Feeling ready to leave Marie-Galante, however multiple complications have popped up. Now leaning towards going to Iles Saintes next, maybe for a month or so. That allow a chance for some of the mental decision-making and COVID restrictions to clear up a bit. Also an opportunity to see new places!
The COVID scam makes a certain sense. Most people are understandably ignorant of science and statistics. It's quite remote from their everyday concerns. It's also extremely thick and difficult to learn. As such most people reasonably enough don't have enough knowledge to defend against these pseudo-scientific hoaxes.
COVID evolved as a meme to exploit people's ignorance. It's scary enough and vaguely plausible enough to push millions of people to obey their cruel governments. You can trick people into wearing slave masks, getting weird RNA injections, and giving up their other liberties by lying with terms that sound factual like "virus" and "pandemic".
Go out on the street and look at normal people, and it would seem strange for them to suspect the government of fraud. Look at the stats and science however and you'd be crazy not to be annoyed at the least by the obvious political scam. COVID carriers live longer, healthier lives. Getting COVID is like eating yogurt.
I don't really care about lies except when they become laws (that cost lives).
Democracy: the cruddier members of society get to decide how to run things. :)
Post COVID fascism stress disorder (PCFSD). I shouldn't even joke about it, soon they'll make it a real diagnosis! :)
As the lefty media continue to peddle false fear, let's crush this political pandemic for good! :) After COVID fascism I'm changing my opinions and behaviors. I've seen the crappy lies filling the mainly left-wing media. I'm gonna ignore their fake pleas and distortions. Just live free and happy and share! :)
Looks like there are a number of apartments near the main town on Martinique that are around as affordable as this. So I may go there in March or April if Dominica isn't open yet! :)
Reading a new announcement of the same recent Dominican policy change, it looks like there may (not sure yet) be some way to get the testing done beforehand, so that you can potentially avoid quarantine? Investigating...
I'm now thinking that doing Martinique next may make more sense anyways! I'd still be in the French West Indies (FWI) with the same phone functional, same language, etc. Seems much easier to go to overall (it's nearer and there are fewer restrictions). You can things find out by looking! :)
I feel like I have a plan coming together! I'm excited just thinking about it! Planning it! Doing it!!!!! :)
Do what you can when you can!!!!! :)
I'm now aiming to go to Iles Saintes then Martinique starting March 23, when my rent at this hotel is up. I feel done with Marie-Galante. No more serious places to see on this island, restaurants to eat at, etc. Ready for adventure!!!!! :)
Figure the rest out when we get there! :)
I think I'm in a somewhat parallel situation to when I was readying to leave Capesterre Belle-Eau. More incentive to go than to stay. I'd probably just wind up doing more planning if I stayed anyways, may as well do the going instead of the planning! :)
Feels like gradually working out through the COVID fascism mess, but we'll have to see how things go...
BTW just watched a video on the cruddy Dominica entry requirements, and apparently they pronounce it differently than I had. More French-ish. Do-mi-NEEK-ah? I can't remember exactly.
Each round of travel or relationships or work or whatever with its failures and successes gives you practice for the next! :)
Feels much better to plan around a place that I'm confident I can go to w/o any crazy COVIDiotic quarantines! :)
A lot of key activities seem to start under the influence of caffeine and alcohol. Maybe that's why these drugs are legal? I think a lot of developments in society have also started under other influences! :)
War puts things in perspectives. Noisy apartment where you want to write? Can't travel where you want due to COVID? At least you don't have Russian or Ukrainian soldiers shooting at you! "Give me your job and I'll buy your noisy neighbor a coffee!" :)
I guess you're generally supposed to be not fully ready for what life throws at you.
Life (n.): troubles.
Manage! :)
Is it even a sandwich without tomato?! :)
Bitches 'n' cream! (like peaches 'n' cream)
COVID: The detritus of the stupider generation. :)
While walking home from the beach after watching the sunset, a couple of black criminals jumped me and tried to rob me. One on bike, one on foot, wearing a mask. I fought back and got out, stopped a car and we called the cops. At least made it out without loss. Tons of times attacked in the Caribbean. Thankfully each time without loss, in some cases even taking the robbers' stuff. So far the deceitful criminals have done more damage than have the in-your-face criminals.
