Ramble On

Isn't the gym and the people who frequent it such an interesting sub-culture? I'm a gym rat, and I'm not trying to exclude myself or imply that I am somehow not a part of this subculture. I go all the time. I'm the one gets annoyed at major holidays because the gyms are closed, the one who will leave late for vacation so I can squeeze in an hour before I get in the car and will be away from my precious elliptical for days on end, the one who yearns to get to the gym after work each day and loves the feeling of total exhaustion and being drenched in sweat from a good long workout. I think I may be a bit obsessed. But I really like going to the gym after being in a chair all day staring at a computer. And I like the people who go to gyms. Just the other day, I was on a machine and a girl my age was on one next to me, and I noticed that she, like myself, was watching Braveheart on her TV. I happened to catch her eye and she said "there was never anyone hotter than Mel...

First, for those of you who like to run, you will understand why I love the following images so much: Before After It's also why I have such a hard time throwing away old shoes. I spend so much time and good memories and the shoes take me such interesting places. When I have to retire a pair, I can never throw them away immediately even though the sole is completely worn through and the shock absorption has only been absorbing foot odor and doing nothing for my poor knees for weeks... It's emotional. Second, is anyone watching Adventures in Hollyhood on MTV? I think it might be the most hilarious show MTV has ever aired. It stars Three 6 Mafia who are from Memphis who are living in Hollywood, doing the movie/music/producer/gangsta thing that I guess is sort of a right of passage and has to be expected of the only rap group ever to win an Oscar. So my first favorite thing about the show is that it has subtitles. Yes, Three 6 Mafia does speak English, but SO unintelligibly th...

This is one of the prettiest buildings in Fort de France. It's the library named after Victor Schoelcher who campaigned for the independence of slaves in the 19th century. Photo courtesy of Mr. David Stevens. This is about as pretty as Fort de France will ever look. Photo courtesy of Mr. David Stevens. This is a good view of the lush Martinique vegetation. Photo courtesy of Mr. David Stevens. I think the last time I wrote anything for my blog was a very long time ago. My last days in Martinique weren’t all that busy, but my camera lost a battle with an ocean wave and without pictures, I made excuses that the blog wasn’t worth updating. I know, lame, but I’m just lazy, what can I say. I have been back in the states now for a full two weeks. I have started my new job at Wedmore Place, a new inn on the property of the Williamsburg Winery, and have been trying to get the basics in place before the anticipated opening in May. It seems like it is going to be a good fit for me and ...

So here are some of the kids that I taught at LP Bateliere. I asked them to say goodbye. They are too much!

I am remembering how I hate the feeling when I know I have a lot to do that I cannot do all at once. I hate having things that I have to do that are out of my control. Namely, sell my car, and find a way to close my bank account after my final paycheck is deposited into it at the end of this month. I am doing a classified ad which I hope has the desired effect for the car, and I guess the bank account situation will just have to go work itself out. I have had very few classes lately too, just two hours on Thursday and 3 on Friday. All the rest of my classes are doing internships for a few weeks. They have been better about listening. I have been trying to do more fun things with them like games and songs. I did a crossword puzzle and guessing game that worked alright, but they really hate speaking in English. I had to constantly ask them to ask the questions for the guessing game in English and they just kind of ignored me. Those are some of the reasons I am happy to be leaving...

I joined YouTube to be able to post these, so I hope it works....

I have had a solid weekend. Friday night I went to a bar frequented by students at the IUFM an d the University called Feuille de Tol to say goodbye to one of Zie Juhmans, Andy. I had a great night, meeting new people, hanging out at the bar, singing Piano Man at the top of my lungs like the boisterous American I was allowed to be when others were willing to help. There were a group of students spending their winter break doing a one-month study abroad program through University of Delaware. It was interesting talking to them and getting their impression of the island. They weren't too pleased with the place, but I told them, just rent a car for your last week here and it won't be so bad. They are only here for a month anyway. They have managed to do a lot more than I did in my first month. Saturday, Ceri and I headed out to Anse Trabaud. The beach was off the beaten path, to say the least. There was a sign pointing the way to it, but about 100 feet after the sign, ther...

In keeping with my promise to be more adventurous, I have gotten out a bit to some new places on the island the last couple of days and had some very Caribbean experiences. After finishing all my classes on Friday, I sort of took the night off, watched some movies on TV and went to bed early. Saturday morning I was excited because I was going to a new beach, Cap Chevalier, and going to a birthday party on the beach that night. I picked up Ceri and we set off to the southeastern part of the island. Cap Chevalier is a beautiful string of beaches protected by coral reefs. The only thing that makes the swimming not very enjoyable is the amount of seaweed there is in the water. I went off and hiked part of the 17 mile trail that goes up the southeastern coast of Martinique. It has beautiful views but also lots of thistles so I was getting scraped up pretty good. I turned around after a few miles and headed back to the beach. Ceri was relaxing in the late afternoon sun and we were wa...

