Friday, May 2, 2008: Shopping and Snorkeling
We started our day at Breakfast again...yummy and for a change of pace we went shopping to get things at REAL stores, unlike in Dominica. Prices are labeled on the items...imagine that! I bought some shoes, a super Caribbean sun hat (see picture to the right), a new bathing suite (my other one broke...I know Mom is happy as she thought it was an old lady suit), and some other tourist things like sun block, anti-mosquito candles (for my apartment) and surprises for the family. We also picked up some odds and ends for the island like some medicine that isn't easy to get and other things we can't get on our island (which is just about anything you can think of...medical school isn't for the faint of heart let alone tackling medical school in the 3rd world country--if I can live through this, I can live through anything).
Anyway, we headed straight to lunch after changing for the beach. We went to the Mariner Restaurant (the place right off the ocean). As usual, it was a yummy lunch. We checked out the snorkeling and decided that we wanted to give it a try. It was amazing to see the fish and undersea wildlife; however, it wasn't fun to get salt water up your snorkel and panic that you are going to die of salt water poisoning until you stand up and breathe. It took us a while to get the hang of it, but it was very fun after we got it down--that is until the water got super choppy and obviously we were not that good so we ended it for the day. Some people can dive down and look all over while snorkeling, which involves some gymnastics of the breath to ensure that the water doesn't come down the snorkel when you are returning to the air. I am not that good (neither is Farley). Nonetheless, it was great! After that, we retired to the beach to read our books and enjoy the view. As usual, we moved over to the swim up bar for a juice later in the afternoon. That evening, we went to dinner at the usual Monarch restaurant and the evening entertainment was TEM ("Total Eaaarth Moooovement!"--can you hear the St. Lucian accent?). They were amazing! They were a rock/reggae/awesome band. They did covers and also original material. Every St. Lucian bad/performer needs to cover the following songs, Bob Marley, 'No Woman, No Cry'; Lionel Riches, "Hello"; and Sting, "Fields of Gold." Total Eaaaarth Moooovement wouldn't be held back by just playing the usual songs, they expanded their repetoire to things like R. Kelly, "Remix to Ignition" which for those of you unfamiliar with the song is a catchy (and a bit naughty) danceable R&B song. I thought I must have been hearing things wrong when they started that song. Their original music was great and my favorite was the song about "music being my drugs....don't need nothing else." Perhaps the USA could use this catchy Reggie inspired song to keep kids off drugs. After the performance, we walked around the restaurants and clubs, but didn't' want to go to any of them. Rather, we went to the Rex Royal and looked over their grounds. It was beautiful at night (see below pictures) and as we were taking them we were approached by an unusual character: a drunk pirate bride. That's right, this woman got married on the pirate ship earlier in the day. We noticed the ship in the harbor but had no idea that one could commit their life and love to another while dressed in pirate appropriate garments and on a pirate ship. Maybe it isn't such a bad idea, if the someone got too wild you could make them walk the plank: could be fun!
Saturday, May 3, 2008: Dancing with Fire Breathing Men
We enjoyed the usual routine: breakfast at the Monarch, beach, lunch at the Mariner, beach, pool, sunset, and get ready for dinner. My favorite St. Lucian businessman boats around the bay on this little boat selling fruit and veggies (I wish we had someone who did that in Dominica, see the picture to the left of "The Fruit Man"). I just loved his little boat, but I was afraid that he might sink in his boat (check out the cool picture). Saturday night we had dinner at the Monarch again: it was Mexican night (not their best, but okay). Below is a picture of us outside of the Monarch restaurant after dinner. Then we retired to the lobby/bar for the night's entrainment. It was another cover band, "Thhhe Access Baaaand" not access band, but "Thhhe Access Baand." Farley was getting drinks at the bar and missed the lead singer serenading me with Lionel Richie's "Hello" (because every Caribbean band MUST cover this song). He claims that he only left me for a moment, but they same me a verse and a half as well as the chorus---I guess his timeline was a little off. Toward the end of the first set, they played Barry Manilow, "If You Like Pina Coladas." Farley and I had been waiting for one of the bands to play this song as we like to mock it, so we had to dance (which set us up for the rest of the night).
