Day 177 - Barbados & My Baby!

In April of 2003 I took a red eye flight from LA to Atlanta to Grand Cayman. I remember now why I waited 7 years before I flew it again. There is nothing less satisfying than trying to sleep sitting up, then having to wake up in the wee hours of the morning, wander around aimlessly & then board another plane. I will say, however, that I thoroughly enjoyed the row of three empty seats all to myself! I slept the entire way to Barbados! There was a lady traveling alone across the aisle from me. She kept looking at me wistfully, as though she wanted to cuddle up beside me in my row of freedom. No chance Sista! I was down for the count!

As I waited for the next flight, I picked up a Mango Tango juice by Odwalla. They have become a staple in my diet. I love to have some juice in the a.m. & I enjoy the mango juice! I also bought a fruit salad to try & flush out the McD’s from the night before. Ugh. Next door to the juice shop was a bookstore. I found a very interesting book called, ‘The End of Overeating’. The author was a former head hauncho of the FDA. I’m not too heavy into it just yet, as I’m reading Be The Pack Leader by Cesar Millan (another great read!).


I sat at the gate waiting patiently for the plane to be ready. Thankfully there were some extra blankets on the desk & no one was there to ask, so I helped myself. Curled up with my book, juice, fruit cup & wi-fi connection, I passed the time quite smoothly.


To my sanity, the attendant brought me a little tag telling me that Valentina was safely onboard the plane. He didn’t comment on her status – hot, cold, terrified, content… I guess I would find out in a few short hours!


The queue for immigration was insane. I think there were about 15-20 zig-zag lines to weave through. The heat & humidity were intense. I people watched for the lack of anything else to do. There was a lovely couple behind me, they were going on their first cruise together. The couple in front of me were just bizarre. I think they were very wealthy & money hadn’t bought them great parenting skills. The twin boys were in a big stroller with bottles. I swear the kids were at least 3, if not 4 years old. Dad had slightly ‘feminine’ tendencies & Mom had a bit of a ‘vacant’ look to her. Admittedly, they may have just come off of a red eye flight as well, but even still, it was pretty interesting to people watch their antics!


I was finally allowed into the country of Barbados! Now, where was Jaco? He had told me he would meet me between 2 & 3. I thought, ‘What?! Three? Why would he make me wait an hour?’ After waiting in line for immigration, I clearly understood why.


I collected my luggage & was about to leave the terminal when I realized, ‘Wait! Where’s the cardboard box with all my prescriptions in it?!’ I couldn’t see it anywhere! Oh no! Panic! I stood in line to file a report, nervous & getting anxious about not having my supplements for 3 weeks! That was a lot of money & a lot of health in that box!! Finally it was my turn. As she was searching my flight details, I thought I would wander over & take one more look. And there it was. Wedged between 2 big suitcases. No wonder I had missed it so many times! Oh thank goodness! I was so happy to see that cardboard box!


It was then that I realized something was wet on my suitcase. Oh no. Yup. Both cases. 3 bottles of DMSO had leaked ALL over my clothes, papers & well, everything was soaked! If you remember, DMSO is the stuff that smells like all sorts of foul things! I prayed it would wash off & not stain or stink!


I passed through customs inspection (with flying colours!), although they were a little suspicious about my 15 lb box of pills! They thought I was a Doctor! :o)


I walked out into Barbados & there he was! My Man, Jaco! Oh it was so great to see him! I have missed him so much! Hugs & kisses & squeezes, we found our cab driver & made our way to the ship. We’d only been in the car 5 minutes & had our first tiff, but thankfully it didn’t last long! :o)


We waited on the pier for Valentina to arrive. She was pretty happy to see us! She still wasn’t allowed out of her carrier until we were on the ship. We stopped for a quick Em-BARK-ation photo - :o) - & then found our way to the cabin. She was pretty happy to get out of that carrier. She didn’t seem to affected by it, although she was very happy to see her Papa & her Mama! I think Mama was happiest of all!


Jaco had clinic shortly thereafter, so I took the chance to unpack & settle in. As usual I like to tidy & rearrange, much to Jaco’s dismay. Thankfully this cabin has plenty of drawers & cupboards, so there is NO excuse to have it unkempt, right Babe? :o)


As cabins go, it’s pretty posh. There is a narrow corridor, turning right leads you into the sitting area. There is a wrap around couch with a hide-a-bed, chairs, desk, china cabinet, fridge, TV, etc, etc. Turning again takes you into a hallway with 2 closets, a mirror, 4 drawers & then the bathroom. It has a tub, yes, a tub. Believe it or not, tubs are rare on ships. The medicine cabinet is HUGE. I have never seen such a big cabinet! Lastly is the bedroom. A nice queen size bed, TV, phone, desk, drawers, nightstands & great lighting for hair & make up. :o) I’m not grumbling at all! It’s plenty bigger than any room I’ve had back home or on ships!


