Day 25: Goodbye Gwada :(

Well friends, today marked my last full day in this little island I've come to call home.  While this trip constitutes one of the most memorable, marking experiences of my life, I know that it's time to go to my real home and be reunited with my family.  This post will recount my day's experiences, but at the end, you will be subject to my reminescences and reflections on my time here: you have been warned:)

Today: I followed a guided tour at the St. John Perse Museum in Pointe- a Pitre.  This museum contains a small art gallery, information on traditional Creole dress, and information on the life of St. John Perse.  St. John Perse counts as a Guadeloupean native, despite his parents French roots, and spent only 12 years of his life on the island.  These years, however, shaped him and many of his poems refer either to his childhood or Guadeloupe itself.

the Museum!

My favorite room-- pink, high ceilings, fancy chandelier...

I enjoyed the visit and the guide knew what she was talking about! Luckily, this visit moved much more quickly than my first walking (standing) tour, so I even toured the museum by myself before heading back to my car.

Next stop: la plage (but really, what did you expect?).

The beach did not disappoint today: beautiful, clear skys, plenty of entertaining children, and warm water.  Time well spent, in my opinion.  Before leaving, I took a quick selfie to leave the island with some Tribe Pride:

If you look close, you will see the inordinate amount of freckles on my face.  (Luckily, I have been informed that freckles are "in" this year.  Thank God! ;)

This trip allowed me to further both my academic and personal development.  Of course, the research aspect allowed me to refine my paper topic and gather valuable information and experience.  Before I came, doing research for the entire month seemed daunting and difficult.  Pushing myself to think outside the box and look at the island through an academic lens allowed me to analyze situations in a new way-- always a valuable experience-- and confirmed my suspicion that I would like to have a career that allows me to research or think in this critical way.

Before my trip, I was slightly terrified.  I had never travelled by myself before, especially out of the country, and I knew that I had to rely completely on myself for everything that I needed.  There would be no "mom, can you..." "dad, I need you to..." because an ocean kept mom and dad from doing anything besides being my biggest cheerleaders (a job which they excelled at!).  I had to handle day to day situations, like flat tires, feed myself, and fend for myself in a completely foreign city.  Driving turned out to be a whole separate struggle: round abouts don't quite exist in the US so I am sure I made some very questionable decisions while driving through those, in addition to other occurences.  For some reason, I always have this fear that my car is going to be stolen.  This happens whether I am at Target in Sterling, Virginia or at a performance in Pointe- a Pitre center.  So far, so good.  ("Is car theft common there?" my dad asked when he learned of my fear.  "No, not at all."  Cue my father's confused look).  Despite these hurdles, I managed to do okay for myself.  This taught me that I am more capable than I ever imagined.

I also learned that people are fundamentally good and kind.  Growing up on a steady diet of Nancy Drew books, I convinced myself that bad people proliferated and somebody was always out to get you.  Luckily, I don't think this is true.  In my experiences, random strangers will accompany you on hikes, point out the museum you can't find, or just offer an encouraging smile when you ask a dumb question and then explain you're foreign.

All in all, I owe a big thanks to the McCormack family for continuing to donate to the College's French department.  None of this would have been possible without their generosity, and I don't think a simple thank you note will adequately address how much I appreciate their support for this endeavor.  Liberal arts, and specifically French, research is so often overlooked-- what can you "research" about French? the language already exists, right?-- so the simple existance of this scholarship is a huge privilege that I hope to exploit to the best of my ability. 

Secondly, I am so lucky to count myself as a student of the William and Mary French department. All of my professors, specifically Magali, have encouraged my creativity and told me what big things I am capable of.  This doesn't happen everywhere so thank you, for both encouraging and supporting me, through the award of this scholarship and otherwise.  You have changed the way I look at myself and the world, and that will never leave me.

