Well, it has been almost a week since I flew south to begin this adventure. I started it off by ignoring the stress of getting to the airport much later than my darling Denise would have liked. What does it matter if I was the second last person to board and they closed the doors immediately behind us? I watched the kids' movie "The Last Minsky" as we flew south from Newark even though I wouldn't have had I been at home. I smiled when I saw the pilot in San Juan tug on the propellers and kick the tires to make sure all was okay before he boarded to fly us to St. Lucia. And then here I was, under the palms and in the heat of the Caribbean.
The first week has been one in which my colleagues from New Brunswick, Dale and Sue, and I have spent much of our time getting settled in. The place I had waiting for me, is comfortable even if it is not well set up for someone who needs to work. I had believed before arriving that it had wireless internet, yet discovered that not to be the case so the search for cables to plug in was on. Found some that the three of us could share. Then we searched for electrical plugs and found them on the opposite side of the room than are the work tables. We now work on our laps, our beds or hunched over at a coffee table :)
I also had to get used to the clock radio alarms here. We have three Caribbean ones here in the place. I say Caribbean since they all work but all have their own leisurely pace at which they advance. After setting them several times my first day here (I had trouble believing I had been that tired as to have set them all wrong and all at different times), I have since given up. I note the time I go to sleep on the clock beside my bed, wake up and take the time I see, subtract the time at which the clock told me I was going to sleep and then add on a few hours for what it has lost overnight. It usually gives me a good estimate of how long I have slept. At other times through the day I simply ignore these clocks.
Setting up bank accounts (why do they have to freeze those funds for close a week before we can get access them??), buying groceries (the grocery store is on the ground floor whereas the school is on the second floor which makes for convenient shopping), meeting the others with whom we will be teaching and working this year, and waiting for items shipped to arrive (suitcases that didn't arrive when we did and texts and personal items that were sent on a ship in early July still haven't cleared customs and their endless paperwork), these are the ways in which we've spent much of our first week. I say much since there was also a search for suitable accommodations for the year that ate up a great deal of time.
The question of how close the school, the beach and the main road should we be was hotly discussed. As the three of us wandered searching for places, we came to realise that we could get a much nicer place for about the same price as we would pay individually, if we decided to rent a large place as a group of three couples. Now the search became one in which we needed to find a place large enough that we would not be constantly tripping over one another, one which would allow for us to work comfortably at home, one which would accommodate our spouses when they fly down to join us and have room for the company we eagerly await to visit us. Of course, the place also needed to have a pool since cooling off is something we need to do several times through the day. Finally, after four days and 20 some places viewed, we finally found a place that we think will work. It is a bit more money than we wanted to pay but we think it will be worth the extra cost.
The first week has been one in which my colleagues from New Brunswick, Dale and Sue, and I have spent much of our time getting settled in. The place I had waiting for me, is comfortable even if it is not well set up for someone who needs to work. I had believed before arriving that it had wireless internet, yet discovered that not to be the case so the search for cables to plug in was on. Found some that the three of us could share. Then we searched for electrical plugs and found them on the opposite side of the room than are the work tables. We now work on our laps, our beds or hunched over at a coffee table :)
I also had to get used to the clock radio alarms here. We have three Caribbean ones here in the place. I say Caribbean since they all work but all have their own leisurely pace at which they advance. After setting them several times my first day here (I had trouble believing I had been that tired as to have set them all wrong and all at different times), I have since given up. I note the time I go to sleep on the clock beside my bed, wake up and take the time I see, subtract the time at which the clock told me I was going to sleep and then add on a few hours for what it has lost overnight. It usually gives me a good estimate of how long I have slept. At other times through the day I simply ignore these clocks.
Setting up bank accounts (why do they have to freeze those funds for close a week before we can get access them??), buying groceries (the grocery store is on the ground floor whereas the school is on the second floor which makes for convenient shopping), meeting the others with whom we will be teaching and working this year, and waiting for items shipped to arrive (suitcases that didn't arrive when we did and texts and personal items that were sent on a ship in early July still haven't cleared customs and their endless paperwork), these are the ways in which we've spent much of our first week. I say much since there was also a search for suitable accommodations for the year that ate up a great deal of time.
The question of how close the school, the beach and the main road should we be was hotly discussed. As the three of us wandered searching for places, we came to realise that we could get a much nicer place for about the same price as we would pay individually, if we decided to rent a large place as a group of three couples. Now the search became one in which we needed to find a place large enough that we would not be constantly tripping over one another, one which would allow for us to work comfortably at home, one which would accommodate our spouses when they fly down to join us and have room for the company we eagerly await to visit us. Of course, the place also needed to have a pool since cooling off is something we need to do several times through the day. Finally, after four days and 20 some places viewed, we finally found a place that we think will work. It is a bit more money than we wanted to pay but we think it will be worth the extra cost.
I've included a picture to give you an idea of what we've found and what we see out the window. I will try and throw a few more pictues in later. Well that's all for today.
