last post!

Monday 6th July

Hey people your host for today it’s me (Matt) and Riza.

Today we had a trip to Portsmouth which is the North side of the island and we found out that it was supposed to be the capital of Dominica until Roseau was picked. We went to the Cabrits National park which is home to Fort Shirley.

Fort Shirley is a Fort used for defense during the colonization time when the English and French were fighting for the island of Dominica. We had a power point presentation shown to us about the history and culture of Dominica, both sets of students, English and Dominican, found it very interesting there were lots of questions to ask our host called Lennox Honychurch.

After, we headed down to the purple turtle beach where the sea was nice to swim in and all students had great time but it was very salty and it went in our mouths
Unfortunately there was an accident where Annie went up to do a tree swing from a palm tree into the sea and had a bad landing. She landed on her neck and did a few roly polys. After cleaning the wounds the best we could Andy took her to the hospital but luckily she was fine, just a few scratches and bruises.

She is staying at Mr Pinard’s for a while to rest up. We are all hoping she will be fine soon :]

We all got home and showered after the long day in the sea. Just waiting to have tea now that Serish and Ashley are making currently. Tomato pasta, mmmm :]

Tuesday 7th July: Emily here :D

In the morning I (Emily), Lauren and Shana went with Andy to a local youth group to join in a reading scheme to read to young children. They were so cute but were distracted easily. Overall it was great fun!

During the day today we got ready for a moonlight barbeque bonfire party on the beach. We made food and cakes to take with us as our contribution.

Some students hit the town to do some more shopping as some stalls are open on different days. Today all shops and stalls are open as there is a cruise ship in, so everything is doubled in price. We did lots of good haggling and got everything back down to original prices and Sehrish got stuff for even cheaper.

At night it was the barbeque which was great fun; food, bonfire, friends, moonlight swimming and dancing. We taught all of them the okey cokey which was great fun haha.

At the end of the night we were all exhausted and went straight to sleep :].

Wednesday 8th July: Emily here again :]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIM haha. It’s my brother’s birthday.

Today we are all doing more shopping and getting some questionnaires filled in for the travel and tourism students of Blackburn College.

We got back and made food. We had fresh tuna fish, dashin and vegetables.

Then we got all the Dominican students round for some workshops. We did some quiz’s, talked about what we love about England and Dominica, and we also talked about what the Dominican’s can do next year in England.
We discussed major problems affecting England and what they could do in order to try to help solve these problems.

Overall it was a great night and my team, containing Shana, Hank and Annika won the quiz, because we are geniuses and the best haha.

Thursday 9th July: Emily again haha :]

This morning we went to the infirmary which is the only free old people’s home on the island. They can hold 95 people and they only take people who are unable to take care of themselves.

Riza got a new wife there. They like to sing Millington and dance to random songs haha.

Today we did more of the surveys in town for the travel and tourism students as well as some poetry workshops for children attending a summer school.

At around 3pm the students went back to Screws. The natural hot sulfur springs. Emily and Sehrish stayed behind to help prepare for the final feast tonight.

The feast started at about 7pm so everyone got ready. We were told formal wear e.g. dresses for girls and shirts for boys. Instantly all girls ran to Sehrish for help.

The food was AMAZING. The Dominican students made everything themselves and even did the washing up :]

Then we went inside for dancing and music which lasted till about 12pm. I was in bed for half 11, I was tired haha

Friday 10th July: Again it’s Emily

Today we are tidying the youth centre, packing and doing last minute souvenir shopping as we fly tomorrow morning at 4am. Which is 9am English time :]

It’s a sad and happy day. We don’t want the experience to end but we all miss our families too.

So to end the final blog.

SEE YOU ALL SOOOOOON :] xxx

home stays

Saturday-Sunday Home stays


Matthew: I had the pleasure of staying with Mr. Pinard he is one of the leaders of the all operation who is helping us feel comfortable during our stay in Dominica. Mr. Pinnards wife and youngest son Kareem made me welcome with open arms. I started off with a nice meal and talking to Mrs. Pinard she was amazing to talk to. I went to a church service on the Saturday afternoon and when I arrived back I experienced a tropical thunder storm I was a little scared. The day after I went out with Mr Pinard and noticed that our residence was flooded with water but only in Girls dormitories. After went back to Mr. Pinnards had some lunch and Andy, Barbara and Annie also came to join me with the experience of eating local chicken, pork, plenty of rice I really enjoyed it. I went to a convention at night and stayed at Mr Pinard’s again and in the morning gave them a long farewell.

