Dominica Bound - Day 2

Day 2 was an extremely busy day. It was the first full day we had here so we got up early to take advantage of the daylight. Here in Dominica, everything pretty much shuts down after the sun goes down so you can't get anything done after nightfall. Also, most stores (except the bank on campus - it opens a little earlier) open at 10:00 AM and close at 6 PM. Therefore, plan to wake up early to take advantage of the daylight. Here is what we did on day 2:

1) Breakfast/Subway - We woke up early and headed to campus around 8 AM. We finally got to see the Subway on campus and I must say, it's EXACTLY like a Subway in the United States. However, in Dominica, no one is really ever in a rush so it took the guy from Subway 25 minutes to make 4 omelet sandwiches. The Subway on campus is also a little pricey. For example, a 6-inch chicken Parmesan sandwich costs $19.00EC (about $7.30US). Regardless, the food is good and apparently, everyone else thinks so. According to the people at Subway, when school is in session, it takes about 45 min to 1 hour to stand in line and get your sandwich. When you get your food, you can either eat inside Subway, inside the student center where it is located, or outside on the picnic tables overlooking the ocean. From the picnic tables (seen above), this is the view as you eat, study, or simply relax.

2) Banking - After breakfast, we went to the bank for an application to open an account
and to exchange money. To open a bank account all you need is your
passport and driver license, a copy of your Ross acceptance letter, and a minimum of $10US or $25EC. Your bank account here functions just like a bank account from the States. They also provide a debit card which you can use at the ATM on campus to take out ECs. As for exchanging money, these are the conversion rates:

From USD to ECD
- Cash US$1.00 = EC$2.67
- Checks US$1.00 = EC$2.6882

From ECD to USD
- Cash US$1.00 = EC$2.7169

****NOTE: US conversion rates are fixed against the EC dollar****

**Other currencies fluctuate daily**


3) Cell Phones - After the bank, we headed to Cable and Wireless for our cell phones. Some people just buy a SIM card to put it in their phones and they are able to use their US cell phones just fine. However, I believe this works depending on what kind of phone you have. It has something to do with a phone being unlocked or if it is a world phone. (I'm not too sure about this.) I bought the cheapest phone they had at Cable and Wireless. Some people spent more money to get nicer phones but I don't think it is necessary. You're only going to be here for 16 months so I think it's better to get whatever is cheap but functional. After all, there is PLENTY of other things you'll be needing to spend a lot of money on. That being said, I bought a Nokia 1600. It cost me $48EC (about $18US). The phone works on a pre-paid system so I put $60US on the phone. I lost the handout with the rates so the next time I pass by Cable and Wireless, I'll pick it up and post the rates. I've posted a picture of the phone. It has a color screen and a lot of cool features like a super handy currency converter. If you need to put more money on your phone, you can go anywhere that has a sign that says "Top Up." There is a Top Up machine right next to Subway and there is one across the street from Ross' main entrance at Perky's Pizza.

4) Tina's Store - After the bank, we headed back toward Coco Mango to go to Tina's store and pick up a few things. I just want to warn you: if you buy anything that is US brand, be ready to pay for it! US brand food, toiletries, etc. can be extremely pricey (depending on the item). Tina's store has a little of everything in terms of food and toiletries although the variety is very limited. For example, if you want to buy cereal, you have a choice of about 5 or less varieties. Therefore, if you find something you really like, try to buy as much of it as you can because you don't know when or if you'll find it again. Tina's didn't give me a receipt for my purchases so I've listed what I bought and how much it cost from what I can remember. These are pictures of some of the stuff we bought.

- Two 15 oz. cans of Chef Boyardee (EC$7.95 each) (~ US$3.00 each)
- 4 cans of Vienna Sausages (EC$2.85 each) (~ US$1.00 each)
- 11.6 oz. box of Frosted Flakes (EC$15.95) (~ US$6.00)
- 25 Styrofoam Plates (EC$4.65) (~ US$2.00)
- 3 Crisp Crust Tostino's Pizzas (EC$13.95) (~ US$5.00 each)
- 4 Top Ramen Noodles (EC$1.25 each) (~ US$0.50 each)
- 26.5 oz. Lipton Ice Tea Powder (EC$20.95) (~ US$8.00)
- 24 oz. Kool-Aid Powder (EC$17.65) (~ U$$7.00)
- 1 bag of Doritos (EC$7.65) (~ US$3.00)

5) After shopping at Tina's, we went back home to relax for a bit and wait for the electrician to come install more lighting. Also, we were waiting for Alexis George's taxi service to call us and let us know that they were on their way with the barrels they had picked up in Roseau. While we waited, we hung out on our balcony and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the river below and the forest around the house. We live in a tree house! I also discovered that the tree next to my balcony is home to several hummingbirds. Those birds are fast! It was hard to get a picture, but I was able to capture a decent photo. Also, Dominica is HOT! You sweat ALL of the time even when you're standing doing nothing. The heat drove my roommate Derrick to have my boyfriend use a beard trimmer to cut off all of his hair. So, that entertained us for a while until the electricians were done. Here are the photos of the view from my balcony, a photo of the hummingbird, and some photos of Derrick getting his head trimmed.


