Hiking Territory

Hello everyone!

I have been officially linked with the Peace Corps for over a month and feel totally enamored with the entire situation!  As I examine my initial experiences, I feel fortunate and humbled about being able to partake in these unique, life-changing opportunities.  The beauty of the land of Dominica is quite difficult to explain with just words.  The entire island is essentially a paradise garden with mystical mountains, stunning waterfalls, and crystal-clear rivers in its surroundings.  

In my previous post, I explained that I had really enjoyed the “new experiences” in the first week of being on Dominica.  Since I’ve been on the island for over a month, I’ve come to realize that everyday has been different and that each day will be filled with new, remarkable experiences.  For instance, the full-moon was absolutely stunning!  Since I live in a rural village with only one or two streetlights in the area, the moonlight filled the sky like I had never seen in my life.  I decided to go on a night run when the moon was full because of how illuminating it was.  The combination of the moon reflecting its light onto the breaking waves in the Atlantic Ocean felt almost supernatural.

I have also been taking full advantage of the nature by going on hikes since Dominica advertises itself as one of the world’s best eco-tourist destinations.  As I visited the school one day, which I will be working with for the next two years, I realized that I was in for a wonderful time.  They had a field trip planned called “Bel Marche” which translates to “A Good Walk.”  Over sixty students, some parents, faculty, and I walked about six miles from the Castle Bruce primary school to part of the Carib Territory called Sineku.  The Carib Territory is one of the neighboring areas near where I have been stationed.

Of course, some entertaining things happened!  Right as I arrived at the school, two grade three girls said good morning to me.  They recognized me from when I visited the school during a previous week.  Then, they proceeded to ask me, “Sir, are you married to anyone in the states?”  After I answered them, they ran away giggling.  It was quite adorable.  As we were leaving, the teacher in charge of the walk yelled out to all the students, “no walking in front of the white man!”  Fortunately, only one road runs to the Carib Territory so I knew which way to go.  I was able to get to know a bunch of the grade five and six boys because they were at the front of the line with me.  Some kids would walk past me and then other children would yell at them because they weren’t supposed to pass the white man. 

Our destination was a rock formation called L’escalier Tete Chien.  It is incredible.  A Carib legend exists about the rock formation that a giant snake shaped it by slithering out of the sea many years ago.  The Carib tour guide explained the “true story” to us which was fascinating to hear because he was so vehement that it was factual.  He gave me his notes at the end of his presentation which is a pretty awesome memento.  He claims the giant snake still lives today in some caves in the mountains.  I may have to take a day to go on a search for it.

I went on another hike with a youth group and some staff members from the Non-Government Organization (NGO) I’ll be working with while on the island.  This hike was also located in the Carib Territory.  I went from a village called Sineku (over what I thought was a mountainous pass but what locals call a ridge) to another remote community named Concord.  The hike was pretty intense relative to the one I went on with the primary school.  I was also designated as the person who had to carry the bag of food which weighed well over 40 lbs.  I was cool with carrying the bag because it made the trek an even better work-out.  The way down the ridge was way more challenging than the way up.  The path was about a foot or less in width and it went down at about a 65-70 degrees (if not larger at some spots) decline with big drop-offs on each side.  Also, the path was slippery because it had rained in the morning before the hike which made the footing difficult.  To top it all off, one of the straps broke on the bag of food; thus, I had to carry the bag down the ridge in one of my hands away from my body which messed up my sense of balance and equilibrium.  It was definitely an adventure!

The group and I made it down safely then proceeded to refresh by swimming in a river that runs through Concord.  It was quite rejuvenating.  Pockets of the river went down to depths of about fifteen feet and even at these spots I could easily see right to the bottom from the surface.  While in the water, one of the bosses of the NGO and I conversed about swimming.  He informed me that he has coached competitive swimming on Dominica for over thirty years and that he used to be the Dominican National Swim Team Coach.  He was very excited to hear and see that I have a background in swimming and he wants me to assist him in teaching children the fundamentals of swimming and water safety.  He told me that over fifty percent of people who live on Dominica do not know how to swim which sounded odd to me considering they live on an island.

I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of the trails on Dominica.  An over 100 km trail exists which connects from the northern part of the island to the southern tip.  The path is called the “Waitukubli Trail” and it is broken up into thirteen segments.  Also, a trail exists that takes people to a boiling lake and hot springs.  I’m thrilled to partake in these hikes eventually.

The other trainees and I are about a month away from formally swearing in to become Peace Corps Volunteers.  We are fully immersed into the process of preparing us for successful volunteering.  We are learning new perspectives on how to observe and resolve potential issues in our communities by using tactics that are both respectful and applicable which is called “Participatory Analysis for Community Action.”  Also, we are being trained in the art of teaching children while accounting for the Eastern Caribbean culture and norms.  We have also done some sessions on teaching literacy techniques.  We are being taught ways to effectively initiate and sustain a service learning project as well which has been very interesting.  Finally, we have French Kweyol workshops for a few hours a week too.   Even though it’s exhausting to train full-time, I’ve enjoyed it thus far because of all the new things I’ve learned.

Hope you had a solid February,

Joe Bridwell