Riza: I stayed with one of the students called keyhan and at first I was really uncomfortable with it but thanks to Andy Mather I went ahead and did it and I found that I enjoyed it and I think they were very nice. I felt really loved but then it felt like home and I was really missing family and I was missing my girl friend a lot but yeah over all it was fab and really enjoyed it. Had some lovely meals with them and I met the wife of the first Prime Minster in 1978 so which was cool and I think it was amazing :D

Emily: I got to stay at Annika’s house and omg it’s huge! She had hot water, 2 kitchens, 2 lounges, and a gym and is currently building extra guest houses in her garden! I got lucky haha. Her mum and family are lovely and I felt very welcomed. Woke up Sunday morning at 7 and went with Annika to her scuba diving class, I got to see a turtle! :D Unfortunately I chose to sun bathe for 3 mins when the rain eased up. I ended up red raw and in pain :[. We have photos for you all to laugh at me hahaha. So all in all I loved my home stay and would have been more than happy to stay longer than one night :] Annika is ace :D

Sehrish: I stayed at Shirley’s place and I had a great time! It was a fantastic experience and I absolutely loved it. Shirley really is an amazing person! I got to analyze the daily routine of a person in another country, and that too in Dominica. I realized a lot of the things were quite common to how we live our lives back in England with our family, but the food and the way they all treat everyone is just amazing. I came across food that I had never seen in my life! Hehe. I got treated with the great respect and hospitality that anyone could ever receive, I mean these people here give up their best things and their comfort for people like us. I was amazed. I became so attached to her, reminded me of my mother. I would love to visit her again, she made me feel very welcomed x thanks Shirley, Sherri Anne and Randa x


Ashley: I stayed with Jerlyn who is a student who is coming to England next year. We went to a concert which was amazing! I really enjoyed it although I didn’t understand some of the jokes but it was a really fun experience. We went to her home afterwards because it was raining so badly! She lives with her Dad, brother, sister and niece. Her niece is the most adorable little girl, very cute I wanted to steal her. I slept well and wasn’t hot for a change as I had a fan pointing right at me! Had a great sleep in and then saw how their daily life was. It was a great experience and I’m glad that I stayed at her home. I’d just like to thank the family for letting me stay also.

Shahana: I stayed with Mr. Roach and his family. He has a daughter who is the same age as me (17), he has a son who is 14 and last but not least twin girls who are 11 years old. The family was amazing, I enjoyed staying with them. Even though we didn’t go out anywhere it was still fantastic. I preferred staying at home with them because I could get to know about them. On Sunday morning they took me to church which was a brilliant, it was a new experience for me, I have been to a church before but only had a look around so I followed what they all did. We woke up at 6:30am so we could make it to church for 7:00am, I had a little cry there when everyone was saying peace and hugging each other, and the Roach family also kissed me and gave me a hug which made me feel part of their family. It reminded me of home so I shed a little bit of tears. After that we went back home and had breakfast. When it came to dinner I helped Mrs. Roach cook!!! I made Mac and Cheese, mash potato and beans gravy. But for dinner I had more things to eat like spinach rice, fish and the things I helped make. I would like to thank them soo much for letting me stay with them for the night and for making me feel like as if I’m part of them which was really good.

Lauren: I was welcomed by Carlita and her family, Carlita being one of the students that will be coming over to Blackburn next year. Her family was lovely, she lives with her parents who are both Doctors and her brother and sister. I was a little bit nervous before going as I hadn’t spoken to her much before but they all made me feel very welcome. The first thing they took me to do was see the new house they were having built. WOW!!! It’s huge, like a house to be seen on “Cribs” we then went back and we had gorgeous food. Her family (cousins, aunts, family friends) was constantly in and out, I met sooo many people. Dr Griffin Benjamin showed me how to make fresh juice, Im expecting pineapple, mango, lime and passion fruit when im home so I can show off my skills. Then Sunday I went to church and helped make Sunday dinner. Overall I had a brilliant time and I just want to thank Carlita and her family :D

