Day 192 - Grenada

Today was a short port day. We sailed at 1400, which meant all crew & passengers had to be onboard by 1330. By the time I got myself organized & then Valentina organized, it was nearly noon when we exited the ship.

Today was Sunday, so no wig shopping for me. :o( I thought I might get lucky & find something in the terminal, but no. I took Valentina for a walk over to the water taxi station & on our way there, a local girl & her Mom stopped to visit with Valentina. They were very impressed with her. They wanted to know if she had puppies & when I said no, they told me I needed to come back & make sure she had puppies on the ship next time so they could get one! Yeesh, they really liked her! They were selling spice necklaces, so I bought one from them. I bought some last time I was here & they are delicious! The have nutmeg, cloves, lemongrass, cocoa beans, and saffron(?) on them. Grenada is known as the Spice Island.

I found a shirt for Eddie. He had been mentioning a particular pirate shirt he was after – ‘The beatings will continue until morale improves’ but he wanted a white t-shirt & they are generally in black. One of the shops in the terminal had white ones, so that would be his thank you gift for taking Jaco & I out during our visit.

I also met a security guard who was a pleasure to visit with. She has 5 children & offered one to Jaco & I if we can’t have our own. :o) I told her our story & she is going to pray for my health to return quickly.

I must say, the people in the Caribbean are incredibly helpful. I have been here many times before, but I don’t recall everyone being this hospitable. It’s wonderful!

I went back to the ship & headed upstairs for a bite to eat. I ended up sitting with 2 wonderful couples from eastern USA, Pennsylvania, I think! We had a great chat & I hope I’ll bump into them again throughout the rest of the trip. They are going to have a great time!

Tonight was also formal night and Jaco had to do his ‘wave’ when the Captain introduced the Senior Officers onboard. The Captain approached me after the introductions were finished & said hello. I worked the Captain Stenzel previously & he is a wonderful man. He would officiate the weddings & I always thought he put a little extra TLC into the ceremony that many others didn’t. Anyhow, he saw Valentina’s bag & clearly didn’t realize I had a dog inside. He asked me if I’d just arrived & had I been dropped off, luggage & all? I didn’t want to tell him, no, there’s actually a dog inside, so I just laughed along with him. He & Jaco will be leaving on the same day.

Jaco & I decided to go for pizza after the ‘wave’ & then a few portraits with Valentina & Eddie. Oh dear, we had quite the crowd! I’m sure I’ll be hearing about it tomorrow! NOTE TO SELF: Wear dark glasses & big hat!

Just another day in paradise! Here’s to a wonderful sleep & a fine day in Bonaire tomorrow! Lekker slaap!

Maria, Jaco & Valentina

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Look near the bottom of the shot - on the rocks...

Big building across the street from the terminal area

Jaco doing his 'wave'

Out for Pizza

Portraits

What a pair!

Happy girls!

Eddie joins the family!

Day 186 - Samana, Dominican Republic

A tender port today, Valentina had her first small boat ride. She handled it well & didn't even get seasick! They say to keep a fully belly in order to prevent seasickness... I guess she was planning ahead! :o)


I visited the Dominican Republic in December of 1999 with my Mom. It was our first trip together. We went to Puerta Plata with my college group & we had a riot. There were 2 charming firefighters from Red Deer & Winnipeg that we spent a lot of our time with. Adding to that, the Dominicans were wonderful people. They are very friendly & helpful. Lucky for Jaco, I said no every time, but I've never had so many marriage proposals! It was tempting! The men have mulatto skin, but the most beautiful sea green/blue eyes you've ever seen. They are hypnotizing! The last night we were there, a bunch of us stayed up the whole night. We were in a convenience store getting some snacks, when Jose, our translator, told me about a guy who wanted to marry me. He said I should take this one. His father was a Diplomat & they were very wealthy. Ha! How charming! Obviously I said no. 


Anyhow, it didn't take more than 10 minutes ashore to remember the warm hospitality of the Dominicans. They were stopped to talk to me about the dog & asking me if I wanted a tour. When I said no, they kept socializing, rather than moving on to the next guest...


There was a wonderful walkway along the ocean, so Valentina had a nice long walk. There were a few stray dogs, but I quickly popped her back into her carrier & nobody noticed a thing! She charmed a trio from the UK resting on a bench while we made our way into town.


We walked as far as the craft market, which they were starting to pack up. I bought a bottle of water for Valentina & we made our way back. While I walked around the market, I met more people, who only reinforced the friendly, helpful belief I carry about the Dominican Republic. I would love to come back here again.


The D.R. shares its western border with Haiti. I was thinking of Haiti today & wondering how they are doing. We all thought of them when the earthquake happened. But now what? We've all moved on with our lives in our warm, cozy homes with internet & electricity & running water, but they are still picking up the pieces. I can't imagine what it would be like. And here I sit on a luxury cruise ship dotting around the Caribbean. Hmm. Looks like I'll have to figure out something to do to help. Any suggestions out there?


While we stood in line waiting for the tender back to the ship, a few crew gathered around to see Valentina. Eddie was there & of course, helped himself to her. One of the passengers nearby quipped, 'I didn't know you could bring pets onboard.' When I said she was a service dog, she replied, 'I should get my cat on as a service cat.' Oh my. 


Valentina was happy to have some air conditioning once we were back in the room. She ran straight to the bathroom & sprawled out her belly on the cool tiles. Too cute. 


