Sint Maarten: Day 1

Upon awaking at 3:00 AM on Saturday morning, my father and I quickly prepared for our impending departure. Fortunately, we didn’t really have all that much to do as most of our packing was complete and we had previously decided not to eat breakfast at my apartment.

Within about 20 or 30 minutes of waking we were able to call a cab, and compete for service with those just leaving the bars on St. Laurent. Luckily, we were not faced with a particularly long delay and were thus able to make it to the airport on time, or actually early.

Upon arriving at the airport we were able to change our seat assignments on the first flight. We then had to pass through customs before we were able to proceed through security. The problem with this step of the procedure was that we had actually arrived before customs actually even opened. This meant that we had to wait in a line with hundreds of other travelers.

Once we finally reached a US customs agent we were processed pretty quickly, which should be the case as we were two American citizens who were not even planning on stopping in the country.

After customs we were able to check our bags and head to security. Neither of us received any special probing, which is good as neither of us remembered our K-Y.

Once through security it became clear that we had plenty of time on our hands before our flight’s scheduled boarding time. The first portion of this time was used to acquire some breakfast food from the only available source in the secure area. Each of us had breakfast sandwiches, which while edible, were nothing to write home about. The coffee that accompanied my meal was notably sub-par.

Eventually, we were able to board our plane and take our assigned seats. Both of us were able to fall asleep relatively quickly, something that was quite important as we had only had time for about three hours of sleep the night before. The only sleep related problem that we encountered was a baby who started to cry rather aggressively about 25 minutes before the flight landed. This crying prevented both of us from sleeping for the remainder of the flight.

Once in Dulles we had plenty of time to walk around before our next flight. Eventually we purchased a copy of the Washington Post and stopped at a pub for some warm beverages. While reading the Post I learned that they have a much different approach to obituaries. The Post publishes many more obituaries than the Times (of London), the Guardian, or the Globe and Mail. The largest portion of these are short professionally written obituaries of local citizens, many of whom were civil servants.

Our attempts to be seated together on the flight from Dulles to Sint Marteen were unsuccessful, as were those of several other traveling groups. Fortunately we were seated close enough to each other to be able to pass things back and forth across the aisle. And in some ways we might have both benefited from our respective seat-mates. My father was seated next to one of the students at the university at which he is to be teaching. The student was able to give him some relevant information about the university and the related areas. I was seated next to a couple from Indiana who are regular visitors to St. Martin. I think that some of the information they gave me about being a tourist here will pay off, as some of it seems to have been confirmed to information that I received subsequently.

After passing through customs and collecting our bags we were met by a professor from the university and a pleasant temperature. The professor was kind enough to give us a tour of part of the island (we were made aware of several nice beaches) as well as the (small) campus. One of the most important things she showed us was the local grocery store, where we were able to buy important supplies (food and beer).

Obviously we were also able to visit our apartment. For dormitory accommodations it is pretty nice. We have two bedrooms, each with beds that must be close to king size. My father’s room has an en suite bathroom set up and a walk in closet. My bathroom is located just outside of my room and is supplemented with an additional closet just next to the bathroom. Additionally, we have a kitchen area with a full size fridge and stove. The living area has a dining table and chairs, couch, lounge chair, and TV (which seems to have a cable hook up). The apartment also has a balcony with two chairs and a table.

It seems that a pastime of many of the newly arrived younger male tourists is to stand on the beach or next to the fence at the end of the runway as jets take off and land. In both cases the machines displace sizeable amounts of air, ‘blasting’ these people with great force. In particularly good instances, such as when a 747 takes off or lands, you might be hit with so much air that you would be blown into the sea from the beach. Of course there are signs warning of the associated dangers of the activity, all of which are ignored. At some point it is likely that we will head back to this location to both collect video footage and to possibly experience the effect of being ‘blasted’ by a jumbo jet.

In the evening we were then shown part of the French side, known for its fancier restaurants and shopping (and its use of the slightly more valuable Euro). While on the French side we met the university’s librarian and her husband for dinner.

The restaurant we were taken to was of the French persuasion with the serving staff likely being seasonal imports. Though many available dishes were fish, several beef and chicken dishes were also available. One of the exotic dishes was (not indigenous) kangaroo. After some initial hesitation by my father and I decided to go with this dish. Though I largely opted for this selection because I felt I was unlikely to have another opportunity to try kangaroo I would recommend it to others on its merits as a dish. The meat was red, like beef, and quite flavourful. Though not filet mignon, the meat was moist and tender. The meal and accompanying conversation were in all ways pleasant (which is surprising as we were working with only three hours of sleep plus whatever we got on the plane).

Upon returning to our apartment after dinner we were able to sit on our balcony and enjoy the comfortable temperature and pleasant breeze while consuming some Caribbean beer. I would guess that we will end many of our evenings in this fashion.