french froideur in the caribbean?
I finally arrived. Audrey, I am sorry the update has taken years but the amount of rubbish I have had to deal with since getting here has been of EPIC proportions (the internet connections here are non existent n there is hardly any at uni n i dont even have a net account at uni as i have to wait 10 days for it to be activated! so am at an internet cafe at the moment)
The observations I have made since being here for 12 days are mixed and are as follows:
1° Martinican heat is the metereological equivalent of the electric chair! Weaking your spirit as well as your body. I fainted whilst coming back from church my first sunday here as the heat here is worse than african heat in the sense that it is humid and not dry!
2° Martinican people are a mixed bag of M&Ms -- i'd say most of the ones i met have been extremely extremely cold and i have tried to mix with locals and students but people here don't seem interested in getting to know other people. Maybe they are suspicious but there have been times where they have been so blatantly rude and literally laughing at you just because you are different to them. Then they have been the odd gems who are so lovely and honestly I have only met 3 or 4 people like that out of many people...
3° The race situation here is very prickly and rooted deep in pain. I have a lot more on it but there seems to be a dichotomy of severe hate towards white people mixed with a suble, subconscious reverence of white people which manifests itself in the racism amongst black Martinicans with some light skinned people feeling superior to dark skinned ones. One Martinican woman told me that sometimes light skinned people get served before dark skinned ones in shops yet the feelings of blackness here are so deep and strong.
4° The towns of Schoelcher and Fort de France are contrasting mixes of tranquility and hustle and bustle. The uni is situated in Schoelcher but everything is in FDF. My camera is acting up today but I will soon have a post full of the sights of the island for your viewing pleasure!
5° The men...lord...the ones who the foreign girls at uni have met have been persistent perverted and their attitudes are completely messed up in regards to women; they fully believe they are within their right to call u 'putes' (whores) on the road if you don't like them back. It is so crazy over here in terms of safety; women arent free to roam around and once the sun sets at 6.&(pm, all women are inside and for good reason, Fort-de-France is known to be one of the most dangerous towns in the Caribbean.
My head is like jelly all over the place and I have so much to say but so far those are the big observations I have made for the first 12 days. Tell me what you think and the pics will be up soon! Sorry it has taken ages but net here is like looking for a needle in a haystack!
~A
The observations I have made since being here for 12 days are mixed and are as follows:
1° Martinican heat is the metereological equivalent of the electric chair! Weaking your spirit as well as your body. I fainted whilst coming back from church my first sunday here as the heat here is worse than african heat in the sense that it is humid and not dry!
2° Martinican people are a mixed bag of M&Ms -- i'd say most of the ones i met have been extremely extremely cold and i have tried to mix with locals and students but people here don't seem interested in getting to know other people. Maybe they are suspicious but there have been times where they have been so blatantly rude and literally laughing at you just because you are different to them. Then they have been the odd gems who are so lovely and honestly I have only met 3 or 4 people like that out of many people...
3° The race situation here is very prickly and rooted deep in pain. I have a lot more on it but there seems to be a dichotomy of severe hate towards white people mixed with a suble, subconscious reverence of white people which manifests itself in the racism amongst black Martinicans with some light skinned people feeling superior to dark skinned ones. One Martinican woman told me that sometimes light skinned people get served before dark skinned ones in shops yet the feelings of blackness here are so deep and strong.
4° The towns of Schoelcher and Fort de France are contrasting mixes of tranquility and hustle and bustle. The uni is situated in Schoelcher but everything is in FDF. My camera is acting up today but I will soon have a post full of the sights of the island for your viewing pleasure!
5° The men...lord...the ones who the foreign girls at uni have met have been persistent perverted and their attitudes are completely messed up in regards to women; they fully believe they are within their right to call u 'putes' (whores) on the road if you don't like them back. It is so crazy over here in terms of safety; women arent free to roam around and once the sun sets at 6.&(pm, all women are inside and for good reason, Fort-de-France is known to be one of the most dangerous towns in the Caribbean.
My head is like jelly all over the place and I have so much to say but so far those are the big observations I have made for the first 12 days. Tell me what you think and the pics will be up soon! Sorry it has taken ages but net here is like looking for a needle in a haystack!
~A
posted by Aulelia at 7:47 PM
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