So much to say!

Tuesday morning I went to Roseau with some other spouses. When I got up to take my shower the hot water was still not turned on. I looked at myself in the mirror and basically looked like Medusa, so a shower was not optional. I took the coldest shower I think I have ever had. It literally took my breath away. I was shivering like a puppy after it was over and my teeth were chattering uncontrollably. When I got out Ryan had the blow dryer already turned on for me so I could try to warm up. When he kissed me goodbye he died out laughing because my lips were freezing. I finally warmed up and was able to stop shaking. It was a very enjoyable trip and it is always good to get away and be around other girls.

Tuesday night I made a homemade pizza. I mean I made the dough for the crust and everything. It was delicious! Ryan ate about 3/4 of it. I was pretty proud. Ryan was extremely exhausted on Tuesday night and asked if I could be ready for bed at 10:00 (we usually go to bed at 12 or 12:30). Well of course I said yes. He fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow and I, however, laid wide awake until after 1:00 AM. I tried my best not to move so I would not wake him.

Wednesday morning there was still no hot water when Ryan was getting ready for school. I tried to turn it on at around 11:30 and it came on! I can honestly not remember the last time I was so excited! I was running through the room grabbing my towel and practically breaking my neck trying to jump into the HOT shower! I quickly got my face washed and my hair all shampooed and lathered when the hot water went away! I was so upset. I refused to take another freezing cold shower, so I fixed our lunch with shampoo suds running down my back. At around noon the hot water came on for good. It may seem silly to people back home, but thanking God for the hot water has become part of my prayers.

Ryan has been a studying maniac this week. I mean, I knew that he was going to have to study a lot, but I basically see him for an hour at lunch and about an hour before we go to bed. Is that how it's going to be for the next 4 years?? Anyway, I called Ralna last night and said "I don't want to be by myself for dinner tonight! Can I bring dinner to your house?". So I headed out to take dinner to Ralna and her kids. My bag was packed full with homemade lasagna (with my homemade ricotta) and a chocolate cheesecake that I made from scratch. I called a taxi to pick my up and before we got to her house we came to some construction. The driver said that there was no other way to get there except by foot. Well, it was dark outside so he asked if I needed him to walk with me. Of course I said yes. So, here we go, just me, my bag full of food, and my big Dominican taxi driver escort, walking through a construction sight. I felt like I should have had a hard hat on. The workers had to put a board down for us to balance beam across. Luckily, he carried my big bag of food. As I was walking across I was thinking "OK, Ashley, now is not the time to be clumsy. If you fall off this board, that's probably sewage you'll be landing in." Luckily, we made it safely across and walked in the dark, through the jungle together until I was safely at Ralna's. Obviously, I tipped him pretty good for his help.

I had a lot of fun hanging out with Ralna and the kids. Ryan and Craig stayed in the lab until midnight. We waited until they got home so that Ryan could walk with me past the construction sight where we could be picked up by a taxi. A taxi that would never come, we thought. Ryan called about 20 times. Finally, about 30 minutes later, one showed up for us.

Ross notified Ryan yesterday that we had 4 packages!! It was like Christmas. So this morning I was supposed to meet Ralna on campus at 8:15 so we could go into Portsmouth and pick up my mail. The quickest trips turn into the entire morning here. When we got to the post office we were informed that the customs girl was sick today and that we could try to come back in an hour. We had to just stroll around for an hour (in the extreme heat) and then finally went back to the post office. Luckily, another customs agent showed up to go through my packages. He only charged me 25 EC!!! That's about $10 US. That's great because they can charge you whatever they want, it's left to their discretion. Thanks for the packages Mom and Nana!! Thank you so much! It was like Christmas opening them and squealing over all of the things that we got. :)

We finally got home at about 10:40 and I was supposed to be back at campus at 11:00 to go read to some of the local children. We go every Thursday to one of the local schools and help children who are having trouble with their reading. I really enjoyed that. My group is of 7 and 8 year olds. I am planning to do this as long as we are on the island ( a little over a year), so hopefully I will be able to help them a lot.

That's pretty much it. Marissa came over tonight to watch The Office, which was hilarious. Ryan came home at about 10:15 and is studying. Sometimes he lets me participate. Like, he will draw a graph and let me grade it. I like to feel like I'm helping out! He is going to be studying a lot this weekend, so I may not get time on the computer to blog. I'll do my best.

I took some pictures of Roseau and some of the local school that I want to post. Also, there was a big boa constrictor dean on the main road. Apparently, they have those here and they can get up to 10 feet! Theo (my driver friend) says that I should not see one the entire time I'm on the island unless I walk in the rain forest. I hope he's right. I also found out that they have banana spiders. You should google that and look at the picture. They're bigger than your hand. I'm also staying away from banana trees these days. The good news is there are no poisonous snakes or spiders on the island. Whew!