. Wes and Ryan had been there before, but Lauren, Stefani and I had not. It was a tough hike, especially since I have not exercised in years! We had to climb over boulders and cross the river multiple times, but it was worth it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHTOn2o1UJU I don't know how high the falls are, but when you get close enough you cannot look directly at the falls because the spray is blasting your face. The current in the 'pond' is really strong as well. We made it with minor scrapes and bruises and I got a black eye from Wes...no, really...he was trying to save me from falling in the river and ended up kneeing me in the face. So I have to give him a hard time about blacking my eye...he just says I shouldn't talk back.

After the hike, we had dinner at a cute place called "River Side". It is fairly new here and the people are great. The food is probably the best I have had since I've been here...and maybe even longer. I would definitely recommend going there. It was a great day and one of the last for Stefani...she finished 4th semester so she left the island. We have definitely met some wonderful people here.

Sunday...we moved!!! Yeah! Not far...just upstairs. But we now have 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. I know...sounds like we are living high on the hog, but don't forget, this is the apartment that leaked on us all 1st semester. It is not the Hilton, but it is great to actually have a bit of room to move around. My legs were so sore from the previous day's hike that I wondered if I were going to make it through the day...but I did and almost everything is put away. Did I mention that our "pet" gecko named Diamond came with us? Yes, we found him packed in a box. Cute little guy.

Monday we finished up unpacking (almost finished) and hit the beach here in town. We were babysitting a friend's little boy, so we didn't go very far. The kids had a blast, as usual. Karissa actually snorkeled (using my mask and snorkel) and loved it. Next time we will take her fins and let her use a longer snorkel...since the one we got for her is really just for use in a pool...where the waves don't put water down your pipe.

Today, (Tuesday), was another short trip day to Syndicate Park. It is a beautiful rain forest and an easy walk on the paths. It is where you can see Parrots, which we did! Unfortunately the parrots do not stop and pose for pictures, so you will just have to take our word for it. There is such lush vegetation in the park that it looks just like the movies.

We will keep you posted on more of our family adventures!

Ready for some fun!

Well, finals are finished and I am ready for some sight seeing around the island. I finally saw a centipede (a little too up close and personal). I think it was on the power line above my head and landed on my shoulder. It didn't bite me, but my skin is still crawling from the experience. Plus, we must be in "big spider season" because in the last week I've seen more giant spiders than I care to. One was in our house (same day of the centipede experience). Wes rescued us and killed him. Needless to say, sleeping is interesting.

(Karissa, Anna and Nina)

Last week, Wes and the girls went on a trip with a few other spouses to a beach called #1 beach and to Bense Pool. The beach is on the Atlantic side of the island and tropical storm Ana was in the neighborhood, so the seas were a bit more rough than usual (not that I know what normal looks like). (Speaking of tropical storms, hurricane Bill is in our neighborhood, but to our North, so we should not see anything from it.) Karissa loved the waves, but Jillian stayed on the shore.(Margo and Jillian)

Bense Pool is a place that has a small water fall that you can go down like a water slide. It also has a 25' cliff for jumping off. Karissa, being the great dear devil she is, decided that she was going to jump. So, Wes took her up there to make sure she was still game on...and she did it...a few times. Of course, Jillian thought that was ridiculous and stayed on the beach (not that I blame her).

Today, the kids went on a field trip, by boat, up the Indian River. Wes and I were able to tag along disguised as chaperons (ha ha). We had a great time. There were two boats (man powered) that took us up to a little bar (not open) where we had lunch before returning. It was interesting to see the wildlife from that angle. There were a ton of land crabs. I guess Dominica has 18 different crab species. Interesting to see all the different colors and sizes. We also got to see an iguana in the tree just above our boat. The teacher was concerned that we would end up with another passenger.

So we broke down and got a car. We actually made a down payment on it a couple months ago. A 4th semester family sold it to us and we finally were able to take possession of it. I must say, it is really nice to not have to hike up and down the mountain every day...especially in the down pour of rain. The good thing about purchasing a car here is you can get out of it what you purchased it for.

We will keep you posted on our upcoming adventures.

Secret Beach

Wes took the kids to Secret Beach a couple of weekends ago while I got to stay home and study. Secret Beach isn't very far away, but you do have to hike down (more like scale a cliff) and with kids, it is a bit more challenging. Our neighbor went as well while her boyfriend studied. She brought her friend's daughter, Coletta.

Jillian is still not willing to get too deep in the water, but she still enjoys the ocean. In this picture: Melanie (neighbor)

Here, the girls are having hermit crab races. I'm not exactly sure how it works, but I think they draw this circle in the sand and put their hermit crabs in the middle and whoever gets out first, wins.

The girls are giving us their "silly" pose. This kind of looks like the Little Mermaid rock to me.

This is on the top of the cliff that they had to walk down. The island is very beautiful and we plan on exploring a lot more over the break between semesters. Maybe next time I can actually go to Secret Beach.

