Trip to Dominica, Nicknames, & Rastafarian Culture

I mentioned in my last post that I was going on a short trip to a nearby island to the north called Dominica with some teachers from a school in Soufriere. I got back from the trip about a week ago and really enjoyed my time there. Dominica is known as the “nature island” of the Caribbean, so it was right up my alley. One of the highlights from the trip was hiking to an amazingly humungous waterfall and bathing in the pool at the bottom. The water in the pool was really rough—almost to the point of forming waves—because of the strength of the water falling into the pool. I tried to go down and touch the bottom of the pool a couple of times, but each time I kept going down and down and eventually thought to myself maybe I should start going back up now. Since I recently got scuba certified in St. Lucia I figured I should probably make use of it and see what the coral/fish are like in Dominica. One of my Peace Corps friends in Dominica is also certified and hooked me up with a good price at a dive shop where she was certified. My scuba diving experience was great and I saw a lot more underwater life than I expected to see. The coral was some of the brightest I’ve seen and I saw a turtle, a couple of eels, lobsters, and of course a bunch of tropical fish. At the aptly named “Champagne” dive site, there was a spot where warm bubbles were coming up from the ocean floor due to volcanic activity on the island. That was pretty cool. I also had a good time hanging out with the teachers and joking around with them in Creole. Once they were aware that I’ve been making an effort to learn Creole they were intentional about speaking it to me, so I got a lot of good practice in.

Since coming to Fond St. Jacques I’ve developed quite a few nicknames, some which make sense and others which leave me confused. The most popular is “Ben Ten.” Apparently there’s a cartoon on TV with a character named Ben Ten who has a special watch that gives him 10 crazy powers or something. I’ve tried to find it on TV so I can discover who I really am, but alas I haven’t had any luck yet. I like the idea of having special powers though. Another nickname is “Dr. Ben.” Despite my lack of a medical degree, my neighbor insists I have an honorary degree and likes to call me that. If it’s not Dr. Ben, it’s Ben Hur. I’ve got no complaints. If people want to attribute special powers, a marked increase in intellect, or superhuman strength to me, they can go right ahead.

I’ve been meaning to write a little something about the presence of the Rastafarian culture in St. Lucia, specifically in Fond St. Jacques. I think I have hesitated to this point because I don’t have a complete understanding of the religion/phiolosophy myself. Well, here’s a bit of what I do know. Rastafarians believe that Haile Selassie, a former Ethiopian leader and descendant of King Solomon, was the returned Messiah Jesus Christ. They follow the dietary restrictions of the Old Testament and therefore are almost exclusively vegetarian. Most grow dreadlocks in accordance with verses of the Old Testament (Leviticus 21:5). Cannabis (marijuana) is seen as a sacrament and is smoked to clean the body and soul and bring one to a higher level of consciousness and closer to Jah (God). The movement has been popularized by reggae music, particularly that of Bob Marley. Most Rastafarians I know farm for a living, and since Fond St. Jacques is largely a farming community, I know quite a few. A couple of the guys at the Farmers’ Cooperative that I work with on the composting project are Rastafarian.

I’m excited to be going home to Kansas this Christmas to see family and friends. I’m going to stop in NYC for a few days to see some college friends before heading home. Ticket prices were just about the same traveling straight home to Kansas as it was flying to NYC and then to Kansas, so I figured I would take the opportunity to catch up with some people I haven’t seen in awhile. If anyone is going to be NYC from the 11th to the 15th or on New Year’s Eve, let me know.