Now planning to leave Marie-Galante in March. Seems lame to stay in a location where you've already been attacked by criminals. I've read that Martinique has better beaches than Guadeloupe. There's also tons of new ground to cover. Places to ride, restaurants to eat at! :)
Looks like my plan's taking shape! I'm now thinking of going to Iles Saintes on March 23 when my hotel reservation in Marie-Galante is done. Then a week there, mainly because that's how long until the next ferry from Iles Saintes to Fort-de-France, Martinique.
Martinique makes more sense to me now than Dominica. Martinique doesn't have the same crappy COVID restrictions. Also that way I can wrap up my French West Indies, with my French phone and so forth, before going on.
Gotivation! Go + motivation!
I'm feeling quite ready to leave MG!!!!! :)
Looking forward to Trinidad and Tobago eventually!
I guess I'm considering Marie-Galante like Haiti or some of the other shoddy places I've been, taking extra precautions against the criminals. In just a few years of traveling in the Caribbean I've been attacked at least nine or ten times by black criminals committing attempted robbery and related offenses. It's enough to make me want to avoid traveling in these areas.
A French woman I recently met described how in Islamic countries they spat in her face so she doesn't want to travel there. Same basic idea. These rough undeveloped places put off people who would spend money and time there.
In other more considerate countries it's the opposite. I often feel like people in e.g. Latin countries protect me against crime while traveling.
When traveling, have numerous tripwires, backups, and other security measures in place. Especially if traveling to the Caribbean or other risky areas. I guess the African crime is predictable if you look at the stats.
It's such an annoyance to have to plan travels around ferries, COVID restrictions, and overpriced places! Looking forward to later, with different issues! :)
Is goat cheese (chevre) humorous? It's smooth and creamy like Camembert (some of the chevres, anyways), but tastes like goat. Are goats intrinsically funny? Just kidding around?
Feels great and free to travel again soon! I'm ready to leave this place, just looking to make arrangements for the upcoming island, probably Iles Saintes. Also looks massively overpriced, but at least somewhat nicer than Marie-Galante.
A wrench in the works. Not sure how immigration would work in Martinique. I think there's likely to be customs there after the ferry, which goes through Dominica. With COVID blocking off travel I've technically overstayed my visa in France. Wouldn't want to face immigration problems in Martinique. Now reconsidering Dominica.
Super frustrating to travel among islands. You can't just go this way then that, or that way then this. You have to carefully plan out and overpay for travel. Even more so with COVID restrictions.
It's somewhat traumatic, complicated, risky, and expensive to return to travel after/during COVID. This mess is leaving scars on the planet. I'm trying not to let the frustration/annoyance turn into anger or complaints. These things happen. And as noted above, the Ukraine-Russia situation at least serves as a reminder of how trivial these travel annoyances are in the scheme of things.
"What language am I gonna get?" With various laptop and phone apps configured for different languages, plus traveling where I hear numerous languages (French, Kreyol, German, Spanish, English), and learning other languages for travel preps or other reasons (Portuguese, Russian), when I pull out a piece of paper my mind starts reading in one language then my eyes see another language! :)
Jejej... So far I haven't heard back at all from the government e-mail addresses for COVID info, and I've received rapid but somewhat superficial info from the private tourism e-mail addresses for COVID info. Par for the course!
Now quite a bit of uncertainty over travel plans. Each new piece of information reveals more confusion. :) I think I'm going to Iles Saintes next. Not sure how long I'll stay. Then maybe Desirade, another Guadeloupe island, but not sure if I'm that interested considering the difficulty in getting there and the smallness of the place. Then probably either Martinique or Dominica, but there are complications in each of those involving visas, COVID restrictions, and ferries.
While I still have a ton of uncertainty, I'm now feeling somewhat more optimistic than before that I can at least make something work out, fairly soon.
The Iles Saintes part I can probably do regardless of COVID restrictions and visa issues, since it's part of Guadeloupe. Maye I'll spend a month or more there while things sort out.
Feels like I'm back in Capesterre Belle-Eau again overplanning due to COVID annoyances!
And again, these are trivially small worries in comparison to e.g. the Ukraine-Russia situation.
We'll figure things out!!!!!