Oops!

Oops! So I guess it's been like 11 days since I last posted! Haha I'm sure you can determine that it means I have NOTHING going on!! It is wicked hot all the time. And this is MY blog so I'm going to complain as much as I want! I'm mostly blown away how people keep telling me it's going to get hotter, oh well I guess that's what the beach is for!

The past week and a half has been fun, Josh and I went to Zee Best for breakfast 2 Sundays ago, and it was the most fabulous breakfast dining experience I've ever had. We had a basket of croissants, freshly squeezed orange juice, and a little pot of pressed coffee just for us. Josh's eggs benedict were perfectly poached and my crepe was full of delicious scrambled eggs and Gruyere. Yummm! I know I'm going on and on but breakfast is the best meal of ALL time and, aside from my beloved Maine lobsters, I don't want to eat stupid lunch or dinner!

We spend most of our budget on groceries and personally I think it's great. I am learning how to shop for the month and the week, how to make a healthy and reasonable menu, and I get to cook every night which is always better than eating out :) I'm still no good at really housekeeping, I keep things tidy but ultimately Martha Stewart I am not!

Coming soon: A photo tour of our apartment!

Amanda

Month One, Done!

Today is exactly one month since we first arrived, CRAZY! I haven't posted in awhile mostly because I've been preoccupied with drinking, hehehe! Josh had his first exams on Monday, which meant he was studying all weekend, which meant I had to leave him alone, which meant I went out with the girls and just partied :) Last week I went out to Tequila's with a couple ladies and drank margaritas, I don't know a better way to pass an evening! They were delicious and it's always nice to get out of the house. Haha I paid with my babysitting money, like I was in high school again, ridiculous!

Saturday and Sunday the Spouses Org has a burrito sale, so the students that were trapped studying all weekend could have some form of sustainence. It was fun and there was a nice turn out, everyone loves a homemade burrito :) Saturday night however, I went out with some more spouses and I guess you could say we casino hopped. We started near the French side and worked our way back to Simpson Bay. It was amazingly fun, and it kept me busy until damn near 3:00 in the morning. Needless to say, I didn't do anything on Sunday, except lay around and feel sorry for myself :)

Monday was the big day and the block exams wore out every student I met. Josh needed to relax badly so obviously we went to BB's, the corner dive bar. After sitting with a couple of his classmates we got on a bus and went to Sunset Beach Bar again. Silly me ordered a Long Island Iced Tea, and oh boy I was almost instantly sleepy. The sun and too much drinking really wears you out down here. I made it home just fine but there was no way I was going out Monday night. A little lounge near the school named Khush offered half off drinks and from what I hear, a really nice party. Josh went for a couple hours with his buddies, but I was out of commission!! I did some laundry, cleaned up the apartment, read my Sookie Stackhouse novel and fell asleep! It was luxurious! I am sorry I missed the martini's but I have a feeling I will end up there again at some point :)

So now Josh is back to studying and I am back to doing whatever it is I do in a day :)

Volleyball Pictures!

After a Great Weekend

The internet has been out or otherwise unreliable since Friday morning when the power and water went out for about 8 hours. Here is the article. It was a really bad start to the day, no electricity and no water for showers, ugh, oh St. Maarten. We were thrilled when eventually everything came back on early in the afternoon. Friday was the White Coat Ceremony after all! It was such a nice event, although some would say it was long and boring, I didn't mind all the speeches :)

After the Ceremony there was dinner and partying at the nightclub Bliss. It was a really fun place, it's all open air and right on the ocean. Naturally, the drink prices reflected the luxe atmosphere and I don't think we'll be spending a lot of time there outside of organized activities!

On Saturday Josh and I rented a car so we could go out rather than be trapped in and near our apartment. We got the best shwarma's EVER in Simpson Bay and then went to the movies right next door. I bet you couldn't have guessed that the power went out in the movie! It was only for a second but we were like "Omg it never works". It was a very nice relaxed night, a perfect compliment to the craziness of Friday night at Bliss.

On Sunday we found ourselves driving around Marigot and Philipsburg. Much to our dismay everything was closed. Literally, they looked like ghost towns. Philipsburg in particular seriously shuts down when cruise ships aren't around. It was still a gorgeous day and a fun drive. I'm loving the French side more and more each time we hop over there. We will have to make real plans next time, not just driving around and seeing what's opened. Sunday night was time to study for Josh and I made dinner, read, and watched TV. I think that's probably the best way to spend Sunday night.

Monday it was back to the grind. Well, I'm not nearly as busy as Josh, but I've been getting up with him so I have the morning to get stuff done. He had to reset our internet router in the afternoon so it was FINALLY working. Good work babe! I babysat officially for the first time, those boys are so funny! They are really well behaved and self reliant, they know what they have to do and they do it. Although a 9 year old and 4 year old don't really have much homework to speak of, so there's not much to do! Obviously the power went out AGAIN monday night. Haha right in the middle of dinner! At least it was cooked, but we had to eat by flashlight. We are both getting a little tired of near daily power outages. If you have electricity, cable, internet, and water all at the same time it is luxurious. Josh is studying studying studying, he has his first block exams next week. Stressful!

