Mid-December already?? Quoi??

I can't get over how quickly time is passing now. Ok, I have to admit, at the beginning time seemed to pass pretty slowly, and isn't it just the darndest thing that once things start getting better and you feel happier, time passes way too fast!! I only have four more months of beach bliss to enjoy...Today I was at the beach, swimming in 70 degree water and counting my blessings, yes today, December 17, and my dad tells me that at home it won't be above freezing for the next five days. Bless your poor souls in Pittsburgh, and anywhere else where it isn't 85 and sunny everyday. This afternoon, it was so gorgeous at the beach, the water was so perfectly calm, and the view of the mountains off to the east while the sun was setting was so serene, and the temperature was so perfect, that I had to really count my lucky stars that I am here. It is paradise, except for the daily annoyances with people. I belong in a place like this. I can't imagine what winter is going to be like for me when I come home. And winter was already pretty bad for me before. I swam to the the islet of Gosier beach, pictured below, which is a little tiny island with a lighthouse and a little cafe and some chickens and that's about it. It is so tranquil, sometimes you can go and find yourself completely alone. It reminds me a lot of those little islands that you see in the movies that people get trapped on. It's a really great swim, not too long and not too short, and now I know the way to go in order to avoid the jellyfish. I've had quite a few stings and they're bad but they go away in like 10 min usually.  But that's really the worse thing you can come into contact with here....other than the infamous barracuda. Around 5 people have been attacked so far in Guadeloupe, and there is a prize for the person who catches this one barracuda. But there's no sharks, which is reassuring.

I also went to the Gosier Friday night market, which has become one of my favorite things to do and a weekly routine (Gosier is the nearest beach town to me, where I go most often). There are people selling all the typical fruits and vegetables here for very good prices and very good quality. You can find salad, tomatoes (which are super expensive in grcoery stores and most of the time either rotten or green),  giraumond (one of my favorite things to eat here, a type of squash), manioc, bananas (many varities including sweet little tiny bananas they call apple or fig bananas as well as plantains), passion fruit, pineapples among many other things including prepared traditional dishes and this delicious bread in different flavors like coconut honey and sweet potatoe and papaya which I buy every week from two really nice guys.

Islet de Gosier, the island 

Yummm....I realized recently that I haven't really talked about one topic in this blog which is of the utmost importance to me: food. So I will try to change that from here on out. In Guadeloupe, there is this really interesting mix between Creole dishes and traditional French food. There are boulangeries and patisseries (bakeries and pastry stores) just like in mainland France, and you can always see people toting around their freshly bought baguette around noon, or their pain au chocolat in the morning, same as in France. All they need is a beret and a poodle and the stereotype would be complete. And their also lots of trucks selling creole dishes like bokits, which are kind of a cross between a hamburger and a pita, angoulous, which are weird sandwich things too. Accras are these little fried yummy things that you can find in different flavors like fish or conch and are also really good. That's all I have time for now, will try to post again soon. Love to all at home, and keep warm!! Miss you all terribly--