Life in Dominica.....

Chapter 1
Getting adapted....

Monday, November 1, 2010

life goes on....

I'm going to start with a more disturbing story that has happened to me. On October 10 I started walking from town to Wotten Wave where i teach Sunday afternoon classes at shangri la resort. This road is not too traveled and its a nice up hill climb to get there. Just as I reached the junction to go up there was a younger man there asking me to come i said no and kept walking. I then realized he was following me and was all of a sudden right behind me asking where I was going I said none of his business and then i grabbed my butt and was laughing and looking very crazy... Luckily some guys on motorcyles were coming past and i stopped them and a bus that was coming and they could tell i was freaked out so I got in the bus with them
and then said i shouldn't be out walking by myself... I finally made it to shangri la and went to take a river bath and found about 15 local guys down there. They weren't bothersome just said hello and i went and did my thing.
A few weeks later the same guy followed some of my students from class to the next village. So the following class i had my bf Ghandi come up with me. after class we ran in to the fellow again right in the village. He was talking to Ghandi and asked him if he wanted to see something. So he drops out this huge living boa constrictor from his bag that he carries on his back. He holds and shows it close to ghandi I was on the other side of the road. he then left. I later found out the guy is suppossed to be on meds and he refuses to take them sooo I went to the police and they said they couldn't do much with him unless i want to take him to court. which here court would be anywhere between 5-10 years forget that hassle.
Tomorrow i have class again so we will see what it brings. What would it take for this guy to disappear and leave me alone and all others he has harrassed?

Well that's just one story of how I'm being pushed back in life finally when classes are getting a little fuller more students then this...

on a brighter note we are in creole festival time lots of cultural festivities are going on and it's fun to watch and be a part of it.
I have a ticket to return to the states in December. Probably for a month we will see what shows up for me on my travels.

I'm ready for a change. I don't feel myself in Dominica lately or if ever. Its an uphill struggle and I really would rather another choice. What else is possible??

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

moving around again!!!!

As usual not even sure where to begin with the life tales.
Summer camp has been very interesting. I love all the other teachers they are great we have been out exploring the island all weekend with ghandi...
my living situation changing again... i moved up to one place and the landlord wanted to start charging me more rent cause my bf was staying it was really ridiculous so i stayed 2 weeks. I planned to move in with the other summer camp teachers lies, lucil and tracy and talked to the granny upstairs who said is was ok and would check with daughter in england. well i move in and the next day am told I'm not allowed to stay... ok so now what... well i had a very adventurous weekend we hitchhiked to emerald pool where we hiked through the rainforest at night went swimming under the stars slept under the stars while ghandi kept watch all nigh ... so adorable setting up booby traps for anything trying to enter our sleeping area. we had yoga with the rain pouring down under a picnic shelter in the early morning. our oats got a wee burnt but we ate them anyways and we had some real special white stale dominican bread. we started to hitch to castle bruce where we spent all day on the beach on the atlantic side. It was so beatufiul on the black sand beach... of couse we still had dominican men trying relentlessly to keep us company but for the most part the beach was empty.
more of the adventure to come it's my bday now and i need my beauty rest for my early morning breakfast in bed call....hdigabtt?

Monday, July 19, 2010

life's little challenges

well we gonna go back a little as it's been a few weeks again.
July 2.....and beyond
Me and Ghandi had the go ahead for the teen dance camp and i got to be on the radio to promote twice in the last 2 weeks. I really don't think that's enough. The national youth council was suppossed to help with promoting and well let's just say it didn't go according to plan as usual here......
I spent a lovely weekend up in Bellvue with the WInston family we did some sewing i made an african dance skirt and the kids helped me of course and then Becky (one of the kids) made a little bag out of old jeans) Melanie whipped up some mango and banana bread and we watched Razzle Dazzle.
The next morning me and the kids took a walk in the woods and without my knowing i was attacked by chiggers(aka bete rouge). The are microscopic insects that get into your clothes and bury into your skin and eat until they burst. I didn't notice this happened until the morning after.
We proceeded to breakdance after our walk and then we took the horse out to ride for a bit.
I got a ride home and taught my yoga class showered before. The next morning i awoke to find over 100 bites all over my thighs, waistline and armpits. They didn't ictch I had no clue what they were. and then the itchy started and i found out what happened. they are now almost gone still a few spots here and there but damn that was some sleepless nights...
The next week I taught a few days at the peace corp summer camp teaching dance to the kiddies good times.
and then on the 11th debra who owns Ooh La la in Delices hired me and my drummer to teach african dance at her bday. it was a great success. me and ghandi helped with lunch/dinner and i introduced mojitos to them virgin or proper was the question. I had invited my new yoga friend Diann and her friends who are here visiting they had a blast as well. WE all hike up to victoria falls and chanted OM DOMINICA and had an amazing time.
The saturday before Eco Irie http://irieeco.blogspot.com/
started all the staff met we went to the bath estate river it was lovely.
The camp has been really fun so far some times chaotic but the kids are so fun. Tomrrow I will start to teach thriller.... to them
The yoga classes are steady and not too many new students but what else is possible?
I started teaching again at the secondary school for the summer and found out there are quite a few fans of the dance i choreographed for them at their school show soo we will be doing that again...
more to come soon
keep yurself posted

