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.

Update

There are several reasons I haven't posted lately, not that there is anyone to blame but myself. The internet at home is very irregular, and I'm learning not to take it for granted. The girls and I have been busy baking cookies and other miscellaneous goodies and selling them to help pay for a mini vacation in Antigua this weekend. Every little bit helps!

Justin has been busy studying. His second round of tests again resulted in all A's. He only has a few more weeks of class and then come the real test of stamina and study skills: the shelves. Each class has a comprehensive exam covering all the material he has learned since January, and all in a back to back week of hell that starts in the beginning of August.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel and it is getting brighter every day. Personally, I'm so excited to visit home I'm already having dreams about it!

Vacationing in the West Indies: Dominica Style presents: a snorkling adventure

Hopefully you managed to read through that super long title (even if you had to reread it a few times to make sure it said what you thought it said). It is true... your favorite (and adventurous, if I may say so) island girl really tried her hand at snorkling again, and this time the results were much more favorable. The credit can go to Katherine and Christina, obviously it took a lot of persuading to get me back in the water at the same place that that still gives me nightmares (if you are confused, refer back to your saved chronicles back in email form, I believe the title was The Snorkling Misadventure).

So Katherine and I borrowed snorkling gear from Rachel and Brian and met Christina at the pier to do some snorkling. I'll admit, I was pretty nervous to get back in the water, so I made Katherine and Christina promise to say right next to me and even hold my hand if I needed it. They agreed, but not before making fun of me (how could they pass up such a rare chance?).

So we got in the water and waded in. So far so good.

Our first encounter was a small school of fish hanging out in the warm water close to shore. I remember thinking, "ok, can handle this" but I still checked to my right and left to make sure Katherine and Christina were there (better play it safe).

Not 10 seconds later we saw this:

Can you see that?!? A snake that lives underwater and therefore has all this extra manuverability to eat me (or at least bite me... come on now, it has nothing on a boa) and it was right there four feet below us. Of course I forgot my promises and I somehow forgot my sanity because instead of grabbing hands or turning back, I scrambled with my adult male (i.e. Brian) sized flippers (p.s. thanks for lending them to me) and kicked further out into the water. When I convinced myself it was safe enough to look back (even though I was secretly thinking the snake was right behind me and looking back would cause a head on collision with it) I saw Christina and Katherine cruising along like it was no big deal. But the good thing was that now that I had passed it, I was stuck out in the water until I could get enough nerve to swim back. I made Katherine and Christina hold me hands for the next 10 minutes until I relaxed and began enjoying myself.

And I did.

We swam out past the first reef (watch out for sea urchins)

And there was a very deep sandy area before the next reef where we practiced submerging completely under water with our snorkles.Hi Mom!

I practiced taking lots of pictures with Christina's underwater camera. I ordered an underwater case for our new camera, but it hasn't come yet (I'm sure it is sitting in Roseau where everyone is "on break, mon"). When it does, you are sure to see more pictures like this: And when you come visit, you can take a picture as awesome as these:This could be you!The rest of the afternoon was a lot of fun. I think I have a new favorite past time!