Rebecca: I stayed with Miss Popo and her family, Miss Popo works for the youth division a place that has helped the exchange students a lot throughout the trip. She has a husband and two children and daughter 18 and son 13 now, it was his birthday on the Sunday that I stayed so we all went to the park and played football and cricket. A lot of the family friends were there and I met a lot of them, they were so welcoming and nice to me. I hadn’t an amazing sleep Koyin (I think that’s how you spell it sorry) lent me his bed for the night and I was sooo comfortable, I got no mosquito bites but there was loud thunder which woke me up in the morning. Also I had a WARM shower!!!!!!!! But then I accidentally locked myself in the bathroom, trust me of all people. The Popo family was soo welcoming I loved the home visit.

latest photos

HEY!

It’s Emily and Ashley. I feel like I haven’t blogged in a while so here I am haha :]

Thursday 3rd July:

Today we woke up as per usual but there was a twist. A camera crew was outside to do an interview with us for the Dominican news. The girls were running around frantic to look good haha. We also took a photo of the mosquito bites to show our mummy’s and daddy’s how much pain we are in :[

After waiting 2 hours for a bus we went to see a local entrepreneur named Frankie. He was given funds off the government to start his own business when he was 18. Since then he has: opened a café/bar, started a business selling handmade souvenirs and has even met the queen of England haha.

We then had the lunch his mum had made us which was fried chicken, dolphin, salad, fried plantain and fresh juice. It was so delicious :D

After that we headed to a banana farm to find out how it all worked and stuff. The farm we went to supplied all their bananas to Tesco! But they get paid next to nothing which we were all shocked about.

We all got to taste a coco bean that we make chocolate from, we couldn’t eat the chocolate part but we were allowed to suck on the “sweet outside”. IT WAS VILE, SOUR AND SLIMEY! It was like sucking on a fish’s eye :[

Then we went to the Emerald pool which is a natural waterfall pool. It is the most photographed pool in Dominica and most tourists choose to visit it when they come on a cruise. It was FREEZING! Matt and Ashley were first to jump into the icy pool which clearly stated “no diving permitted” haha. Rebels :D. It was so beautiful, like a scene from a movie.

Then we all came back exhausted, had tea and went to bed after the long day.


Friday 4th July:

This morning was an early one as Riza had to visit the health centre for his infected veruca and everyone had to be up for breakfast.

We got back to the centre and everyone was ready to go so we grabbed our stuff and loaded onto the busses. Dominican students included. We were off to visit the Carib territory, the indigenous tribe of the Caribbean. We all did some weaving and made our own place mats using reeds:], we were all so proud hahaha.

Then we went to a museum sort of thing that showed how the Caribs used to live hundreds of years ago and that was pretty cool:] . We all bought some woven handmade crafts from them as souvenirs and then we headed off back to the centre.

Greeted by a party under a gazebo which was for the brownies which normally meet in the centre we are currently staying in:] .

Lauren, Barbara and Rebecca are currently cooking tea which smells delicious, tomato rice, Wedges, beans, macaroni and cheese and salad. A big selection! Haha

Right we are going to go and eat as there’s nothing else to say other than we are meeting up with the Dominican students later tonight for a social gathering and that the Home visits are tomorrow!! We will probably all give a details account of our personal home visits next time we blog but for now its bye bye :]

Personal Notes:

Emily: Mum! Haha, I’m doing well but can’t wait to get home, I even had a little cry yesterday haha, how sad is that! Bring on Saturday when I begin my flights home :] , I’ll try to ring you on Sunday/Monday. I’ll ring Tim on his birthday, how good of a sister am I? Haha ringing from Dominica :D , Love and miss you all including my specials Kerri and Co :] xxxxxx

Shana: hey everyone, I’m really starting to miss home a lot now, never been away from you guys that long at all, I always think of you guys everyday. Can’t wait to see you guys soon, love you all loads mwah xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sehrish: lolz!!! Hehe it’s been a good day today! And a busy one!!!! I’ve got a lot of bites now and they really do itch like hell!!! The days here are going so quick and we have a lot to do and see in such a short time. I am going to be giving an interview on the Dominican news tonight at 8! Hehe wuhooooooooo! ;). Im missing everyone sooo much!
I have to be going now because I have to go to a prom and do henna patterns on peeps, Annie’s coming along too..bye x take care! Love you and sweet dreams! X