Anyhow, I’m wiped & headed for the shower… It’s been a long day(s)… Here’s to a fun day in St. Lucia tomorrow!
xxxxx
Maria, Jaco & Valentina

This escalator reminded me of the ones in the St. Petersburg Subway - long & steep - but Russia's were much faster. I had recurring dreams about the escalators in St. Petersburg since I was a young girl. Very random.

 

Waiting for the plane to be ready & keeping warm!

 

On a wing & a prayer that Tweet Pea is okay!

 

About to safely land

 

Welcome to Barbados!

 

Day 176 - Last Day At The Clinic

Today was anything but fun. I was pretty much in tears all day. Partly from the lack of sleep, partly from the emotions of finally seeing my husband after a lonely 3 months & partly from the goodbyes I would have to say today. I snapped photos of the friends I'd made over the past few weeks, exchanged addresses & said my farewells. I cried when I said goodbye to Emily & Mika, cried when I said goodbye to Maria, cried when I said goodbye to Karla & Rossy, cried when I said goodbye to Nora & Adrian… You get the picture. It was messy. I promised to see them shortly & I know I will be back before too long!


I made another trip to the Post Office to send away the final two packages. Nothing like packing your bras & underwear in front of the massive queue at the local Post Office! Talk about airing your dirty laundry! (Mine was clean, don't worry!) :o) The gals at the Post Office were very nice & didn't mind taking the time to process my lengthy list of contents. 1.5 hours later, I was back at the hotel. I had to zip to Las Americas & return a few things.


Of course there would be time! Waiting for the bus, still waiting, still waiting, oh crud! I'm going to be late! I still had to finish packing, shower, do the dishes & send away all my food & cleaning supplies for Elaine. To top it off, I couldn't find my new scale, so I had no idea what my luggage weighed! Oh, I hate being rushed for the airport! Marcos, the taxi driver, was right on time.


Did I tell you about him? Last time I was here, Laura, Mom & I were renting a car for the day to drive to Palm Desert. Marcos was the taxi driver who took us to the rental place. He then took Mom to the airport, then Laura & then me. Strangely enough, one day at the trolley station, there he was! What a small world! I said hello & then made arrangements for him to meet me at the hotel to take me to the airport. This time around, I was outside with Valentina when I saw him pull up to take another couple to the airport. I said hello & told him I would get in touch with him to take me to the airport this time. As my days dwindled, I had put off calling him, as I didn't want to pay for the call at the hotel. I walked out of the border crossing one day & who should be parked out front, but Marcos! It was 2 days before I was due to leave, so I told him the time & my room number. It was time & he was waiting patiently for me!


We visited all the way to the airport. He told me of another Doctor in Tijuana who helped a lot of people. I really didn't put too much into it, as I was feeling pretty let down at the time. We'll see what he says when I'm back home. He dropped me off & left me in the capable hands of a really wonderful guy, whom I have no idea who he works for or what he does, but he was very helpful! He put all my luggage onto a big trolley, took it upstairs, let me check in right away & then took Valentina to be inspected. While I was checking in my luggage, guess what!? It was overweight. One bag was 6 lbs over & the other bag was 15 lbs over!!! What gives!?!? I took out 15+lbs of meeds & decided I'd have to take them as carry on. The young man was kind enough to find a cardboard box & check the box at no extra cost for me! Wow! Lucky me! They also wanted to charge me $200 to check Valentina, but when I explained that I had called in earlier, there was to be no charge, as she is a Service Animal & the only reason she couldn't travel in the cabin with me was due to Barbados Agriculture Regulations. Phew. Saved $400 right then & there!


The lovely young man then let me take Valentina for a potty break, one last time! She had no clue what she was in for! Poor girl! Our next stop was her inspection. A nice lady came out to see that Valentina was healthy & somewhat ready to fly. My poor little pooch had no clue what she was in for! The lady gave her the stamp of approval & they took her away. Sob! I prayed she would arrive in Barbados not too traumatized!


