Island Time

During our first week on the island we got a slight introduction to "island time" when it came to getting our internet troubles taken care of.  But because there were so many students also trying to set up their internet and because of Carnival,  we ignored it a little bit.  During week two though it became harder to ignore.  We went to do a load of laundry and realized that our washer smelled awful.  And I mean really awful.  I didn't even have to sniff it, I just opened the door and the smell hit me like a sack of bricks.  We decided it would be a good idea to run a bleach cycle before we put clothes in it so we bought some bleach.  Evan poured a cup of bleach in and turned the washer on.  The lights flashed and we pressed buttons, but nothing happened.  Cool.

We notified our landlord and they sent someone out to repair it.  They showed up half an hour late, looked at the washer for a few minutes and asked me if they could come back the next day at 12:15.  I said sure and waited at home for them the next day.  Several hours after they were supposed to come I finally gave up waiting.  The next several days consisted of calls and emails back and forth between our landlord, manager, and us.  You need a new washer, it can't be fixed.  Then it was they want to try to fix it one more time and take measurements for a new one if needed.  I waited at home and nobody showed, again.  Then it was we bought a washer...we are looking tomorrow...we are buying one tomorrow.  We just couldn't get a straight answer about what was going on, it was very frustrating.  In the mean time, I am hauling our laundry back and forth from campus because we were completely out of clothes.  After a couple days we finally were told it was purchased and would be delivered by friday.  On Saturday they finally brought it (don't worry I stayed home ALL day friday waiting for it).   They came on saturday while I was gone at the grocery store and this is what I came home to:

The new washer next to the old one

See the problems?  1.  The old washer is under the counter and is a front loader.  2.  New washer is a top loader so it can't go under the counter even if it would fit.  3.  The new washer is HUGE and there's no way it could fit where the old one was even if the counter top was removed.  4.  It wasn't hooked up!  They told us they would come back on Tuesday to hook it up.  Now if you understand basic logic you would look at the washer and it's new placement and realize that there is no way the hoses they brought with it would reach the old hook-ups.  So even though they were supposed to be coming on Tuesday, we knew they wouldn't actually be able to hook it up, and there was nothing we could do about it.  A couple of positive things about the new washer.  Because it is huge it will actually hold 3X what the old one held and because it's brand new it is really nice :)

There was also a really bad rain storm this week and we learned that the ceiling over our bath tub leaked.  Our landlord is still working something out to get that fixed.  It seems like everything that could go wrong has with our apartment so far, but we are hoping that once it all gets fixed it will start to feel more like home.

Now onto the better parts of the week!  Monday was an exciting day.  It was Evan's first day of med school!  It was also a pool day for me.  On Mondays and Thursdays the significant others get use of the University Club facilities.  They have a beautiful pool with a view of the beach.  It gives us all something to look forward to twice a week!  AND it was also our anniversary.  After Evan got home from class we went out to dinner at a restaurant that had a view of the beach.  It was dark, but we could hear the waves rolling onto the sand and that made for a peaceful setting.  After we finished eating we went to the crab races.  They have a series of 5 races.  The first race was the fastest crab and each crab represents a different country.  They put six labeled crabs into a bowl and turn it upside down.  Then they draw a circle in the sand, take bets, and lift the bowl.  The first crab to reach the circle is the winner.  The second race is the opposite and the last crab out of the circle is the winner.  You can only bet 2ec so it's pretty harmless and we placed a bet.  We won and the odds were 2-1 so we got 4ec back.  The third and fifth races were jackpot races where you can pay 5ec, pick your own crab out of a box, give it a name and then the winner gets 75% of the pool.  It's so entertaining to hear everyone shouting at their crabs.  The fourth race was the Presidential race and they names the 6 crabs after political leaders in different countries.  We bet 2ec on that race as well and lost, so we came out even.  We had a really great time.

Evan's "first day of school" picture

At the crab races

The University Club Pool

Now this is where our night got less fun.  One of the school busses was about to pass so we decided to grab that instead of taking a taxi home.  The bus that would then take us from campus to our house was no longer running so we would be taking the extra night bus home.  We passed it on the way into campus and realized when we got there that it only comes once an hour.  So we got to sit at the bus stop for 55 minutes waiting, it sucked.  In that moment we decided it was time to look into purchasing our own method of transportation.

This week I also got my first sunburn on the island and it was also by far the worst sunburn I have ever had.  It hurt so bad that I could barely sleep.  I bought some aloe at the grocery store, but because it's so hot here it wasn't very soothing at room temperature so I put it in the freezer.  Evan greatly enjoyed squirting freezing cold lotion on my back.

On Wednesday I went with some friends to a farmer's market and had a really great time.  The selection of fresh vegetables in the grocery stores is pretty limited and they tend to be on the pricy side, so I really stocked up at the market.  It was nice to have some fresh salad makings to go with dinner for the next several days.

Lots of fresh food from the Farmers Market

I had to add this picture just because I think
it's cool, this is an avocado.  They look totally
different than the ones in the states.

At the end of the week Evan took a break from studying and we got to catch up on Master Chef.  For every 30 seconds or so of watching you have to go back 10 seconds to reload the content, but it was nice to just get to spend some time together!