I’ll fill you in on what everyday life is like. It’s a lot slower than what I’m used to back in Seattle. First off, the biggest adjustment would obviously be not being around loved ones. I was living with 7 of my closest friends when I left so I had become used to being able to yell someone’s name out and I would here a response. Now I’m in a new place where I know next to no one so it’s very different not being surrounded by friends. The first week or two were tougher than I expected because I didn’t know people here yet. But with a little patience I’ve slowly been meeting people and finding my niche. During the school week I wake up and hour or two before I have to be at class. I usually treat myself to a breakfast of eggs, bread and jam, juice and cereal if I have it. Breakfast is accompanied by The Daily Show so I can keep tabs on what’s happening back in the United States. Thank goodness for Jon Stewart because he seems like the only rational voice in the room of national politics. He’s been keeping me sane as I look at all the insanity that has come with this election season. After breakfast I head off to school dressed in pants and a button up shirt with my laptop bag minus the laptop. The walk takes me about 5 minutes at the most to either school. Once I reach the school I head to the teachers lounge, say hi to the other teachers and then head off to my class for the next hour or two. I’m working between two and four hours a day depending on my schedule and the week. Sometimes that is nice because it allows for a pretty casual day and casual approach to life. Other days, though, it can seem slow, as if I don’t have enough to keep me busy, but after a month I’ve found rhythm for the week. If I need groceries there is a small grocery store next to one of my schools, but if I need more than the minimum than I have to walk down to the mall which is about half an hour or forty-five minutes away. It stinks making the walk back uphill to my house when I have an armload full of groceries. The mall has about everything I need in terms of shops or I can head the opposite direction toward Lamentin, the closest city to me. Lamentin has small street side shops and an open air market as well as my bank. It also has a nice library that is filled with air conditioning which is really nice to relax in after the nearly hour walk into town. Unfortunately getting around is harder than anticipated. Buses come when the driver feels like making his rounds. I’ve been told repeatedly that you can’t measure things in Martinique by distance but only by time. Something that might be 5 miles away could take 10 minutes to get to or an hour depending on the conditions. I’ve found a bus that leaves from the mall and can take me into Fort-de-France. Each leg of the trip can take anywhere from an hour to two hours depending on the timing of the bus. Once I’m there I usually hang out near the boardwalk and on the beach. I like talking with all the street vendors and the other people I’ll meet on the street. It was an excellent decision to grow dreads. My dreads endear me to everyone in the street; everyone approaches me with a smile and loves talking with me. It’s also made it easier to meet people because they like to talk to a tall, skinny American with dreads. It’s not everyday that people in Martinique get to see that. My hair has also helped endear me to my students too. Lately, thanks to the generosity of friends, I’ve been able to explore the county as well. My friend Jean-Michel who is probably 20 years my elder has been very open and inviting. He’s shown around the island and invited me to play tennis the other day. He has a wonderful house and has helped me to know the south of the island. The past weekend, I went to a dancehall dance competition with three other assistants. It was the world finals and an amazing but long event. In total it took somewhere close to five or six hours. It was a lot of dancing. Dancehall dancing is kind of like house dancing mixed with break dancing coupled with reggae influences. The competition was groups of three battling against another group of three where each has 30 seconds to do a routine. Each group alternates until both have done two dances. All the groups were very skilled and full of athleticism and imagination. It was a unique experience with teams from around the Caribbean and the world. Afterword, myself and my three friends headed to a party on the beach for the full moon which was beautiful. Imagine a cool comfortable evening where shorts and a tee-shirt were more than sufficient. It never got pitch black because the moon shown so brightly. The sea glistened under the moon light as the waves lapped against the shoreline while twenty small fishing boats floated gently a hundred yards off the shore. It was a magical scene, one that will remain with me forever. The next day after sleeping at my friend’s house which overlooks a hill side rolling down into a hundred-eighty degree view of the sea, we took off toward the north. It was my first experience northward which was beautiful. The north is very different than the south. It’s wetter and more forested. It’s a rainforest. It’s beautiful. I’ve had a chance to explore on the weekends and hope that continues. I work during the week and lay low then on the weekend I try to explore although Saturdays get dominated by soccer. So far I’ve had a chance to get know the island and am continuing to meet the people. The coming months should have plenty of adventures in store for me.
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