Carib Territory & Pirates of the Caribbean Scenes

28 July 2010 we picked up Elders Jackson and Maldonado at their third-floor apartment in Picard, a Portsmouth suburb, and drove to Carib Territory on the northeast side of the island of Dominica, .....

....stopping along the way to snap pictures of scenes ..... which may be recognizable to Johnny Depp fans.

This asphalt trail is the only evidence that remains of a chase scene from a popular Hollywood movie.........Any guesses?........

Becoming more familiar? We hope someone recognizes these "rocks." All that's missing are ships and pirates........and dark of night!

"Mabrika! Come Celebrate (with us)...... Kalinago Barana Aute. http://www.kalinagobaranaaute.dm/.

If you're really quiet,.......... and look closely in the stream,........ you might glimpse a shrimp.

Cinnamon tree leaves smell even better than warm zucchini bread!

A canoe carved by the Kalinago from either "grommier" or "white cedar" trees in times past took up to a year. Modern tools have cut that time to as little as three to six months, depending on the hardness of the tree.

Picture and description on the wall inside the visitors' center show that cassava bread was a mainstay of the indigenous diet....

This is how it's done today. One must try cassava bread for him/herself. It's ground from cassava root, covered with water, then squeezed dry to remove toxins, mixed with coconut, salt and sugar, smashed with the bottom of a cup and baked over a fire. We found that ONE PIECE of cassava bread was more than substantial, and WAY MORE THAN SUFFICIENT!!!

Making Passion-fruit Juice

To make passion-fruit juice one would start with three little plastic bags containing three passion-fruit, each tied with an impossible Caribbean knot, inside another plastic bag tied with another of those impossible Caribbean knots! Next one would cut through the tough outer peel ..... scrape the pulp and seeds .....

into a blender with a little tap water. Then, give five quick pulses of the blender.Next, one would force the juice and as much pulp as possible through a sieve into a pitcher or other container of choice.

One would see that nine passion fruit of various sizes would result in approximately .........

...... 2 cups of great-tasting PASSION FRUIT JUICE!

....... and lots of little black seeds that one would flush down the toilet.Or, ............ one could simply go to Wal-Mart and purchase a carton of passion fruit juice!

Johnny & Baptist Paul

Brother Johnny wanted to walk around the interior of the infirmary when we visited him Thursday afternoon, the first time we've seen him dressed in other than pajamas. Johnny's blind "brudda," Baptist Paul, took Dean's arm and walked with us the third time around.

Rainy-day indoors

Five rusty fans were sanded and repainted Thursday morning at Dean's Fan-Refurbishing Limited. By the time the master refurbisher had finished..........

two occupants at 42A Steber Street were well satisfied. Perhaps Dean's Fan-Refurbishing Limited will experience an increase is business and revenue???

Thursday, became another rainy day later in the morning, thus most activities were indoors. Myrtle's Photography Limited photographed unusual commodities found in a local Chinese shop in Dominica and a local pharmacy in St. Kitts.

Eureka!!!! What a find!!! We discovered this little bag of Tide Tuesday while we were shopping downtown. (Taco seasoning package gives perspective of the size of that treasured find.)

Remember the old adage, "Don't judge a book by it's cover." Before you jump to conclusions about what might be found in two old Mormon missionaries' medicine cabinet.......

.....turn the suspicious-looking bottles around and see the actual contents.

A pharmacy in Basseterre, St. Kitts, will fill Jamaican rum bottles with any "essence" the customer desires. We chose simple almond and vanilla. These giant bottles of flavorings cost EC$9. The smaller one, purchased at a grocery story in Roseau, cost EC$7. Which do you think is the better buy?

The white laundry hanging out to dry before the rains came will let you know that two old missionaries serving in Dominica are still worthy of their under-wear.

Trafalgar Falls in the RAIN forest!

Have you ever wondered if it rains in a rainforest?

We invite you to come along with us on our "P-day" adventure to Trafalgar Falls.to see lush green ferns,........

trees,..........

and funny old people,........

who were willing to "risk".....

slippery muddy steps, puddles and boulders......

to see spectacular streams and pools,........

beautiful flowers,.......

and other creations of the Lord...........

amidst cascading waterfalls........

in the rain!!! YES, it really does RAIN in the rainforest!

Melville Hall Airport

While we waited patiently, or impatiently, for our luggage to arrive after our trip to St. Kitts, Elder Maldonado, who had fallen ill with a flu-bug, took advantage of time to rest in a chair outside the airport. Elder Jackson and Ren, our taxi driver, waited more patiently than the rest! Ren simply enjoyed what he called the "cool evening Dominican breeze" and the scenery across the road and invited us to do the same.

The sound of the river helped us endure our opportunity to wait patiently. When our luggage finally arrived the following morning we could more fully appreciate the beauty we'd simply endured the evening before.

Mending his net

Our favorite fisherman now has a name: "Masterville Toussaint." We told his co-hort, Austin Harris, Friday morning when we stopped to watch the "master" mend his net that he must be the supervisor. He grinned approval. How could anyone not fall in love with fishermen!



Each stitch and knot must make a perfect square "or it will not be right at the end!" Masterville's 85-year-old fingers fairly flew from knot to knot. Amazing what can be accomplished with so little! All he needed was a small kitchen knife, which he sharpens with a "file," and his wooden bobbin.

St. Kitts Zone meets Pres & Sis Alvarado Family

AP's, Elder Tartikoff (in front of window louvers) and Elder Alisa (handsome Hawaiian who will play BYU football next year; striped tie top of circle) teach and train St. Kitts Zone elders 13 July 2010.
Sister Alvarado, 7-year-old Jorge, 11-year-old Kelly and 15-year-old Carrie Ann entertained themselves without complaint from 8:45 a.m. to well-past 7:30 p.m. while President Alvarado taught and interviewed missionaries.

Elder Tartikoff and Elder Maldonado happily wait for Sister Alvarado to serve ice cream to go with their oatmeal bar cookies.

President Alvarado talks with senior missionaries after a lunch of Subway sandwiches. Sister Case (red blouse) hosted zone conference, along with her companion, Elder Case . . . .

. . . who swabbed the deck after 'ALL was SAID and DONE!'

Dominica Cooking 101

Yup! That's a slab of "yellow fin" being skinned with an incredibly dull knife! It's now sliced, safely wrapped and in the freezer. One day soon, very soon, it will "swim in milk, then in oil" and be eaten!

On the kitchen counter is an assortment of fruits and vegetables, including coconut, green bananas, dasheen, plantain, papaya and bread-fruit fresh from the downtown "market."

Sister Cooper is peeling, coring and cutting bad spots from bread-fruit. The sink is full or slimy-limey water in which was washed dasheen and green bananas before they were boiled.

The finished products--which caused only slight indegestion and over-abundance of STARCH! FABULOUS-tasting carrots in the pan! Starchy green bananas, "swamp-grown" dasheen and boiled plantain on the plastic pretend plate at the left. Seasoned fried chicken tenders on the 'real' plate at the right.