We Made It To Saba!

Before we departed for Saba, we spent a couple of weeks in Phoenix relaxing.  I had to tie up some loose ends in Saskatoon as well, make some address changes, etc...  I hired a homewatch service for our Phoenix home, as well as installed new smoke alarms as the old ones had become a huge problem by alarming constantly.  I also hired some very hard-working Latino people to weed the entire yard, $130 for three men to work for five straight hours.  I also drank lots of beers, delicious Rollin' Rock!

We spent a few days packing for our final move.  We shipped three boxes ahead, which still haven't shown up.  We packed six full suitcases, three full backpacks and three smaller bags.  Plus we had Cally's stroller and carseat.  So needless to say, we required some help at the airport.  We expected to only have to pay for one extra checked bag each, like we were told when we booked the tickets, but we found out that was a lie.  The lady at the airline check-in counter was originally going to charge us $460 extra because all Cally was allowed was her diaper bag and stroller/car seat.  I had a bit of an angry moment but composed myself.  She then checked two backpacks for free, calling them infant medical supplies.  So we still had to pay $260 at the counter.

Our Luggage (minus stroller/car seat)

The actual flight to Miami went great.  Cally is an excellent traveller and she's very cute to everyone.  We got a lot of compliments about how good she was.

We also found out that our checked bags had to be picked up in Miami and checked in again the next day.  We were not happy about that at all, because that meant we had to lug all of our things through the airport two more times.  We ended up paying guys to transport them to and from the luggage storage service area, aka: home of the bitchiest woman in Miami.  Sorry that you hate your job, but since you are charging an arm and a leg to store bags, I think that I have the right to choose which ones I'd like to leave with you.  Sorry, also, that I did not already know the exact procedure of tagging and identification that your department has and that you needed to explain it to me.  She did not have any courtesy towards an obviously overwhelmed and tired family.

We spent a nice afternoon and evening in Miami.  Our crappy, small hotel room that barely had enough room to hold the things we did bring, was cool and comfy.  We were able to prop the shower curtain just right so we didn't hear a constant drippy faucet.  That was a big victory.  We did have a short walk around the airport neighbourhood.  We also ate at McDonalds...twice.  It was 99 cents for 6-piece Chicken McNuggets day!  We had to get our last junk food fix before moving to a country that did not have such a place.  The three hour time difference made it okay to go to bed very early.  Cally slept in her stroller the whole night.

So we had to again visit the bitchiest woman first thing before checking in.  She found our bags without saying a word because I paid her first.  We then spent the next 45 minutes at the counter while we went through the same check-in process.  Thanks to the lady from the day before, we did not have to explain about our luggage situation very much.  She had put a lot of information on our profile and we did not have to pay any more money.  We arrived very early for our flight and spent over three hours waiting at the gate.  Cally was happy the whole time and played on the floor.  I also was able to arrange for us to be seated first along with other priority passengers.  I was surprised that it was not their normal policy anyways.  We had three seats for the three of us and we enjoyed a relaxing flight to St Maartin.

I was so glad that we did not have to pick up our bags prior to going through customs!  We again hired a man with a cart to carry all of our things and get us a good cab.  We thought it was going to be a short ride to the docks, but it was a lot longer, and scarier than expected.  The cab driver thought he heard we were going to the St Bart's ferry, not the Saba ferry.  Thankfully they were very close and he did not have to drive us to the other side of the island or something.

Dawn II, Ferry to Saba

Happy Family Pic Before Departing St Maartin

The ferry was smaller than we thought.  The seats were also below the deck.  We were in good spirits, however, because we only had one more leg left on our journey.  We were asked about our baggage allowance again, and then the captain said to forget it.  He could recognize a tired and overwhelmed family.  He even gave us a beer before we left.  BAD IDEA.  I was sick almost immediately, Julia almost made it to Saba before puking.  Cally was totally fine.  We were greeted by friendly Dutch immigration and customs people.  Two women from the Spouses of Saba Students and Faculty met us there and welcomed us to Saba with a gift of a bag of groceries.  Anne and Ashley were very kind indeed!  And Ashley had her ten-month old son, Luca, with her.  Cally liked Luca.  I had to call my landlord, Mr Sorton, a few times to come as well.  He finally came, and it only confirmed my suspicion that he is a constant procrastinator (he has further strengthened this trait this week).  We piled all our things into two cars and after a windy five-minute trip we arrived in The Bottom, at our home for the next twenty months.

Our New Home

The rather large, two bedroom cottage was recently renovated for us, we were told.  I have said before that our first house was my practice house for all my amateur renovations.  This place had been amateurly renovated several times over.  It had uneven tiling and flooring throughout. It also had a weird layout; the bathroom had been added well after the house had been built, the fridge is in the dining room and Cally's room has three doors.  We are very glad to have found it.  It is a three minute walk to the school and grocery store.  Nothing is very far on Saba, but the mountainous roads are hard to climb, and it takes you a lot longer than you think it should.  We are settling in this first week and adjusting to the island climate and pace.  And we have began to drink a lot of Amstel Bright beer along with Heineken, both from Holland.

Saba, Dutch Caribbean