Safely arrived in Dominica after only about 18 hours traveling (from time leaving my house in Buffalo to arriving at 3am, I arrived to Campus at 7pm). Some major shout-outs go to the amazing Amelia and Carter who helped me lug my extremely strangely packed bags through the airport and into my apartment. Also, US Airways was amazing. When the lady at the front desk realized I was heading to school and desperately needed my bags to get there, she made sure the bags were checked all the way through to Dominica. If she hadn't done this, I would have had to pick up my bags, recheck them and go back through security in San Juan (of course this would have all had to be done in my 40 minute layover). So you can see why I was so excited that she did this for me.
Plane flight went well. No delays, only slight turbulence. The only semi-strange thing was our "layover" in Antigua on the supposedly direct flight from San Juan to Dominica. This direct flight was actually a 2-leg flight with a weird stop in Antigua which included going through a lame attempt at security (Their level of intensity varied from passenger to passenger...some passengers got through with two entire bottles of water, while others got pulled aside for interogation because they had packages of tea and a wireless router. Because...ya know...that tea and router are dangerous things! Especially immune-boast tea which this was). After passing through security, we were held in a seating area which was surrounded by lots of little shops. Then we had to walk SUPERR far out onto the tarmac to an entirely different plane. Yup, a different plane! Basically don't trust LIAT (the Caribbean airline when they tell you that it will be a direct flight...expect to change planes at least once).
We arrived in Dominica just as it was getting dark so unfortunately Amelia and Carter weren't able to experience the gorgeous scenery. But they did get to experience the night-time version of the roads...the roads that have the oncoming traffic blazing straight towards you). Before getting in the car, the driver warned us that "If you feel sick, tap on the roof and I will pull over...You do your business, and we start driving again."(I really hope there is a story behind this statement!) After the 50 minute drive, we arrived safe and sound with ALL of our bags!
Ross had a nice welcome meeting in which they gave us dinner. Everyone was thrilled to get food because many, like me, hadn't really eaten anything all day because they had been traveling since early morning. At this meeting all the new students received welcome bags which included a binder with orientation week details, a USB, a pen and of course the extremely important umbrella!
Today I had an IT orientation to get my computer all ready to go for the wireless internet on campus (super intense...you need to have a specific anti-virus and there is a gazillion steps you have to go through). So worth it though! I now can print from my laptop, can access all the lecture vides online, and get all of the files I need to download. The orientation also meant I didn't have go out in the TORRENTIAL downpour (I am talking sideways rain here that is so intense you can't see far out inside of you).
Speaking of torrential rain, tropical storm is coming through tomorrow! I am excited because it means a massive thunderstorm. Hopefully my Dad will get in safe and sound and won't get stuck in San Juan. We have loaded up on water and crackers in case we lose power or can't get outside for some reason.
Alright thats it for now. Wanted to give everyone a brief description of whats been going on so far and wanted to let everyone we got here safely. Let me know what you think/what questions y'all have!
No comments:
Post a Comment