Joni and I took a few tours around my new home. We began Thursday morning in the school "bus" driving into St. George to visit a fish market, spice market (complete with haggling vendors), Fort George, and finished up with a walk around a marina. The day was VERY warm and there were so many things to take in that we were thrilled to return to my dorm and enjoy a little rest time.
Emphasis on the little, here.
Shortly after we go back to campus, we had to pack up our things, refill our water bottles and get on another bus to head far out of town. This second tour of the day took us to a nutmeg production facility. After learning much about mace and nutmeg (which come from the same seed), we piled back into the buses and drove to a beautiful waterfall.
Some of our tour guides and classmates went ahead and started swimming in the cool water, and even a few went cliff jumping into the 18ft deep pool. We returned to the buses from the rocky river and were suddenly immersed in a tropical rain storm. Huge droplets of water were rapidly falling all over us, in January! For a Minnesotan this was somewhat disorienting. Honestly, two days before the thermometer registered nineteen below zero, and now I was drenched in a rain forest.
Our tour was running late, and the guides said it was about a half hour drive back to campus (which would get us back with 15 minutes to spare before our next event). An hour later, we were just outside the campus gates and were forced to head directly to the lecture hall, with damp shirts and sand in our shoes.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
Travel Pt. 1
The day began easily enough. Woke up, finished packing, took out the trash, changed my car insurance policy; you know, every day stuff. We also arranged for a taxi to pick us up and provide enough time to get to the airport.
The taxi arrived fifteen minutes early. Good sign! Things are starting well for us. When we arrived at MSP, we were quickly able to check in and happily found that all our baggage was at or below the weight limit. After speeding though security (late afternoon on Monday = no lines), we grabbed a bite to eat and sat at our gate. All was going well, but perhaps too well.
Granted, the ladies at the gate warned us that we may have a delay due to the weather moving into Chicago, but they said that they were going to board us anyways.
We got on, pulled back from the gate and proceeded towards the runway. Then the pilot came on the intercom (you can guess where it goes from here) to inform us that we were being delayed by Air Traffic Control because there were too many planes on the ground at O'Hare. He estimated that it would be about 25minutes.
Five minutes later he came on to update us. He said that now, it would be at least another hour. So, as we waited, everyone got out their cell phones, informed others of the situation and settled in for a wait.
<-- Joni and I managed to get a picture on the plane during the delay. (Smiling here only because it's a picture)
Shortly before the hour was us, the pilot came on again to tell us that we would be delayed at least another hour. Fortunately, this estimate was right. We got airborne and made into Chicago by 8pm. So much for a last quick visit to the city, but at least we were going to get some sleep before our 4am wakeup call.
Despite meeting the weight requirements, Joni and I discovered just how out of shape we were while dragging our luggage from the baggage claim to our hotel. Thank you Joni for booking us at such a CLOSE location! I don't think we could've gone much further.
So, I am finishing this note in bed, alarm clock set and wake-up call requested. The gun goes off at 4am on our southern race tomorrow. With luck, I'll be able to make a quick post from my new dorm room on a lush tropical island.
Thanks for reading, and take care!
The taxi arrived fifteen minutes early. Good sign! Things are starting well for us. When we arrived at MSP, we were quickly able to check in and happily found that all our baggage was at or below the weight limit. After speeding though security (late afternoon on Monday = no lines), we grabbed a bite to eat and sat at our gate. All was going well, but perhaps too well.
Granted, the ladies at the gate warned us that we may have a delay due to the weather moving into Chicago, but they said that they were going to board us anyways.
We got on, pulled back from the gate and proceeded towards the runway. Then the pilot came on the intercom (you can guess where it goes from here) to inform us that we were being delayed by Air Traffic Control because there were too many planes on the ground at O'Hare. He estimated that it would be about 25minutes.
Five minutes later he came on to update us. He said that now, it would be at least another hour. So, as we waited, everyone got out their cell phones, informed others of the situation and settled in for a wait.
<-- Joni and I managed to get a picture on the plane during the delay. (Smiling here only because it's a picture)Shortly before the hour was us, the pilot came on again to tell us that we would be delayed at least another hour. Fortunately, this estimate was right. We got airborne and made into Chicago by 8pm. So much for a last quick visit to the city, but at least we were going to get some sleep before our 4am wakeup call.
Despite meeting the weight requirements, Joni and I discovered just how out of shape we were while dragging our luggage from the baggage claim to our hotel. Thank you Joni for booking us at such a CLOSE location! I don't think we could've gone much further.
So, I am finishing this note in bed, alarm clock set and wake-up call requested. The gun goes off at 4am on our southern race tomorrow. With luck, I'll be able to make a quick post from my new dorm room on a lush tropical island.
Thanks for reading, and take care!
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