Of course, I cannot forget my family, who should recieve of their own for sending their first- born off for a month to a tropical island without any knowledge of its inner workings.  They took a huge leap of faith, trusting me to handle myself appropriately and make good choice.  I know it wasn't easy, but I hope it was worth it. 

Finally, thank you to all of you readers who joined me in this endeavor.  I loved hearing everyone's feedback and reading your comments-- you are great. Good luck filling the void my lack of blogging will undoubtedly leave you with.

Tomorrow, I'll take a quick morning trip to the beach before packing up my little car and returning to the airport where I saw this island for the first time.  (Cue the anxiety about the flight-- why isn't my boarding pass showing up on my phone? do I need to collect my bags in Miami before connecting to DC?) I'm sure everything will work out (keep an eye out for another post in case it doesn't ;)

Day 24: Thwarted

Yesterday, I informed everyone that I would be checking out the Memorial ACTe for the second time today.  Unfortunately, I forgot that many sites are actually closed on Monday.  This can be very confusing, as in France- and generally in Guadeloupe, too, everthing closes on Sunday.  Here, I've found that more sites stay open on the weekend, closing on Monday.  Complicated, no?  Anyways, I woke up to a rainy sky and no plan for my day. 

In the morning, I ended up checking out a photography exhibit at a cultural center in Pointe- a- Pitre.  (Not the one I usually frequent-- this one is much closer to the city center.)  The exhibit ended up being much smaller than anticipated, so it didn't take long to tour at all.  I found the subject interesting.  I'm living in a town just outside of Pointe- a- Pitre called "les Abymes".  This area, and my neighborhood in particular, are currently being completely redone.  Buildings, roads, and houses are all being redone.  (I'm not quite sure why-- but many of the houses do look older compared to the other cities I've visited here).  This exhibit attempts to capture the area before, during, and after the renovation.  I enjoyed the photos and discovered that the photographer who designed the temporary exhibit at Memorial ACTe actually took many of these photos! Funny stuff. 

After a quick visit there, I popped into a bookstore to look for a magazine for Wednesday's flight.  The local section quickly caught my attention and I quickly became engrossed in the fiction books by local authors.  I've read works by many of these authors before, and know the works of many others, so it felt a bit like coming home-- very familiar and comforting.  I have always loved books and reading.  In elementary school, I sometimes refused to work in groups because I knew I worked faster alone.  This afforded me more time to read before the class moved on to the next activities.  (I have distinct memories of people asking me to work with them and me basically telling them "no, you're too slow and I want to read".  I phrased it more gently, of course, but you get the jist.)

Dilemma: I wanted all of these books. (Another classic me moment-- I never came out of the library or a bookstore with less than an armful of books).  Okay, but I had come in for a magazine.  So I reluctantly headed over to the magazine section to examine the offerings.  French Cosmo offered me tips to look good in a picture on the beach.  (My tip-- take a picture while you are on the beach.  If you think "ugh", take another one).  I realized I did not have time for this kind of drivel when Maryse Conde could offer me the tale of her grandmother's days as a cook and Gisele Pineau discussed the self- imposed exile of islanders moving abroad.  These are the important issues people! Plus, I've already read about 3,000 articles about what bathing suit is best for my body type.  (Pro tip: they all look pretty much the same).  I hustled back over the local section, and started to make my selection.  Patrick Chamoiseau made a strong run with a story about a modern day girl who finds herself on the ruins of a sugar plantation-- a story that mixes the past and the present? I am in, baby.

The moment of truth: which one to pick? After standing in the store for so long, I was convinced the shop owner would think I was shoplifting if I didn't decide soon.  I narrowed it down to Pineau and Chamoiseau (sorry, Maryse-- you know I loved Moi, Tituba, Sorciere and la Femme Cannibale, but I feel like branching out today.  Don't worry-- I'm going to track this down at my school library in the fall.  We'll be together soon-- it's not you, it's me).  Two choices remained. What if I bought both books? No. The thought seemed so gluttenous, I tried to forget it completely.  But it kept sneaking back, saying dirty things like "this is your vacation", "you still have some grant money left over, and these books could be used in your paper", "if you really want two, you should buy two.  Stop being ridiculous".  I played my favorite game of "if mom were here, what would she say?".  First off, she would be very confused by my love of these authors and concerned that I was conversing with books.  Second off, she would say, "buy the damn books!".  (Because, realistically, the beach should not be left waiting.  Priorities!)  So, before I could think twice, I took both books into my arms, and rushed to the register.

