So I know people were wondering when I was going to head to the Caymans to visit Debi. The answer is (or was) April 23-30th. I was very excited to be heading to the fun and sun for a few much deserved days of relaxation. I have learned more and more that flying from the east coast is so much cheaper than flying from Calgary so I found myself a nice round-trip ticket for around $270CAD (yes I said round-trip). I did have a small heart attack a few weeks before my trip though as I learned that American Airlines (who I flew with), had cancelled ALL thier flights one weekend to fix a problem with the wirering on ALL thier planes but they fixed the issues, no delays and my flights were very uneventful. But let's go back a few hours though.
My beach ready pedicure.
Day one really started the night before as I headed to work Tuesday night, completed my 12 hour shift and then headed home Wednesday morning to finish packing and cleaning and all that kind of stuff. I did not have a lot to do (mostly stuff just had to be put in my suitcase and then I would be ready to go.) Of course I was ready to head to the airport by 1130 and my flight did not leave until 1520 so I did have some time to kill. I decided against taking a nap because I was very afraid I would sleep through my flight.
I decided instead to head to airport nice and early because anyone who knows me knows I would much rather waste time at the gate and have something change and at least be at the airport where I could fix it instead of waiting at home and get to the airport and be all surprised. The lady at American Airlines did really freak me out a little when she tried to remove my work VISA from my passport…..she some how missed the “Multiple Entry” written across it in big red letters. Once I stopped that from happening though the flight to Miami was perfectly uneventful.
The flight from Miami to Grand Cayman was also uneventful…..however we did get in later than I thought because once again I had forgotten that the Caribbean does not observe daylight savings time and the Caymans are actually an hour behind us right now (EST that is). A few of us were a little surprised when our itineraries said the flight was 27 minutes and it actually turned into one hour and 6 minutes. For a second I was afraid Debi would be sitting around waiting for me but of course her watch was set correctly so no worries.
Mild stress #2 came when I got to immigration and realized I did not know Debi’s address (rookie mistake). Of course that would be information I would need to provide them. Luckily Debi is in their system (because of her work permit) so all I had to do was give them her phone number and enter the country under her care (If I did not leave in my allotted 30 days they would come looking for her.....hehe). Also the fact that I carry one of the most prominent last names on the Island also helped I think (It certainly helped at customs because I may not have completely declared how much stuff I was bringing Deb).
Ok so this picture was not taken on Day One but it totally belongs on this page.
So heading to the Cayamn Islands was a little like heading home for the first time since it is the birth place of Grampa Bodden. Debi is currently working on tracing the family to see if there are any relatives left however she did have to take a break while I was there. As you will see in other posts, to be a Bodden in the Caymans is kind of like being a part of everything. We have a district and a town and and a road and a plaza and a place and beverage company and a duty free liquor store at the airport and lots of other things (of course when I say "we" I mean Boddens in general).
So as I met Debi outside it was a quick welcome (and the first relization that it was bastard hot down there) and then a "come on we have to hurry we have 8:30pm dinner reservations" and thus it all began. I was allowed to go to her place though, drop off my stuff and change clothes (although I did still smell like airplane but it is ok). We had a spectacular dinner at a place named Bed (which I would have liked to have seen earlier considering the only sleep I had gotten since coming home from work was about 2 hours on a plane). After dinner there was a band playing next door so we had to check them out. I learned very quickly how many Canadians are on the Island because the very first song I heard was the Tragically Hip classic, New Orleans is Sinking. As Debi informed me the two biggest immigrant populations on the island are Jamaicans and Canadians.
Debi.....looking much more awake than I was
A couple new Canadian friends, Ben and.....the blond girl I met day one....like I can be expected to remember the names of ALL the people Deb introduced me to.
Eventually Deb and I did go home. She actually had a very long day of work ahead of her and well, I needed to get some rest before I hit the beach. I knew there would be a lot more to do over the coming days.Julie
No comments:
Post a Comment