So my flight ended up being very cushy indeed. Air Austral is the type of airline that gives you a goody bag with headphones and earplugs (the usual), and then a travel toothbrush and a pair of socks (mom you didn’t have to get me new socks after all, and these are without holes to boot!!). But despite the wonderful movie selection (I managed to watch Milk, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Ratatouille, and Bienvenue Chez les Ch’tis), I was still excited to get off the plane.
The first view of the island was impressive: I saw palm trees, lots of green jungle like forests, and the most breath taking was the sheer cliffs and huge mountains. I guess this place is pretty after all!
So everything went according to plan, rather smoothly actually. One teacher picked me up at the airport, took me into St Denis for a drink (a I need to get off the plane and do something soda). As we headed over to the school, she talked to me in perfect English, explaining the ups and the downs of the island. Sure, there’s big spiders, washed out roads, and its best not to go swimming in the evening near river outlets because that’s where the sharks hang out, but all in all Réunion seems like a rather relaxed place.
The rest of the day I spent with Dominique, an English teacher at my school who is very welcoming, and at the moment, daughterless. She seemed to take it upon herself to help me and another American assistant who we picked up along the way. She talks about her 21 year old daughter a lot, and when she explained that I could rent out a room in her house for very cheap, I could tell this was to remedy a little bit of empty nest syndrome. Admittedly her house is really cool, with a great view and a pool to boot. At any rate, I have a place to stay, and she seemed rather excited to have someone else cook for her for a change. So far so good, I think I’m really going to like it here. 🙂