I purchased both of those books.  I do not regret it.  In fact, just writing about them now makes me smile. I fought the urge to skip towards my car, where I drove home and then hit the beach. (I did not bring the books with me-- I am currently reading le Deuxieme Sexe, which I adore, but mostly could not risk exposing these treasures to the elements!).

I spent a wonderful afternoon at the beach, basking in the sun, sleeping, and eavesdropping on French speaking families all around me.  (Someone's friend just had a baby!)

Just goes to show you that even days with ominous beginnings can end on a very high note.  (I also bought my favorite brand of cookies at the store, so tomorrow will probably be a massive letdown.)

I also bear great news: if you thought ice cream trucks only existed in the good ol' US of A for us "fat Americans" who need ice cream brought directly to our doorstep, think again.  Even in the French territories, these marvels exist.

Some photographic proof:

On the side, "American Ice Cream" (a soft serve cone) had a prominent place.  Rarely have I felt more proud to be an American. 

So friends, that's all from me.  Tomorrow is my last full day in Guadeloupe! (Tomorrow's blog post will probably be long and sentimental-- this is your warning).  My plan: take a guided tour of a museum in the morning, then beach it up in the afternoon.  (Crepes may or may not feature into the day-- trying to find the hours of the place I'd like to go!) Should be a good last day :)

Day 23: Food and the Beach

Based on the title, you may be thinking "what an ideal day!".  And you would be right.  This morning, I decided to check out le Festival International de la Cuisine de Guadeloupe (the International Festival of Guadeloupe's food/ cuisine).  White tents set along the water front housed demonstrations, vendors, and many chefs! In the evening, the area hosts pop- up restaurants from high end restaurants around the island.  I spent a couple of hours wandering the stalls, picking up some souvenirs, and just observing.  I didn't eat much becuase I didn't recognize many of the ingrediant names and saw peanuts/ nuts in several stations.  (I also swore I heard an announcement about a stand that used only soy products...). 

I attended a demonstration about papaya.  It's very common on the island and many of the people in the audience had specific questions about how to prepare the fruit, as well as about the benefits it provides.  A chef prepared a papaya and passionfruit mousse that he put inside a white chocolate and pistachio shell, designed to resemble the fruit-- very cool! While he cooked, a dietician explained the health benefits of papaya.  You can eat almost every part of the papaya-- even the leaves! (The audience seemed very shocked to hear this.)

The final product: the "seeds" are actually chocolate

I found the session to be interesting and informative.  Who knows, maybe I will start consuming papaya.  I would probably like it, as I'm discovering that I don't really have a discerning palate.  (Probably a very good thing, considering my limiting allergies!).

Here's some pictures of where the festival was held-- forgot to document the actual festival (oops-- an excellent opportunity to use your imagination.)

After heading home for a quick lunch, I went to the beach.  Today, however, marked an "outside of the box" day, as I tried a NEW beach! (New to me, I am sure it's always existed!).  This beach belongs to the Hotel Creole Beach and Spa.  In France, beaches cannot be strictly private-- the public can access all beaches, even if they can't use the beach chairs, access nearby pools, etc. 

The hotel and its environs were stunning-- I confirmed that I am most definitely a "resort person".  (With a French degree, I may have to marry rich to maintain this style of living...)  Provided chairs and umbrellas lined the beach (but since I wasn't a patron, I couldn't use them!).  Still, spending time on a beautiful beach never disappoints, so I passed an excellent afternoon.

