Submitted by Kayla Angeline on the 2018 winter session program in Dominica sponsored by the Department of Geography and Department of Applied Economics and Statistics…
Today was the first day of classes during our study abroad program! We began the day by meeting in the cafe to eat breakfast. We had scrambled eggs, country style bread and a small side salad in addition to fresh watermelon and pineapple. After breakfast, classes began at 9 :00am in the conference room of the hotel. Prof. Hastings briefly touched on the topics that we discussed the night before including the Minister of Tourism and Urban Renewal who has a task force of suggested projects to begin to help rebuild the island after the devastating Hurricane Maria.
After the lecture, we took a few hours to get lunch. The power had been out for a little while so most restaurants were closed. We ended up stopping at the grocery store down the street, which was pretty busy at the time. We decided to eat peanut butter and jelly for lunch. We then headed back to the hotel to catch our ride to our first excursion. The drive was roughly 35 minutes to Scotts Head. The drive itself was much different from the part of the island we are staying on. The southern part of the island had been hit worse by Hurricane Maria than Roseau, the capital of the island. Many homes were destroyed, power lines were knocked down and roads were badly damaged. It’s very difficult to imagine what it must be like to experience such a devastating hurricane that took away so much of their homes. The people of Dominica are hopeful for rebuilding and getting everything back on the right track. They are all very nice and welcome us to the island.
Scotts Head, Dominica is a small fishing village located on the southern tip of the island of Dominica, overlooking Soufriere Bay. The peninsula located west of the village is also called Scotts Head and is the meeting point of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. We took a small hike to the top of Scotts Head, which led to panoramic view of the villages, peaks and valleys. We then swam in the Caribbean Sea for a little while and I found a cute little hermit crab!