Wes is checking out a cave. I'm not so sure I would have been in it...doesn't look like very much room in there. He did get stung by something, but doesn't know what it was...no adverse side effects.


We'll keep you posted on our future adventures.

On the mend

For the last couple of weeks, we have been battling a cold. It started with Karissa and a snotty nose then went to Jillian...we passed it around a few times. We finally went in to the clinic last Friday to get the kids some medication, especially since Jillian had developed pink eye. We thought that was all that she had wrong and that Karissa was worse since she spiked a fever Thursday night and complained of a bad stomach ache. I was really hoping that it was not appendicitis. The doctor checked the kids over and told us that Jillian had an ear, throat and eye infection. Her pulse was like a humming bird at 160 beats per minute. That child never said a word about feeling bad. She is a tough cookie! Karissa had an upper respiratory infection and had to get blood drawn to make sure she didn't have anything else wrong. The doctor called later in the afternoon and said her white blood cell count was 13 (normal is 4-10) so we knew she had an infection. The doctor wanted her to come in on Saturday morning just to make sure she was doing well.

After the kids were checked out, Wes asked if there were something he could take over the counter since he is allergic to penicillin. The doctor looked in his throat and wrote him a script for a Z-pac and gave me one also. We are now on the mend physically. Financially, that was a spendy endeavor. Wes spent around $300 on medications! Now, that is in EC, so that translates to around $140 US.

We had an unexpected e-mail from a church family member in the states who had sent us some money. This person had no idea we were all sick, but this blessing could not have come at a better time!

Our upstairs neighbor is "dog sitting" a female dog who recently was fixed. She was evidently in heat when she underwent the operation and the vet said she couldn't be around boy dogs for a while or her surgery would be compromised. I'm not exactly sure why she continued in a heat cycle after surgery (I will have to ask my niece Jennifer), but she still gave off the "come on over" signal to the guys. Consequently, we awoke to a visitor on our steps for 3 days. He was kind of cute...in an old fat dog way. He was a short, squatty dog that the girls named Skittles. It was funny to see Wes cringe every time he opened the door and the dog was laying there, wagging his tail. Wes wouldn't let the girls feed Skittles, or really pet him for that matter, since he is an Island dog and has lots of fleas. Skittles always gave you a sad face when you closed the door and wouldn't let him in. Kind of heart wrenching. But, he must have wondered on his way because we haven't seen him lately.

Well, hope you are all well...we are now on the mend! God Bless!

Allow me to vent a bit...

You can skip this blog if you don't want to hear me complain, but there are a few things here that are driving me crazy.

For starters, I'm not sure if it is the students, the locals or a combination of both, but the litter here is insane. I am always coming out to the deck to study and the students eat lunch out here and leave their junk on the table or on the ground. I don't know if they are just from priviladged families that have maids to pick up after them or maybe they just feel that they are above putting their stuff in the trash. Whatever it is, I would really like to think that these people will fail out of medical school, because I don't want that type of person being a doctor. Maybe that is a little harsh, but I see doctors as being servants of others...and if you can't pick up your own trash, you cannot possibly serve other people.

Next on my list...facilities here. Wes was calculating the money that this school brings in and there is no reason that the restrooms are second to hiding behind a rock! Not sure where all the money is going because they are not upgrading anything here. Maybe they are funneling the cash to the Bahamas since they are now creating a school there and will probably eventually have all the students there instead of here. Hope the Bahama students appreciate the sacrifices we are making here!

Ok, last on my list of rants...my house...or shack...whatever you want to call it. I am wondering if it will ever be fixed. Just when you think progress is being made, things come to a stand still and no one will show up to work. We call it "Dominican Time". That is how things roll here. We have a new leak in our ceiling, the tile is still not fixed in our bathroom from the repair guy breaking it while fixing the last leak. Our toilet leaks...still. Even after lowering the level of the water in the tank (that was the solution from the landlord before), we still end up with water on our floor. I think it is the actual valve from the floor to the tank. But no one will fix anything until something explodes and there is an emergency. Furniture here is the most uncomfortable I have ever felt. I would kill for a recliner at this point. If you are wondering what our couch is like (if you want to call it a couch), just take a rough sheet and spread it over a nice soft rock. That seems to be what all furniture here feels like. Not sure what they use for cushions, but it reminds me of dead cockroach shells...

Anyway, I am done complaining (for now)...just needed to vent a bit. I am glad that I am here in school, but I really am looking forward to a nice bed to sleep in along with other ammenities that we took for granted back in the states. I guess the silver lining is, this is teaching us to appreciate the little things in life...like comfort. We will be a much more thankful family in the long run...just today...we were thankful that the bread for our sandwiches was just hard and stale and not moldy yet.