After the band's first set a group of dancers came out. They were okay, but not great. To
wards then end, they started grabbing people out of the audience. They grabbed Farley, then me, and two other people. We were out dancing with them for probably 20-30 minutes. It was GREAT! We had to do solo dancing (I"m not so great but Farley looked awesome). THEN the fire breathing men came out--you read this correctly I got to dance with FIRE BREATHING MEN!!! After that excitement, the band came back and a just married couple had their first dance to the ever popular first dance song, "Play that funky music white boy." Surely this song embodies true love! Soon after, everyone hit the dance floor and stayed there until the band finished. They might not have been the best band we saw in St. Lucia, but they were probably the most fun. Above is a picture of the "dance floor" when Farley and I were taking a breather. The guy in the white shirt and jeans toward the right of the picture is the lead singer.
Sunday, May 4, 2008: Jazz Festival
The day was pretty much like our other days: breakfast, beach, lunch, beach, dinner, and music. A few changes to the schedule: we snorkeled in the morning (after breakfast and before lunch) because the water seemed to be calmer at this time of day. It was BEAUTIFUL and we saw lots of fish: lion fish, sea anemones, fish that are sand colored on top and blue on bottom, dark blue and brown fish. Amazing! After lunch, we attended one of the opening performances of the Jazz Festival, which was on the beach near our hotel. It was awesome. Some of the bands we heard earlier in the week. There were lots of locals and tourists all sitting on the beach and enjoying the free music. After that, we went back to the hotel, packed, and got ready for dinner. It was another nice dinner and the music was just okay. Overall, it was a relaxing day, admitted a sad one as we had to leave first thing Monday morning. Here is a picture from our last night:
We started our day at Breakfast again...yummy and for a change of pace we went shopping to get things at REAL stores, unlike in Dominica. Prices are labeled on the items...imagine that! I bought some shoes, a super Caribbean sun hat (see picture to the right), a new bathing suite (my other one broke...I know Mom is happy as she thought it was an old lady suit), and some other tourist things like sun block, anti-mosquito candles (for my apartment) and surprises for the family. We also picked up some odds and ends for the island like some medicine that isn't easy to get and other things we can't get on our island (which is just about anything you can think of...medical school isn't for the faint of heart let alone tackling medical school in the 3rd world country--if I can live through this, I can live through anything).
Anyway, we headed straight to lunch after changing for the beach. We went to the Mariner Restaurant (the place right off the ocean). As usual, it was a yummy lunch. We checked out the snorkeling and decided that we wanted to give it a try. It was amazing to see the fish and undersea wildlife; however, it wasn't fun to get salt water up your snorkel and panic that you are going to die of salt water poisoning until you stand up and breathe. It took us a while to get the hang of it, but it was very fun after we got it down--that is until the water got super choppy and obviously we were not that good so we ended it for the day. Some people can dive down and look all over while snorkeling, which involves some gymnastics of the breath to ensure that the water doesn't come down the snorkel when you are returning to the air. I am not that good (neither is Farley). Nonetheless, it was great! After that, we retired to the beach to read our books and enjoy the view. As usual, we moved over to the swim up bar for a juice later in the afternoon. That evening, we went to dinner at the usual Monarch restaurant and the evening entertainment was TEM ("Total Eaaarth Moooovement!"--can you hear the St. Lucian accent?). They were amazing! They were a rock/reggae/awesome band. They did covers and also original material. Every St. Lucian bad/performer needs to cover the following songs, Bob Marley, 'No Woman, No Cry'; Lionel Riches, "Hello"; and Sting, "Fields of Gold." Total Eaaaarth Moooovement wouldn't be held back by just playing the usual songs, they expanded their repetoire to things like R. Kelly, "Remix to Ignition" which for those of you unfamiliar with the song is a catchy (and a bit naughty) danceable R&B song. I thought I must have been hearing things wrong when they started that song. Their original music was great and my favorite was the song about "music being my drugs....don't need nothing else." Perhaps the USA could use this catchy Reggie inspired song to keep kids off drugs. After the performance, we walked around the restaurants and clubs, but didn't' want to go to any of them. Rather, we went to the Rex Royal and looked over their grounds. It was beautiful at night (see below pictures) and as we were taking them we were approached by an unusual character: a drunk pirate bride. That's right, this woman got married on the pirate ship earlier in the day. We noticed the ship in the harbor but had no idea that one could commit their life and love to another while dressed in pirate appropriate garments and on a pirate ship. Maybe it isn't such a bad idea, if the someone got too wild you could make them walk the plank: could be fun!
