Countdown: 5 weeks

 We're off to Dominica in just 5 short weeks!

Thanks to Ross Spouses Organization, and Samantha, I am now being Sponsored! What exactly does that mean? No, I'm not part of an AA program.. it means that Samantha has volunteered to help answer all my questions about Dominica! Not only did she answer a hundred questions, she also did some housing research for me, and helped us pick out our future apartment. We're going to be living at Silver Lining on MooCow!

haha.. don't you love the name? The choices were Lizard Trail, Banana Trail, or MooCow. Although we would have preferred to be at Lizard Trail which is super close to campus, not a single place would accept pets!  Thankfully, the landlord at Silver Lining agreed to let us have pets even though he doesn't normally. $850: which includes a $50 charge per month for the cats, and $50 more per month because there are two of us living there. Talk about taking advantage... The cats, again, are making our lives tricky. Did I mention that because we each are taking a cat, it means that we don't get carry on luggage?! Only a "personal item". Uggh.. But, at least it's done with!

Housing.. check!
Plane tickets.. check!
Immunizations and Tests... check!

What's left? renting our house, packing up the house, packing our luggage, finishing the VISA process, and hopefully keeping my sanity!

Plane Tickets

It took about 2 hours of talking to people to finally book our tickets to Dominica this morning. In my experience, people either want to help you, or they don't. You have to find the right person sometimes to get things to work out in your favor. This morning, the first girl I talked to was not interesting in working with me and helping. She was helpful in picking the flights, but when it came to adding the cats to the flight she stopped being helpful. The computer wouldn't let her add the cats and she basically said we could not bring our pets into the country. I know that to be false and I told her as much, but she didn't want to listen. I asked her to please ask her manager and after 5 minutes on hold she said that she still could not book us the ticket with the cats because the last leg of the flight, from Puerto Rico to Dominica doesn't allow pets in the cabin. But that didn't make sense because I had read several stories of people bringing their pets on the airplane to Dominica. So.. after a frustrating few minutes of arguing with the girl that yes, people do bring their pets I finally put the tickets on hold. Then I started looking into pet shipping services and those cost about 1500 for 2 cats. Which just made me even madder, and so I called the airline back hoping for a more kind agent. This time, I hit the jackpot. Not only did this agent want to help me, but her niece is actually going to Ross University right now for veterinary medicine! She got the computer to override the 'no cat' policy, and bang! we have 2 tickets to DOM with 2 pet reservations.

A harrowing morning on the phone, in 100 degree weather with my laptop burning on my legs and my phone plugged into the wall while i'm leaning over trying to get this all finished.

$2500=2 tickets

Dream Come True

Chris has been trying to get into medical school since we met. But timing is perfect as always, and he was accepted to begin this fall at Ross University on the island of Dominica. In two months, a mere 9 weeks, we will be renting out our house in Orange, and moving to a small island that we have never been to. We found out less than two weeks ago, and so it will be a trick to accomplish all we need to to be ready to pick up and go. First on the list was getting the cats rabies shots, and begin the process so they can get import permits into the country. Next step is to buy our plane tickets! Scary, as they are around $1100 each round trip. Then, finding a house/apartment to rent, packing up our house, packing our suitcases and cats, figuring out the multiple things on the official visa checklist, saying goodbye to good friends and family and hitting the road.


(( I can't wait!! ))

The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

I ordered this book from Scholastic for my classroom.  After reading it, I realize that it is more suited for Jr. High or High School students than 4th graders.  Although I think that younger students  benefit from learning about the Holocaust, I think books more like Number the Stars are more age appropriate for 9 and 10 year olds.  being sent to a concentration camp.  The story told has a magical element of time travel, that she had a hard time selling to me.  However, the purpose and story is there.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

What a journey. This book was an emotional roller coaster for me. Even though I made the mistake of seeing the movie before reading the book, I enjoyed every minute of reading this wonderful story. Wow.