Funky Town

Apparently I was there and didn't even realize it. I went to a spouse party to celebrate September birthdays. I was talking to some new friends and they wanted to know how I was adjusting. Most days I stay at home waiting for Sam. I was diagnosed by my fellow spouses with funk. I tried to dispute it, but it is true. I was in a funk. I talked to my mom about this awhile back; I am not homesick. (I think that kinda shook her up.) Sure, I miss things... I miss fast food. (I would pinch a baby for some Rosa's, Chick-fil-a, Harrigans, Abuelo's, or McDonalds.) I miss my friends and family and the convenience of seeing them whenever I please. I am home though- Sam is my heart. All those months apart, I wasn't complete. I missed him so much. So why the funkiness? I can't pinpoint it. Perhaps it is because my life has been shook up. I am totally out of my element. Anywho, I believe it is over now.

I have been accepted as a Standardized Patient. Basically I am a pretend patient for the medical students. Training starts Friday and I am excited that I get to help. Thursday is the RSO (Ross Spouse Organization) bake sale. I am going to make Cake Mix Cookies. I love that recipe from Heloise! I am making a white cake mix cookies with walnuts and dark chocolate. I hope they turn out okay. Jacki, who has been an absolutely wonderful friend, opened up her full size kitchen to me! Yea! I don't have to bake them in a toaster oven! (By the way, I did make brownies in it already. They took forever!) Thursday is also when I am hosting Grey's night at our apartment. Last week it was just me and Monique (she is also here for the first time and her boyfriend is third semester too). It was fun! I am going to open it up to as many spouses who want to cram into my bedroom and watch on my tiny tv. Overall, I am going to be more social.

Tomorrow is Sam's birthday- HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVE!!!

(I promise to post more pictures!)

Green Papaya

I have managed to be lazy the last couple of days, camped in at our apartment- Green Papaya. Friday night we went to dinner at the restaurant downstairs, Riverside Cafe. During dinner Sam said that it was raining. I replied, nope. I looked behind me and it was! We were at the edge of the rainfall! That has never happened to me and it was kinda neat. Saturday I stayed home all day. We cooked a bit, nothing major- hotdogs for lunch and frito pie for dinner. Sunday we stayed home for the most part. My attempt at making mac&cheese was foiled by some deceased insects in the pasta. So we just had instant mashed potatoes and bbq sausage w/onions. We did take a late night excursion to 7-11. Seriously. There is a 7-11 here. (not an American 7-11 though) Earlier we heard that Hurricane Earl may come pay us a visit, so we bought some bottled water, a well needed can opener, and some other stuff. Tomorrow is the Indian River tour, so hopefully I will be able to post some more pictures here. Anwyho, until tomorrow...

Purple Cresent Moon

is the shape of the bruise on my bum. Moving in Dominica is not fun. Why? 1. Taxi Driver arrived late. Having all your stuff, stuffed into luggage, any bags/boxes you can find and then waiting for the driver to come, leads to a boring wait (everything is packed). 2. Taking all your stuff down 3 flights of stairs and to the entrance of the building (50 yards) is exhausting. 3. Getting to your new apartment and the only person you see doesn't speak English. We did get it out of him that the landlord wasn't there, but no time frame of when he would be back. 4. All of your belongings are on the ground floor and it starts to rain. 5. Deciding to move all belongs up 3 flights of stairs and unable to get motivated to hurry (even though it is raining) because you are already exhausted and sweaty. Thankfully, the person who was painting the stairs helped us. After all this, our landlord did show up and quickly showed us our apartment. I am so glad Sam asked how to use the a/c unit because it, as well as all the controls/appliances in our apartment are written in Chinese. After taking some time to recover, we decide to venture out to do some errands. On our way down we comment on how many stairs there are here, compared to our other place, and how using bathroom-like tile for stairs is not safe.. I go down. Hard. On the third to last step. I cried. I was beat down from our morning. What was worse is that I know our landlords would not have cared. They must have already had a complaint because there were small strips of grip on the steps. We went on to run our errands. Hours later, I developed a purple cresent moon on my bum and my right ring finger was swollen (I must have jammed it). Bonus... we have an ant invasion in our apartment. Small sugar ants (Sam's words)/ piss ants (mine). UGH!!! Yesterday I felt totally beat down. It eventually perked up. Thank goodness! Today we went to Roseau, the capital. It was crazy busy with people. We went to the "Walmart of Dominica". Unfortunately, due to time constraints and my tiredness, we didn't go to the grocery stores. I'm slightly worried. I'm having difficulty adapting- weather, physical activity, etc. I think my thyroid medicine may be off and me being a fat American is not helping me adjust as soon as I would hope. I feel at times extremely overheated and exhausted. Pray for me. Pray I don't take a tumble (Sam too) and that I finally adjust here!

Bed

Yep. That is where I spent most of my day. I was sick from 230 to 330 this morning. It was awful. Then came the extreme bloatedness. Needless to say, we hardly did anything. We did manage to go to the beach for a bit. It rained while we were there. It was strange seeing the rain fall on the ocean. Since I was down for the count today, tomorrow we have some shopping planned and packing. We move into our new place on Wednesday. Welp, until tomorrow!

Dominica

Finally! Seems like I have been preparing and anticipating this trip forever. I am going to go ahead and apologize now-- this blog is going to be spastic! First of all-- I am so glad I waited to go to a beach/ocean. It is gorgeous here. Hot and humid. I have never sweated so much in my life (not even when I was in Lockhart) The food is horrible. Bad. VERY BAD. No, I don't think you will fully understand just how bad. Tonight I had nachos... that had peas, green beans, tomatoes, beans, cheese, and weird chips. Yep. My stomach and I have never really been good friends. I have a feeling we are going to be mortal enemies. Welp, I hate to cut this so short, but I'm exhausted. Being a beach bum is hard... heeehee.. :) Here are some pictures!

Sense and Sensibility

Today I watched Sense and Sensibility (which I love). I started crying. It doesn't help that Kris and I watched A Single Man, which is also very good, beautifully filmed and of course made me cry too. I miss Sam. A LOT. Watching A Single Man, leaves you with the hard task of cherishing every moment with a loved one and life in general. I'm scared what if I don't appreciate Sam enough? What if he doesn't know how much I love him? After I composed myself, I started to watch Sense and Sensibility. One scene of the many that got me was the scene of Colonel Brandon staying to see how Mary Ann was. It reminded me of how Sam was always there when I was sick. When I was recovering he came over almost every single day. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful man in my life. "You save me, you complete me" (Push by Sarah McLachlan) I love you baby. (Sorry everybody! I should have warned you of the mushiness of this blog!)

Rain, rain go away!

My first day of unemployment and I'm stuck at home. Let me back track... Yesterday was my last day at CMC. I, being optimistic, thought I would handle it pretty well. Right... So I cried many times. It was difficult leaving that family. They saw me grow. I experienced a lot and made many life long friends. After staying the day, a few showed up at happy hour. I had a fun filled night. Today has been spent in yoga pants, a tank, hair up in a pony tail, and glasses. Very glamorous! Anyway, off to watch Kris play Super Mario Galaxy 2. It if funnier than it sounds... promise. I posted a pick of my fellow billers.... love them!