Outside look at our lives

Its official. We have our first visitor coming on Saturday! My friend Cheryl is visiting us here in the culinary capital of the Caribbean (as stated on the radio this morning-only because Cayman has the most restaurants, not because of actual contributions to the culinary world). It is funny how you never really look at how you are living until it is time to welcome someone into your home. In St. Albert we would do a quick surface clean, put away any dishes and hide the demon cat, but that was all. We were always in good shape for a drop by visit. However, the last few days have really led us to realize how differently we do live down here. For starters, our flat is not very visitor friendly. We were blessed with white tile floors that never come clean no matter how many times you sweep/swiffer/vaccum/mop and which leads to my greatest pet peeve on this island: dirty feet. We also have a 7 foot silk painting towering by our door that the landlord has not gotten around to putting up. It is one of those things you forget about, until you try and see your abode through a visitor's eyes. We are also rather poorly equipped for guests in terms of supplies. Our "furnished" apartment has only 2 bath towels, no hand towels, one wash cloth, no floor mat and no extra bedding. Our living room has a super comfortable pleather couch, but not a pull-out, leaving us without permanent sleeping arrangements- so an air mattress will have to do. Entertaining is also a little tricky when we have no glasses, no cheese grater or cutting board, one wooden spoon and no blender (in a tropical pina colada zone)! Media wise we also lack t.v, a stereo and home phone. Furnishings aside, our place has got a great caribbean vibe, which may be its only redeeming quality when it comes to hosting.
In discussing activities to do with guests during our stay, we inevitably discuss travelling on the island. There are two ways to get anywhere. The scenic tourist laden and often painfully long ways, or the local unattractive, obstacle dodging thoroughfares. Should we bring Cheryl home along South Sound Road so she can admire the amazing ocean views and huge homes at the risk of getting stuck behind the 15Km/hr Trolley Roger and losing sanity, or is it better to take Linford Pearson highway scattered with goats and iguanas (sometimes of the smushed kind), run down houses and the rusting sno-cone trailer for time's sake? A difficult decision. When it comes to tourist attractions it is the same. Who doesn't want to send a postcard home from Hell, but is it worth the drive out there to see a wooden cut-out of the devil and ironshore, while ducking bullets from the constant shootings plaguing Westbay (Hell is really beginning to live up to its name). And what about tourist traps like Boatwain's Beach and Dolphin Cove? It is great to see the seat turtles and dolphins, but at what cost, and is it beneficial for the animals?
Preparing for our first guest has really given Blake and I an outside look into our lives, but a lack of towels and kitchen supplies wouldn't lead me to abandon this lifestyle. Our life here is amazing and worth more than the material drawbacks. We can't wait until the rest of you come visit!