Monday, July 23, 2012

Quite an exciting day!  The weather had cleared some this morning, so I forgot about the storm.  When we got to school, Ralph, who is in charge of the program, let me use his phone to call Mom and Dad.  We have been having a little trouble with Skype and he has an inexpensive international plan.  It was 8:15 at night and they were really surprised.  A nice start to the day.

We had a presentation packed morning with all the constructive triangles and cubes, as well as Philosophy.  It had started to rain by then and we were at a stage 3 for the typhoon/cyclone, which is just a watch.
After another delicious buffet lunch, we got back to work.  One of the students mentioned that she knew someone that lived near Celebration.  Small world.  Another talked of going to Trinidad in Dec.  That is where her husband is from.  It will take them over 24 hours with all their stops.  Our Ginger Flowers started to open today and they are just gorgeous with a beautiful scent.

The day was going as planned when we got word that we would be leaving school at 3:00 because they expected to raise the warning level to 8 by 6:00 and some of the students had to travel a long way.

 So we all went home and I sat in the hotel lobby coffee shop, watching the preparations and effects of the storm out of large plate glass windows and doors.  They sand-bagged the doors and tied them shut and people were struggling against the wind and rain.  It was nice to have relaxing time off in the afternoon, but not for that reason.

I was so much more awake than I usually am after class, so got all my notes ready for tomorrow, started looking at math, and organized all the stuff I still hadn't unpacked.  Went down to the restaurant for supper and the wind is really howling.  We'll see what happens overnight. Tropical Cyclone Vicente will head west, I hope.

More observations:   All restaurant personnel are fast moving, very efficient, very gracious.
Because you don't look Chinese, does not mean you are an American.
The hotel is built on an incline so the check in desk slants down.
This hotel is built in the public housing part of town so the views outside aren't great, but the hotel is outstanding.
There's a sign by the elevators to "please keep voices quiet" and I can see why with the people in the hall at the moment.  :-)
When you enter your room, you put your key in a little slot by the door.  I thought it was a great idea to know where your key is, but, in fact, nothing electrical will turn on in the room unless your key is in the slot.
The room is very comfortable, with a king size, softer that anything bed, desk, microwave, fridge, nice bathroom with shower and roomy closet.  I'm very comfortable here.
There is a Chinese 7-11 down the street a block.  It's quite unique, but I will not complain.