OISK {Conversations}

While at a new beach with Matty and the boys this morning:

Matthew: Hey what is Trooper sniffing?
Me: I don't know.
Matthew: Trooper! Drop it!
Me: Chill. He's fine.
Matthew: Are those...?
Me: What?
Matthew: ....Are those human remains?
Me: Looks like a pelvic bone.
Matthew: Oooh pick it up!
Me: You have gone and lost your mind, son.

{Conversations}

I think this {Conversations} also falls into the OISK category.

Scene: After making my way out of the ladies' room at Jam Rock and heading towards Daisy and Abby who are having lunch.

Random Kittitian man: Heyyyy Chinese-face!
Me: Excuse me?
RKM: I say heeyyyy girl.
Me: Hi.
RKM: Weh you frohm?
Me: The US.
RKM: Yeah? Weh?
Me: Michigan...do you know where that is?
RKM: Yeh...naw.
Me: Okay.
RKM: But weh you relly from? You lok like uh mixed breed, girl.
Me: My mother is filipino.
RKM: An yo daddy?
Me: He's polish, mostly.
RKM: Girrrll ya wan ta mek mixed babys wid me?
Me: No, no thank you.

Get Your Skeletons Out—It's Almost Halloween!

What a day! I feel like all I've been doing is blogging about Tropical Storm Rafael. And now I've just learned that thanks to his kind visit, skeletal remains have been found at South Friar's Bay. 

See? I wasn't kidding.

I'm sure some of you stateside folks are thinking, "WTF? That's how news is released to the public in St. Kitts? On Facebook?" The answer is simple: Yes. And it's perfectly normal. And no, I don't know if we have a forensics team to find out the identity. OISK? Yes, probably.

OISK: TDC

Only in St. Kitts...

...can you go to TDC, (a hardware/housewares store), and receive a free breast examination.

SK Post Office

Only in Saint Kitts...

Matthew's mom sent us a package, so we went to the post office to collect it. Please enjoy the following {Conversations}.

Mail clerk: That will be $50.

Me: What for?

Mail clerk: The value of your package is $35 USD, so you need to pay $50 EC in duty.

Me: Are you serious? What for? I've never had to pay duty on anything I've received from my family...ever.

Mail clerk: Sometimes you get a break, and sometimes you have to pay. Today is the day you pay.

Matthew: I only have $40.

Mail clerk: That'll do.


WTF? Whatever. I guess I didn't look cute that day. *sigh*

Only in Saint Kitts...

OISK (courtesy of my friend, Nicole):

Only in Saint Kitts...

I saw this on my Facebook news feed. How could this have happened? On a Friday? With a security guard at the door to let customers in? Annnnnnnd this bank shares a parking lot with a fairly busy grocery store...I just don't get it. OISK!

Only in St. Kitts

Last night, Matty and I went to the St. Kitts Music Festival, and we caught sight of this sign posted within the concert grounds. I couldn't help but laugh...OISK!

{Conversations}

I think this qualifies to not only be a {Conversations} post, but also an 'Only in St. Kitts' post.

Me: Is that a toddler...without a carseat?
T: Yes.
Me: In the front seat?
T: Yes...
Me: Without a seatbelt?
T: ...Yep, pretty much.

Only in St. Kitts: Donkey Tales

I've got another OISK goodie for you.

While perusing my Facebook news feed, I stumbled upon this little gem...thanks to my friend, Brayton.

The photo below depicts an image of a man.

Riding a donkey.

While talking on his cell phone...

{My Two Cents}

Whoa. Who's the Kittitian man with the face paint and a witch hat?


{Only in Saint Kitts...}

Accident on West Basseterre Highway

Remember this 'OISK' post? Well, while routinely perusing my Facebook feed, a news story from SKNTimes popped up about an accident involving an overturned SUV on the side of the road. While I hoped everyone involved was unharmed, I couldn't help but shake my head at the stick holding up the vehicle...Only in St. Kitts!

Here are the photos that accompanied the story:

And This is Why We Didn't Have Water Pressure

Last week sometime, or maybe it was over the weekend...yeah, I'm not sure. All of my days seem to blend together. Anyway---I recently got up to use our kitchen faucet, and there was very little water pressure. I didn't think too much of it...sometimes the water pipes are being worked on, blah blah blah. I figured it would go back to normal at some point. And hey---at least we had water. There have been instances where the water is completely out!

Soooo...what was I saying? Oh yes! Okay, so there was very little water pressure. And when Matthew came home from his morning jog, he provided an explanation with the following photos of our neighbor's house, (which is pink, btw). The water lines in front of their house were being cleared. Mystery solved.

OISK!

Only in Saint Kitts...


Recently, Stephanie and I made a trip out to Karron's, a little fabric store in Basseterre. She needed to purchase a few things for a sewing project, (to be explained in a future post), and since I was involved in said project, I tagged along. While in line to purchase her items, Stephanie noticed a funny roll of fabric on a shelf near the ceiling.