6) Electricity - Our apartment functions on a pay-as-you-go system. Therefore, if you don't put more money into your meter, you won't have electricity. Our landlord had placed 50 units of electricity on our meter before we arrived. According to him, this would be enough for 3 or 4 days. However, we still wanted to make sure we had plenty of electricity. You can add more money to your electricity meter at Tina's or on campus. Although we were at Tina's earlier in the day, we didn't have time to update our meter because we didn't want our frozen food to defrost. Therefore, Michael and Derrick walked over toward RUH and placed EC$200.00 on our meter. This brought us up to 201 units of electricity. Right now we are averaging using 15 units a day. At that rate, we are spending about EC$600.oo (or US$75.00 per roommate) a month. However, out of the three bedrooms, only one has turned on their A/C. We only keep the water heater and the refrigerator running all of the time. It's still a trial and error process figuring out what appliance is spending electricity and how much.

7) Barrels/Customs - Around 5:30 PM, Alexis George's (AG) taxi service finally called to tell me that my barrels were picked up in the capital and were at taxi office across from campus. They also informed us that my boyfriend's barrels would be a little late because the pick-up truck carrying them had a flat tire.

Side note: Unfortunately for Michael, we learned his barrels were not shipped from Miami when my boyfriend's and my barrels had been shipped. Tropical Shipping ships every Wednesday and, according to Tropical Shipping, Michael's barrels were not cleared in time for the Dec. 26 shipping. Therefore, they were shipped on January 2 - the same day we arrived here. They never even informed him that his barrels hadn't shipped in time. Since it was a mistake on Tropical Shipping's part, they refunded 50% of the shipping price Michael had paid.

Earlier in the day, I had walked over to AG to inform them that I had some barrels I needed to have picked up. This is how AG across from campus works: When they go to pick up your barrels in Roseau, they pay Customs what Customs decided to tax on your barrels. Then AG comes back with your barrels and receipt from Customs. You're responsible for paying them what they had paid Customs plus AG's service charge for picking up your barrels. Then AG drives your barrels over to where you are living and they unload them for your wherever it is you want your barrels to be placed. Thank God for this because those barrels can be heavy! According to Tropical Shipping, I shipped 350 lbs in two barrels.

The Dominica Port Authority charged a EC$10.00 tailgate fee. Then Customs charged me EC$219.37 (EC$89.00 Import Duty + EC$17.40 Customs Service Charge + EC$8.70 Environmental Surcharge + EC$104.27 Value Added Tax = $EC219.37). Then AG added a EC$140.00 Service Charge. In total, I paid AG EC$369.37 (about US$142.00) for both my barrels. I have attached pictures of all of the receipts so you can see what and how much they charged. Also, when I opened my barrels, I found that they were packed EXACTLY as I had left them. Because of the way I had positioned items to maximize space, I know for a fact that nothing was moved around. In which case, I don't know how they found that I had a printer, kitchenware (my rice cooker), and a power pack. All of these items were located at the very bottom of my barrels. Therefore, I'm under the impression that at some point, either by customs or Tropical Shipping, my barrels were X-Rayed or something similar. All I know, is that they knew what expensive items I had in my barrels without having searched through my barrels.


Side note: In case you thought I was kidding, here are some pictures of my barrels. The chicken pox barrels are mine. The plain ones are my boyfriend's. Somewhere along the way, his barrels were beat up. Therefore, when you pack your barrels, make sure you bubble wrap anything valuable or fragile that may break.



8) Dinner/Perky's Pizza - We finally had dinner around 8 PM at Perky's Pizza located right across from campus. We ordered a large cheese pizza and large pepperoni pizza. They were pretty good! Below are pictures of the price lists at Perky's pizza and a picture of a dog that was kind of hanging out by the tables.



After dinner we called it a night. As you can see, we did A LOT on day 2. You have to remember that you're basically setting up a whole new apartment and a whole new life in a different country. It is definitely my recommendation to arrive to the island no less than a week before classes begin. The past few days have been stressful and busy, and I couldn't imagine going through the acclimation process along with the first few days of class. The earlier you get here, the better. Trust me!