Ride Along

Nov 8th
Today started with a twist when the maid arrived.  You'll all remember I am living in a hotel, it was still a bit weird to sit there sipping my tea as she made my bed and did the dishes.  It is going to be tough to go home!
My supervisor showed up shortly after, today I was supposed to meet up the the ambulance and ride along for a couple hours.  That's when I found out that a driver had called in sick today. Welcome to my first shift.

We met up with my partner for the day, an EMT from the US.  He began by driving me around parts of the island, and started with the slums.  Then he pointed out Prince's house.  Crazy little island. 
On our way to introduce me to the local delicacy, conch.  But just as we arrived at the Conch Shack we were sent to the airport to pick up a flight crew  I got a moment of homesickness when the SkyService plane pulled in with its Toronto nurses. It was a simple transfer to and from the airport and then it was back to the Conch Shack.

Conch Fritters for lunch was greasy goodness.  A bit of a chewy meat it was tasty, I am looking forward to trying it in a few other forms.  After lunch we went to pick up a driver, who had agreed to come in.  He knows the island so well and gave us an awesome tour.  We started by finding The Hole.  It is exactly that, it used to be an underground cavern till the limestone collapsed and now its a big hole with a pool of water at the bottom. 

After the hole the driver drove us to a conch farm where we jumped on a tour with a family from London. (Canadians everywhere!) Its a pretty interesting process that takes a couple years to reach full growth.  The farm had also been asked to raise some turtles that had been found struggling on the beach.  The next stop on the tour was the ferry dock and then past some of the massive houses the wealthy had built. There is also a massive marina for the luxury yachts of the rich and famous.

I got dropped off at home shortly after that, and I am looking forward to a day off tomorrow.  And to pick up some groceries!