Craig's weekend...

My husband is hot!!!

Ok - Craig is still here and it's Sunday night. He told me I have to blog now because this week I will be SUPER busy catching up with school work. And, he's right.

This is his 3rd trip to Dominica. The last two times he came he visited when I was in 1st semester. Back then, I was a good student and went to class and studied while he was a good a husband and watched movies while I did work. NOW - that I'm a seasoned veteran at this med school thing (hahahaha) - I decided to take a vacation as well. So, NO STUDYING FOR ME!!!

He landed on Thursday and I was at the hospital doing a rotation, practicing physical exams and doing patient interviews. It was pretty fun but I realized I have a LOT to learn before I trust myself in trying to heal the sick. But let's face it, I was more concerned with him landing safely than I was about looking at patient's ear drum.

Me playing doctor with Sonia.

My friend Andrea was picking up her husband's friend at the airport. So I was relieved to have her there to welcome Craig and give him my housekey to let himself in.

He got to my apartment about 30 minutes before I did so I got to walk into my place with my hunky husband waiting for me!!! I was thrilled. There is nothing better than coming home to the ones you love.

Friday we hung out at the beach and layed low. We had big plans for Saturday.....

OH SATURDAY! What a day!!! We bought tickets on a boat to take us to a neighboring island called Les Saintes, Guadeloupe. It is a French territory and boasts yummy french eateries and good times.

The day started out idyllic. The sun was out, the skies were blue...it was going to be a good day.

Then - the boat showed up an hour late. Hmmmm - it must have been a foreshadow of things to come.

We got on the boat and took residence in the back on two lawn chairs. The sea breeze was nice and the ride was going well. They had food and beverages and we were feeling good.

Me pre-sea sickness

About 20 minutes into the 2 hour boat ride, we got soaked by a wave. Hmm - that must mean the waves were pretty high. Yup - the waves were high and the ride from that moment on was choppy. We moved to another spot closer to the edge of the ship "in case" we got sick.

Nope - we full out got sick. Craig projectile vomitted over board while I ralphed into a blag trash bag. Yuck.

craig not happy when we arrived

The rest of the trip my head was between my hands and praying to God that He got us safely to the island. FINALLY we arrived.

We decided to rest a bit before we explored. It's all the rage to rent scooters (yup - Joe if you're reading this SCOOTERS!). So we fell in line to rent scooters. They speak French on the island so there was some language problems. But, thanks to my 4 years of French - I was able to decipher that the nice French man and his wife were saying "we can't rent to her - she looks like she'll crash our bike." So - they rented to Craig and we would double up. We were excited. We had our helmets on and were ready to go!!

If only we knew...

Then - it happened. CRASH!!!! Poor Craig lost control and it was only by the grace of God that we didn't break any bones. The locals and some friends of mine rushed over to us. The only thing I remember was thinking "Don't cry. It'll make Craig feel worse." Then the nice French man who rented us his scooter came to us and all he said was "Enough."

Looks worse today - ouch.





This is the worse of his scrapes - I couldn't take a picture of his bruised ego.

So - I crawled to a nearby house and waited patiently as Craig ran to the boat to get the first aide kit.

So - now, I'm limping, bleeding, Craig feels awful, but I am STILL determined to make the most of our trip. We decide to hoof it around the streets in search of a beach to relax on. Then came the rain. It started to rain so we took cover in a store where I bought more bandaides. We realized that the only pretty beaches could not be reached on foot so we decided to eat ice cream.

The gelato was amazing. The highlight of our trip. But we decided to only eat ice cream because we didn't want to get sick on the way back home. So - 5 scoops of ice cream. The best part of our Les Saintes adventure.

But, I decided to be positive and we tried to find a beach again - this time in the other direction. We walked between two buildings where there were boats docked. I think it was someone's home but there was just enough sand to put down a towel and enjoy the water. Craig was able to get in all the way and enjoy the water but all I could do was put my feet in because I was scraped from the shin up. Then - I look to my right - and there - is a woman and her family and her BOOBS. Great - my romantic trip with my husband and the only person who's showing her breast-eses is some French lady.

Craig enjoying the beach. But his boo boo is stinging!!

We had 2 hours to kill so I bought Craig a shirt for 1 Euro and myself a magnet. We got on the boat for our trip back home to Dominica. Since I didn't eat anything ALL day I figured I'd be alright on the way home. NOPE!!! Upchucked again for about 20 minutes straight. Craig was lucky enough to not get sick.

Let me tell you something - I had never been happier in MY LIFE to see Dominica. We docked and waited for customs to clear us - then we got off the boat and headed home.

What a day.

Craig - being the positive one in our happy marriage - looked at the bright side.

"At least we didn't break any bones."

"At least we know now to NEVER ride on a boat."

"At least we know now to NEVER ride on a scooter."

Hmmm - the one thing I learned from our trip - is - no matter how crappy an experience may be, the only bright side to it was that I got to spend it with the person I love the most. Isn't that what life's about - taking those trips that are horrible but knowing that coming home to or with the one you love - is what counts.

Oh - the love of my life!




Craig and I BEFORE the trip!

He leaves tomorrow so please pray for his trip home and pray for strength for me as I finish the last few weeks of school.