So most of the night I barely slept, but at some point I must have dropped into a deeper sleep because I woke up to the other person who had been sleeping nearby having packed up and left. My stuff was still there, so I was happy. I wasn't super worried, because I had used my pack as a pillow and clipped it though the suitcase handle. But it was still a small concern.
Oh, not to forget. There was this lady who kept wandering (pacing perhaps?) the terminal with her luggage cart. I'm not sure if she was looking for a place to sit down or what, but every 15 minutes or so, she'd pass by again and because it was relatively quiet, you'd hear her coming for awhile, so it was a bit of a disturbance.
Anyways, at that point, once I woke up, I realized I wouldn't get much more sleep, and the coffee shop was starting to open. I think it was probably around 3 or 4 am. There had been some ladies sitting near me for a little while. I think I felt they were trustworthy because I think it was when they were around that I slept. They disappeared but came by later and kindly offered me some food (orange and apple slices) which was much appreciated.
Once the coffee shop opened, I got a coffee and went and checked in for my flight. It was a relief to drop off my bag and not have to worry about it any longer.
Went through security and had a laugh at the ridiculousness their rules are sometimes. The woman in front of me had a bottle of water she forgot she had. The security woman pointed it out and told her she had to take it. No problem, but did the security lady mind if she just took a sip first? She said she wanted to let her, but if her boss saw she'd be in trouble. Really? Everyone in range just sort of laughed at the silliness of it and moved on. I said to the woman after that it seemed a little silly, and she agreed and then made some comment like 'it's not like it's going to blow up' and I was really glad security didn't hear because I sure didn't want this day to start badly! Grabbed my stuff and tried to get as far away from her as I could so I wouldn't mistakenly be associated with her.
Found a spot to sit and charged my phone while I waited for the flight. When it finally left, I was happy to be on it and on my way to start my grand adventure. The four-ish hours passed, but I'd say the last hour or so, I just wanted to be there.
As we got close to landing in Puerto Plata, I realized everything was reminding me not of the DR, but of Belize. That thought came up a few other times too.
Landed in Puerto Plata and made it through customs and everything and sat down to wait for Aaron's flight to land from Newark. I couldn't get a network signal, nor a wi-fi signal, so I had no way to check whether the flight was on time or not. We had arrived about 1/2 hour early so I was worried I'd be waiting a really long time. He was about 1.5 hours behind me, but luckily his flight came early as well but it was still quite a wait before he came out. I got asked multiple times whether I needed a cab or anything, but eventually after being asked yet again, I said I was waiting for someone on the next flight, and then they stopped asking.
I really had to pee, but wanted to be there waiting when he walked out because he's not an experienced traveller and I was worried that even though I'd arranged a shuttle, he'd end up finding some way to be put in an expensive cab or something. Well, eventually he walks out, and just as I worried, there's someone 'helping' him with his luggage (which is on wheels). I said something to him about it and he said 'well the guy just grabbed it off the conveyor belt when I had to put it through the x-ray machine'. He's still working on learning to be more assertive... next time I guess.
We found the shuttle guy and I ran to the bathroom, then off we were to Cabarete, which was about 15 minutes away. It was really hot out (and me especially having been sitting in it for the past 1.5-2 hours in jeans) so the air conditioning felt really great.
We enjoyed the short drive to the hotel, the driver pointing out points of interest along the way, while Aaron and I traded stories from our adventures since we'd left Calgary. He went Calgary-Ottawa(overnighted there)-Newark-Puerto Plata, whereas I went a little more direct.
Once we got there, we were greeted by Geneviève, the assistant manager and got all checked in and settled (and of course overwhelmed with information). Got changed, had a snack and then it was time for trapeze! My reason for being there.
Feel free to skip the next paragraph or so. You probably don't want to know... It's more for me than anything... I'm sure it was partly just from lack of sleep and the heat and such but I had a total meltdown. I sat on the bed and just started crying and freaking out. I was questioning myself and what I was doing and whether I should be there and what was I thinking trying to do this, did I take on too much, etc. (If you're reading, I know, I seemed so excited about this trip). It was crazy anxiety and the feelings had been creeping up in the days leading up to that moment, but that just happened to be the release. Perhaps it was just dealing with the stress of getting all the time off approved and wondering whether I was going to have to quit my job just to be able to do it, etc. Whatever it was, it came out, and it came out big!
Ok, you can read again... :) Since we both had long days of travelling, it was time for a shower, unpacking and organizing. Felt much better after that. Then it was early to bed, even though it meant missing a really great surf competition and a huge jazz festival on the beach.
