Day 1 & 2: Its 2 am Calif time and I can't sleep so why not capture our first travel adventure in our new blog? After having to buy an additional $700 early return ticket due to my passport expiration in May, we were relieved that the 3 plane rides (and 10-hour lay over in Miami) went fairly smoothly. Once we arrived in sunny Bridgetown, we did have some minor challenges though. While waiting for our last piece of luggage (which we still don't have) Paul agreed to have a guy throw around our luggage on and off a dolly (read: I would have said "no" to the guy had I seen the transaction). Luckily, the only casualty was a broken and messy jar of peanut butter. We didn't really need his service but paid him the $10 he asked for anyway. Once we walked outside to find a taxi-van, I was pleasantly surprised to meet my new colleague Patricia who was waiting outside to welcome us. I was relieved when she said I could start work on Monday.
We took a lovely taxi-van ride to our new home. The house is modest but the grounds are spacious and the beach with our own private gated entrance is maybe 100 feet away. The kids immediately started playing catch in the yard, a good sign. We unpacked for hours until we were famished. Mandy, who lives above us in the second story of the house, kindly offered to drive us to a convenience store for food as Jan. 1 is a national holiday and the grocery store and most restaurants were closed. We didn't have much luck at the convenience store (which would be true in the states as well) so after buying almond milk we found a beach-side, open-air restaurant on the walk home that would seat us. We waited a very long time for our food (island time) and I didn't get mine until my family had finished eating. People were not joking when they said Barbados was expensive. We spent over $50 on three very small salads and a fish-finger appetizer. We left hungry and almost ate another dinner at a different restaurant we passed on the walk back to the house! Avery talked us out of it so we had cereal and peanut butter corn cakes at home instead. I ate four bowls; I don't think I have done that since I was a kid.
Our second day was less expensive and eventful. We finished unpacking, ran errands, made our own meals, and went to the beach twice. Its really beautiful here; I think I could get used to this...
Tomorrow we will learn to navigate public transportation to the boy's new school to meet their principal.
Here our some pics of our new yard.
We took a lovely taxi-van ride to our new home. The house is modest but the grounds are spacious and the beach with our own private gated entrance is maybe 100 feet away. The kids immediately started playing catch in the yard, a good sign. We unpacked for hours until we were famished. Mandy, who lives above us in the second story of the house, kindly offered to drive us to a convenience store for food as Jan. 1 is a national holiday and the grocery store and most restaurants were closed. We didn't have much luck at the convenience store (which would be true in the states as well) so after buying almond milk we found a beach-side, open-air restaurant on the walk home that would seat us. We waited a very long time for our food (island time) and I didn't get mine until my family had finished eating. People were not joking when they said Barbados was expensive. We spent over $50 on three very small salads and a fish-finger appetizer. We left hungry and almost ate another dinner at a different restaurant we passed on the walk back to the house! Avery talked us out of it so we had cereal and peanut butter corn cakes at home instead. I ate four bowls; I don't think I have done that since I was a kid.
Our second day was less expensive and eventful. We finished unpacking, ran errands, made our own meals, and went to the beach twice. Its really beautiful here; I think I could get used to this...
Tomorrow we will learn to navigate public transportation to the boy's new school to meet their principal.
Here our some pics of our new yard.