Une journèe de pluie/A rainy day

Jusqu'à présent j'ai eu pas mal de chance. On est en période cyclonique mais le temps a été parfait à part les pluies tropicales habituelles qui ne durent que quelques minutes.
Hier nous avons eu une journée très belle, parfaite pour les heures de VTT passées en mer et dans la mangrove. Une averse, même très courte aurait pu être déplaisante surtout pour les enfants.
Départ tôt le matin pour arriver à Vieux Bourg (Morne à l'eau) retrouver notre guide, Guy, de "ARCHIPEL Aventure des îles". (www.archipel-aventure.com)
Nous avons appris pas mal de choses sur la nature, la faune, la Guadeloupe et tout cela en faisant de l'exercice et en s'amusant. La Guadeloupe a le plus haut sommet (1467m), la plus grande barrière de corail (25km) et plus de mangrove que toutes les autres îles des Petites Antilles réunies. 80% de toutes les espèces marines de la Mer des Caraibes passent par la mangrove de la Guadeloupe. C'est un pourcentage incroyable. La mangrove sert aussi de couche protectrice pour l'île surtout en période de pluies ou de cyclones d'où son importance souvent ignorée ou diminuée. Malheureusement quand on parle d'argent, la nature perd toujours.
Après avoir pedalé pendant des heures hier, aujourd'hui nous avons eu une journée tranquille à la maison. Un peu de nettoyage le matin puis la cuisine avec maman et Patou. Au déjeuner un de mes plats préféré: une "brandade de morue". J'ai bien sur mangé plus que je n'aurais du. Ce soir "gateau et chodo" pour couronner le tout. Aujourd'hui les calories ne comptent pas.
******************
I've been pretty lucky so far. We are in hurricane season but the weather has been perfect except for the usual tropical showers that only last a few minutes.
Yesterday we had a beautiful day, perfect for the hours spent on the sea and in the mangrove. Even a quick rain shower would have been very unpleasant, especially for the kids.
We left early in the morning to get to Vieux Bourg (Morne à l'eau) to meet our guide, Guy, of "ARCHIPEL Aventure des îles". (www.archipel-aventure.com)
We learned a lot about nature, our fauna and Guadeloupe itself while having fun and excercizing. Guadeloupe has the highest peak (1467m), the longest coral reef (25km) and more mangrove than all the Lesser Antilles islands put together. 80% of all marine species in the Caribbean Sea, come through our mangrove at some point. That's an incredible percentage. The mangrove also serves as a protection blanket especially during the rainy and hurricane seasons hence its importance often ignored and/or diminished. Unfortunately, when money is involved, Nature always loses.
After paddling for hours yesterday, we had a quiet day at home today. Some cleaning and cooking in the morning with mom and sis. For lunch we had one of my favorite dish "brandade de morue". (a dish made with potatoes, milk and shredded dried cod fish). Of course I ate more than I should. Tonight cake and "chodo" (a drink made with condensed milk, eggs and spices). Today calories don't count.

Time flies when you're having fun

I'm still not pulling my hair out and screaming "get me out of here now". My family and I are having such a wonderful vacation. The only time I have been away from them is when I went to a birthday party with one of my childhood friends. Otherwise we've been together 24/7 using my sister's house as our "headquarters". My brother Paolo and his family have been staying here this whole time even though they live 5 mn away, stopping home just to feed the dog and the cat. My brother Pascal and his son, my mom and myself all stay here as well. Most of the time our childhood friend Christine whom we've known for 30 years and who is included in all family activities spends the night as well. What a full house. It makes deciding what to do or where to go each day, easier though. Everybody is right here and once the decision has been made we can just all leave. We don't have to meet somewhere or wait for someone. We just pack the cars with what we'll need for the day and go. No stress.

It is about 7am right now and it's time for my daily walk. The only way I've been able to not gain weight since I arrived, because we surely do eat. My mom and my sister have been cooking all my favorite food and it would be rude to say no, right? Swimming and hiking help too. Hopefully I'll get back to San Diego close to what I weighed when I arrived.