Friday, July 2, 2010

oh the life

This week was an adventure.
It rained a lot hmmm well we are in rainy season. A lot of planning for the summer programs coming up.
I will be starting another blog for the teen summer dance camp that me and Ghandi will be teaching.. Yesterday we were at the tv station promoting through dance and interview it was fun.
We will be teaching urban dance to teenager 12-17 for 8 weeks taking no more than 40 kids and then a big performance at the end of the program.
I'm also teaching at Eco Irie Summer camp for 5-10 yearolds 5 days a week. It's gonna be a kid filled summer.
I got to go to a yoga class up at Shangr-la where Diann from Gray Bear Lodge in Tennessee is staying for 2 months and teaching. It felt so good to do a class have someone telling me what to do with my body....ah having a teacher feels good. It took be over 1 and half to get up there but was so worth it. I stayed after and chatted and had breakfast with her and Analisa(from St. John who is here for a month teaching textiles) It was great connecting with yogi's and inspiring ladies.
Dive week is coming up here and i'm looking forward in doing some dive courses. I'm in one of the best places to learn and do it here I heard is amazing.
I had 4 in my african dance class on Wednesday hopefully it keeps growing. and then only 3 in the hiphop how do i get these people out to my classes. My kids class was the biggest on saturday ever 8 kids.
I had one lady who kept dropping her daughter off and not paying i ran into her this week and she said she thought the class was free hmmm interesting she paid me though for the classes and said she wasn't bringing her daughter anymore cause it cost something. ....wow
I have discovered roti in this country certain places have it on certain days yummmy.
I spend quite a bit of time in the organic shop with Melanie she is a real hoot and i'm always learning something about food and teas. The new one was using organic pinepple skin to make pineapple tea. Just boil water and toss the skin in and let it steep for a good 20 minutes does not even need sweetener.
Next week I'll be spending some time on the east side at Oh la la teaching african dance for my friend Debra's bday and a day away from all this before the big week follows with 2 camps starting...
Get ready for photos and fun

Friday, June 25, 2010

forever ago

Wow Sorry to all my followers for not keeping you up to date.
Well Dominica I'm still here things have really shifted. I have moved back into Jerry's as my place was a bit too expensive and i was gonna sublet an apartment for a friend and his landlord went a bit cra cra on me so moving forward. My mom was here visiting and it was so much fun wish she could have stayed longer. I have met a lovely boy named Ghandi who is my breakdancer in crime...and boyfriend. He's super sweet and more aware than most people I have met from here
EVen got to do some energy work on and he and his body were super open to it!!!
We practice nearly everyday together and we have a perfomrance at the prom coming up next weekend. Yoga classes are no longer on the rootop but in a lovely covered space 2 minutes from where i live. I just had 2 new students this week. And it's so cool cause now most people when they come once they are hooked and buy 10 classes at once.
I started teaching basic african dance classes and have a drummer who plays for it once a week. I am doing a cardio hip hop class and then my kids hip hop class continues every Saturday. I teach them at the Alliance Francaise and with the word of mouth and my ad in the paper should be getting lots of students.
my visit with mom we went to the east side of the island staying at my friends place OH LA LA. http://web.mac.com/ohlaladominica/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html
Check it out so amazing and beautiful. We hiked to Vicotoria Falls which was absolutley stunning. I will be uploading photos once i get them from her... hint hint mom
Yeah staying at Jerry's well he's doing remodleing on the place so it's noisy and dusty but i'm not home too often with all my classes and dancing. I'm finally saving money in hopes to go to Mali this winter for the drum and dance festival....
Mangoes are high in season and so delicious and sweet there is a plethora everywere next is avacodos.
;i found some new breakin shoes similar to chucks and yellow only spent the whole day looking for them along with a sushi restaurant i finally found yesterday that was very good. expensive but so damn good.
It's really the wee little things that get me excited. I had Ghandi bring me a pau pau (papaya) the other day it ws the size of a melon and so ripe and sweet.
ok enough computer time today. I will be updating more freqeuently so keep posted.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Bush lady

Hey everyone
Where do I begin again....
I'll start from today and work backwards..I was feeling sorry for myself wondering what am I doing here blah blah blah and then I got it together did some laundry. although the water seems to be having a spitting problem pressure problem. I made mango smoothie this morning with lime, ginger and cherries YUmmmy
with cocoa tea and toasted coconut toast.
I headed for the bush ( up into the rainforesty area) I walked right in and up the river it was so beautiful a litl gray overcast really makes the green pop out at you. I found this great flower I cut and put it in my bag. I bring the big kitchen knife with me since I don't have a machettee yet. I was getting real sweaty so I had dip in the river got dressed and continued upwards. I found some peppers and man are those some hot guys. and then I found some big plump green bananas with a bit of fanagaling i managed to cut a bunch down. I went a bit further and saw some really nice plantains but they were way to far from my reach. I started to head back slowly and found a big ol coconut. I took the time right there with a big fat stone and after many tried attempted to crack it open and get the coconut from inside.
I saw another flower which was gorgeous but had too many ants all over it I already had been bit in the armpit and back so I thought twice about it.
When I arrived home I had a coconut to get open drink, grate and make milk. That is quite a process, but now I have made a delicious mango, pumpkin coconut curry for dinner.
Last night as I was relaxing with the door open a centipede about 8 or 9 inches crawled into the apt. Now if that thing bites me I go to the hospital. So i grabbed the knife and just started chopping away at it. Fast bugger even when it's cut in 3. I choppped and chopped and threw him outside. This morning I found his head still wriggling around I took care of it.
Update on dance classes... WE started Krazy Koconuts classes every Tuesday Latin Hip HOP. We had about 10 students this week. Wawu (another location) is still slow But my Kids Hip hop class had 3 students and is growing for next week.
I started Rooftop Yoga tonight, had 3 ladies. And will continue to offer them every morning and 4 nights a week. Just gotta get the word out there.
I'm gonna indulge in my dinner now and for dessert I'm gonna make pumpkin smoothie with cinnamon and coconut milk. I gotta use it cause it doesn't stay fresh so long.
signing off
Charity JOy
check out my yoga blog
http://charityjoyyogaclass.blogspot.com/
it's in the works

Saturday, April 17, 2010