Overall, not a bad first night with Grace. Emi told us she sleeps well – usually only waking up once before morning. I think had she not been a bit congested, that would have been the case. I think she has a bit of a cold... she'd been a little snuffly before but being in the air conditioned rooms only seems to make it worse. She woke up a few times last night coughing so badly that it seemed like she couldn't breathe. We, of course, would pick her up and eventually she would stop. I even took her out onto the balcony around 3 am and it seemed to help. Could just be that she's used to the high humidity and that keeps those breathing passages open. Not sure yet if it's something we should go get checked out but we're keeping an eye on it.
We didn't really have any plans for today. Since Claudia wasn't able to get Grace's passport before closing yesterday, she was going to try and pick it up today but we weren't sure when. Gordon will also meet with us again before our Embassy hearing on Thursday – that's where we officially apply for Grace's U.S. Visa – but he wasn't sure if it'd be Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning.
So our new friends with the car asked if we'd like to join us for a drive over to the Robert Reimer Hotel (RRE... Robert Reimer Enterprises or something like that) and we said of course! They'd made plans to get together with the other JOH family currently in the RMI and we were looking forward to meeting them. The 7 of us jumped in the car about 10 or so and headed over.
The RRE is the only other real hotel option in Majuro. They have standard rooms but also have stand-alone bungalows... pretty nice but also about 2-3 times the cost of our double/joining rooms at the MIR. Trying to save money won out over some of the amenities at the RRE. Each family has had different reactions to the two hotels and I think a lot has to do with the actual room you are in. The RRE family was at the MIR when they first arrived and said they had the worst room on the island... I think I agree. They talked about having so many roaches in their room that they were on the walls and table tops! Gross! We have NOT experienced anything close to that - we have seen exactly 2 roaches in our rooms. I “captured” them with an upside-down cup and piece of paper and then tossed them outside.
We also had a short bout with some tiny ants. Seemed to be coming in through the main door to one of our rooms. Our friends downstairs also had the same problem and went to the hardware store to buy some ant spray. Whatever they did seems to have kept the ants away from our rooms as well. Thanks again guys! We really owe you – in addition to getting rid of the ants, providing rides to wherever we've needed to be and including us in your newfound social circle here in the RMI was very kind of you!
There have also been families who were at the RRE and just did not think the additional amenities were worth the additional costs. Another comparison point is the restaurants in each facility. So far, the Enra in the MIR has been pretty good. Service in the islands is slow everywhere so it's really about the food and the surroundings. Enra has a decent selection of things and most of it is pretty Americanized. My only complaint being they fry their french fries in the same oil as the fish. Eh, it could be worse. We did get the chance to eat at the Tide Table today – that's in the RRE – and it was also good. Both places are clean (beware any bathrooms regardless of location) and the staff in both has been very nice. Overall, I'm happy with our choice... and we always have the option to move hotels if we should not be happy where we are.
After arriving back at the hotel we and our friends went our separate ways with a offer of a quick run to the grocery store later. After about 2 hours, I left with them to hea to the store and Jeff stayed behind with Grace. During that 2 hours, our Grace barely slept... she just can't seem to get comfortable. Even now as I type this (after the store run), she's still fussy and showing no signs of sleeping into the night. After a few bottles and a few diapers, she's still napping for about 4 ½ minutes and then wakes up fussing.
Tomorrow might prove to be a very long day if we're up all night but it's an important one. We head back to the U.S. Embassy to apply for her U.S. Visa. Wish us luck tonight!
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