July 6
The flight from
Ottawa to Toronto was quick and easy. Toronto to Bridgetown went off
without a hitch. We arrived about 2 o'clock, grabbed a cab and
headed to the Pirate's Inn Hotel. Those of us returning to Barbados
zipped over to the Scotia Bank, which was a two minute walk. Fee
free banking. Hurrah!
Now for the good
part. Bathing suits on, to the beach for a swim. Even though there
was plenty of seaweed in the water and it was overcast and relatively
cool, we went for a refreshing swim after a long day. While walking
home, just as it was getting dark we saw a sign for a vegan
restaurant. We headed down the side street in search of the
restaurant. It was only a block off the main beach in a tiny space,
directly across from a dumpster. But this did not deter us nor did
it encourage us to eat inside, rather than at the tables on the
sidewalk. Only the imminent rain made us go in. The food was
fantastic and the waiter was super friendly and entertaining. I
found him to be endearing because he was the Barbadian version of one
of my cousins.
July 7
We were up bright
and early the next morning for our trip back to the airport and on to
Dominica. Our team leader had arranged for our same taxi driver to
pick us up and…. He was there early! So much for me getting away
with being my usual late self. No such luck!
From Bridgetown we
flew to Antigua and then from there to Dominica. Upon arrival we
were met by 3 people from DAT. The ride to the hotel was almost an
hour up and down hills on an incredibly windy and somewhat narrow
road through the rain forest over to the west coast. Spectacular
scenery!
What a treat
checking into the hotel. We have a view of the hills and the sea!
Unbelievable! What luck. The rest of the day was left to us. Dinner
at a Fusion restaurant was great. Apparently the chef is from
Montreal. We also wandered around town to get oriented. Yes, we
have a view and are in the historic district of the capital. Our
final priority for the day was checking to see if we could use the
pool at the Fort Young Hotel across the road. Since it was late, we
were asked to return on the 8
th.
 |
| Garroway Hotel |
 |
| 5th Floor View |
 |
| Rear View of Hotel |
July 8
At one o'clock we
were driven back to the hotel with a stop at the Scotia Bank. Here
comes the really fun part of the day. Having taken money out in
Bridgetown, I felt pretty secure going to the Scotia Bank to take out
some local currency. Haha.
In goes the card and
then the password. I hear the machine counting the money. The card
starts to come out, but no!. … It stops part way out! I try to
grab it with my fingers, and just as I try to grab it, it gets sucked
back in. NOOO… The machine has eaten my card!!!! The locals tell
me to go in to the bank immediately before it closes.
In I go. The person
who said she was going to help me simply disappeared. Marcus, our
driver appears to take charge, thank goodness! He lines up and takes
me to another bank employee. The employee calmly smiles and tells me
to return the next day to retrieve my card and not to worry that they
would facilitate me. OK then. I have my 5 minutes of distress and
then move on.
After another great
lunch the team leader attempts to take money out of 2 different
banks. No cash! We later hear that the stock market had been shut
down in New York. Oh no, a worldwide conspiracy? Yikes!
So,
on to the good
news. We got a great deal to use the pool next door that includes a
yummy slushy punch with or without rum. In the evening went to a
natural sulfur hot spring. It
was amazing! Up and down a narrow, steep windy road to our
destination in the dark jungle. There were three pools of differing
temperatures and we were the only ones there. One hour of relaxing
and moving from pool to pool all
for $5 each. What a deal!!!
July 9
From
nine until one p.m. we worked with our co-tutors at the union office.
I met with my co-tutor briefly to discuss what was planned overall
and then for the first day. We will modify as we go. There are 150
participants signed up and almost 1/3 are signed up for ICT.
I got my bank card back. Yippee! A little afraid to try again. After getting my card back, we picked up the rotis we had ordered for lunch the
day before. Once again, yummy food! And then, yes, you guessed it,
off to the pool. We lounged at the pool until dusk. This just may
become our new daily debrief location.
Pizza take out for dinner and off to bed to rest up for our first day of workshops, after the 8:30 opening ceremony.
 |
| The Pool |
 |
| Rainbow at the Pool |
 |
| View from Pool |
July 10
Up
bright and early to be at school for 7:30. Fortunately the school is a
two minute ride. Marcus picks us up every day and drives us home.
By
10 a.m. we were off to our sessions. 33 teachers were present for the
ICT workshop. One of the participants made me especially happy. I had
spoken to her before opening ceremonies. She was a mature early
education teacher and had not yet signed up. She had already
participated in special education and one of the others. I suggested
she do the drama workshop because there would be things to take back and
do with her students. She did not take my advice and instead signed up
for ICT because she had very little knowledge or experience. Kudos to
her! How brave!!
The
morning flew by. Participants set up a gmail account, sent an email,
completed an 18 question survey on Survey Monkey, looked at a variety of
websites and learned about computer hardware and software. My co-tutor
and I wondered if perhaps we had moved too quickly, but everyone seemed
to be good. Glancing at the survey results and working with the
teachers it appears that there are only 4 of the 33 who are not
comfortable with computers. This is going to be great!
We
left the school about 1:30. Back to the union office for photocopying
and then back to the hotel. No wait.. not back to the hotel. Marcus,
our very friendly driver/tour guide took us for a tour of the city. We
went up to a view point from where you can see the entire city. He also
took us on a tour of the Botanical Gardens. There is a bamboo tree
house, which at one time was completely filled in and apparently dark
inside during the day. Word is that a lot of "hanky panky" went on in
the bamboo house. Love it! We also saw the parrot that is on the flag
and a truck that was under a huge baobab tree. During the hurricane,
that devistated the country, of 1979 a baobab tree fell on a bus. The
plan was to remove the tree and the school bus, but the tree continued to
grow, so they left the fallen tree and the bus.
 |
| Squashed Bus |
 |
| Hurricane Info |
 |
| View of Roseau |
By
four o'clock we were back. Out for dinner and debrief. Off again at
7:30 to the Arawak House of Culture to watch a three hour dance and
singing performance. It was lovely. There were some very talented
individuals.
The flight from
Ottawa to Toronto was quick and easy. Toronto to Bridgetown went off
without a hitch. We arrived about 2 o'clock, grabbed a cab and
headed to the Pirate's Inn Hotel. Those of us returning to Barbados
zipped over to the Scotia Bank, which was a two minute walk. Fee
free banking. Hurrah!
No comments:
Post a Comment