Woohoo!!! I have ARRIVED!!!! Thanks to my dear mother I actually woke up on time to catch my flight (3:30 AM for a 6AM flight out of JFK- ouch!) and after a few minor mishaps (including a faulty rudder and a plane change) I finally arrived in the isle of St Croix at 6PM. According to my fellow passengers this is "so typical" of American Airlines- the flight to St Croix yesterday had been cancelled due to a mechanical issue and our flight was packed with people who'd had to overnight in a Miami hotel. I had the pleasure of sitting next to Ruth Blyther from the Nature Conservancy and enjoyed a great conversation about sea level rise and mangroves.
When we touched down in St. Croix I was greeted by humid hot air accompanied by David Goldstein, his lovely wife Robin and their adorable (and slightly squirmy) one year old twins. As we drove to The Marina for some dinner I was reminded of the driving on the left side of the road, the coconut man who is the tropical equivalent of our Jonny Appleseed, and a bit of the political entanglements that revolve around the park. After a delicious meal of fried fish and corn on the cob that chased all my travel aches away David and Robin handed me over to Jennifer and Lionel Jackson at the Arawak Inn, who greeted me with a hug and a "welcome back". Although it's been over a year since I last stayed here it felt as if I had never left, and in a way it felt like coming home. Tomorrow I will get situated, go grocery shopping with Jennifer and get ready for a VERY busy week putting together an exhibition at the Salt River Bay visitor center.
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