Catching Up Part 4- December & Christmas

The beginning of December was hectic. Joel was working hard preparing for and writing his first round of Finals, which paid off awesome for him because he rocked the semester! I am so proud of my hard working smarty pants! While I was feverishly trying to finish my book before Joel started his semester break. I was less successful with that. After finals it was a bit of a whirlwind. Almost all our friends...and every other student on the island left immediately after the last final to go home for Christmas. Joel and I decided to stay here. We LOVE Christmas with our families and missed them dearly, but we decided to sit this year out because of an overwhelming lack of desire to leave the beach to journey the snow covered, ice ridden lands of Canada. That and we didn’t have any money. It was nice to just sit and relax though, and it was really the first chance Joel got to really see and experience the island. 

We had one set of friends that didn’t leave the island until a couple days after the final. The other wife (Jen) and I had gone together on the earlier mentioned Scott’s Head and Champagne trip and we wanted to show the boys how awesome it was. We rented a car and drove there ourselves. This probably doesn’t sound like a big deal, but trust me...it is. Driving here is not like anything you would experience at home. There are little to no road laws-you don’t need a licence to drive, there is no official speed limit (Speed limits are posted in a couple very sparse places and sometimes they are in Miles and sometimes they are in Kilometers, but they never specify which is which so it’s sort of a best guess kind thing), pedestrian is a fancy word for speed bump, no seat belts or car seats for kids, pass other cars whenever, however, wherever you want, also stop whenever, wherever you want. The roads are tiny, honestly about 10 feet wide total (for both directions)-no shoulders at all and sometimes the edge of the road is just straight drop off into deep ditches or sewer drains, they are extremely bendy and windy with sharp jackknife turns constantly and everyone uses their horns, for everything. Oh, and they drive on the left. Anyways, we rented a car. Jen drove and she did great. 

 

 There is a Cruise ship in Roseau, which made the streets extra busy, good work getting through it Jen!

 Seems Legit...

We took the boys to Champagne first. It was okay but the weather was not our friend that day. It was super duper windy out! Also I got a nasty Jellyfish sting. Usually they are not too bad, but this one swam into my suit and got stuck on my chest. Next we did Scotts Head, and it was super windy so the boys decided not to get in the water. Jen and I went for just a quick swim because we love it there but it didn’t last long. We did do the hike up the hill though, my first time doing that. It was such a simple easy hike but for some reason each one of us broke or lost a shoe. But we had a great time anyways, topped off with some shopping in Roseau and Pizza Hut for Dinner! Joel and I brought a pizza home, and ate it while watching Wreck it Ralf (Loved It). That was one of the best nights Joel and I have had here. 

 

 Jen and I, playing underwater

 The next 4 pictures are Joel and I trying to get a picture of us hugging underwater...it didn't quite work out.

So Close...

 Big Needle Fish!

 From the top of Scotts Head

 

 

 This is the drive home...we found a "Humped Crossing"....Later we came across another Humped Crossing, with a Christmas Tree? Merry Christmas Everyone!

 For about the next week Joel relaxed and played a computer game that he bought during the semester. I am very impressed my amazing Gamer husband was able to hold off until break before playing it. He made up for it by playing it through 3 times over break. I had not yet finished my book and I really wanted it to get done before Christmas. That’s what I worked on while Joel gamed. I know what you’re thinking-we live on this beautiful Caribbean Island and we spent our break glued to our computers. We did make it out to the pool almost every day, and this honestly was only about a week worth of break. Joel had a friend who needed a place to stay for a few days, so we let him crash with us. This friend had access to a car, so just before Christmas we took a road trip to a place none of us had ever been before-Rosalie Bay on the Atlantic side of the island. There was a beautiful resort there and great beaches. We had a great lunch next to a beautiful river that leads out to the ocean. I had some fun making pictures in the sand.

 Our friend Mason

Joel spent 2 Christmas’s away from Family while he was on his mission, but this was a first for me. Shout out to my amazing sister in law Trish who did everything she could to keep me included. I even got to say the prayer over Christmas dinner with my family over Skype. Trish had her tablet positioned on the mantle so I could see and hear everyone and they could see and hear me.  It was amazing, although I would have much preferred to actually be there and taste the amazing looking food I was blessing. But that’s okay. Christmas morning Joel and I exchanged gifts. I got a can of Olives, and Joel got Jello packages. It’s cute because I LOVE olives and Joel hates them so much. And I can’t stand even the thought of Jello, but Joel loves it. So we each got a favorite food that we normally never eat except on Christmas. Trish again set me up via Skype on her mantle so I could watch their family open Christmas gifts and do their Christmas thing together. That was fantastic. Actually we spent most of the day skyping with family. I held together fairly well. I only cried once on Christmas eve over a serious lack of family. My incredible husband was able to cheer me up right away though. You know what they say- Home is where your Husband is.