13 days here that feel more like 4. A week left. We have so many more activities on our program; and I have so many more people to see. I might need another 2 weeks. Time does fly when you're having fun.

Second day - Deuxieme jour (Lamentin)

We went to the river this afternoon for a "cold" swim. Not my favorite. The spot is awesome, still very wild, the water is just too cold for me.

First day - Premier jour (Deshaies)

Journee a la plage de Deshaies. Day at the beach of Deshaies.

Second chances?

It is 6:23am and they are just opening the check-in counters. I thought I was early since the flight isn't until 9:30 but there are already about 50 people in line.
I stopped here yesterday to buy my ticket and saw the agent who didn't let me on when I went home last year. He could have easily upgraded me because the Economy cabin was full (that's where our discounted tickets allow us to be) but decided not to, even after 3 of his collegues told him to let me on. I remember being mad at myself because I had hoped he would be the agent available when my turn came. He was "the gay" working that morning. Well I should have gone to the ladies. When I saw him yesterday, the bitterness came back and I truly hoped he wouldn't be here today. But there he is. I tried to rationalize it and told myself everyone deserves a second chance. After all he had done nothing but go by the book last year and I couldn't be mad at him just because it didn't work in my favor.
Still I must say I was relieved when I got in line and a lady was working that counter. It wouldn't matter this time since I had a full fare ticket, but I don't know if I could have been gracious to him. I am sure he would have no idea why I would be mad anyway, but I was still glad I didn't have to deal with him.
It is funny how our perception of "nice" is not really objective. We can attribute it to looks, to attitude, to apparently belonging to a same group of sort...etc. Like me assuming this agent would be nicer to me because he was also gay (another assumption since I don't know him).
Now my bag is checked, I have my boarding pass in hand and can relax. If all goes well I will be in Guadeloupe in less than 7 hours. I think from now on I will be buying tickets to get home. With less planes in the air, it is increasingly harder to fly stand-by, the last benefit from working for an airline. Empty planes although great for me are obviously not good for the industry so airlines overbook every flight hoping to fill in every seat counting on no-shows and misconnections. I don't stress about getting on or not but it is just very annoying to never really know when you'll make it to your destination. Today was my second try and so far so good.
Let me tell mom the news.

The joys of flying

I flew from San Diego to Los Angeles last night and leaving home I knew that was the only sure bet out of my four trips to get to Guadeloupe (well as sure as one can be with the airlines anyway). It was on United Express and we got to LAX on time.
I walked over to Terminal 5 thinking it would be faster than wait for the shuttle (that was my workout for the day; next time I'll wait for the shuttle) to check in at the American Airlines counter. The agent, a charming gentleman, checked my suitcase and wished me good luck since the flight was full. Big difference with some of our agents at UAL who scare you the minute you get to the podium by telling you there is no way in hell you will get on. Then you DO get a seat and even have empty seats on the plane. This has happened so many times that now the rule is not to leave the boarding area until the plane pushes back. People check-in from home, different cities or even countries and for whatever reasons never make it to the flight. So I was hoping that someone's misfortune would help me. I got to the gate and found out I was number 7 on the stand-by list. Not good. Everybody showed up and they did not take any stand-by. Went over to the next gate for the second flight. Now I was number 8 and the flight was delayed. The delay did not bother me but it gave people who might have been running late a chance to make it. Again counting on someone's bad luck. Pretty sad way to travel actually. It was not meant to happen; again no stand-by got on board. By that time it was close to midnight and the first flight was scheduled for 6:30am. I settled in one of the very uncomfortable chairs and watched Slumdog Millionaire before finally closing my eyes for a couple of hours.

After freshening up a bit I went to the gate and was unhappy to see I was still number 6 on the list but happy to see a 767 parked outside. Bigger plane equals more seats. I finally got my boarding pass. 37C never sounded so good. I fell asleep before the plane even took off. 

After an uneventful flight, we landed in Miami and I spent the next hour trying to find a way to get to Guadeloupe that night to no avail. I had to accept the fact that I would have to wait one more day before seeing my family. I called home and found out that my brother had arrived safely from Paris with my nephew. At least one of us was there.

It was time to find a hotel for the night.