Much over-due..

I should have started writing this months ago... The journey to the journey (does that makes sense?) was worth writing about on it's own, but now we have finally arrived in Grenada, West Indies. How I got here is probably as interesting as what happens here, as I have alluded to, but that is another story and will probably unfold as we go. We have been in Grenada for exactly 6 days. It has flown by and it also feels like we've been here for weeks. Living in a new country has its own obstacles; living in a new country with ones boyfriend for the first time adds even more to the course. While this experience, in its nativity, has been an exciting learning experience, it is not without its trials. We are learning to grow both as people and as a couple. We are learning to understand, and accept each other in the best and worst of situations... I'll start with our trip here: 

We began by driving the 22 hours from St. Paul, Minnesota to Boston. This part of the trip was pretty easy aside from the occasional argument regarding Pat's relentless insistence to keep driving (he ended up driving 17 hours of the trip...). We stayed in Boston about 36 hours and then departed for our final destination: Grenada!  This is where things got a bit dicey. Assuming we were supposed to be in the international line, we waited almost 45 minutes, dragging our 6 duffel bags and two carry-on bags only to find out we were in the wrong line and would have to go to a different check-in point. Glancing at the correct line we were sure we would miss our flight (apparently this was because we were taking two separate airlines, stopping in JFK before proceeding to Grenada, and would have to collect our bags and re-check them when we got to New York). The attendant noticed our predicament and was kind enough to assist us to the front of the correct line, as well as through security. So thankful for people like her! 

We arrive in New York, navigate our way through the airport and start collecting our many bags. We manage to find 5 and we wait. And wait. And finally there are no more bags on the carousel and our next departure time is getting increasingly closer. I begin to panic. I brought everything I thought we would need- not knowing what they may or may not have on the island (now that we're here I realize I was underestimating the amount of every day goods we could easily find..) and some of it was in that bag! Pat begins to search for the 'lost bags' sign and I sit in a frustrated pile with what we managed to receive. After almost an hour and a very confusing explanation of what may or may not happen to our bag, we leave, disgruntled, for the next flight. 

-A horrible picture our plane after we finally landed in Grenada.

Four and a half hours later, we are here. We are both relieved, yet still unsure of our next move as our apartment was not 100% confirmed... Nor did we have any phone to contact a taxi, hotel, ect...  We had been in contact with our land lord for weeks, yet securing anything, and getting a final answer from anyone seemed impossible. This uncertainty only added to the stress of the day. Eventually, like everything else, it worked out just fine. We found that the school had an orientation crew waiting at the airport to help lost people like ourselves. They contacted our potential apartment, who contacted a taxi for us and we were at our new home in less than 15 minutes.

Finally relaxing in our new bed! -I'll elaborate on the importance of that mosquito net later...