Cooking 101: always add banana

Joyeux Noël! (Merry Christmas!)
En Martinique, the greeting "Joyeux Noël" or just "Joyeux" can be used every day. This is both a joke and also as an expression of love and genuine interest in the other person. As Joby's brother explained to me, the joy associated with Christmastime can be shared all year round-- so why not?

Le Musée de la Banane

Yesterday I went with a few folks to Le Musée de la Banane in Sainte-Marie. I definitely want to come back here next week with my two sisters, so I don't want to spoil it to much. So let me just say that it was fascinating. Of course, my pictures do not do it justice, but it was a kind of beauty that I had never seen before-- totally breath taking.

One of the 1000 different types of bananas

Matilda and I tasting one of the 300 different types of edible bananas
Each banana takes about 1 hour and 40 minutes to digest
(so we ate a lot of them)

Me standing next to the tallest herb in the world!!

I also went to Trois-Ilets a few days ago with these folks. To me, the boat ride to get there was the best part.

 Of course, the beach was pretty good too :)

And check out this really cute piña colada. Generally, I can't bring myself to pay for drinks (c'est trop cher!), but the pineapple is what sold me.

Les vacances de Carnaval have been incredible-- but now it's time to get back to school tomorrow (and mountains of homework today.) Funny how that happens. Sunsets like this one sure make it hard to complain though. I am so fortunate to be here-- most of the time I still can't believe it.

À plus...