Tomorrow: I'm planning on revisiting the Memorial ACTe.  It seems very pertinent for my project, so I'd like to see it again now that I've experience the culture a little more, and now that it's not quite as new. Afternoon= beach.  (This, my friends, is the equation for a winning day).

Day 22: A Big Hike!

Today, I decided to head over to Capesterre- Belle- Eau to see (another) distillery and take a hike  When I purchased my "nature pass", it included admission to the zoo, aquarium, and this natural site for a reduced price.  While I'm not much of a hiker, I figured if I'd already purchased the ticket I would give it a go.

First stop was Distillerie Longueteau where they in fact produce Longueteau and Karukera rums.  You can roam the distillery and try the rums for free! (A great deal if you ask me).  The distillery didn't appear to be in production mode right now, so the harvest must be over. 

Some great views, etc FOR FREE! This place it Guadeloupe's best bargain if you ask me.  Afterwards, I shopped around in the boutique (picked up 1 or 2 more souvenirs), but didn't try too much rum because I do have to drive myself everywhere. 

Next stop: Chute du Carbet.  "Chute" means "waterfall" in French so that's basically what this site consists of.  The organization of this particular attraction left something to be desired, in my opinion.  Apparently various points of access exist to reach the 3 chutes, which I did not realize.  The point of access which I chose did not require an admission fee (usually, I would be down for a bargain, but since I had prepaid? Not quite as enthused.)  Plus I realized that the 40 minute hike estimate did not cover both legs of the journey.  Thus, the hike would last closer to 80 minutes.  No matter- I had driven out to the site, and I would indeed see this waterfall!

The hike took me up steep hills by way of muddy trails-- my running shoes may never be the same.  But I endured! At first I thought "how great! I love being active- why don't I hike more often? Isn't this fun!" Then my sweaty ponytail whipped my neck and I thought "$*&# NATURE I HATE NATURE OH GOD IS IT A BUG PLEASE GOD DON'T LET IT BE IN MY HAIR" and proceeded to shake my hair and bag out for a couple minutes.  Satisfied, I remembered why I do not hike more often.  Especially alone.  Who will pull large spiders off you when you're alone? (Answer: nobody).  But, determined to conquer my fears (mostly I had already been hiking for 30 minutes and didn't want to admit defeat), I continued on until I heard the sounds of the waterfall.  I'd made it!

Not quite.  I saw this view:

You can see a bitty piece of the waterfall through the trees, I promise

Then looked down to see a steep slope and a rope.

View from the bottom

Maybe if I had gone to the paying site, there would have been an elevator?  Realizing that I would be almost rappeling down a steep slope also made me realize that, if I fell, nobody would be there to claim me or call an ambulance.  Could an ambulance even reach me back here? Plus my health insurance only cost $30 so it may not cover situations such as "rock climbing in tropical jungles while on a hike".  (Why you should always read the fine print, friends.)  Slightly disappointed, I turned back. 

A couple minutes away, I ran into a family.  "How is the slope?" the mom asked me.  "Is it beautiful?"  I filled her in on my situation.  "Why don't you climb down with us?" she asked.  "With a sporty family like us, what could go wrong?"  I couldn't refuse! I trekked back down with the family, chatting with them along the way.  ("Do you know John Wall?" the youngest son asked me. "What a day!" the mom said, "the day we saved an american citizen!").  They showed me such kindness and I was delighted to make my way to the falls with them. 

After accompanying them for the journey back up the infamous slope, I set off on my own to allow them to enjoy their family vacation.

Once back in the parking lot, I headed out to the beach to finish of the day. 

Tomorrow will most likely be lower key.  I'm planning on checking out a food festival in Pointe- a- Pitre and probably logging in some beach time in the afternoon!

Day 21: 3 Weeks

Hello Friends! This edition of my blog is brought to you by the French version of survivor: Koh- Lanta.  So far, I have only seen the theme song but I can already tell that this will be an epic hour (or more than an hour) of my life.  Oh wait-- it's the final! How exciting. This week alone, I've seen a cooking competition show, a dance competition show,  and part of an apartment hunting show so this feels like a good way to round out my week of TV viewing.

