Trip to the Carib Territory and Emerald Pool

Yesterday we went on a little tour of the island, to see some of the nature sites that are here. We first went to the Carib Territory. This territory is like the Native American territory in the US. They are different people than the dominicans and from what we learned are not particularly friendly with the dominican people. We are friends with this girl named Joanna and she is from Dominica and she told us that she has never been to the Carib territory until yesterday. The things that the Carib people did were very interesting. We had a tour guide that kind of gave us some insight into these people and she explained to us that they are the only people who eat the whole cow. They even eat what is called black pudding and it is the blood of the cow. Really gross I know. They also eat the leather of the cow, or the skin of the cow. It was very interesting to see how these people live because it is so different from us. Most of the people there do not have air conditioner or flushing toilets. Keep in mind that these are the Carib people and not the local dominican people that we live by. Here is a picture of some Carib people making bread at their local bakery. The bread is made with a particular spice that if it is not prepared properly it is poisonous. They offered us a taste of the Cassava bread but we decided that we didn't want to take our chances with the idea that they may not have prepared the bread properly. A friend of ours tried it and said it was really good but we decided not to.

While going through the Carib territory I ate my first coconut. It was very interesting. The water inside of the coconut when you first open it tastes like flavored water, but not necessarily like coconut water. It is a distinct taste but hard to describe. The inside, which you can see me eating in this picture below was a very different taste. A lot of people really liked the inside but Christopher and I didn't really care for it. Christopher is drinking fresh pineapple juice in this picture and it was awesome. Although Christopher didn't really like it because it was too sweet, I liked it a whole lot. It was delicious!

 

After we left the Carib Territory we went to the Emerald Pool. This was really the highlight of our trip. We hiked into the rainforest for about fifteen minutes. We hiked down into the mountain and came upon the Emerald Pool. It was a waterfall that was so beautiful and the water it fell into was completely clear. It was so awesome. It makes you really appreciate what our God has created. Living in the city does not give you the gratitude for the wonderful and beautiful areas God has created. It was awesome.

 

It was worth the long bus ride their to see what we saw. As we were leaving Christopher had to go to the bathroom and their was a sign that said you had to pay $1 to go to the bathroom, and sure enough there was a guy there taking money for you to go use the restroom. I never in my life knew you would have to pay to use the toilet so I thought I needed to take a picture of it because I thought it was extremely hilarious.

 

Now keep in mind $1 is equivalent to $0.30 US so really it is not that much but still it is a little weird that they charge you to go to the bathroom. 

Today we didn't do a whole lot because it has been raining on and off all day and it has been extremely cloudy. This is a blessing here because it has really cooled it off a lot and we aren't sweating everywhere we go. Although it has made it extremely humid for tonight. 

Christopher is attending his orientation classes tonight so I am excited to here how that went. I am so proud of what he has accomplished and so blessed that the Lord has allowed us this opportunity to achieve his dream of becoming a doctor. We thank him every day for the blessings he has given us. Thank you so much for all of your prayers back at home, they have truly helped because we are really adjusting well and learning our way around this island. We love you all very much!