Halfway done already!?

Salut mes amis!

Well its hard to believe that we are halfway done with our time here in Martinique...it sure has been a blast! Since the last blog entry we have explored ruins, witnessed carnaval preparations, spent quality family time, soaked up the sun at beautiful beaches, and eaten a crazy amount of delicious ice cream.

We spent Thursday in Sainte Pierre, the once great capital of Martinique that was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 1902.  We saw ruins of what was once the most grand theatre in all of the Caribbean and we went to 2 museums to learn anout the history of the city and the tragedy of the eruption.  In just 3 minutes Montagne Pelee, the volcano, killed all 30,000 people and decimated the city.  Sainte Pierre used to be the political, economic, and cultural capital of Martinique and was actually more advanced than Paris at the time.  Unfortunately no one understood the science behind volcanos and so no evacuation took place.  It was so bizarre to see the ruins and imagine what the city used to be like.  Its not very lively anymore since most people dont want to live there.  After our sad historical morning, we toured a rum distillery in the afternoon where we learned the process of making rum.  Its a large industry here along with sugar cane and bananas.  We finished the day with ice cream on a black sand beach...a great ending to a great day!

On Friday night a group of us went to watch the music practice for the upcoming carnaval celebrations.  It was very entertaining, especially because we have learned about traditional music and dance.  We saw both the children and the adult practice with the tambour drums and the tibwa.  We also watched some traditional danse which looks a bit like martial arts with music and singing in the background.  Professor Wilkins friend helps male the costumes so we got a behind the scene tour except we could only see the costumes from last year because they are top secret until carnaval starts.  It was really cool to see such a cultural event in action and I really enjoyed the music and spirit that they put into it.

We all spent the weekend with our families.  Hailey and I live together here and on Saturday our parents took us on another tour of the south of the island where we saw many different goregous cities and sites.  Its like we are living in a postcard.  There was a family gathering at house on Sunday so we ate and ate and talked and then ate some more.  The food is all so delicious!  Our host brother went to culinary school and works at a bakery so he always makes wonderful desserts for us.  My favorite from this weekend was pain au beurre - its a special bread that our mom made and then she makes wonderful hot chocolate that you dip the bread in.  The night ended with a very nice family prayer.  A neighbor prayed for us all and then everyone prayed to themselves or outloud a bit.  It was a nice, comforting moment and a great way to end the night. 

Today we had French class in the morning and then the group spent the afternoon at a very nice beach.  We took a ferry to get there with our host brother who showed us around.  Tomorrow were going on another hike in the north of the island.  Basically, were living the good life! 

Until next time!
Jessica