Saturday, May 3, 2008: Dancing with Fire Breathing Men
We enjoyed the usual routine: breakfast at the Monarch, beach, lunch at the Mariner, beach, pool, sunset, and get ready for dinner. My favorite St. Lucian businessman boats around the bay on this little boat selling fruit and veggies (I wish we had someone who did that in Dominica, see the picture to the left of "The Fruit Man"). I just loved his little boat, but I was afraid that he might sink in his boat (check out the cool picture). Saturday night we had dinner at the Monarch again: it was Mexican night (not their best, but okay). Below is a picture of us outside of the Monarch restaurant after dinner. Then we retired to the lobby/bar for the night's entrainment. It was another cover band, "Thhhe Access Baaaand" not access band, but "Thhhe Access Baand." Farley was getting drinks at the bar and missed the lead singer serenading me with Lionel Richie's "Hello" (because every Caribbean band MUST cover this song). He claims that he only left me for a moment, but they same me a verse and a half as well as the chorus---I guess his timeline was a little off. Toward the end of the first set, they played Barry Manilow, "If You Like Pina Coladas." Farley and I had been waiting for one of the bands to play this song as we like to mock it, so we had to dance (which set us up for the rest of the night).After the band's first set a group of dancers came out. They were okay, but not great. To
wards then end, they started grabbing people out of the audience. They grabbed Farley, then me, and two other people. We were out dancing with them for probably 20-30 minutes. It was GREAT! We had to do solo dancing (I"m not so great but Farley looked awesome). THEN the fire breathing men came out--you read this correctly I got to dance with FIRE BREATHING MEN!!! After that excitement, the band came back and a just married couple had their first dance to the ever popular first dance song, "Play that funky music white boy." Surely this song embodies true love! Soon after, everyone hit the dance floor and stayed there until the band finished. They might not have been the best band we saw in St. Lucia, but they were probably the most fun. Above is a picture of the "dance floor" when Farley and I were taking a breather. The guy in the white shirt and jeans toward the right of the picture is the lead singer.Sunday, May 4, 2008: Jazz Festival
The day was pretty much like our other days: breakfast, beach, lunch, beach, dinner, and music. A few changes to the schedule: we snorkeled in the morning (after breakfast and before lunch) because the water seemed to be calmer at this time of day. It was BEAUTIFUL and we saw lots of fish: lion fish, sea anemones, fish that are sand colored on top and blue on bottom, dark blue and brown fish. Amazing! After lunch, we attended one of the opening performances of the Jazz Festival, which was on the beach near our hotel. It was awesome. Some of the bands we heard earlier in the week. There were lots of locals and tourists all sitting on the beach and enjoying the free music. After that, we went back to the hotel, packed, and got ready for dinner. It was another nice dinner and the music was just okay. Overall, it was a relaxing day, admitted a sad one as we had to leave first thing Monday morning. Here is a picture from our last night:
Monday, May 5, 2008: Back to Dominica
Farley insisted we get matching t-shirts to commemorate our vacation, so here they are. We got up early and finished packing for our trip home. We were able to have one more breakfast before leaving but unfortunately we didn't eat much in anticipation of the boat trip. We arrived at the dock early and there were many other Ross students at the dock and they all seemed to be at the same hotels (not intentionally), but we were at another resort and didn't see any of them. I think it was nice that we weren't around anyone else because in just the few hours with them, I realized all they talked about was school: grades, the failure rate, the upcoming semester, professors and the failure rate. Yea, not exactly relaxing! Farley and I didn't have sea sickness this time because we increased the motion sickness medication; however, we were very drowsy the whole time. It was a long day of travel, but it was nice to be back in Dominica-- despite the third world conditions. This island is beautiful!!!
It wouldn't be a true Nicole blog post if I didn't post at least St. Lucian sunset picture, which was taken from the upper deck (above the pool with the swim up bar):
Yay pictures! Beautiful beautiful pictures, even.
ReplyDelete