Tropical Storm Rafael

It's a good thing that I recently started to catch up on old seasons of Dexter since Tropical Storm Rafael has made an appearance here in the Caribbean, forcing us to stay inside and hunker down. We are experiencing 50 mph winds, nonstop heavy rain, and flash floods. According to an article from CNN, Tropical Storm Rafael could turn into a hurricane by tomorrow. As with all storms in our areas, I hope this isn't the case. Many of our friends have lost power and water. Some are experiencing flooding in their apartments. Our cable is out, we experienced slight flooding in our bedroom closet, and our dogs hate the idea of going outside, but we've got power, water, internet, a/c, and most of all—we're dry and safe. As you can see, Matthew and I haven't had too much trouble, (yet), and we're very thankful for that. I can't even begin to imagine what it's like for the Kittitians who live in the little tin shacks in Basseterre with very little protection from the storm. 

Someone from RUSVM uploaded a short video clip of the storm from campus. You can view it here.

And here are some photos that were taken in Basseterre. Source: The St. Kitts-Nevis Times:

Flash Flood at Bay Road.

Bus over-turned in a ghaut near West Farm.

College Street

A boat pushed up on shore due to strong waves.

Nevis Hike

In early June, Tiffany and I went on a hike with a group of VIPs and students. We were gone all day long. We headed to the ferry in Basseterre at about 6:30 a.m., and we didn't return until about 6:00 p.m.

The hike was a great experience, but it was tough. I have hiked to Mt. Liamuiga in the past, and that was difficult—but hiking to the Nevis Peak was an entirely different story. First of all, I never felt like I was ever just hiking. On the way up, I spent a majority of the time climbing, scaling, and pulling myself upward with ropes. On the way down, I was falling forward and hoping to catch myself on a tree trunk, bush, vine, or tree root. It was exhausting! However, at 3,232 feet, the view at the top was beautiful. It was definitely a great bonding experience with our friends, and I'll never forget it. After the strenuous hike, and before we caught the ferry back to St. Kitts, we made a pit stop at Sunshine's for lunch and booze. It was a great end to an adventurous day. 

A view of the Nevis Peak.

Me and Tiffany at the top.

Pretty view.

Our group.

April Update

When people ask me, "What's new," or "What have you been up to," it always takes me a minute to respond. Not because I don't have anything exciting on my schedule, but because life sometimes becomes such a routine that you don't always exam your day, week, month—or in our case---semester. However, April has recently 'showered' me with new changes, so here's the update.

Update 1: This past semester, I've been volunteering at the RUSVM Preparatory School teaching Arts & Crafts on Wednesday afternoons. I've taught 4th graders and up how to crochet, make friendship bracelets, stitch fabric flowers, and create accessories like necklaces, bracelets, and headbands. It's been a great experience and I'm happy to have shared some of my 'artsy' knowledge with more-than-willing students. It's been enjoyable getting to know the girls and seeing their creativity blossom. Today was my last session, but I will see most of them again in June when I start working full-time for summer camp. I'll resume my role as the Arts & Crafts teacher, and I'm really looking forward to the projects that Emily I have planned for them.

Update 2: Tiffany and I had been running consistently since mid-to-late January...until I started noticing a very uncomfortable, wrenching pain on the outsides of my calves---that would not go away. Unfortunately, I have no idea what's wrong with me, but eventually it got to a point where I couldn't run more than a half mile. And that's pretty damn depressing and frustrating when you've been routinely running three or more miles a day, five to six days a week. However, I've had running issues in the past. When I was in high school, and ran cross country my senior year, I often experienced pain on the outsides of my knees and numb feet which resulted in me missing out on several races. Annoying. Again, when Matty and I were training for a 10K in 2009, training stopped short because of the calf pain. Coincidentally, I have never had problems playing soccer or basketball. Talk about frustrating. Anyway, running and I have temporarily split up until I can get new running shoes, (they've expired). I have an inkling that my running form could be the culprit too. I try to run heel-toe, heel-toe, but my feet have a mind of their own and want to land on the outsides of my feet first...and then heel...and then toe. The bottom line is that running is the simplest form of exercise and it drives me bonkers to think that I can't run a 5k without problems. Absolutely ridiculous. Not to mention that Tiffany and I were good running buddies. We kept each other motivated...okay let's be serious here---she's way more motivating than I am. But I feel that I'm leaving her on out a limb now that I'm on hiatus. Good thing she's got great self-discipline to carry her through until I can get my shit together, and get back in the game.

