Dominica

Pictures above (Storefront in Roseau, Dominica and view of coast)

Upon leaving the Bahamas on January 12, 2011 roughly 4 short days later we arrived in the Caribbean Islands on the island of Dominica.

Dominica is not to be confused with the Dominican Republic. Confusion among the two is such a common occurrence, that mail meant for Dominica often goes to the Dominican Republic.  Dominica was originally inhabited by the Carib people and was rediscovered by Columbus on a Sunday (Domingo in Spanish thus the island’s name) in 1493.   Since it was rediscovered, the French and British spent time feuding over who was in charge. Eventually, the British won. For a significant period of time both the British and their slaves resided in Dominica. Eventually, the Dominican people won their freedom from the British and today most island residents are descendents of the slaves from that era. Today, roughly 70,000 people reside in Dominica with roughly 3,000-6,000 native Caribs and 11 centenarians (according to our cab driver).

So enough of the general book knowledge, we arrived early in the morning to the town of Roseau on January 16, 2011. At roughly 8:30 a.m., 700 Americans disembarked a large ship and descended on this tiny town that was primarily shuttered up on Sunday. We walked across the street from our port to the visitor center. Got the basic information, and unknowingly set off a debate between two cab drivers as Amy bartered pricing. Fortunately, we ended up with a great guy named Charles. Charles took us into the rainforest for a little hiking one day and the next day over to Champagne Reef for a little snorkeling. While the activities were fun, beautiful and amazing as evidenced by the pictures, the conversation I had with Charles regarding the European, American and Chinese influences on the Dominican economy, culture and way of life were what made the largest impact. Within the first 10 minutes of meeting Charles he shared that while his family was all from Dominica originally, many of his siblings had moved to the United States, he preferred to stay in Dominica. He talked with great pride about the number of centenarians, noting that stress in Dominica was different than that in the US.  He also shared his concern about how the  short-term thinking by his country’s administration was leading to the proliferation of chain businesses.  These businesses seemed to be running smaller independent businesses out of business. He questioned the wisdom of accepting money from Europe and Chinese dollars into the Dominican economy. He expressed that these larger countries didn’t share the same values of Dominicans and were creating challenges for maintaining the Dominican way of life. He raised questions about the intent of these large countries. He wondered why large countries would invest so much money on helping build roads, stadiums for cricket, providing business loans? He wondered if the desire was to take over Dominica? He wondered why businesses like KFC, Subway and Pizza Hut were even needed? Simultaneously, he noted that individuals eating and harvesting local fruits such as mangoes and bananas was on the decline. Instead local foods were being replaced with fast food and Cheetos. In listening to Charles talk with both concern and passion for his country, it struck me how similar we all are. This isn’t meant to be a declaration against large economic super powers and the need for world peace. But rather a reflection on how similar our lives are across the globe that in essence, many of us get up, go about our day, and try to make our best way forward to provide for ourselves, our families and in that process we hold high hopes for our collective futures.