It’s been a good while since I’ve been back and it has been much better since my shaky return. I have been going out more, being more adventurous, spending a lot on gas, teaching private English lessons with kids who are motivated (!!) and finally getting a sense of enjoyment out of living here. I’ve been going to the beaches more, making a checklist of things I have to do before I leave Martinique… The secret of life here is to stay busy, even if busy means taking the time to relocate to a beach to read instead of just hanging out at my place. There are a ton of tourists here now. The season for the Caribbean has begun and the prices reflect it, so do the crowds. As always, Martinique is visited by vast quantities of French people, a few German people, and even fewer other nationalities. I am glad I went to St. Lucia before the break, but now I am wishing I had gone to other islands too. I have 4 day weekends now. I do private English lessons on Tuesday nights at a family’s ...

I have been in Dominica all day. I was supposed be in Martinique by now, but they cancelled my flight. So I had an impromptu one-day layover in Dominica today. And I have to spend most of tomorrow here too. It sounds strange to say it but I REALLY wanted to get back to Martinique today. I was so angry when they tol d me I couldn’t go. This happened to me with the same airline on the way home too. Thankfully, they found a way to get me to Dominica on time to catch my flight to San Juan, and ultimately, to the states. But today I couldn’t help myself and I just broke down in the middle of the Take Airlines office. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy when I came back, but I didn’t want it to start this early. I didn’t want there to be a problem before I even got to Martinique! Today wasn’t completely wasted. I went to town to wash the one set of clothes I hav e w ith me, and then I went to Trafalgar Falls just to see a little bit of Dominica while it was still possible. I know ...

I have put so many things in my way to look forward to so that the actual date that I'm so excited for, Thursday Dec. 14th, the day of my return to the states, will sneak up on me. It HAS! I just finished my christmas shopping this morning at mall that is tiny by our standards but GIGANTINORMOUS by Caribbean standards. It is, in fact, the largest shopping center in the Caribbean. It took me 30 minutes to find a parking spot. It's because it's Christmas. I think I would take the traditional french route and hand-make all my gifts if I had any particularly useful skill. They give homemade foie-gras, liquers, figurines of clay or wood, produce from their gardens, dresses or cloth creations design and realised in their own homes. It's incredible. The other thing that is really incredible at Christmastime in France or a part of France, is the ENTIRE AISLE devoted only to chocolate at all grocery stores. They clear off whatever insignificant item was there before and create ...

Fridays I spend four hours at LP Bateliere, working in conjunction with the teachers who are there. Today, I showed up, after not being there last week because of the robbery and having to go do the report at the police station and it taking 3 hours... I think the teachers were taking it out on me for not being there last week, even though I had called and told them that I was stuck at the police station and updated them on the situation until finally I just said I wouldn't make it. They did not extend this same courtesy to me when absolutely none of them showed up today. Yet, the classes were still there, ready and waiting. Well, kind of. Every week they change the rooms on me and I have to go searching for the students who, of course, don't want to be found by the lowly assistant who's not really a teacher. And now this week it was worse because I had no teacher authority with me in the room as I usually do, so they were terribly behaved. National AIDS recognition da...

Yesterday after returning from the Prefecture (french DMV, just as badas the US) after an unsuccessful attempt at registering the car, I found that the house had been broken into and that my computer, computer bag, iPod and case and headphones, camera had all been stolen. They tried to take the TV but they either didn't have time or decided it was too heavy. I'm pretty sure that when I got back and pulled into the house they were still there and had to hide and that's why they left the TV. So life in Martinique is set back quite a few steps. Everytime I move forward here, something else comes along. I'm tired of it. I had locked the house up tight and made sure that everything was closed because Marie-Ange had warned me about other robberies in the area. They got me. Add another B to the list: buses, bats, bees, burglars.

I had a very successful day in Martinique in terms of speaking French, and with one particular class. Before I start off; I have to apologize to Clint. I might have accidentally made one of my students have a crush on you and then taught them the song that goes "(your name here) and (object of your desire's name here) sitting in a tree; k-i-s-s-i-n-g; first comes love; then comes marriage; then comes baby in the baby carriage" and I might have used your name and a student's name. But don't worry; I warned her that she shouldn't get her hopes up. The students ate it up. These kids who I can barely get to speak in class, much less be interested, loved the song as it was a way to embarrass one of their own in another language. One got the feeling that the girl, Yasmina, ate it up as well though. She's an attention lover. That class, (it was the first time I'd had the class ever because the class who I normally have left for their internship for 6 weeks) ...