St. Lucia '10 Day .5

Day one on every trip is usually day .5 as most time is spent doing things you don't like and don't want to do. There is the loads of laundry to acquire suitable attire for the climate, packing of the luggauge and packing the car to name a few.

These tasks make the days before vacation a pain and you just hope it's worth the hassle. It didn't help much that the flight left before the crack.

The arbitrary rules on the merits of plastic bags as lugage didn't help. The icing on the cake was the fact that the flight to ATL was late. Power garbage can?

I thought that getting to JFK was a hassle; the SUV was packed to the hilt. The cars tend to be smaller in St. Lucia, I found myself pressed up against luggage for the entire bumby ride to my grandma's place.

I was happily greeted by my granddad and grandma. I have not been party to such affection, especially from my granddad, since I was a mere pup. My grandparents love and care for all their kids and grandkids but are complete working stiff; they tend to be very formal in all most interactions.

My grandma had a meal of flying fried flying fish and breadfruit waiting for us; granddad offered up a beer. After consuming all that was before me I took in the outside: the chickens had the run of the backyard, the cashew tree was rife with ripe fruits and the cherry tree had all but surrendered all its fruit to the earth.

My aunt picked me up and talked about the goings on and the useful sites along the way. The first thing I noticed there was the big screen HD TV; I was eager to find out what passed for HD content in these parts. After settling for a bit it was time to explore and to acquire goods for daily sustenance. Crossing the main road was Frogger on crack I wouldn't expect anything less.

With LLB and breakfast options in hand I froggered back to my aunt's place. I'd already marked out several places I needed to try during my stay, the least of these were the food cart, the Jerk Pit.

The night was frankly horrible: mosquitoes were having their way with my flesh, and more annoyingly, were buzzing in my ear. To top it off there was no fan or air conditioner in the room. After many agonizing hours and many failed ear-plugging attempts, I was finally tired enough to ignore my my bite riddle itchy skin and the extreme heat and humidity. Day .5 was done and not a moment too soon.