One More Thing...

Well well well, here I am posting on my St. Kitts blog again. Didn't I already wrap things up and say goodbye? Yes, yes I did. So what brings me to post on here today? The answer is Duffy, my roommate's dog. One of her moms recently removed her old SK dog tags, and I couldn't help but laugh when I saw what was on it.

Here it is...

If you lived in St. Kitts, you'll understand that A) we don't really have addresses and B) we use landmarks such as 'a tree full of white birds' to direct people. That's just how things work in SK. And it's quite effective.

The other reason this makes me laugh is because I have had quite the response to my Sea Glass Beach blog post. Numerous Rossies, (students, spouses, etc.), as well as various tourists have emailed me to get directions to this location. Happy to share the beach with others, I have sent specific directions. Most often, I have received replies stating that the tourists were dubious of my step-by-step guidelines at first, but found the beach easily enough and had a fabulous time. What were they most unsure of? Turning left/right in Camps at the tree full of white birds. Of course, I understand why they'd think oddly of this...but as anyone in SK knows, this is a critical step in the directions. Not to mention that the birds are always in that one tree!

Anyway, I just had to share this little anecdote. I ought to head over to my new blog and post something interesting. Cheers!

Ericka's Birthday @ Shipwreck

Ericka celebrated her birthday at Shipwreck Beach Bar and Grill this year. And Daisy and I secretly baked and created a 'boob' cake. Hahaha. It turned out pretty good considering our resources.

Happy birthday to youuuuuuuuu!

Boob cake.

Can you spot the VIP spouse? Heh heh heh.

Sea Glass Beach

Before leaving St. Kitts, Matthew and I made it a priority to visit what I call 'Sea Glass Beach.' Being a bit of an arts & crafts hoarder, it was imperative that I visit said beach and collect as much sea glass as possible. While I didn't have any specific plans for the pieces, I wanted to have options for projects once I got back into the States. So I guess you could say I was...stocking up. Yep, stocking, not hoarding. Just so we're clear...

Pretty day for a little sea glass hunting.

Look at all of that! I was in sea glass heaven.

View of the other end of the beach.

Interesting rock formation.

Jackpot, baby.

Milo and Trooper Enjoy the Beach

Alrighty folks, I'm back. Here's the beginning of the end. I have a lot of 'Our Last Days in SK' blog posts to complete, and this is the first one. Lucky for you, this one is short and sweet.

Before we left lovely/sunny/beautiful/simple Saint Kitts, we tried to get to the beach with our boys as much as possible. Here are a couple of photos of them on the Atlantic side hunting for ghost crabs.

View from the Atlantic side.

Milo diggin' diggin' diggin'.

Got one, bro!

Rocky's Bar and Grill

On Saturday, the 6th semester—otherwise known as the green semester—threw a going away beach party for Matthew's class. Their choice venue was Rocky's Bar and Grill at Bird Rock Beach Hotel. The party started sometime around noon and ended around 6:00 p.m. that night. There was food, music, and the beer was free.

Matty and I arrived at about 12:30 p.m., and almost immediately went snorkeling with our friend, Ericka. Having never been to Rocky's before, we were excited to explore the area. We found a ton of sea fans, brightly-colored Caribbean fish, and various shells.

After our snorkeling adventure, we ate some lunch, walked the property, and spent the rest of the day enjoying the venue and hanging out with our friends. Oh, and we went kayaking, which was awesome!

Rocky's Bar & Grill

All of the signs were made by former students, tourists, etc.

Matty made a friend...

We had a really fun time at Rocky's. In fact, I loved it. I'm definitely bummed that we never took advantage of this beachside locale in the past. A while ago, they held a weekly 'Sunday Funday' event where you could use their kayaks and snorkel gear for free. Of course, Matthew and I always had flag football and/or soccer on Sundays so we always missed out on all the fun. However, I'm glad that we were able to go on Saturday because I can now cross this activity/location off of my SK Bucket List.

Beginning of the 'Lasts'

As we're coming to the end of living in lovely St. Kitts, I find myself thinking about our very last parties, our very last snorkeling adventure, our very last beach trip to Gong, our very last everything. I'm all, "Oooh this is the last time we'll go to..." or, "Gahh! I can't believe this is Trooper's last island haircut." I think I even said something about buying butter for the last time at IGA a few days ago...to which Matthew rolled his eyes and ignored me. Typical.

Anyway, I guess this is your warning that you're in for a lot of whiny and pouty posts about 'last' something. On that note, let's get started!

For the last two years, Matthew and I have gone down to The Strip to either play or watch beach volleyball every Friday. I can only think of a few times where we didn't make it...and I can't imagine what was more important than going to the beach in the afternoon to hang out with our friends, and drink waaaay too much beer. Yep, no idea.

So yes, you probably saw this coming, but I feel the need to tell you that last Friday was our very last beach volleyball event! Gahhhh so sad. However, we enjoyed too many buckets of Stag beer, a bonfire, and I even had my picture taken with a donkey!

Very last Friday beach volleyball. *sigh*

Me and my new friend.

Sunset @ The Strip.

I sure hope Raleigh will provide me with lots of activities to aid in my post-island-life-depression...

