Getting off the rock

Knowing what we now knew, it was more important than ever before that we get off The Island. Their medical care system sucks and neither I nor Itchy wanted to subject an innocent fetus to that. Itchy just had to pass his finals and we were done.

The first final was a breeze. The second final gave us a little something to worry about. Itchy wasn't sure he had done well enough. I really wasn't going to worry about it until we knew for sure. We had played that game before. He had always passed. Why would this time be any different. I told Itchy to suck it up and pass the third and final final. Failing one would have been bad enough, but fail two and you're done.

His last final was on Wednesday (April 15th). His friend, M, was suppose to arrive that day but his flights got screwed up so he didn't arrive until Thursday. Wednesday after the final we went to the beach. It's tradition. Booze on the beach. Or BOB. No booze for me but plenty to go around for everyone else. We spent the afternoon there and then went to dinner with friends. Good times.

M arrives on Thursday. We were suppose to go on a Catamaran trip, but couldn't because of his late arrival. Instead, we went back to the beach. I think. Honestly, the last week on the island is a bit of a blur. Morning sickness makes you forgetful (otherwise everyone would be only children).

On Friday, Itchy, M, and a few other friends go on a deep sea fishing trip. I opted out because sea sicknesses on top of morning sickness sounds awful. I ran a few errands and hung out with the neighbor lady.

I can't really remember what happened on Saturday. But on Sunday Itchy and M went to the neighboring island to do some hiking. They climbed to the peak and back down in record time. By the time they got on the ferry that night, locals had heard about them. It's pretty impressive. I stayed home to get more packing done.

Monday was the day that Itchy and I HAD to get stuff done. We ran errands and packed all day. It was not fun. We got what we needed to get done though. That was the important thing. M spent the day at the beach. When we all got back to the apartment, M was very sunburned. It was bad. I didn't see blisters, but after spending the last few days in the sun and drinking (he had sun poisoning on Friday after the fishing trip) he felt like crap. Itchy and went out to dinner while he rested on the couch.

Itchy and went to a "nice" restaurant downtown. The service reminded us why we were happy to be leaving. Eyes were rolled when we requested silverware and again when Itchy asked for a glass of wine. Just overall rude behavior. Typical of what you get on The Island. No one wants to work.

Just after Itchy and I had gotten done eating and we were going to ask for the dessert menu, his dad called him. Itchy left the restaurant and went downstairs to talk to his dad. At some point during the call a crazy local guy started yelling at Itchy about washing a his truck. Crazy dude was already washing someone's truck and wanted to get paid but it certainly wasn't our piece of crap car. Itchy ignored him. But Itchy's dad heard Crazy asking about a truck, so Itchy and his Dad start talking about the truck that Itchy wants/needs. Prior to this Itchy's parents were going to be buying him a used truck. Now all of a sudden his dad is telling him that they don't think it's a good idea; his mom doesn't feel well enough to go to the bank to get the money, etc. Lot of excuses. Itchy comes back upstairs and is annoyed. We pay our bill and leave. Neither one of us wants dessert anymore.

Without a truck, how in the world we were going to move our stuff to New City? It won't all fit in the Honda Civic. 2 adults, 2 cats, and our 5 suitcases weren't going to fit into the Civic. What about the rest of our stuff? Not to mention that a truck is much more convient for Itchy to have for school. He is doing some large animal stuff and will need to haul stuff around, get out into pastures, etc. We also were going to have to buy some furniture once we got to New City since we don't have any. Who wants to pay for delivery when you could just put it in the back of your truck? Itchy was very disappointed. We weren't really sure what we were going to do.

Tuesday morning we got up and M was gone. Not sure where he went or when he'd be back. But Itchy and I had to get our boxes to the shipping place. We finished pakcing those up and than went to drop those off. When we got back from doing that (which took way longer than it should have, the locals are not good with computers) we started clearing out the fridge, cabinets, etc. M was back at that point too, so he was busy getting ready to leave.

Our nieghbors hit the jackpot and got anything and everything that was left in the apartment. If we hadn't packed it or shipped it by that point, we got rid of it. This stuff took most of the day, but we did make it out to the beach for a little while that afternoon. We had our final Island dinner at one of the bars that we had spent a lot of time at. It was very fitting. Than we went to a cigar bar to hang out with friends one last time. And to arrange for a ride to the airport. We also talked to our landlord that day. She pretty much told us that the apartment was flithy. There was no way we'd get it clean enough for her standards (even before we did any cleaning prior to moving, it was cleaner than when we moved in). We had better get it clean or leave behind money to pay for someone else to do it. Bitch. That place was a hell hole. The floors needed to be mopped but other than that, it was cleaner than the day we moved in. I was pissed. I hate her so much. But we said to hell with it, we'll leave her the money and be done with it. We weren't going to spend our last night there cleaning the baseboards with a freaking q-tip to make her happy. I really wanted to smack her and her kid that night. Also, as a side note, I hope that they put up the basketball hoop the DAY we left The Island. I want her to realize that it wasn't just us that found it annoying. I know the new tenant. She will complian more than we ever did.

Wednesday April 22nd was our last day on the island. Our flight was at one so we had to be there around 11:30 am. We got all our last minute stuff done (dropping off the car, etc) and than headed to the airport.

We hauled ass through Puerto Rico to get to our connecting flight on time. The design of that process needs work. It was a major pain in the ass. Never again will I go to Puerto Rico. It's an official boycott. But we did make it on time. We got to Charlotte, NC that night and had an overnight wait. The hotel was decent enough. The cats were happy to be out of their kennels. We were delighted with a delievered pizza. Got a couple of hours of sleep (with one weird call at 1:30 am, heard breathing but no voice) and then took the shuttle back to the airport.

We got back to MN and once the plane landed, the bubble burst. The bubble that Itchy and I lived in. Our secret life together. It was so easy being on The Island. No chance his parents would catch us. We could go where we wanted, whenever we wanted to, and there was no chance of running into them or someone they knew. We were back in reality. As soon as we got to the baggage claim, it was as if we never knew each other. I went my way (to the rental cars) and Itchy and the cats went off to find Itchy's dad, who was picking them up.

Good time for another break. This is officially where it starts to get crazy though.