I wrote in my Year in Search article that queries related to sex in Martinique is one of the most common search terms I get for people who find my blog. The post they land on isn’t about intercourse at all, it’s a narrative story about the moment when I realized how much I had…
Surviving Your First Lessons as a Teaching Assistant in France
It’s that time of year again – British Council, Comenius and TAPIF assistants from English-speaking countries around the world are preparing to enter classrooms full of French kids to help them improve their English. If there’s one thing I learned in my 2 years as an English assistant in France, it’s that being able to…
My Blue Crush – Surfing in Martinique
I slowed down for a second – just a second – to catch my breath. I thought I had made it past her but when I looked up she was right there. I was staring right into her face. Her lip curled bearing sharp, white teeth. Then, darkness. It was the last time I would…
There is More to Haiti than Poverty
South of Haiti This is not a tourism destination video. This is not about ignoring the country’s poverty, struggles in Port-au-Prince, or the general difficulties of Haitian realities. It would have been all too easy to drive through the most devastated areas of the country, film it and say, “Look how sad.” This video does…
That Time I Almost Died in Guadeloupe
Don’t Rent a Car You Don’t Know How to Drive… On my four-day trip to Guadeloupe, a French island in the Caribbean, I didn’t want to waste one second. Knowing that public transportation can be unreliable, I decided to rent a small car to get to the surf school where I’d booked a lesson. The…
Quimbois: Martinique’s Answer to Voodoo
Disponible en Francais: Cliquez ici My first year in Martinique, my roommate developed unexplained marks on her neck, back, and legs. According to a friend of ours, a dorlis had attacked her in her sleep. The dorlis is said to be a male practitioner of black magic that transforms to an evil spirit to assault,…
Tous les chemins mènent…au rhum!
Available in English: Click here En Martinique, on n’est jamais à plus de 12 kilomètres de la mer. Egalement, une distillerie n’est jamais très loin ! C’est rare que le paysage, les gens et les traditions d’un pays sont dans telle harmonie avec un produit – mais le rhum en Martinique est plus qu’une denrée,…
National Rum Day
Part of being Jamaican-Canadian and then spending over a year living in the Caribbean means being a pretty big fan of rum. I’m not much of a drinker, but I started learning about it from a young age. My mom always had a bottle or two of Wray & Nephew’s white rum for soaking her delicious…
Martinique, and Canada’s Humiliation
Canada humiliated by tiny Martinique – CBC Headline Psh, mean! I was clearly highly entertained – and feeling a little smug – in light of this Twittering. When I first saw Martinique was trending, I seriously thought Mont Pelée had just erupted or something. Turns out Martinique, in the last ten seconds of a football…
The Best Rivers to Visit in Martinique
I don’t like the beach. I know. I lived on a Caribbean island for 15 months over three calendar years—how is that even possible? Well, I find lying on the beach boring and it makes me really hot, to which the normal response is to go for a swim, but swimming in saltwater makes me…