The Journey Begins...

Ever since I found out I was accepted into school, it seemed as though it was ages until I'd actually be moving away. Then, all of a sudden I'm saying my goodbyes and packing my suitcases! My stepmom Lisa and I arrived in St. Martin yesterday afternoon. The first day was a long one. We left Barrie at 330 am, caught our flight at 6:20, had a quick layover in Miami, then arrived on the island mid afternoon. We're staying two nights in Marigot on the French side of St Martin at Hotel Beach plaza and heading to Anguilla tomorrow to start looking for an apartment. 

St. Martin is pretty quiet in August. Yesterday we walked into the main area of Marigot to find a place to have dinner. There are lots of nice shops there but all of the restaurants are closed down. After walking around for about a half hour we walked back to the hotel, asked for their suggestion of somewhere upbeat to have supper (preferably with some live entertainment or something) so they called us a cab and off we went. We got to the restaurant called "Le Sand", sat down, and the waiter came to the table and told us they were just closing for the night. We walked up the street to the nearest hotel (Mercure) and had some dinner in their restaurant which was excellent, although by that time a chip truck or street meat stand would have been sufficient. We asked their lobby staff to call us a taxi, and a half hour or so later she was able to get a hold of one. By the time we got back to our hotel we were spent, but full, and turned in early. 

This is the view from the hotel in St. Martin

My last week in Canada went by really fast and was pretty emotional for me. I had my last two night shifts at work, and on the second of the two my grandma was admitted to the floor next to the one I was working on. I spent much of that night popping in to check on her or just watching her sleep, feeling so helpless and hating the fact that if these things happen while I'm away I wouldn't be able to be right there (she's doing MUCH better now just in case anyone was worried!). Then came all of the emotional goodbyes and realizations that my relationships with everyone who are close to me are going to be different for the next several years, no longer able to pop in for visits with family and friends, or meet up for a coffee on a whim. All I can say is thank goodness for Skype, email, Facebook, and all of today's technologies that will allow me to keep up with everyone I'm going to be missing so much!! There's lots of people I wish I could have spent more time with before I left but it was so hard to juggle everything. 

We are catching the ferry to Anguilla first thing tomorrow morning. I am excited to find a place to live and learn my way around the island. That's all I've got for now :) I have some sunbathing to attend to! xoxoxo