I made my way to security, which wasn't too bad at all! My new silver bracelets set off the detectors, so I had to take them off - note for future scans! I found my gate & decided I should try & get some food in my belly. It had been awhile. As it was nearly 2200, not much was open. A sports bar was, but all they had were hot dogs. I walked back to the main area & the ONLY place open was McDonald's. Great. Are you kidding me? I ordered some garbage & then added the apple slices to try & make it a little bit healthier! Much to my disgust, my 'apples' were skinless & didn't expire for 10 days! Admittedly I have never tried to 'package' skinned apples for 10 days, but I have a sneaky feeling that they wouldn't keep or at least brown for very long! All that boosting I did at Castillo's, now suddenly penalized by a trash dinner! My bill was $13.13 - great numbers when you are about to hop on a plane!


I started chatting with the gal in line next to me. Turns out she's a yoga instructor who had rectal cancer. When she got the cancer, her husband & her got divorced as she found out he was a pedophile! Oh My Stars! She is now a workaholic. In fact, she said she worked all through her cancer. She had a day off, so she was flying to Washington to go to a museum. The saddest part of all was that she had no idea if the cancer was gone, because she couldn't afford the aftercare scans & medicine. IF ONE MORE PERSON TELLS ME SOCIALIZED MEDICINE IS RUBBISH, I'M GONNA… Well, I'll give 'em an earful if nothing else!!!


Once on the plane, I settled in to my seat. I was seated behind the Attendant's Station, so I had decent leg room. Seated next to me was a handsome young chap. I got to 'probing' him & what a story! I hope he emails me! Photos at least! He had just completed Marine Corps Bootcamp! He told me how they slept on the outside of their covers, because it would save time in the morning. Bedtime was 2200-2300 & mornings started about 0400! He had to 'hump it' (backpack with gear) 80+ miles for three days & three nights without food or sleep! I asked if they holler at you like you see in the movies. He said it was much worse! Oh dear! He told me a particular movie to watch to get a better understanding of what it's really like, but I can't remember the name of it for the life of me! If you know of some good ones, send me a comment & I'll see if it jogs my memory!


His Mom, Grandma & cousin had come to meet him & also to attend his graduation. He hadn't had contact for 13 weeks. No email, no tv, no phone, nothing! I asked him what the first thing he was going to do when he got home. Pet the cat? Mom's cooking? Drum set? He told me he was trying not to think about it, as he didn't want to get too excited. Hmm. Okay.


He later proceeds to tell me that he has a fiance at home. WELL NO WONDER HE WAS TRYING NOT TO THINK ABOUT 'IT'! I asked if they had set a date for their wedding, as he had told me he would only be home for 10 days before he headed elsewhere for Special Ops or Combat Training. He tells me they are getting married in 4 days! FOUR DAYS!!!??? Again, NO WONDER HE WAS TRYING NOT TO THINK ABOUT IT!!!! Holy smokes! That's so exciting! I asked if that would even be enough time to get a tux - he looked at me like I was crazy! He'd wear his Marine Corps Uniform, Silly!!! Wow! What a calm, cool & collected guy! I wonder if his fiance was as excited as I was! I hope he'll email me a photo of their big day! Crazy & exciting times ahead!

We both fell asleep & groggily woke up at 0600 in Atlanta, Georgia. He was off to Michigan to start the rest of his life, I was off to Bridgetown, Barbados to see the Man of My Life.
xxxxx
Maria & Valentina (well, hopefully she's okay down there!)

Elaine & Ann. Elaine is from Saskatchewan & I phoned her about a testimonial before I came down this time. She also reckons I was their photographer on one of their cruises! Of course, I was their favourite! ;oP

 

Eleanor & Donna, my shopping buddies!

 

My fellow Albertans - from Whitecourt & St. Albert!

 

My last treatment & Ann, my friend from Jamaica!

 

The Pharmacy crew - Nora & Adrian, as well as the Bread Man & another gal I didn't catch the name of! :o)

 

Maria & Dr. Navarro. Maria is rockin' a super sexxy new hairdo from my last visit!

 

Mika - one of the nurses who takes fabulous care of everyone! Mwah!

 

Karla & Rossy - the gorgeous receptionists!

 

Karla, moi, & Rossy - I miss them already!!!

 

Okay, so funny story about this picture. As I leave Customs, I see these two old bitties sitting on the bench. They were both dressed to the nines with dark sunglasses on. The one in the red shirt still had her hair roller stuck in the front of her hair. It struck me funny. I approached them to ask if I could take their photo & they were quite excited. But they had to 'prep' for the photo, which meant taking out the roller & removing the shades. :o( Oh well, I can still smile about it!