"Okay, Honey, let's go to the market!" I cried after I had bathed and dressed post-run. Ken knew that I really wanted to get to the market in good time so that I could get what I have dubbed a "Dominican breakfast sausage", a grilled plantain that is split down the middle like a hot dog bun, then filled with the salt cod mixture known as "bacalloo" (sp?). I had already set my travel mug out so that I could take my coffee with me - breakfast would be found at the market for me, whereas Ken had hedged his bets and had some cereal before my return.

We grabbed our backpacks, and I had lots of change in my pocket to make the transactions easier (a trick I learned years ago at farmers markets in Ontario). We reached the PAYS dock and secured the dinghy, then walked up towards the market, Ken snapping pictures with the handy GoPro camera as we went. We had our umbrellas hanging from my pack, just in case, but they were merely there as decoration this morning, the rain was holding off. We passed the Seventh Day Adventist church, with the pastor holding forth just after we heard a young girl complete a hymn with her sweet voice.

We made it to the main square by the big fishing dock to where the streets are more or less closed off to vehicular traffic to facilitate the vendors. Ken made a bee-line to the "breakfast sausage" lady who had a big smile and a "welcome back" for us. However, she didn't have any salt fish for the plantains. The heavy rain from that morning had thrown her routine off, and she had forgotten it at home; her son's cell phone went to voice mail when she called him to bring the baccalloo (if I keep changing my spelling, one of them is bound to be right). Would I like grilled plantain to go with my coffee? I was a little disappointed, as we had made sure we would arrive before she had run out of fish mixture, as has happened to me before.

Gnoshing on the grilled plantain (okay flavor but so dry), we purchased the fruits of the land. Sweet grapefruit, tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage... and imported carrots. I have decided to not purchase carrots as they are far more expensive than the rest of the produce.

We took our time just wandering around the market area. Ken has had a burning question for about 3 years now, and he was going to get it answered. Throughout the islands, we have noticed chickens running freely, going where they will, often with chicks clustered around the hens. Ken has always wondered how locals know whose chicken is who's when it comes time to put one in the pot. The lady who answered him had a good laugh at the question, but answered him quite seriously. She explained that people feed "their" chickens, and they became used to being called for feed time. If a chicken came when you called, it was yours, and if it didn't, it was somebody else's dinner. That's a pretty simple system, and it seems to work. We don't know if that is everywhere in the islands, but in Portsmouth and area, that is the poultry protocol.

I also had a chance to find out about some of my favourite fruits, and their Dominican names. In Grenada, we have come to love "water lemons", a relative to passion fruit with an orange coloured peel that is softer than the passion fruit. The inside is also much sweeter. Here, they are called "pomme million (meel-yee-ohn)". What are "apricots" here are "mammy apples" in Grenada. Not to be confused with what North Americans call apricots, these fruit are about the size of two fists, have a vaguely apricot taste, and firmer flesh. The peel must be removed, and there are a couple of stones to be avoided. In Dominca, they are readily available when in season, in Grenada, they are hard to find.

The market has a fun, party atmosphere. Music is playing, people are meeting and greeting, and the colourful displays of fruit and veggies add to the festive feel. This is the place to be on a Saturday morning, unless you are a Seventh Day Adventist. Getting there early is only necessary if you want to be absolutely sure to get something specific (like the salt fish) but there is an abundance of produce available. Quench your thirst with fresh coconut water, buy some bread, fresh eggs put in clear plastic bags, or maybe some fish. This is one of my favourite markets in the Eastern Caribbean, as it is so laid back and friendly. There are certainly bigger markets, with more pizzazz and more to purchase, but I like the feel of the Portsmouth market.

A little farther down, you can peruse the CD's and DVD's that are offered for sale. We took a look to see if there was anything of interest to us. Looking over the selection, and observing the large proportion of action and martial arts movies, a comment made by my friend Ginette (a Dominican) in a conversation came to mind. "Many actors and famous people can come to Dominica and not be recognized, but if Jet Li came to the island, he'd be mobbed." Yes, I could see what she meant. And it is true, apparently Mick Jagger regularly visits Dominica, and he visited the Portsmouth market. "Disguised" in a floppy sun hat with a maple leaf on it, the Dominicans took no notice. A Norwegian cruiser was the one to recognize the Rolling Stone.

We wandered back down towards the dock. A young man was standing at a water tap on the side of the road, rinsing the laundry in a laundry basket, then bringing it back to the house so his wife could do the next part. This is something we have seen in Grenada, taps on the middle of the community for filling buckets, bathing, laundry, or filling drinking water containers. Not everybody has running water here, but they at least have close access to potable water.

This put us in mind of our laundry, and we looked to see what the status was. A quick glance at the second story balcony answered our question, as we recognized the shirts and dish towels hanging there. Okay, with all of the rain, it wasn't a surprise that it wasn't quite ready. We could return a little later in the day.

The Seventh Day Adventist service was still going on when we passed by the church for the second time. This time the preacher was talking about bananas, which we missed the point of since we missed most of her sermon. However, Dominicans do know and understand bananas, so not a bad thing to allude to.

Later on in the early afternoon, I returned to shore to get our laundry. Pamelena was there, and the laundry ready to go. At $2 EC per pound, and she uses hot water to wash, it is the best laundry deal in the islands that I have seen so far. And with 40 pounds of laundry to be washed, I was very happy that I didn't have to do it by hand. The fact that it took a couple of days to get it done isn't a big deal; line drying in a rainy time will set its' own timetable.

Clean clothes, stocked pantry, a friendly town (okay, couple of towns) - a nice way to finish out the week.