Near Disaster


You might think, with this as my view, that my biggest problem is sunburn, or hangovers, or perhaps mosquitos. That has not been the case. Since we arrived on Thursday, we have scoured the internet to find high speed internet. The internet at our apartment is slower than dial up. My boyfriend works online, but we couldn’t even send an email from our new place.

On Friday, we thought we might have to fly home, or to Brazil, or anywhere so that he could log in to work on Monday morning. On Saturday, we found an internet cafe where he can work–but even it is not fast enough for him to work out of long term. (Not to mention it is a windowless room near the cruise ships.) But then Monday we found out that we could sign up for a faster internet service at the apartment. It takes two weeks, more or less, for the company to install it. So for the moment, we are making due with the internet cafe. And we are staying!

After contemplating running home with our tails between our legs, it feels like we can finally relax a little. There are still little problems–power outages, for example– but on the whole I feel like I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. It can be difficult enough to adjust to a new place without worrying if you can stay. I know my way around the island now, mainly because when I get lost I just drive forward for an hour and end up back where I started. It’s a beautiful place, mountainous and green, with the prettiest beaches I’ve ever seen. Hopefully soon I will be sunburned, hung over, and covered in bug bites!

Goodbye New York!

This time tomorrow I will be on a plane to St. Maarten. I have to say, the dismally cold and wet weather makes the parting all the sweeter. When I spoke to the real estate agent about it, she complained about the winter weather down there. You know, 85 degrees. She helped my boyfriend and I find an apartment with a view of the ocean.

At this point, I’ve been living out of a backpack for over a week, staying with various people, and making some very long commutes. I’m ready to leave! Blogging will resume at a normal schedule once I settle in. I have a backlog of things I want to write about, and just haven’t had a chance to focus on (or an Internet connection, depending on where I am staying).
One of the things I’ve been thinking about is the best way to spend all this newfound free time. I want to finish the novel. I want to do some freelance travel writing. But there are so many other things I hope to do–learn how to speak French and play chess. Build a website (I’ve wanted to make a new home for this blog for a long time). Read Proust and all of Dickens. Try to revive my dying Italian. Scuba dive. Online classes. So many things. If you can think of a good project, send it my way.
But for now, I’m off.
L
Hello St. Maarten!