But, you do not read this blog to stay up to date on French reality shows, instead, because you care about my daily activities.  So, let's cut to the chase:

A couple of different activities comprised my day today: the beach, a walking tour, and an exposition opening at a cultural center. 

the Beach: 
Terrible views.  Just kidding: here's what it actually looked like.

No iguanas today, which made me quite happy.  In addition, a big dump truck picked up all the saragasse (weird kelp type plant that smells bad and allegedly keeps washing up from Venezuela in large quantities.  It's a hot topic).  Good beach day.

Walking Tour: 
Walking would be a bit of a misnomer.  I spent most of my time on the tour standing.  Those of you who know my love for efficiency will understand exactly how I felt about this.  While the tour guide bubbled with energy, people on the tour asked many ridiculous questions, and in some cases, tried to correct the guide.  (Always a frustrating experience).  This contributed to our slow pace.  Eventually, I had to leave the tour because my parking meter was about to expire.  I'm not sure if I would get a ticket (what happens if you get a parking ticket in a foreign country? Because, theoretically, I could just leave and never pay it) or if I would be towed, but I did not want to find out.  I was understandably a bit disappointed not to see the conclusion, but also excited to actually walk somewhere! (In the ~90 mintues I walked with the tour, we covered maybe 2 or 3 blocks.  Not a Kristin Ritchey approved pace).  The tour focused on architecture, not directly related to my project, so not a huge loss.  I did manage to snap some pictures of the old houses in Pointe- a- Pitre:

My close proximity to the houses made it difficult to get pictures of the whole thing, but I think you can sense the spirit here.  Interestingly, one Guadeloupean lady who vacationed in Quebec discovered that the two cities share very similar architectural features : "I asked myself, what city am I actually in?" she exclaimed, recounting her experience to the guide.  Seems like classic France: one King, one language, one law, and one architectural style for it's colonies.  These houses made it easy to fall in love with the city, and now I'm interested to see Quebec! Maybe next summer... :)

After a quick stop chez moi, which included an almost broken toilet and me shattering a glass dish while making dinner, I returned to the city to see an exposition opening at the cultural center.  This event hosted many more people than the last one I attended, and boasted some music and dancing as well as a book reading.  The theme, Zouk, Love, and Peace, interested me because it references one of the island's music styles: Zouk.  While gwoka describes the more traditional music style, zouk denotes the more popular, contemporary music that originates from Guadeloupe.  I love listening to Zouk FM as I drive, so checking out the exhibit seemed to be a no brainer!  I enjoyed the art and the free fruit juice very much. The dancing, however, did not quite meet my expectations: a small dance troupe performed, and it looked very much like they in fact hated dancing and wanted to be anywhere else but this particular exposition.  Understandably, this dampened my enthusiasm just a smidge.  (To be fair, half of the troupe was high school aged boys.  I'm pretty sure they just showed up for the free food).  Overall, I found it interesting to see how local artists interpreted zouk through sculpture and painting and watching the hijinx of two young boys nearly dethrone a sculpture.  (The real joys of life, am I right?). 

Tomorrow: the world is my oyster! As I said yesterday, I've finished most of my "must dos", so I am taking a more relaxed approached to touring.  This means tomorrow remains a mystery: it could include the beach, it could include driving to another town, it could include Pointe- a- Pitre's international food festival.  Whatever happens, I will tell you all about it!

Day 20: Those Damn Bike Races

Before I talk more about me, let's get to what you've been losing sleep over: what happened to that bike race the day Kristin got a flat tire? Will there be more bike races? Today, friends, I bring (some) of the answers to these burning questions.  I decided today was a ~Treat yo self~ day- meaning I drive out to the beach in Sainte Anne to let myself soak in some luxurious rays all day.  However, I found myself stuck in the middle of dead stopped traffic.  (NOT what one should be subjected to on a ~treat yo self~ day).  Quickly, however, I realized the source of this inconvenience: a bicycle race.  Which bicycle race, I do not know.  Could be la Tour de Guadeloupe! We will probably never know.

