Jolly Holiday

There were several reasons why a mini vacation in Antigua seemed like a reasonable request in my opinion: 1. Christina's bachelorette party (she's getting married in August!) 2. Leslie's last semester in Dominica (she just found out she's staying until December!) 3. I haven't left the island in 7 months (except for a day trip to Les Saintes)

To help with the costs, we all baked dozens of cookies and brownies and cupcakes and sold them to the students. We raised enough to pay for our taxis to the airport and hotel round trip as well as the departure taxes both islands charge to leave.

On Friday morning I was getting my bags together to leave for the airport when I realized I couldn't find my passport. I had 45 minutes until the taxi came. I looked everywhere, called Christina in a panic, began sweating profusely, trashed the house, cried, imagined what it would be like to not go, searched the house again, and then right as time was up I found it. I'm so embarrassed to tell you it was in my purse. It made for a terrible beginning to the trip, and I was worried I had set the tone for the whole vacation. Plus I was super sweaty.

We were on our way!Our ride to the airport was uneventful. We were dropped off and checked in and then waited for our flight. Although it was delayed over 30 minutes, we finally boarded for a quick island hop over to Antigua.

We made it to Antigua where I was in awe of 1. the central air conditioning inside the airport (our airport does NOT have that) 2. A real luggage claim area (our airport stacks suitcases up along the wall!)

And I was in for even more shock on the ride to the resort:1. real two lane roads with a stripe down the middle 2. stop lights! 3. a Texaco with a real quick mart 4. cows in a fenced in pasture (and not tied to mango trees!)

We checked into the hotel and while we waited for our room to be ready, we made a beeline for the buffet.

Our three goals for the weekend were to eat, drink, and lay on the beach (plus take TONS of pictures). With one down, we had two to go. But first we had to drop our luggage off in the room. We had heard rumours of the men in Antigua being very forward, and we got our first taste of it with our bellhop who was not too shy to tell us he wished he was staying in the room with us,

and after carrying our bags in proceded to make himself comfortable and used the remote control to turn on the television, and started flipping through the channels. Now we were four girls ready for cold drinks and a hot beach, and we weren't going stand for any of that. We literally had to push him out the door so we could change into swimsuits.

Beach...check now for some frosty drinks.

We headed to the pool and the swim up bar. It was hard to believe only that morning I was thinking I wouldn't ever find my passport!

That night we had dinner at Utsav, an Indian restaurant on the resort. I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed my curried fish with coconut rice.

After dinner we headed over to the bar and nightly entertainment where a local dance group performed. Rachel made a sash to celebrate Christina's Bachelorette. We only made her wear it for a little while. Then we headed out for a walk along the beach that ended with Rachel, Leslie, and Christina trying out old cheerleading stunts for fun.

When we got back to the room, we were shocked to discover our air conditioner had leaked cold water all onto the floor. After cleaning and calling for help, we fell asleep before anyone came to fix it.

The next morning we wandered over to a real grocery store to purchase a few novelties before hitting up the beach. Now when I say novelties, I really talking about standard staples that you take for granted while we obsess and pine away over in Dominica. For instance, milk. Yes, it may seem like an ordinary request, but let me tell you, the shelf milk here is very different from the pasteurized refrigerated version you get at the HEB.

This grocery store had real automatic doors that whooshed the air conditioning out to greet you at the entry. I was in heaven. They had real milk. Ricotta Cheese. Green Grapes. Breakfast sausage. couscous. ocean spray juice. aisles and aisles of food!

We made our purchases and returned to the resort where we splurged on ice cream snickers before a lunch of cheeseburgers and fries. Mmmm...real beef! Then it was back to the beach for a long afternoon of drinks and photos. We took out the paddle boats and kayaks, snorkeled around, searched for seashells, and goofed around in the gift shop before returning to the beach to bask in the late afternoon sun. We were approached by a local guy who asked us if "we were Charlie's lost angels" because we were so beautiful. Such an original pick up line!

For our last dinner, we ate at Lydia's Seafood Restaurant. It was a delicious meal right on the water.

Afterwards we decided to be adventurous and headed over to the casino. The resort graciously provided transportation via golf cart shuttles, and as we waited we were again confronted by a very forward security guard who wanted to talk. When he asked our names, Christina introduced herself and he turned to me. I stuck out my hand and offered the name Shamika with a completely straight face. Unfortunately no one else could keep from laughing. Of course he noticed, only because Christina was laughing so hard she was crying and in a desperate attempt to keep my cover, i replied very matter of factly, "they always make fun of my name, they just don't think a white girl like me should be named Shamika." I don't think he really believed me, and Leslie and Rachel introduced themselves and just as I was starting to feel like we needed to end the conversation, we were greeted by the headlights of a small golf cart and whisked away.

My 10 e.c. dollars didn't last long in the slot machines. In fact, I really didn't enjoy the casino very much, we were practically the only ones there and there wasn't very much ambiance. There were, however, automatic flushing toilets! Even the smallest conveniences awes me these days...

Shamika and the girls from Dominica!

On our way back to the resort we wandered into a small bar where it was karaoke night. How could we resist? From the looks of the place in the pictures the bar looks pretty empty, but don't be fooled. We had a small crowd that hovered near the bar trying to drown out the offkey singing we delivered with synchronized dance moves. I know it is hard to believe, but someone actually booed us. So to show them what's up, Rachel and I preformed a duet to the hit single by Melissa Etheridge, Come to my Window.

Really. We did. And I have it on video. I'll try and figure out how to post it, but you can't boo (my poor ego can't take it anymore). We closed down the bar with that last karaoke and made it back to our room where the air conditioner was still leaking. Rachel and I decided to run out to the beach and hop in the water one last time since our flight left early the next morning.

We grabbed our last taste of real food before catching a cab to the airport. Our flight was delayed again, which meant sitting around in the Antigua airport instead of on the beach.But I'm not frowning about that, I got gum all over my shirt in the waiting area.

We made it home without incident. I will say one of the best things about the whole weekend was not sweating at all. I was really worried that when I come home (in less than a month, hooray!) I would continue sweating profusely. But I have good news! Apparently my sweat glands are only hyperactive here in Dominica.