We didn’t have anything to do Saturday during the
day except for relaxation and homework.
I woke up at 7 AM so I could go on a run before it got too hot. I made friends with a man collecting horses,
which they leave anywhere they can find a patch of grass for them to graze on,
for the stables nearby. He very kindly
offered to give me a ride home on one of the horses if I got tired and couldn’t
make it. I got back to the house and
went around the back to see the garden, which I hadn’t explored yet. As I went around I heard voices and I came
across the Leons on their back porch.
When I said hello I think I scared Janna half to death. It started to rain, so they invited me onto
the porch and offered to share some grapefruit and a golden apple for
breakfast. The way they eat grape fruit
is genius! They just peel the fruit and cut of big hunks. When you get your hunk, you just peel the
sections away and eat the fruit. It’s so
much easier than the way we do it at home.
So I enjoyed a friendly breakfast on the Leon’s back porch in the pouring
rain looking out over Saint Lucia after a run.
There aren’t many better ways to start the day.
After breakfast I went upstairs and did some
reading and some homework. Mary called a
group meeting in the early afternoon to finalize what each person was in charge
of for our group presentation at the Health Ministry on Wednesday. Emily, a medical student we met at St. Jude’s
Hospital in Vieux Fort joined us midmorning so she could have some fun over her
weekend. She is volunteering there for a
month before heading back home to Indiana.
Then the internet cooperated enough that I got to Skype with my parents
and Aaron for about an hour, which completely made my day! I can’t say that I’ve been very homesick, it’s
almost too wonderful here to wish you were anywhere else, but I miss my family
and friends. I just wish that they could
all be here with me instead! I especially
miss Aaron. Saint Lucia is the honeymoon
capital of the world for a reason. There
are so many couples and romantic spots.
The whole island is built for romance. But talking to them helps and I get to see my
family in a little less than a week!
At 4 o’clock Lucius arrived to drive to our
destinations for the evening. We were
expecting to stop at a rum distillery on our way to the fish fry in Dennery,
but Lucius had forgotten that the distillery closed early on Saturdays. I guess it’s fairly common to take a half day
on Saturdays here. We’re flexible though, and Lucius wanted to take us to his
home village of Marigot Bay located between Castries and Anse la Raye. I’m so happy we did! On the way Lucius drove us through the St.
Lucia Community College campus which is in old French and British barracks
from the 1800’s. Then we headed toward the bay. We stopped at lookout point overlooking the
bay. The sun was just beginning to set
and it was gorgeous! They also had coconut
candy that they let us taste and $1 samples of local rum. One of the many things my mother has taught
me is that you don’t pass up cheap samples of rum, so of course I had to give
at least one a try. I asked the lady working
there which one she recommended and she said the spiced rum. Perfect!
She poured me a small shot out of a plastic bottle with a ton of spices
inside and said that she had added sugar and honey to it. It was amazing. The rum was so flavorful and sweet and it
made you feel warm all over! Lovely.
Then we headed down toward the bay. Lucius parked the car and led us along a
bridge through a copse of mangroves. The grove was stunning to walk through
during sunset and it was so cool to be able to see all the roots under the
crystal clear water. The bridge ended at
a restaurant called JJ’s, which was right on the water and is run by Lucius’
brothers. We caught a ferry from the
restaurant’s dock and made our way to the other side of the bay. Apparently, part of the original Doctor
Dolittle, which I enjoyed many times as a child, was filmed at that spot! They now have a hotel and restaurant called
Dolittle’s there in reference to the movie.
The sunset was unbelievable; everything looked fake or like it belonged
on a post card. We met a few British
boys who took our picture for us and checked out the restaurant. Then we made our way back across the bay,
through the mangroves, and to the van to get on our way, at last, to Dennery.
We reached Dennery about 45 minutes and one trip
through a banana plantation later. The
fish fry was on the beach and it wasn’t very busy when we arrived at about 8 PM. Lucius said we were early yet. There were several large wood vendors set up
with food and alcohol everywhere. You
could get tuna, mahi mahi, snapper, conch, lobster, and who knows what else.
You could get your fish grilled, roasted, or steamed. I decided to get a small,
grilled red snapper. They gave me a
plate with a whole fish! Bones and
all! I also got some Chairman’s rum and
coke and Griffin and I shared salad, rice, a piece of fried bread, and the
local beer called Piton. Everything was delicious,
but I was having a hard time eating my fish with all the bones in it. Finally, I asked Lucius if I was allowed to
eat with my hands. He assured me it was
and after that I had no problem eating the entire fish!
Well, everything but the head. Lucius explained that getting to eat the head
of the fish is an honor, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. THEN, he freaking stuck his fish head in his
mouth, sucked all the meat off it, and spit the eye back out into his palm to
show me. WHOA! I asked him to do it
again with my fish so I could film it or take a picture, but he wouldn’t. Too bad.
After dinner we put our feet in the ocean and enjoyed some R&B and
Reggae being played by a DJ.
Unfortunately, although there were more people, no one started dancing
before we left. On the way back to the
van, an old homeless woman started harassing us. We were obviously the likely targets as we
were some of the only white people there, and they woman had some obvious mental
disabilities. At one point she even
jumped forward and snapped her teeth at me! Thankfully, Lucius stepped in
between us and got us all to the van unscathed.
Then we drove all the way back to Rodney Bay. Lucius drove so nicely that I didn’t feel
nauseated the entire evening. Thank
goodness! We stopped at the market to
pick up supplies for our beach day the next day before finally making it back to
the apartments at about 11 PM where we promptly paid Lucius well for his hard
work and crawled into bed. Despite the
unsettling experience toward the end, it was a truly wonderful evening in Saint
Lucia.
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