Update 3: Sundays were for soccer and flag football, which have both recently come to a close, due to finals week looming steadily ahead. During our soccer tournament we won our first game, but lost our second. In addition, my flag football team lost the first game in the playoffs, but Matthew's team is headed to the championship game which is this Friday. Go Black Semester!

Update 4: Trivia-Night-Tuesdays have been a nice way to change up my evening activities. Last year, I fell out of attending on a regular basis because it's also 10EC-movie-night, and that often won over going to trivia. However, when Stephanie arrived on-island and showed an avid interest in going, I was inspired to start going again. Since then, I've faithfully attend every Tuesday, even though I'm clearly not the MVP...ever. BUT—I have actually hosted three times this past semester! Imagine that. Me...the quiz master. Muahahhahaa. To be fair, I have previously split up the work with Stephanie twice and Tiffany once. Coming up with 60 questions and six different categories is a little daunting, but when you have someone to split it with you, it's a lot more manageable.

Update 5: Wednesday evenings used to be for karaoke at Bobsy's, but sadly, I haven't gone in a very long time. It was a nice night to meet up with the VIP Ladies of Leisure, but Bobsy's hasn't been too busy lately. Not to mention The Blue Martini, SoBe, and Club One have all closed down, so when you get tired of karaoke, there's nowhere else to go to get some dancing in. *sigh*

Update 6: Spanish classes have recently resumed, on Thursday evenings at 5:00 p.m. in Basseterre at the Venezuelan Institute. Speaking of which...I should probably sit down and condense my notes so that I can be prepared for our upcoming vacation to Puerto Rico. (More about that later.) Thursdays are also when I meet with my friend, Esther, to work on her English. She is from Taiwan and our weekly meetings have become something I really enjoy and look forward to. It's fun to compare cultures, interpret we spoiled Americans, examine the funny English language, and share island stories. Last week she made me homemade sushi...and it was to-die-for. Matthew is lucky that I didn't gobble up the entire roll before he arrived home from school. DAMN. I am such a good wife.

Update 7: Beach Volleyball games are on Friday, like usual. Heather, another VIP, is captain of our team, but her spouse is currently in 7th semester, so they are heading back to the US in a matter of weeks. Heather kindly asked if I would carry on the torch, and I accepted. So now I'm the boss. ;)

Update 8: Kristen, Matthew's fellow classmate, recently asked me to join her basketball team which is part of the SKABA, (St. Kitts Amateur Basketball Association). Now this is a change worth noting, mostly because I have not played a competitive basketball game in about a decade. My friend, Hope, also joined the team and is in a similar boat. However, we had our first game tonight, and while our team lost, I'd say Hope and I hustled pretty well for a couple of old ladies who haven't touched a basketball in damn near ten years! Thankfully, because of all the running, soccer-ing, and flag football-ing, I didn't feel too out of shape. It is, however, funny to note how playing different sports affects your body. With running or swimming, I feel like I have all the time in the world. I can just keep a steady pace and keep on trucking along. Mostly it's a mental game---how far can I really run today? How many laps should I swim? With flag football, there isn't a ton of running around, unless of course, you're sprinting, but you have to be alert, quick at grabbing flags, anticipating passes, be ready to catch the ball, and be okay with getting knocked around. Soccer is a different story...lots more cardio involved. The field is large, with plenty of room to roam. I feel like I can control my pace a little bit, but you still need to be able to cover your player, run fast, control the ball, make accurate passes, score goals, head the ball, etc. And then there's basketball, which I put into a similar category. Dribble. Drive. Shoot. Pass. Jump. Don't get beat. Turn. Anticipate. Repeat. It's a fast-paced game and very unpredictable at times which makes it enjoyable for me. Couldn't be happier to be playing on Kristen's team, especially when I've had to stop running daily.