Riza: Hey people it been awesome these past couple of days been nice and hot and found loads of different things about farming and how bananas are made which was good usually I don’t say a lot of things but I just want to say that I am having a ace time and I want to say that I missing my girl friend very much and my family are ringing me which is good because I know there ok and before I go I WANT TO SAY I LOVE YOU LEANNE: d cant wait to see you woooooooo :D bring on the FINALL WEEK :d private joke pufffffff cigarette I LOVE YOU XXXXX

Rebecca: Heeyyy, omg I am having so much fun, mum your e-mail on facebook made me cry again, lol im really starting to miss home, I want a warm shower :( but it is soo amazing out here, dad would love it for just taking photos. Going on my home visit tomorrow with Miss Popo she is soo nice and funny, can’t wait actually. Love you all x I hope my phone and laptop are safe lol. Cya in a week :D!!!!

Lauren: well well well… im typing this now just before we’re about to go partaaayyyy on the bay front :D seriously how cool and chilled out can it get lolz. This past week has gone so damn quick I want it to slow down a bit haha. If I could bottle all these experiences I would so I could share them with all you guys at home. Mum I miss you loads beautiful, I need a big hug and from Maya tooo. And abbiiieee, need a good gossip :P, like I keep telling all im bringing you out here soon as so you can see it all for yourselves. Just want to say hi to ed centre at rovers tooo, hope you’re reading :D But apart from that having THEE MOST AWESOME TIME!!!!!!!! Love muchly, hugs and kisses x x x x x x

Matt: Hay guys it’s been another great day, been to the Carib tribe village, amazing people, place and views going out tonight to chill out with my friends and missing u loads love u xxxxx

Ashley: Heyheyy, these mosi’s need to die! Good talking to you last night mum, my time ran out that’s why I went sorry. I hope everyone is okay and having fun in good old England, 1 week left till im back! Love&Miss you all. <3

1st July entry

Tuesday 30th June

Hey, Ashley and Shana here!

Today we had a really busy day, painting the Youth Quake building. We started painting the kitchen and office. The heat was a bit too much for some people… SHANA. Who fell asleep! It was fun to play with the kids; Sehrish had a little boy called Junior following her. We managed to paint most of the outside building but the lads needed to get up the ladders to paint the top. Annie bravely climbed up them in her Lara Croft shorts lol.

We had a game of basketball… Lauren is tooo good at shooting and needs to let other people win! After a long hard day painting we went to ‘Screw’s’ which is a sulphur spring spa which was AMAZING! 4 different pools of water each a different temperature. Could just bathe and relax in the pools, Barbara seemed to enjoy herself! Ashley, Barbara and Matt bought some mud which they put on their faces; Emily bought volcanic sand scrub. It made our skin feel sooo gooood! Riza couldn’t get in the pools due to his foot. When he finally got in he just kept his foot stuck out which was a very funny sight. We had Halal chicken for a change thanks to Andy. So Rebecca, Emily and Ashley made cheesy mash with chicken and salad for dinner which went down quite well if I may say so myself! (Ashley) However, Rebecca was too busy sleeping to help make it!! We had dinner at about 10pm as we’d had a long tiring day so it was good to sit down and eat a good meal. Shana washed up… I have to mention this apparently. If Shana’s mum is reading… make her wash up when she gets home & also make her grate cheese. Everyone was too tired to do anything else after the long day so it was time for a well deserved sleep after all the painting, well done everyone!


Wednesday 1st July

Barbara and Shana here!

