I left for Dominica on Wednesday at about 7:00 PM and arrived on Thursday, September 6th at about 3:00 PM. Getting here takes forever! The flight from San Juan was on a plane that seated about 60 people. When the pilot announced that we were preparing for landing, I was a little nervous about the fact that I could not see any land anywhere. A couple of minutes later a huge, green mountain appeared and I could not believe that this big rock was about to become "home" for the next 15 months!
Ryan had warned me about the airport, so I was prepared. When I asked him the previous day if I would meet him at baggage claim he started laughing. The reason that was a funny question is because there is no "baggage claim"... at least not the way we know it. When I got off the plane and walked into the "arrivals" room, I noticed it was just that, one room. In the room there were 2 wooden booths. One read "Domestic" and one read "International"... and that was customs. Behind the booths were tons of luggage...and that was baggage claim. Only 2 airlines fly into Dominica. American Airlines luggage was on the right side of the room and LIAT luggage was on the left. You just walk around until you spot your luggage. Luckily, my luggage made it.
I quickly spotted Ryan, who had come to get me with our landlord's son, Timmy. The airport is in Melville and we live in Picard (very close to Portsmouth). It is about an hour drive from the airport to our apartments. The drive was very interesting. First of all, they drive on the left side of the road. I was scared to death the first couple of minutes. I noticed that there are random bulls and cows standing near the road, just tied up with a leash. It was very strange to see people walking down the street with machetes. One lady pulled over and got out of her car with her machete. I asked Timmy what she was doing and he said she was a farmer and was going to cut some bananas. The drive was very curvy and long. Thank goodness the car was air-conditioned! By the time we reached our apartment, it was almost 5:00 and I had been awake for about 30 hours.
Ryan and I did not stop to rest. We had to hurry to the grocery store and to the cleaners. Since we walk everywhere we go, I was covered in sweat. I still had my jeans on from the plane and they were stuck to me. Gross! I was exhausted and hot and not sure how excited I was about living on the nature isle! When we got back home I started to clean. I just couldn't relax until I knew that things were in order. I had packed our own mattress pad, sheets, pillows and quilt. Ryan picked up a pizza from Perky's, which was good. I took a shower and got in bed and watched a Friends marathon while Ryan studied. I will post pictures of our apartment soon. I want to organize and clean a little bit more before I show it to you! :)
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