And a funny photo to add to my basketball rant:

Update 9: Matthew recently received an email indicating that U.C. Davis is now accepting RUSVM students for clinicals, which is really exciting news. I don't want to speak too soon, but I think we may have found our third preference for clinical year. The other two are Oregon State University and Louisiana State University.

Update 10: Matthew and I are heading to Puerto Rico in T minus 16 days for a mini vacation, and I am so very excited. I am really looking forward to exploring Old San Juan, shopping at the largest mall in the Caribbean, and going on a kayaking tour to experience the sights of a bioluminescent lagoon. Praying for on-time flights and beautiful weather!

So those are the updates...a bit wordy, I know.

Valentine's Day

Matthew and I don't put a lot of effort into Valentine's Day. Mostly, we think it's a bit of a 'Hallmark Holiday,' so we don't get too revved up about it. I'd like to say that we're mindful of each other every day, or at least a majority of the time.

However, I loooooove all kinds of holidays, and I can't help but pay at least a little bit of attention to each one. If we were back in the states, I most likely would have decorated for Valentine's Day and handcrafted a card...and I probably would've gotten my dogs a few toys from the $1 Spot at Target.

So anyway, my point is that I don't ever expect us to do anything 'special' for said holiday.

But this year, Matty made dinner reservations at Serendipity Restaurant in Basseterre, unbeknownst to me. What a lovely surprise! I had never eaten there before, and I thought it was pretty thoughtful that he take me somewhere new. Matthew also gave me a gold necklace with a very sparkly sea star charm. As obsessed as I am with star-like sea creatures, I LOVE(D) it!!

We had a really nice time that evening, and the view of Basseterre Bay was really pretty. There was also a cruise ship docked at Port Zante, and its lights were lighting up the sky.

In addition, we met a woman who went to RUSVM 20 + years ago! Every year, she and her husband come to visit for a week. We chatted with her for a little bit, and she wished Matthew well in his last few semesters.

Best part of the night? The restaurant's female employees' reaction when Matthew walked in with a pink-and-white striped tie. He received a lot of attention and was voted, "Best Valentine of the Night." I may or may not have been jealous of all the attention he was getting. I'm cute too!

Weirdest part of the night? Having to cover my face and mouth with a LIME hanky while riding around in the Green Destiny, (our car). The muffler system was...not working, and the exhaust was quite potent. At least we were able to get a funny photo out of the deal. :)

I wasn't kidding.

Caribbean Christmas Staycation Part I

While a lot of students and their spouses leave Saint Kitts for the holidays, we chose to stay. Yes, we miss our families. Yes, we miss our friends. And yes, we even miss the snow. BUT—our move to the Eastern Caribbean is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and temporary, so why not experience Christmas elsewhere? Why not dive into the culture here, while we have the chance? Why not live a little, and do something out of the ordinary?

Matthew and I weren't the only people who wanted to stay over semester break. There were quite a few of our friends and students who we didn't know that were here. Who do you think pet sits when all of the students go home, eh? Our friend, Tracey, eventually created a Facebook group so we could all keep in touch. We met up to go to the beach, snorkel, play beach volleyball, play soccer, etc.

