There's a Bills Bar in Dominica: Minutia and a Boiling Lake

I was quite hungry this afternoon but I’m almost out of stove gas so I wanted to cook something quick. I had a box of Macaroni and Cheese that was my only “easy” meal. I checked the expiration date, because it is kosher here to sell things past their expiration date, and I still had 3 months to eat it. I turned on the water and it ran a murky shade of beige. I left the water on for a while hoping it would clear up. It didn’t. I figured as I’m just using the water to boil pasta its fine if it is a little dirty, besides I’m boiling it first. So I used the murky water and cooked my pasta. Then I had a big internal debate about milk. I get condensed milk here and you’re supposed to mix it with equal parts water- what about dirty water though? Unfortunately my decision was moot because when I poured the cheese powder on my noodles it was the color of rust and smelled of dirty, moldy, chemical cheese.

I considered it but ultimately could not bring myself to eat this appalling mixture, which created a huge problem. Garbage is picked up on Fridays here. There is not an outdoor garbage bin. On Friday morning I walk my bag of trash to the pile on the other side of the road. If you put it out on any day other than Friday* and someone sees you you’ll be mentioned at the next SEC meeting (the group I work for). As there is nowhere to store my garbage outside of my apartment during the week and Dominica is quite warm I quickly learned that I can’t actually throw away food (I’m in an apartment and don’t have access to compost but I appreciate the suggestion in advance) except on Fridays. So the disgusting Macaroni and Cheese went into a Tupperware container in my fridge where it will mock me until Friday morning when I can throw it away just before taking the garbage out.

This weekend a group of PCVs, a couple Dominicans and two French guys who no one seemed to know visited the 2^nd largest boiling lake in the world. We all patted ourselves on the back for seeing this but to be honest I didn’t know boiling lakes existed until December. The boiling lake was just what you would imagine (see below) a big murky lake with rolling bubbles and an enormous cloud of steam above it. My favorite part was the Valley of Desolation. It appears to be right out of a science fiction novel. We trekked through a rain forest and began to descend onto a barren rust colored dried creek bed which led into a grey rocky wasteland. The volcanic activity underground causes small puddles all around to steam, bubble and hiss. The rivers flow white and bright blue and are opaque. The water changes between hot and cold throughout the streams with no noticeable rhyme or reason. It is incredible. (see below)

*I tried once to wait until really late at night so as not to be seen but the paro (homeless guy) who sits in the parking lot next to my apartment seems to be awake all night.