Right now, I'm sitting in my husband's auntie's house on the beautiful island of Dominica. Not to be confused with the Dominican Republic, 'Dom-in-eek-ah' is a nature island, as they call it. Not the place for beach bums (I haven't seen anything resembling white sands) but if you're into mountains, hot springs, and lots and lots of greenery, this is definitely the place for you.
My first impression coming from the airport was a good one. Though it was extremely dark, I couldn't help but notice the lush vegetation that was
everywhere. There also seemed to be a blanket of peace that swept over the night sky as we drove along the very narrow, unlit roads to Roseau, the capital of the island and the city we're staying in.
There are no highways or traffic lights in the entire country. The handful of sidewalks and street lamps are reserved for some of the downtown areas and even then, they're few and far between and explicitly unkempt. It's legal to park pretty much anywhere - road, gravel or grass - and the city buses are essentially unmarked passenger vans that take you two places: in or out of town. Basically, I'm learning the true meaning of what a "developing country" is and why Jamaicans tend to run jokes at the expense of "small islanders" :-).
By no means am I bashing Dominica, I actually really admire this place. I'm just telling it like I see it, with perhaps a little "big island" bias :-).
What I love about Dominica is their rich sense of pride and culture. We happen to be visiting during their Independence Day festivities which is a culmination of live music festivals, rallies and heritage celebrations that span over the course of 2 weeks. This year they're celebrating 33 years of independence from Great Britain and everyone from school children to politicians has been decked out in some form of traditional indigenous garb and heading to one of the aforementioned activities morning, noon or night since we've got here.
Just one day after my husband and I arrived (let's call him "Kirk" for the remainder of this post) we were shaking hands with the Prime Minister of the country at an outdoor heritage festival in a town called Veille Case. Most people say the name so fast and in such a thick accent, that I thought we were in a place called "Vegas" for most of the day, which had me thoroughly confused.
This particular heritage festival began with a whole lot of talking and presentations from various politicians and community leaders, followed by hours of song & dance performances backed by a traditional Creole folk band. Most of the songs sounded the same to me, but they all had a good, bouncy rhythm & African-style drums... though by the end of the 7 hour showcase, I'd grown weary of the sound of accordions and what appeared to be the exact same choreography in every set. But I loved and respected how the entire country seemed to be crammed into this small town to cheer themselves on and celebrate everything about who they are and where they came from. At one point, an 89-year old man, well-known and loved by the townspeople, took to the stage. I learned that he was the one who had taught much of the younger generations all the old-school traditional dance steps I was witnessing and so he shared a few steps of his own to the elated crowd. They went wild as his tiny frame wiggled about on stage... it was funny, sweet and impressive all at the same time.
Then there was "Creole in the Park" which is self-explanatory. 4-days, 2 stages and dozens of Creole and Reggae acts in a huge park that got crazy muddy with the stop-and-go showers that plague the month of October. They feature mostly local musicians but always splash in an international act to up the star-quality of the event. This year Bounty Killa was the biggest name on the bill, and I'm ashamed to say I missed him. Sorry Mr. Killa... we had spent all day in the hot sulfur springs in the mountains and had no energy to trek to make another trek to the park in the pouring rain. If it was Capelton, we would've done it (I like to think I'm part Rasta now, lol). I'm sure he was great though.
Now about those hot springs... WOW! I've never experienced anything like it. What I referred to earlier as lush green vegetation covering the island was an extreme understatement. What I've been seeing all around this place are actually
rainforests. Just saying it sounds exotic and unreal to me, but that's where we've been spending some of our time these past few days (it should be more, but when you're staying with family, you kind of have an obligation to see family. And apparently, Kirk has
a lot of family around here). These mountainous hikes in the rainforests are more beautiful than I could've ever imagined them to be. The vast array of plant species is amazing - the smells, colours and sounds something like a fairytale. I think I actually said aloud that I felt like Alice in Wonderland. I'm not sure exactly what I meant by that (I hardly ever know what I'm talking about), but I was trying to express how much I felt like we were in a completely different world.
Though the powers that be on the island have adorned the forests we visited with wooden steps and pipes to direct the hot sulfuric waters into both inground and above ground tubs, this did nothing to disturb the purity and essence of these magical grounds. I know I'm speaking about it uber-poetically, but I'm really grasping at every adjective I can thnk of to describe what it was like. Though, I don't think I can do it justice no matter how hard I try. God willing, you will or have already enjoyed it yourself. I just know that there aren't going to be too many experiences that top taking a hot sulfur spring bath in the heart of paradise. But back to the music...
... once the 4-day Creole in the Park event is over, the World Creole Music Festival begins. A 3-day weekend concert that also features local and international Creole and Reggae artists but rather than in a park, it takes place inside an enormous stadium apparently built by the Chinese government. Why the Chinese? Because they've literally set up shop in Dominica, owning a number of small businesses (mostly retail stores) in Roseau which has been hurting the local shop owners, according to pretty much every Dominican you speak to. The Chinese can afford to open stores that sell everything under the sun and for considerably less than the native businesses, and so they lose out. So my guess is that this stadium, which must have been a multi-million dollar endeavour, is the Chinese's attempt to keep resentment at a manageable low. It seems to be working because the festival tickets run at $125 US and yet, was full to capacity with only a handful of tourists last night. We got to see the 38-year old Jamaican band "Third World" (they are g-r-e-a-t) and Carimi, a Haitan band that seemed to be a crowd favourite. It was a good night, with Caribbean music booming across the island 'til the sun came up... it's just how they do festivals here. Noise laws are for chumps. And Torontonians, apparently.
It's only Sunday, so I still have over 5 days left, but apparently all the Independence Festivities will be winding down after this weekend. But I've already made some connections with some popular local musicians (Kirk's Tantie has friends in high places), so I may be making an appearance at a live acoustic soul night this coming Wednesday. We'll see what happens.
I'll see you all soon! I'm having fun here... the weather, even with all the rain, is fantastically warm and sunny, but I still miss home. I'm convinced that I'm currently the only vegan in the country, so it's been hell trying to dine out with my fellow travellers. Thank God (and mama) that I can cook and that I've been given free reign in Auntie's kitchen. Naturally, there's endless amounts of fruit and veg on the island, but no one seems to know what to do with it, except to boil it down with some crab or pig snout. I've been sorely missing avocado sushi with yam tempura, pad thai, falafel and other things I'll never find here. Oh yes, and I miss you too :-)
Until then...
xox