Our soccer fans: Harmony, Milo, and Trooper

Christmas dinner was hosted by the Emily and Taylor. Leann and Brayton, Peter and Audrey, Angelikie and Dan, and Matthew and I were the guests. We all brought something to share and feasted the evening away. It was heart-warming and fun to celebrate this special holiday with our island family. We laughed, we ate, and we enjoyed each other's company. No complaints. After a while, we ended the night early because on December 26th, at midnight, is when the celebration of J'ouvert begins (more about that down below). 

Here's our Christmas dinner group. 

Me and Em---Crasian Christmas!

The boys doing the dishes---as they should. Hehe. :) 

J'ouvert was our next big Staycation adventure. For additional information regarding J'ouvert and Carnival, click here to read Cory and Julia's blog  from a few years ago, when Cory was a student at RUSVM. Enjoy the photos...it was a crazy night/morning. Celebrations began at 12:00 a.m. and did not end until 9:00 a.m., or even later. The pre-party began in TDC field at midnight. While there, we partied, danced, listened to a live band, refilled our water bottles with delicious rum punch, got paint slapped on us, etc. At 4:00 a.m., we hit the streets of Basseterre following the troupe's big "float" with speakers and loud music. There were at least 500 people in our troupe...and almost ten troupes total. So...that's a lot of people! 

Here we are in our gear. Our troupe was: XTREME

Group photo 

I'm a happy girl with my rum punch. YUMMY!

Me and Leann...with all of our lovely paint. 

Here we are at about 6:00 a.m.

Here is a view form Ballahoo Restaurant of the troupes entering the Circus area.

   

We lasted until 8:00 a.m. WHEW! 

The In-Laws Pay a Visit to the Rock

Matthew's mom, dad, and sister flew into St. Kitts on February 25th, and they left on March 4th. I think that, ideally, they wanted a relaxing and low maintenance vacation. I'd say they received the opposite...

They arrived on Friday, and after hunting them down at the Marriott, we found them at the Pizza Shack. We were really excited to see them, and it was so comforting to see familiar faces. Since their plane came in at about 4:00 p.m., we didn't plan to do anything that night because they were pretty exhausted. They had driven to Chicago on Thursday and boarded their flight at 5:00 a.m. Friday morning. However, Matthew and I were able to persuade his sister, Nicole, to go out with us. As you might know from previous posts, Fridays tend to be the night to go out; we just couldn't let Nicole miss out on a typical Friday night on the island. So after we dined on a couple of pizzas in their hotel room, we headed to The Strip.

When we arrived, we skipped Ziggy's because it was completely dead, and we walked down to Elvis'. There, we found a small grouping that hadn't left the beach since volleyball earlier that afternoon. Usually people will hang out for a while after the volleyball matches, but eventually, they head home, change, and return to The Strip. This grouping, however, never left, and didn't seem to have plans to leave any time soon. Thus, we found our entertainment for the early evening hours. We ended up staying at Elvis' until the wee hours of the morning; we had a blast!

Nicole and Matthew

Our friends: Taylor, Emily, Ryan, and Brittany.

Eventually, we became the entertainment...it happens.

On Saturday, we took Matthew's family to a beach called Shipwreck. We spent most of the afternoon there. We snorkeled a little bit and soaked up some sun. Unfortunately, we were given terrible service at the restaurant, and the food wasn't that great. Also---they only accept cash. For being a tourist hot spot, you'd think they'd accept credit/debit cards too.

Sunday was a funday! We went charter fishing on the Caribbean side of the island. Nicole reeled in a King Fish and I reeled in a Black Finn Tuna. We also saw dolphins, which made the trip for me. They were racing our boat and showing off. It was amazing! When the trip was over, we took our fish home. Mathew prepared us a delicious fish dinner and we all sat around talking about the day, while eating our fill of yumminess.

Fish on!

View of St. Kitts from our boat.

Our fish. :)

Monday was a day full of sightseeing. We took the clan on a tour to see Ross University's campus, Caribelle Batik, Brimstone Fortress, and we drove them around the entire island.