Today my plans are laundry and working out this morning, then at noon I have my ICM job until 2, then from 2-4:30 is babysitting! Josh no doubt will be studying like crazy but it's looking to be a great day so far!

Fun on the Beach!

Today is Ascension Day and it's an island holiday. The students do not have classes today so that means last night was a good night to drink :) Josh and I met a couple of his friends at the casino (which is right next to campus by the way) to watch the Bruins game. We purchased 2 buckets of beer and I, of course, got a couple fruity drinks. It really hit the spot. After the game the boys decided to gamble a bit. Josh turned $60 into $250 at the blackjack tables, YAY, good work babe! Anyways, after coming home and drunk skyping a couple friends I fell asleep at around 2 am.

Today, a couple student groups are throwing a volleyball tourney/cookout on the beach. AMSA and the fraternity here are sponsoring it and it should be a lot of fun. Food and beer are free and the winners of the volleyball game win free bottle service at Bliss after the White Coat Ceremony on Friday, or so I hear, I don't really know for sure!! I will definatly take pictures of that and post it on here for everyone to see. Now it's time to get ready for the fun!

Amanda

Time to Get to Work

Yesterday I started babysitting for two awesome little boys! They are children of two professors at AUC and I think it's going to be a lot of fun. They are ages 9 and 4 and just so polite and outgoing. I was so shy at their age it's funny to see how talkative they are. It's gonna be a really fun summer!

Today I started training to be an SP (Standardized Patient) for the ICM (Intro. to Clinical Medicine) class. So far I'm not a very good actress but I will just practice practice practice! Again, it's gonna be a lot of fun and bonus many of the spouses do it too!

Last night we got a really good taste of how crazy and unreliable the electricity can be. The power kept going out and coming back on for several hours. It would have been fine during the day but it kept waking us up as we tried to sleep. Needless to say I was sooo sleepy all day!

Also, last night for dinner I made the most banging pork chops EVER. I braised them with an onion and mustard sauce and made sour cream and chive mashed potatoes, soooo good :) Haha, it's not very exciting but figuring out how to grocery shop and cook with in our confined little kitchen. We were forewarned about the prices here, but they are ok so far. Meat, especially chicken is pricey and some vegetables are expensive, but mostly day to day grocery prices are similar to those back in CT. Back to our kitchen appliances, they are so wee tiny! Our neighbors have standard sized refridgerators and ovens so I don't know why we got the little ones, but oh well, they will work just fine!

I used the gym at AUC and sometime this week (whenever I get around to it) I will be able to get my own spouses ID badge. I think it's really great that I am able to get Josh's student discount and use all the facilites on campus, it opens up even more oppotunites to me :)

Tonight Josh and I have big plans to watch Lost (hooray prime time!) and devour some honey pizza!

Amanda

Two Weeks Flew By

First of all, let me start by saying Happy Mother's Day! For anyone who reads this that is a mother :) The past few days have been a combination of busy and infamously boring. The students started classes last week so by Thursday I had to already be used to Josh being gone or when he is here, studying. I'm ok with this, that's what we're here for!

Friday night the Spouses org invited us all out to dinner at the Sunset Beach Bar. That place is so much fun!! Josh and I headed over there when we first arrived to get a couple drinks, topless women drink free, alas we did not drink for free. For anyone who doesn't know, the bar is on a little strip of beach right next to the airport landing strip. Watching the planes come in is really an incredible sight, I had so much fun! Anyways Friday night was no exception, we had a lot of fun and met some really awesome people :) All of the spouses and their students are so helpful and they really make sure all the newcomers have everything we need. They are a great resource and I'm happy I get to be a part of that community. For example, we do not have our rental car anymore and have to walk everywhere, as previously addressed with our grocery store walk :) The Sunset Beach Bar is farther away than the grocery store, just for reference. After I was unable to get in touch with anyone who might be able to drive us, Josh decided we should just walk there. Oh boy here we go. Luckily it was a lovely evening, not too hot, and this time I was ready albeit still reluctantly. As we were trudging through the golf course a fellow spouse recognized us and gave us a ride :) Yaay! See everyone is so nice!

Saturday was another outing, this time with just the Spouses. We all went out to lunch at Pineapple Pete's in Simpson Bay. I really like it, and I especially liked getting to meet even more spouses! Some people have children, some don't, some have even had their babies on the island (!), and some people, like me, are dedicated boyfriends and girlfriends. Either way we are all here to support our students and each other :)

Today Josh and I trekking yet again through the golf course into Maho. This time it was my idea! We are gonna look for a book for me to read, maybe pick up a new pair of earrings (I lost mine in the ocean, who wears earrings in the ocean?!), and inevitably pick up some groceries. It's hot today but oh well, I'd better get used to it!! Hopefully we will go to the beach afterwards!

