Caribbean Style

Well, I finally got a chance to take my computer to a place where I could get a wireless signal! The past two days were exhausting! I left on Thursday afternoon and spent the night in Dallas because the flight schedules work out so that I cannot make it to Saba in one day. It was good though because I got to see 2 good friends in Dallas that night. I couldn't fall asleep for some reason even though I was really tired, so I ended up getting about 2.5 hours of sleep before getting up at 2:45 to get ready to head to the airport because I had to be there 2 hours before my international flight. Well, that was a joke! No one even showed up to the ticket counter til 4:15 and was in no hurry to help any faster! And, for those who ever travel through DFW that early, nothing opens until 5:30, which was when I had to be on the plane. Blah!

ANYWAY, the rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Sleep on flight, wait in airport, sleep on flight, wait in airport. The last flight however was not one that I wanted to sleep on! It was AWESOME! 10 minute flight (compared to a 2+ hour ferry ride) and landing on the world's shortest commercial runway! It was so cool! The pilot was great and got it stopped in the shortest distance that I have seen (from watching YouTube videos). Believe it or not, all my bags made it with me all the way to Saba! (My boxes however have not arrived yet and will probably be here on Monday at the earliest). Took a taxi to the school and checked in to my room.

The rooms are pretty nice, nothing special though. 4 walls, a bed, dresser, desk and closet. I share a bathroom with one guy (Josh, from Liberty) and it is one of the smallest bathrooms I have seen! ITTY BITTY shower, toilet and sink. You could almost brush your teeth and sit on the toilet! And everything around here is about water conservation, they say to shut off the shower while you lather up... you pretty much have no choice because there is no where to go to get away from the water while it is running! haha

I have gotten everything unpacked and mostly settled in (minus my boxes). The bed is not anything special, but I have a mattress pad coming in my boxes so that should make it better.

There is nothing special or beautiful about the island (any more than I expected anyway). When I was in the airport in St. Maarten, there were several upper semester students who were flying with me and I asked them if they liked it. Everyone responded with "No." Great.... But going on to talk with them, the reason they said no, was because the island is so small that there is nothing to do. I really expected this though, so it's not something that I am ill-prepared for. I am sure that it will get to me eventually, especially once school starts, but I know it's coming and am ready for it.

I have met sooo many people since I have been here and I guarantee that I can't remember half of their names! Everyone is very friendly and helpful with is awesome! I'm kinda at the point where I am ready to just get this train rolling! The sooner it starts, the sooner I can get back to everyone back home. I miss you all a lot! Thank you guys sooo much for your prayers.

I have today and tomorrow to hangout with people and then Monday is orientation, followed by the first day of class on Tuesday! I haven't taken any pics yet, because the sun set about the time I got to the dorms, so I'll start taking some today! I'll try to keep updating this blog often since I can't talk to everyone of you! I do have Skype, so if you guys want to chat anytime, my screenname is colipj. I'm gonna try to keep my Twitter account going strong (kewlwhip) and I'll be on Facebook too.


Well, I guess that's about all there is to update so far! I'm gonna find some people to get some food with! I need to make a trip to Windwardside today to go to the market (the rest are closed today, and everything is closed on Sunday). Once again, thanks for your prayers; they were definitely heard! :)