Have a wonderful night wherever your are & don't be shy to leave a comment! I know it's a pain, but you just follow these three easy steps:
1. At the bottom of the post, click on '0 comments'
2. Type your comments in the 'Post Comments' box
3. Select your 'Comment As:' either google, anonymous or otherwise
4. Click on 'Post Comment'
5. Usually it will give you an error & say it couldn't post the comments, click it again
6. Enter in the gobbledy gook letters
7. Voila!


Sunshiny kisses to you!
Maria, Jaco & Valentina
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Her first tender ride!

Think Enya - '...Sailaway, sailaway, sailaway...'

Boats & a beautiful bridge

Mmm, mangoes ripe for the pickin'!

Wonderful walkway along the water's edge

A pier along the way

Artwork along the ocean

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!
 

Day 171 - A Day Off!

Today was Sunday & the clinic is closed on Sundays, so I had the day off. I slept late, of course, and around 0900, I was started to toss & turn - sleeping lighter & lighter. The phone rang at 0930 & much to my delight, it was Ed!!!


I met Ed the last time I was in San Diego. Ed was taking his brother, Bobby, to Castillo's - you may remember the story. The US Doctors had been treating Bobby for Arthritis for NINE MONTHS meanwhile it was a tumor growing out of control! Sadly, Bobby passed away in January, but today Ed told me that Bobby fought for his life right until the moment he passed away. 


Ed & I hit it off right away, as he told me about his little Yorkie, Chloe, and her & Valentina were about the same age, so they were going through the same phases at the same time. We talked a lot of dog talk & ventured out to Trader Joe's & Target... I was sad to say good bye to Ed & Bobby last November!


Naturally, I was excited to hear Ed's voice on the other line today! We visited for about 1.5 hrs & covered a broad range of topics. I do hope it works out for us to meet up! He has a friends & family connection with Princess, so maybe he can visit Jaco & I on the ship! 


After we hung up, I decided I better make something of the day. I did up my dirty dishes, made a wrap & a smoothie. My smoothie consisted of a can of coconut milk, 1 cup of water, a mango, 5 big pineapple chunks, 5 leaves of small kale, & 1 banana. Not too bad if I do say so myself! 


I didn't feel 100% when I woke up this morning & it has stayed with me all day. Headache, sinus issues, feverish, sweaty, achy, & tons of occipital tension. Here's hoping I wake up feeling much better tomorrow!


I showered & threw on a cap & headed out the door about 1400. I know, it still takes me a long time to get mobile! I caught the 1415 bus & then the trolley. I rode it all the way to the end at Old Town, then hopped onto the Green Line. Man, the Green Line is cush compared to the Blue Line! Either the Green Line takes you past the ritzy side of San Diego or they are much busier, because the trolleys were much newer than the Blue Line! I felt like I was on a trolley in Scandinavia or something! How posh!


I hopped off on the 2nd stop at Fashion Valley. I had been told about Fashion Valley last time when we were in Palm Desert. I went last time & it was good, so I thought I better check it out this time too! It was crazy busy! I didn't get there until about 1530, so I swiftly made my way around the shops. A few had closed since I'd been there last & several new ones had opened in their place. Satisfied with what I did & didn't see, I left around 1900. 


I caught the trolley back & on my way, I visited with a Cook. He cooks the meals for the Marines in Boot Camp. He told me that he used to be an Alcoholic & has been clean for 4 years next month. He lost his job & his car & even did jail time for his actions while drinking. He lived on the street for awhile too. He is happy with his life & still struggles in making the right choice. He shares his home with a single parent Mom & together they are able to make ends meet. What a life. Wow.


After he got off the trolley, a man from Tijuana got on. He was a clean cut young Grandpa looking Mexican. A beautiful smile & very friendly. We got to chatting & of course, he wonders why I'm in San Diego headed for the border, alone & after dark! He asked me the first few questions & then said, 'You're from Ireland or England?' I replied, 'Neither, I'm from Canada.' 'Oh, the French part then?' I left it at that. Of course, I tell him I'm going to Tijuana for Cancer treatments. His eyes bulge. 'YOU? But you look so healthy!' He gets very excited at this point. His brother is a Specialist in Colima, near Guadalajara. He tells me how a fellow he worked with had cancer & his brother made arrangements for the man to have surgery in Tijuana & the brother made sure the costs were covered. The man, Jose, writes down his number for me & demands that I call him to get his brother's number, only after I've given him a few days to talk to his brother. 


I managed to catch the very last bus of the night. Thank goodness I didn't stop at the pharmacy on my way to the trolley! I would have had to walk home, alone, in the dark. With nothing but my wiener to protect me. :o) I was so happy to see the bus sitting there when I stepped off the trolley! 


On the bus, a fellow from Dallas was telling us he was looking for a place to live & how expensive it is in San Diego compared to Texas. Then he comments on how cold it is tonight. HA! I'm laughing, as these people are walking around in parkas, toques, boots, scarves & clothing like it's -20! I'm in capris & flip flops! Yeah, the evenings warrant a hoodie, but that's about it! I'll take their cold weather any day!


I missed my Dad on Skype, but managed to catch Collet & Ezra. As soon as Ezra heard my voice, he instantly said, 'Nini? Nini? Nini?' He had to see her on the webcam. It was very cute! He's doing awesome on his potty training & he even counted to ten for me! Wow! What a good boy! 


I'm now settled in bed, alone. Valentina is having her first night in her kennel in preparation for her big flight. I've put one of the heat packs in the pillow cover & we'll see how that works!


Have a wonderful sleep & I'll see you tomorrow!
xoxoxoxoxox
Maria & Valentina

Waiting for the trolley

Shh, she didn't buy a ticket!

Southern end of the Best Western

Palm trees waving in the twilight breeze.

It looked so pretty! Magical, if you will!