Called On Account Of Rain

Today Rachel was supposed to go into Roseau to pick up a few grocery items we needed. It didn't work out though because of the very heavy rains we had this morning. I may have told you before that as a general rule Dominicans don't like going out in the rain. As Josian was supposed to go with Rachel they decided to delay the trip and avoid the downpour.


Of course, our kids know how to deal with being trapped inside. In fact they just generally prefer to be inside most of the time.


I took a couple pictures of the cloud cover and a break in the clouds.


Later in the day I decided to take an explore because the rain had stopped. The first thing of interest I came across was a python. Sadly a car had been interested in it first.


I took a number of pictures along the way, but the lighting wasn't great. Also, pictures can't catch the scent of countless flowers floating in the air or the sound of the rain dripping through the trees. Plus, of course, I really need a better camera.


Before you ask what that last picture is I have to tell you I have no idea. I was this big thing in a tree. That's all I can say for sure. Even though it looked like I was in the middle of a tropical jungle in the middle of nowhere I ran up on some power lines.


A little further on I caught the scent of what smelled like recent fireworks. As I walked along the scent became more like that of eggs. Yep, I had walked up on a natural source of sulfur. I took some pictures, but you can't really tell how yellow it was. It was an interesting patch of nothing in the middle of a lush forest.


Once I ran into that dead end and deiced it was time to head back. I had chosen my route strategically. Rachel's been wanting me to pick up a couple of coconuts for a few days. I figured I knew where I can find some. As you can see I was right.


I saw what seems to be a rare sight around here and deiced to take a photo of that as well.


The rumor is that we can buy local milk, but we haven't tried yet. Anyway, up to this point my day had gone very well and I had gotten a lot done. I was finally coming up on “break time”. I tend to goof off from 2 to 5 playing video games and what have you. Joey had gotten home early, so we were going to hop on Neverwinter. Sadly my computer decided to go nuts just as I was about to get on to play. I've been fighting it for hours and I'm not the only who's been suffering from frustration. Isaac had gone bananas right in the middle of everything. His Mom knew what to do though.


He's asleep in case you can't tell, lol. A few minutes later Lovell (one of the girls from the Scotts Head congregation) showed up with her laptop. It's having some problems and she wanted me to take a look. (It's just been a day for computer problems... even Mom E. had some this morning.) While I had a scan running the kids wanted me to take them to the sea. I decided I might as well. I had the time while the computer was doing it's thing. I took a few pictures, including some of the impeding storm clouds.


Another interesting fact about Dominica is that if they ever have lightning it's not deadly (at least that's what they tell me). The Bellots seamed a little surprised to hear that back home people would occasionally get killed by lighting. Here they're afraid of the rain, but not the lighting. (I admit we haven't seen any yet, but they claim they have it sometimes.) Either way, we don't worry about going down to the sea because of a “storm”.

By the time we got back Rachel had dinner ready.


It was black eyed peas and turkey ham with cornbread. It was very good and I had two helpings. My computer war continued after dinner. It's been about an hour since I typed that last line. I think I am making progress thank God. Benjamin's computer started doing the same thing mine was. That proved that it wasn't my machine. After a few minutes head scratching I got his working. I'm using my computer to work on Lovell's hard drive right now. Either way, I'm burned out and am likely to spend the rest of the night working on computers.

So, good night from Dominica.

P.S. - I didn't post this last night because the power went out. I think it was only out for a couple of hours. Either way, by the time it came back on I was already in bed. I didn't feel like getting up to finish the post, lol. I'm sure you understand and I hope it was worth the wait :)

Preach On Preacher

On this, our forth Sunday in Dominica I awoke with the knowledge that I had to get a sermon ready. As I mentioned on yesterday's post Dilian wanted me to preach the sermon. I think his goal was two fold. On the one hand he wanted to see what I had to offer in the preaching department. On the other it underlined the fact that another man who can handle some of the needs of the Church had come to the congregation.