Jam Rock

The other day, Daisy, Abby, Zennalee, and I headed to South Friar's Bay for lunch at Jam Rock. It was another typically gorgeous Caribbean afternoon. The sun was big and bright in the vast blue sky—playing hide-and-seek in the fluffy white clouds. The sand beneath our feet was hot like usual, but since we're now in the 'winter' season, the breeze has picked up. This makes our sunshine-filled days much more enjoyable.

 

 

Black Semester Banquet

On Saturday, November 24th, we attended Matthew's banquet celebration. This particular event is essentially the end-all party of the semester. Technically, we do have several parties after banquet, but this one is different. It's always held in the evening and everyone gets what I call, island fancy. The boys get out their ties and long pants, and the girls pull out their high heels and wedges from the back of the closet. (We don't normally wear heels down here unless for special occasions...flippies are our staple. Sand, rocks, hills...you get the idea.) We all know we're going to sweat our asses off, and that for us girls, our makeup is going to melt, but we deal with it. We deal with it, because we must. It's tradition; it's island fancy...or vain stupidity. However you want to look at it. Anyway, in addition to our sweaty selves, there's always dj music, food, booze, lots of dancing, and for some—a feeling of sentimentality floating in the air. It's pretty much a guaranteed good time.

Just like Pink Semester's banquet in July, Matthew's class chose Spice Mill as the venue. Since this restaurant is situated on Cockleshell Beach, we had a beautiful view of Nevis, as well as the serene coastline scenery of the peninsula. And what I love most about nighttime beach parties like this one, is that I always have the option to escape the loudness of the crowd. I can head to the shore and listen to the waves crawl and crash their way onto the beach.  S u p e r.  R e l a x i n g. 

Overall, we had a great time, but it was a little surreal to be there. I just can't seem to wrap my mind around the fact that Matthew and his classmates are almost finished with their 7th semester. Amazing! But sad. But amazing!

Here are a few photos from the event...

Group picture @ Timothy Hill scenic turn-out.

Photo credit: Paul Orchard

Photo credit: Paul Orchard

Photo credit: Paul Orchard

Photo credit: Paul Orchard

Lindsay, Rhiannon, me.

Matty G. & Matty D. are having a great time! Can't you tell?

Photo credit: Paul Orchard

Halloween 2012

Happy {belated} Halloweenie! I doubt you remember last year's shenanigans, but we had a great time celebrating the holiday in St. Kitts. Since it was our first Halloween on-island, I wasn't sure what to expect, but we managed to take part in plenty of festivities. Remember when I entered Trooper into that pet costume contest and dressed him as a postal worker? Or when I went to all that trouble to sew my own mermaid tail so that Matty and I could dress as a fisherman and his 'catch of the day?' We also opted to carve a pineapple instead of a pumpkin, (which was really easy). And lastly, we were invited to a Halloween event at Carambola Beach Club with Matt and Tiffany. Needless to say, it was an eventful holiday and just as fun as a typical Halloween in the U.S.A.

This year was equally as enjoyable as last year! The Saturday before Halloween, Matty and I joined our friends at Buddies for trivia night. We got a team together and tried our best, but we didn't manage to pull out a win. *sigh* OH! AND! There was a trivia question regarding my all-time favorite Halloween movie, Hocus Pocus. It asked what the cat's name was, to which I answered: Zachery Binx. WRONG! The answer is Thackery Binx. I am so disappointed in myself. Woe is me.

Moving on...there was also a zombie bar crawl at The Strip that evening, but we didn't partake in that event. However, those people ended up at Buddies for the after party, and there were some really creepy-looking zombies. I loved it!

 

NC State's upcoming wolf pack @ Buddies.

On the actual night of Halloween, Daisy and I headed to Shipwreck Beach Bar & Grill. We met up with a few other VIPs and began—what would be—a very long night. There was dj music, drinks, and lots of dancing. Need I say more? We had a BLAST! When we eventually left the beach, we drove all the way back to Camps, (where Daisy lives), to pick up Ericka so we could go to Bamboo Lounge for more drinks and really bad karaoke. That party was kind of lame, but at that point in the night, I don't think I really noticed. Hehe.

We didn't plan on dressing up, but I brought these props just for fun and just in case!

I'm not sure where the boys got a hold of this unicorn costume piece...but I loved it!

On Saturday, November 3rd, Matty and I went to a Haunted House Halloween party with our friends. The best part about it, was that we could walk to the party, due to the fact that the host lives in front of us. And that's when the responsible drinking began...

I didn't take a tour through the haunted house because I'm a scaredy cat, but I heard it was really cool and legit scary! Oh! And how could I forget to tell you all about our costumes? Wait for it...

You ready?

Okay...

I dressed as a Toddlers & Tiaras' Contestant...and Matty was my 'stage dad.' Hilarious right? I thought so. A lot of people thought it was creepy, but that's the point. It's Halloween!

Oh yeah. Check us out! Matty has skittles and red bull in his hands. Baby needs her go-go juce!

Me and Daisy. (She was a fairy. Check out that tutu. Cute right?)

I already had the shoes...Daisy found the socks.

Well, that's the Halloween update. Just like last year, we had wayyyy too much fun. Now that it's over, I guess I better start thinking about next year's costumes...