Yet more painting! Shana, Annie, Matt, Rebecca and Althia went to the Alpha Centre to finish stenciling and everyone else went to the Youth Quake to finish off the outside. It was a shame that they already had some paint – Mushroom and Grey, we would have preferred bright colours like the rest of the buildings in Dominica. Thanks to Lennox and the staff at Youth Quake for the delicious food and the tropical fresh drinks. We gave some football shirts that we collected, assortment of books, games etc. Great day though and was a great achievement to paint an entire building in just over a day :D

update 30th June

Hey it’s Lauren and Shana writing the blog for today. We’ve had a good past two days!!! Yesterday was our first rest day and also Rebecca’s birthday, so Happy Birthday Rebecca : D everyone had a lie in which we were all most appreciative of haha. Matt and Riza went off with Mr. Pinard on a lil drive exploring the other side of the island called Delice. When they eventually came back we all went to St. Aimee’s for a lovely lunch. Some of us tried goat for the first time. After it was off to the botanical gardens for games of rounders and cricket. It was fun to just relax in the sunshine. Emily and Matt came back earlier however and made a lemon and chocolate cake for Rebecca. Once dinner had finally gone down some of us decided to take a walk to the internet café again but, when we arrived it was closed so instead we continued along the bay front to a ‘Fish Festival’. It was a weird experience for all of us because there were just so many people crowded in the small streets. But everyone was having a good time so we eventually just went with the flow. So quite a quiet day but was good just to kick back and relax.

Shana and Matt got married and divorced today. Lauren and Miguel however are still going strong haha

Bite updates- Lauren and Annie are still in the lead with over 40+ bites and still getting bitten L BUT… we have so new front runners also!!! Shana, Andy, Emily, Sehrish and Ashley are all now getting some good bites too :D

Lots of people are also now starting to tan WOOP!!! Ashley is still quite burnt though and currently looking like Rudolph.


Monday 29th June – today we were welcomed by the President of Dominica State College Mr. Charles and the senior management team. We were then shown around the College campus – their common room is a gazebo overlooking the sea! After that it was off to Youth Quake to start painting the outside of the building. Unfortunately, we’ve painted it the same colour as before so you can’t always tell which bits we’ve missed. However, we are back there tomorrow so Andy can do a quality control check. It was very HOT and SWEATY work!

Personal notes

Shana: hey everyone I hope you all fine, I’m having the time of my life here, it’s brilliant but I do miss home, I wish you guys were here with me. I miss the babies a lot so I can’t wait to see you. Love you all xxx mwah xxx

Ashley: Hey everyone, been a fun weekend cept for the massive big hike… me and shana found it tooooo easy of course… Been bitten loads now and burnt, otherwise its all gurd. Hope everyone is okay, and tell Nana I hope she had a great holiday when she’s back. Love you all, xxx

Lauren: hey hey peeps. ‘Tis me once again. Well what can I say really, actually having the time of my life it’s been a truly amazing experience so far and still got 2 weeks left haha. Just want to say a massive well done to Maya and all of yr 1 for winning the J Factor woop woop. Im giving her a great big huggle :D missing you all loads and loads and loads :D speak soon. Love muchly x x x x

Emily : Hey I keep coming on facebook as we seem to be going to the bar at night which has internet access :] , Ill keep in touch , missing home and cant wait to get back , Lovr you xxxxx

Rebecca: Heyy, missing you all so much, I had a well good birthday everyone wrote on a big banner for me and made me a birthday cake, cried a few times though, just typical of me. Tanning only a little bit getting annoyed now though lol. Love you all talk soon xxxx

Riza
Hey people today was hard for me because I had a bit of infect in my foot and had to go hospital but thank god am ok now which is good woops and I just want to say it is really getting to me now because I really miss my family so much and my girl friend who I love so much and I miss her so much and am so happy that am keeping in touch and just want to say that ITS GOD DAM HOT and the flies keep ringing in my ear when am sleeping which is not good but o well and want to say that iam loving the food.
I LOVE YOU LEANNE MISS YOU BABE XXXXXXX



Sehrish: Peekaboooooo!!!!! Hehe oh my days, was a really hot day today and worked well painting at the youth quake. I have got a million bites now, and I’m missing you mum because you would always chase me with some medicine, but here there’s no one to chase me here lol hope you and dad had a great birthday, and my gorgeous brother and sisters hope your all good and having a great time too. You have no idea how much I miss you all. Was a long day yesterday because we all went on a hike, and I’m so proud of myself because I was the first one to make it there!!!!! dad you would love the scenery and the beautiful nature here…x
Can’t wait to b
e back! Love you all my gorgeous people!!!!!!!! X x X

Hay guys I’ve started good to the second week been painting today at a youth centre been really hot and still loving it out here. Missing u loads and ill facebook u soon love Mat xxxx