In about half an hour I had my notes together. The sermon was about being a “stranger in a strange land”. All in all I think it went well, although I may have run a little long, lol. For me the time seemed to fly by, but I guess that's because I was the one doing the preaching :)

After services I snapped a few pictures. The first was brother Selwyn holding Titus. He is expecting his own son in the next couple of months. So, keep he and his wife Corin in your prayers and have your congratulations ready.


The second photo I took was of brother Freddy. He was all dressed up this morning and had just been barbered. All in all I thought it justified a picture.


He was good enough to give us a ride to Church even though we were running late again this morning. Needless to say we appreciate it. I took a few more photos before we left.


Once we got home Rachel cooked dinner. It was chicken and noodles with dumplings. Once again, the meal was very good.


I got a little work done before jumping on Neverwinter to goof off with Joey some more. Around 5 the kids wanted to go down to the sea. Eventually I want to take them to do something else, but I'm not sure when we're going to have the time. Either way, as it was our only outing (other than Church) I took a few pics.


I even took this one of what I believe is the dive shop for Uncle Grover.


That's basically it for today. Rachel is going to town tomorrow and I am going to try to get her to take some pictures (and maybe even do a post). The word is beginning to spread that I am a computer guy. I have a laptop I'm supposed to work on tomorrow. I've downloaded tools I hope will do the job tonight. I've got to get all my stuff put back together so I can work here. The rumor is that I could make as much doing networking work here as I did back in the states. If that's accurate it could be a real business opportunity for me.

Hopefully I'll have more to share with you tomorrow. For the moment, good night from Dominica!

Lazy Day

That's what we had today. Well, mainly. I got up at just after 6AM and worked until around 10AM. I got a lot done and can look back on it with satisfaction. Rachel had a lot to do in the morning as well. Before I go into it I have another “last night” picture to share with you.


Felicy was using a drawing program on the kindle to doodle. The picture she drew was her going on a picnic. The kindles may use electricity, but they save paper and crayons. :)

Either way, Rachel got up and got to washing. She took some pictures of the controls for those of you who are interested in what our washing machine can do. (Who ever that might be...)


It was raining again this morning, which was nice. I tried to take a couple of pictures, but I really need a better camera. These photos really just don't capture the beauty of the place.


Once the washing was in hand Rachel cooked us a very American breakfast. We had turkey ham cut in strips (it is just like sizzlean for real), scambled eggs, and grits. It was wonderful!


She also made some bakes to serve as snacks through the rest of the day. After my work was done I played video games for a while. Then the kids wanted to go for a sea bath (like they do every day). I took them down there, but the water was rough enough it had stirred up a bunch of silt and what not. We decided not to stay. I took some pictures anyway.


As I mentioned yesterday we were supposed to go take a look at one the sites where one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies was filmed. It didn't work out, however. Rachel just had a lot to do around here and I was feeling generally lazy. At some point we heard the rumor that Freddy might be able to take us, but we never heard any more about it. Something must have happened. The fact is that it was a nice break. I needed a lay around day and after all the work Rachel had done she wanted to lay around as well, lol. Still, we hope to go see it soon. Once again, it's a reason to have our own car.

As the day went on the kids wanted me to take them down to the sea again. Once again it didn't work out. We stayed for a few minutes, but we were getting waves about three feet high. One hit Felicity that went over her head. She took it in her stride and laughed about it, but I still felt it would be best to head back. I gave them about 15 minutes before we headed back home. Of course, I took a few more pictures just for fun. (I even tried to get some pictures of the waves, but you can't really tell how big they are.)


I wrapped up the night with more video games and just generally laying around. We have Church tomorrow and I am supposed to preach. It's been a while since I've done that :) I expect the lesson will be short, but I hope it's enjoyable just the same. If nothing else they'll get to hear preaching with an accent, lol.

I'm going to call it a night here. I hope to find more photo opportunities tomorrow. Of course, Sunday's are usually a little busy, so I'm not sure what I'll come up with. Then again, there are a number of photos on Dilian's phone as well as Rachel's. If I can get those I'll have some interesting things to show you!

Either way, for the moment, good night from Dominica.