Because I had turned my car off at that point, I managed to snap some pictures:

the Leader

the Pack

Slackers (kidding- they set quite the pace!)

Luckily, once I saw the bikes, circulation resumed fairly quickly and I (re) set on my way to Plage de la Caravelle-- aka the beach near the island's Club Med (aka tourist heaven. Finally a place I would fit in perfectly!)

The beach did not disappoint:

And I saw some ~nature~:

Iguana- at a safe distance

This particular piece of "natural beauty" scuttled disturbingly close to me.  Considering my eyes can be described as "bug like", I felt it best to stare the creature down and stand up menacingly to protect myself.  (In classic French people fashion, they did not flee, instead getting closer to take picutres.  To this I say: survival of the fittest.)

All in all, an ideal day and one of my first true "vacation" days here! Very much worth the wait.  I only have 5 days before my return voyage, but count on seeing some more of la Caravelle in the near future:)

Tomorrow, however, will hold at least one somewhat educational activity! Tomorrow evening is another exhibit opening at the local cultural center (last time I met my artist/ English professor friend so here's hoping I didn't use up all my luck at once!) and during the day, a guided tour of Pointe- a Pitre.  But details on this tour remain elusive, so consider it a "probable".  Two or three more cities merit a visit as well, so I can't lounge around all day, everyday.  (but you know, I can lounge part of the day, most days;)

Day 19: Can you believe it?

Can you believe it's already day 19 of my trip?! Because I can't-- it has truly flown by! In exactly 1 week, I will be in the air somewhere between Miami and Washington DC, making my somewhat triumphant return to the good old US of A.  In the meantime, I've kept plenty busy.

This morning, I went to (yet another) distillerie.  They seem to be a big attraction here.  Guadeloupe is actually known for its rum and its distilleries regularly wine prestigious competitions in the Metropole (aka the Europe part of France).  Today's distillerie: Domaine de Severin.

Despite the rainy morning, I spent a pleasant hour or two there on a self- guided tour.  I find the self guided tour to be less informative than the guided ones, for obvious reasons.  Luckily, I've seen enough sugar plantations/ distilleries on this trip that I could probably give the tour by now! This particular site focused less on the production of rum and more on the actual plantation.  So, I saw the plantation owner's home, a worker's cottage, and a creole garden.

Workers cottage-- the French word is case

Inventive decorating on the inside-- take note Property Brothers!

The owner's home (he had 8 kids!!!)

A plant from the gardin-- porceline roses which are native to Guadeloupe

Of course, I still saw where the actual rum was made, but couldn't go inside.

Afterwards, I bought some quick souvenirs (one is for you, Dad!) and headed to a nearby ~hot spring~.  I was expecting a luxurious hot tub- like environment with steam and spa- like qualities. Instead I got this:

Not quite what I expected.  Since I had made the trip out, I did step under the water and I did feel refreshed afterwards.  (I strongly believe this can be attributed to the power of suggestion, but who knows.)  Slightly disappointed, I decided to head to the beach and let the sun soak my (very miniscule, insignificant) troubles away.

Finally, I met up with the artist (whose "real job" is an english professor) I met my first day here.  He and I chatted for a couple hours (so long my parents thought something had happened to me when I didn't text them-- oops).  But I received a wealth of information from him-- I am so thrilled that he shared his experiences and art with me. 

All in all, a good day! I'm not sure what tomorrow will hold.  At this point, I have checked off all the "must dos" and am now looking into "really want to dos".  This usually means the beach. (When in Rome, right?).  Although I can't sit still for that long, so I'll most likely have another (possibly quasi) adventure to share with you tomorrow!