Here is a lovely picture so you don't think it is all bad here... :)

Critters in our Neighborhood

I thought I would give you all a glimpse of the wild life in our neck of the woods. I know there are quite a few people who do not like bugs, an I am one of them; however, there are a lot of bugs around here. We have a gap all the way around our door and there are nights that a flock of flying ant looking things swarm under it. I think they may be termites, but am not sure... They pour in under our door when it rains so I think they are looking for shelter. I only give them the can of Raid. In the morning, it looks like an insect massacre happened at our front door. Wes has discovered that we have a cockroach problem as well. They come through the big holes in our ceiling. They are really nasty and enormous. (I put the sunglasses there for scale.) I am always feeling like things are crawling on me in the middle of the night. Eewwhh!


We have an iguana who lives in the tree out in front of our house. He is really large. We have lots of smaller ones running around as well, but we like having them since they eat the bugs! Every once in a while we find one in our house. Jillian thinks we have a pet lizard that she has named Rainbow.

On our way to school we look for the iguanas on campus. Some of them have numbers painted on their sides. I'm not sure if this is some sort of research project or if some students thought it would be funny to paint them. There are even a couple that I have seen that have small beads in their head spikes. They remind me of the Friendship beads we had in school so long ago. Maybe the iguanas gave them to each other...

We also have a herd of cows that roam the island, or at least around our part of town. I don't know who they belong to, but evidently this is a free range community. There are days when the cows are in our yard and other days when they are frolicking on campus. (Now there is something you don't see everyday in the states!) It kind of makes me nervous walking right beside a big bull, but I haven't heard of anyone being gored or trampled as of yet.

(This is actually on campus. The school is just on the right side of the picture.)

Ok, aside from all the critters we have around, I have a couple extra pictures I just have to share. The kids have started the "Summer Program" at school which includes lots of arts and crafts and field trips. They swim every day after lunch, so they are pretty wiped out. After the first day, we picked up the kids and had extra cargo to pack home (care package from Grandma Dolly! ~ thanks again) and Jillian was whining that she was tired before we left the school, so we decided to get a cab home. We had to make it to the street to hail the cab and while we waited, our poor baby couldn't hang on any longer. She fell asleep on the sidewalk. Good thing we were getting a cab anyway, we couldn't have carried her up the hill!

Wes has finally had enough of the heat and decided to shave his head. We all knew it was coming sooner or later, since he is follicley challenged on his head. So, we shaved his head last night. Karissa and Jillian thinks he looks funny...they say he looks like the daddy of their friends at school who is bald. Anyway, I just had to share since most of us have not seen him like this ...at least not since the Navy!

End of June

We have reached the end of another month here, so that makes two down and 14 more to go (unless we do 5th semester here). The kids are done with school as of last Friday, but they are starting the "summer" program which includes swimming every day, arts and crafts, cooking and hiking trips. They should have a great time.


Karissa and Jillian usually went swimming after school most days, either at the pool or at the beach. Karissa is officially done with Kindergarten and will move on to the first grade in September. Jillian will remain in her class for the next year, since it is a combination of pre-K and Kindergarten. It was cute to see their report cards and what the teachers had to say about them. They even have a P.E. teacher that wrote about their physical activity levels. That is one good thing about this school...they actually get the kids outside, doing active things instead of sitting around eating cookies and chips! Things have intensified for MaryLou over the last couple weeks, with three tests down and a few more to go, studying is often a late night occurance. I'm sure that will not stop for a while.

Jillian, Karissa, Paige, Burke, Zack
(They are from Idaho too...who knew?!)


Karissa and Jillian out front of the pool.



Unfortunately, MaryLou has not been able to do many beach activities, but Wes and MaryLou got to snorkel one day while the kids were in class. (Yes, MaryLou played hookie.) The water was a little murky since we had just had a rain storm, but we were able to see a ton of fish and about 7 stingrays. We were actually in a big school of blue jacks, which are supposed to be edible. Wes did not have his spear gun, so they were really safe from our frying pan.



Jillian and one of the many Island dogs strolling down the beach. There are quite a few dogs that roam around looking for food.

Wes was able to go spear fishing another time with his friends, Mike and Nick. They got a couple fish and an octopus, none of which Wes brought back...it was Mike's turn to take the haul home for dinner. I hear the octopus was really good, so maybe the next time we will give it a try.

Nick and Mike

Wes stretching out the octopus.

Nick shows off the bounty.

This month has been challenging when it comes to our house. We don't really live in the most modern place, or the biggest place. We have a whopping 345 square feet for the four of us to live in, so space is an issue. The night after my first test we were awaken to the sound of water running. When we got up, we saw water running from our ceiling. It was coming in through the seams of our ceiling and the wood was starting to bow under the enormous amount of water trapped. Wes ran upstairs to see what our neighbors were up to and found a pipe had burst in their bathroom and they were underwater as well. We were cleaning up the water for a couple of hours. Not the kind of thing you want to be doing at 2:00 AM. (At least I was finished with my test.) Needless to say, we have had discussions with the landlord about the short comings of the place and are hoping that everything gets fixed soon. We are tentitively moving upstairs next semester since they have three bedrooms and two bathrooms and we would only be paying an extra $25.00 per month. (But they have to fix the bathrooms first).

Hope all is well with all of you, until next time.

The Newells