What I really liked about the Ross tour was that Matthew brought us down to an area on campus that had a path which lead to the coast. It was called, Stairway to the Sea. I had never been down there, so it was a treat for me too.

Beautiful rocky beach sprinkled with conch shells. 

At the bottom of the stairway was this gazebo-like structure. Great little hideaway.

Our next stop was at the Caribelle Batik, which is located at the historic Romney Manor. I had never been to this place before, and was ecstatic that we'd be visiting. The little store creates their own wall hangings, clothing, and accessories using an interesting process involving dying and waxing. The grounds of Romney Manor are also very beautiful. For more information check out this link: http://www.caribellebatikstkitts.com/

Some of the products inside of the Batik.

A 400 + year old tree on the grounds of Romney Manor.

After we finished strolling through the botanical gardens of Romney Manor and doing a little shopping, we hopped back into our car, and began the drive to Brimstone Fortress. According to http://www.brimstonehillfortress.org/, the Fortress was constructed intermittently between the 1690s and 1790s, is of singular importance as being the remains of a large, complete military community of the 18th century. As such, it is a veritable time capsule of international significance.

Matty's fam seemed to really enjoy the fortress—who wouldn't? It's an amazing place to visit and it holds a lot of history for St. Kitts. We concluded the day with a drive all the way around the rest of the island, which didn't take too long. Haha. Remember, St. Kitts is twenty-eight miles long and five miles wide (at its longest and widest points).

Tuesday was a lazy day. Matt went back to school, and it was up to me to entertain the fam. I met them at the Marriott around 1 p.m. and we headed to Port Zante to do a little tourist shopping. While there, Nicole was able to take a photo with a few of the Green Vervet monkeys.

On Wednesday, I brought them to Whitehouse Bay, off of Christophe Harbour to do a little snorkeling. Although I was able to show them a shipwreck, it wasn't very sunny and the water was atypically chilly for an afternoon in the Caribbean. We cut the trip short due to eerie feelings of being in dark water. HAHA. On the way home, we made a pit stop at Timothy's Beach to look for shells and to relax. By that time, the sun decided to come out.

Thursday involved a trip to the IGA, our local grocery store. One thing I really liked about his family visiting us, was that they were able to do "touristy" sightseeing, as well as get a small taste of what it's like to actually live in St. Kitts. We didn't shield them from the shacks, questionable scents from downtown, insanely high prices for groceries, crazy/risky/dangerous drivers, etc.

On Friday, they flew back to the US. Of course the transmission went out on my car on the way to the airport. Oh, and our battery was stolen while the car was on the side of the road before our mechanic could tow it to his place. However, they didn't miss their flight and they arrived home all in one piece.

On The Hunt for a Muffin Pan

On Friday I went to campus with Mateo, worked out at the gym, and then headed home in search of a muffin pan, per my husband's request. I was put in charge of baking a batch for the big breakfast scheduled at Michaelene's on Saturday. Our plan was to gather at her apartment to pig out prior to heading out to Beach*Fest (more about this in a later post).

Once I finished getting ready for the day and had given the doggies some attention, I headed out to the IGA, one of the grocery stores. I figured that they would carry something common like a muffin pan; I was wrong. So I left and headed to Karibhanas, which is a department store in Basseterre.

I pulled into a parking lot near Port Zante (where the cruise ships port), and walked the short distance to the store. There were two cruise ships in that day, and as you can imagine, a lot of tourists were out and about. It was actually nice to see all the people visiting.

While walking through Port Zante, I saw local Kittitians dressed in tribal-wear, performing a dance.

Having been to Karibhanas before, I knew right where to go to find the much needed muffin pan. SCORE!

On my way back to my car, I took a photo of the National Museum.

The present building was completed in 1894, replacing a wooden structure which had an archway that people walked through when arriving and leaving the island. This lead to the building being referred to as "The Gateway to Basseterre." www.stkittsheritage.com/national_museum.asp