Amanda

Recap

We have been here for 9 days so far and have done so much in that time! We took the rental car all the way around the island. The French side is marvelous and I can't wait to spend more time there, go to Orient Bay and sample some of the cuisine! We have gone out on the Dutch side for dinner and drinks in Simpson Bay a couple of times, super fun. So far Skipjack's is my favorite and I can't wait to really try some Caribbean lobster! We went to the Cost U Less (essentially a BJ's orCostco) to load up on food and other necessities for the month. And since we returned the car last Saturday we've been exploring all the Cupecoy/Maho area on foot!

Our apartment is about a 5 minute walk to the AUC campus and about 7 to the Mullet Bay beach! One particularly hot afternoon when we didn't have a car we decided to walk to the Food Express and get a couple groceries. It's about a mile through the golf course, about 20 minutes each way. It doesn't sound so bad but I can't emphasize how hot it was that day! My tank top was wet with sweat and every part of my skin was burning! Josh told me I was being a baby, but I maintain that any walk that makes your skin blister is pretty tough! Subsequently my skin is peeling off my shoulders now, like a gross lizard, hehe :)

We shipped down 5 boxes of stuff for the apartment, kitchen stuff, towels, the coffee maker, the TV, things like that. I DO NOT recommend University Books Online by the way. They were incredibly expensive and the boxes looked like they went through war. They were all ripped and crumpled, and items inside were damaged and broken. The TV made it though! Lucky for them I think Josh would have flown back to the US just to punch someone in the face if his TV was broken!!!

The cat is adjusting she sleeps under the bed all day and terrorizes us at night when it's cool and she's finally awake. I'm going to start terrorizing her during to day just to see how she likes it!

We have met lots of great people so far, women from the spouses org and other students. Everyone is so nice, they are all really genuine people. It's rare to meet this many relaxed and generous people, it's completely refreshing and makes me truly happy! There are so many opportunites to meet people and stay busy I can't wait! Everyone talks about how boring it can get down here, we will see, but I haven't been bored yet!

Amanda

Getting here...

I have traveled quite a bit in my life, and our journey down here quickly made its way up to my No.2 Worst Travel Experience Ever (getting home from Australia is No.1 but that's a completely different story). Our day started early around 4:00 am, not uncommon for those traveling abroad. When we checked into US Airways one of our bags was 65lbs, so we had to repack in the airport and made some hasty decisions to purge a couple shirts, hangers, and a sweatshirt :( Again, I've had to do this before, being a notorious overpacker! So in all, we had 4 checked bags, 2 carry ons (one of which being a cat), and we each had a personal item.

Here's where the fun really begins. Waiting at our gate we were informed that our flight was delayed an hour due to the fog in Philly. So we had to scramble to get another flight from Philly to St.Maarten. Well that didn't exist! So US Airways was able to get us to Philly, then to Miami, then onto an American Airlines flight to St. Maarten. Which literally doubled our travel time from 6 hours to 12 hours *sigh* it happens. Turns out though that in Miami in order to get into a different airline we had to physically leave the airport, walk through construction, and walk back in through American Airlines. Well now we are crunched for time and the cat peed in her little crate and even though I have wipies for her it's still gross. As we checked in for the second time that day we had to pay another $150 for the airlines pet fee, and were hasseled about not having her microchipped. It is not a requirement to have your pet microchipped in St.Maarten, just for reference if anybody ever needs to know. But the airline didn't know that and kindly explained how they will not allow my cat to enter the island without a microchip and will probably euthanize her. What!? No Way! So after much insistence from me that my kitty was all set, they finally let us go and said my cat can travel at her own risk. Needless to say she is fine and lovin the sun :)

After leaving Miami we landed in St. Maarten 6 hours after we were supposed to. And of course because of the chaos of the trip we are missing one bag! Just one! Due to weather delays and cancellations, US airways had lost something like 108 bags total going to St. Maarten, from 2 or 3 different flights. Needless to say the lost luggage line was 60 people deep and we were at the very very end. After about 45 minutes and not moving at all, we decided to cut our losses and come back the next day to claim our bag. This is a risky move and I don't completely recommend it, it worked out for us fortunately, but I digress. Back at the airport we were supposed to meet our rental car person at the desk. Since, we were 6 hours late at this point and unable to contact them they didn't even know if they had a car available for us. They did, but they really wanted to give us a hard time about it! So finally, at around 10:00 pm we are on our way to my sponsers apartment. Did I forget to mention that our apartment told us last minute that we wouldn't be able to move in on Monday? After much grappling with the cost of hotel prices, my Spouses Organization sponser offered to let us stay at her apartment while she and her student were gone for the break! She was a livesaver, but now how do we find this place at 10:00 at night? The streets barely have signs on them, one second you're near the ocean and the next you're passing a casino, and it's dark! Thank god, due mostly in part to my excellent navigation skills ;) that was the easy part, we got turned around once but we found it!

What a day that was! When we arrived we immediatly met the upstairs nieghbor who made us feel right at home, the cat was thrilled to finally be out of her crate, and we were thrilled to sleep in a comfy airconditioned room:) It was such a long day but it was worth every bit of trouble, It is so beautiful here and after a couple days of adjustment we are very very happy!

Amanda