I went to the post office in Trinité yesterday because I had to mail a form back to the United States. It has to do with one of my med school applications, and so is rather time-sensitive. At the poste, I was told that the machine they use to print international stamps had just broken, and that I'd have to go into the neighboring town of Robert to mail my crap.
Which ordinarily wouldn't be a problem, except in Martinique cities aren't close together like they are in France, each town only has one post office, and the public transport here is spotty at best.
I went again this morning to inquire at the post office to see if the machine had been fixed. It hadn't. I then asked whether the poste in Robert would even be open, since today was a jour de grève and a lot of people seemed to have taken the day off. They assured me that it would be.
So I paid to take the taxi collectif all the way into Robert and walked into the centre-ville to the poste. It was abandoned. "Fermée cet après-midi," the sign read. Of course.
So feeling rather pathetic and frustrated with nothing to do, I strolled around Robert. It was mostly abandoned, and there's not a whole lot there to begin with.
But as I sat down on a bench in a little park right at the water's edge, I saw a rainbow peeking out from the hillside on the other side of the water.
I don't really believe in omens, but it made me feel a little better.
Also, just for you, Alice Wang: Peanut butter in the Robert Géant Casino. "Crown American Premium Quality Peanut Butter, Smooth & creamy. No cholesterol!" 3.60 euros per 12-ounce jar.
