Marie-Galante trip

Libe and me looking over the cliffs

For the Toussaints vacation in November, (All Saints Day—we got 2 weeks off)  I went to Marie-Galante, a tiny island just south of Guadeloupe, which is still considered part of the "archipelago of Guadeloupe". I took the 45 minute boat ride over on the WORST possible day to travel by boat, meaning the day after a hurricane had just passed through the region. I honestly don't know how I didn't vomit. I closed my eyes the whole trip and tried not to hear the other people on the boat vomiting. Anyway, I got there safely and stayed with another language assistant, Libe, who has the same contact person as me. She is actually living and teaching on Marie-Galante--I admire her so much for it! I don't know if I could do it, but she has a great attitude, and it is definitely very tranquil and calm there, and the beaches are gorgeous, with hardly anyone ever there. Marie-Galante moves even more slowly than Guadeloupe, and as Libe put it,"you learn how to be patient by living in Marie-Galante".  Libe has a friend who has a car there, so we took a tour of the whole island in an afternoon, and saw some really gorgeous seaside cliffs and completely barren countryside. We drove on some roads that seemed like no one had driven on for fifty years, and we had to weave our way through a herd of cattle that was blocking the road at one point. It rained on and off and was cloudy most of the day, so I'm sure it is even more beautiful with the sun shining on the water. With bright turquoise water crashing against the white sandy cliffs, we saw some of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen.  Another day, we hitchiked to a nearby beach, and got a ride from some real rastafarians--quite an experience. I stayed for 3 days--3 very serene days, in which we laughed a lot, and had great conversation, and Libe cooked delicious food like paella and Spanish omelettes. yum :) I also got my first really bad sunburn here because I was an idiot and fell asleep at the beach. Yikes, what a rookie mistake.  Oh, and I saw someone wearing a Pirates hat in Marie-Galante!! I really really wanted to take a picture with the guy wearing it, but I didn't want to bring anymore attention to myself. We were literally the ONLY white people in this big crowd of people at the time.