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two problems play together very well in Dominica. Students work VERY
hard down here as medical school in general is very hard. Since
Dominica does not have much more then a small town “corner store”
anywhere then in Roseau which is an hour away so there are few
things to do other then study. Since everybody else studies very
hard that means you have to study very hard since the curve is
getting raised. Then when you are stressed out there are not a lot
of options for stress relief. There are things to do like work out
in the gym, scuba dive, snorkel, rent a movie and hang out but you
have to be creative. Labor, utilities and prepared food are cheap in
Dominica but everything else is EXPENSIVE so be prepared. You can
eat out all day for US$10 but may spend that much to buy the stuff
to make it yourself. Mr. James who runs the store across the street
from the school is a big con artist and is not trustworthy but his
sister Tina runs a great honest little store a mile or so away. Most students also deal with culture shock. You need to remember that if you come, you are living in their country and things work differently then in the US. The hardest thing is that they operate on “island time” meaning that they will get to it when they get to it. If you are in a hurry and it shows they only work slower. If you can’t deal with their culture you should best apply to the US schools again next year. To a degree they also operate where you are expected to forgive them if they mess sometime up but are not forgiving if you mess it up. The other pointer I have is when you enter a room with Dominicans greet them (i.e. just say Hi) because in their culture it is considered very rude if you enter a room and don’t do this. An American pastor working in Dominica that I am friends with has told me that it drives him nuts but even when someone walks in late to church they must publicly greet everybody when they come in or else they will be considered rude. Don’t think that Dominica is awful. In my time on “the rock”, as Americans affectionately call it, I have come to enjoy the island. If my family were not so far away it would be a great place to live. I have taken to becoming involved in the Ross Christian Fellowship, an interdenominational protestant church that meets on campus, scuba diving and hanging around with friends. Other friends like going to Roseau for their music festivals which happen about once a semester, some go to the local bars, there are always sports tournaments on campus or just hanging around. Usually in the middle of the semester there is an organized “4th semester trip” to another island that all semesters are welcome to attend. There is also a movie theater but it’s a cultural experience with the bats flying around and being told to keep your stub so you can get a refund if the power goes out. If you are interested in experiencing other things to do while studying hard (like all medical students) come on down. I really enjoy it. Utilities are the other thing I need to warn you about Dominica. First the power goes out regularly for a few hours. That means about twice a month. The campus has 4 generators (two were just installed in Dec 2000) so the entire campus, including the AC, operates as normal after about the 10 minute period for them to warm up. Phone service is sold by a subsidy of a British company, Cable & Wireless but calls to the US are between about US$1 and US$0.60 per min. The alternative is internet phone such as www.iconnecthere.com all you need is your own computer, headphones, a microphone and an internet connections. The other new service I wish was availabe when I had my cable modem on the island is a true internet telephone where you plug a special box into your broadband connection, pay for your phone service and you can have a local US telephone number your friends and family can call and you have a telephone you pick up and dial just like your home phone and pay US rates (or $35/month unlimited calling to the US). One provider is www.vonage.com (or www.iconnecthere.com) that I can't guarantee it works with Dominican cable modem but it should. I would try it if I was still there. Internet is sold in blocks of 20, 40 or 60 hours/month in dialup from Cable & Wireless. The 40 hour/month package costs about US$25. You can also get a form of cable modem from the local cable company, Marpin, which is unlimited access for about US$28. My cable modem usually gets about 100k/sec of actual throughput. If you want it be sure to bring a network adapter (ethernet adapter) for your computer. (Prices have probably changed since I left in Aug 2001.) |
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Copyright © 2004 Brian Buschman |
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