We have arrived!

Greetings from St Croix! We made it in safely to our destination after almost missing our plane in San Juan. Apparently the airport decided not to list which gate we were meant to go to for our little propeller plane, so we ended up running around the whole airport, lugging luggage and camera gear, looking for help. Eventually we got a hold of Mel who had flown in ahead of us, and she was able to lead us in the right direction. We got there just in time to run down some stairs and onto a bus which took us out to our plane on the runway.

The flight from San Juan to the island was a short one, only about 37 minutes. Erika and I had the joy of sitting right next to the propeller and were practically deaf by the end of the flight, but we still managed to admire the gorgeous blue ocean and get some great shots of the island from out the window.


Like I said before, we got in around 3:30 and were greeted by the Ned Prince, our missionary and also the St Croix welcome stand of complimentary rum and fruit punch (very amusing). We loaded up into the van and had an interesting drive (on the left side of the road) back to our apartment. Roads here are very pot-holey, so drivers tend to drive where ever on the road for the smoothest path. Thank goodness the speed limits are all under 30.

The apartment is perfect for our stay. The windows are always open (with metal shutters and screens) and a wonderful breeze blows through the house all the time. We have our own little kitchen area, sitting space and indoor bathroom with gloriously hot water.

Last night after we had settled in, the Prince family brought pizza over for dinner and then took us out grocery shopping. It was so much fun! Corina (the Prince’s 15 year old daughter) was our guide and found our excitement of grocery shopping in St Croix amusing. They have most of the same brands here, but at crazy expensive prices. The cost of living here is very high and will take some getting used to. JimBob managed to discover the octopus tentacles and all the other lovely fresh seafood, and I managed to look like a tourist by running around and taking pictures of all the odd fish parts that were for sale.

After our shopping extrusion, we returned exhausted to our beds (for the boys, their flowered print beds :P). Discovered that the lights in the bathroom and bed rooms didn’t work, so us girls had fun trying to take showers in the dark. We all crawled into bed and fell asleep with the wonderful light breeze blowing through our windows and slept like rocks. That is until about 5 in the morning when the rooster next-door decided to make himself known. Loudly.

We were all up and dresses by 8 and started plotting on how to silence the rooster and scrounged up some breakfast. Around 9, the Prince’s came over to go through some planning and pre production prep with us. Hopefully by the end of the day we will have our plan for the film all mapped out and some B roll footage shot, so by tomorrow, we can get down to business and start the meat of our work! We’ll be back with some more updates later!
~Kristen