Me: Out of curiosity, what is that used for?
Cashier: I don't know, (and now yelling across the store), Heeeey heeeeey! What is that up there? Yeah! That up there! The black thing with metal pieces!!!! What do you use it for?
Other Employee: (Yelling), I don't know!!!! ...And I don't know how much it is either!!
Me and Steph: Yeah, okay. Thanks. Have a great day!


A few days later, Matthew and I went to IGA to pick up a few groceries. When we got in line to pay for our goods, I found it silly that there was a cashier and a designated bagger...who did nothing but stare at me as I basically bagged my own groceries and placed them into my cart to leave. Oh wait---I misspoke. I forgot to mention that the bagger felt the need to give me unsolicited instructions while I was doing her job.


Earlier this week, Matthew brought our car to the gas station. In Saint Kitts, there are gas pumpers, which is actually kind of nice...when they aren't taking the initiative to tip themselves. Matthew asked for 60 EC, and when he started to drive away, he noticed that the attendant only filled the tank up to 50 EC and pocketed the rest.


I can't help but shake my head and roll my eyes.

Only in Saint Kitts

Matthew and I were driving home one day, and this guy and his "Chevy" truck was in front of us...OISK!

Quick Fix

The weather has been pretty rainy and stormy the last few weeks...almost rainier than "rainy season." One morning, while on our way to take Milo and Trooper to the beach to get some exercise, we saw this...

Yes, friends...that is a ladder holding that up. I suppose they didn't want to fix it until the rain stopped because as we all know---rain is oh so inconvenient, and this option is MUCH safer. HA! ONLY IN SAINT KITTS (OISK)! 

The Barbie Jeep

When my friends, Rochelle and Matthew, came to visit us, we needed to rent a car. I won't go into detail regarding this nightmare-ish ordeal, but I will state that we ended up with the infamous island Barbie Jeep a few times while our 'rental' was being 'repaired.' It was a dream come true, mainly because I'd been keeping my eye on that jeep ever since I first spotted it. And I'm not the only fan; everyone had mad love for the Barbie Jeep!

Here was our 'rental' that broke down every single time we used it.

Hellllllooooo, June

Umm...it's June. CRAZY! I have been living in Saint Kitts for almost six months. That's half of a year. I guess it's true when they say your time on this island flies by very quickly.

A few changes that are worth noting...

POOL TIME: Tiffany moved to Calypso Bay, so we girls find ourselves at her infinity pool often. Can you blame us? It's gorgeous!

Here's Em enjoying the pool. 

Em, Me, Tiff, and Di

I STARTED TUTORING: Yes, that's right. Me, a teacher...sort of. I help this woman and her son with their English skills once a week. It's been going really well so far, and it gets me out of the house. 

VOLUNTEERING: Along with tutoring, I started volunteering at Ross' prep school. And I have even "substituted," once. I basically just help out in the daycare and with the preschoolers. What's happening to me, you ask? I'm not sure...but I do like the kiddies. There's a little girl named Lyla that makes my heart melt and another little girl named Ava that I just adore. Both of them are about three years old, and they're such nice little girls. My friend Jessie has her son, Beau, enrolled in preschool, and he's the cutest little boy. He's blonde with long hair and bangs. Too adorable. Another little one that I tend to help with, is little baby Alyssa. She is about three months old, and although adorable---she's a little fussy---so I spend a lot of my time making sure she's not screaming. I know, I know---what a change of pace for me, right? OHHHHH, that reminds me. I changed a diaper for the first time the other day. What the...hahhaaa. :)

I GOT THE FEEVAH: Well, what I really mean is that Matthew diagnosed me with Dengue Fever. Click here for the official Wiki description. I started feeling not-so-amazing last Friday, and am now almost back to normal (it is now Wednesday). I experienced chills, a fever, night sweats, fatigue, chest pain, serious loss of appetite, difficulty with breathing deeply, headaches, sore eyeballs (weird, I know), stiff and sore joints, etc. 

ISLAND DEPARTURES: Janae and Erin both left Saint Kitts this week. Erin and her husband, Dan, departed on Sunday. Janae, Andrew, and their two boys, Raymond and Henry, flew out on Tuesday. I'm going to miss both of these ladies oh so much. I am wishing them much luck and love with their new chapters in life.

One of the first nights of our shenanigans. :)

Janae and me at my birthday lime. :)

THE HEAT: Oh boy has it been hot. Summer is here, and although I feel like I've acclimated to the heat pretty well, I can definitely tell that we've had an increase in temperature. 

RUNNING: Last week, Tiffany and I started running about two miles every evening...until I got sick on Friday. I have yet to get back into the swing of things, but we're hoping to start again as soon as I feel 100% back-to-normal. 

CAR: The transmission in our car died in late February...and we still do not have our car back from our mechanic. Talk about island time because it is now June. OISK!

VISITORS: My girlfriend, Rochelle, and her husband, Matthew, are flying into Saint Kitts on Sunday. I am so excited to see familiar faces from home.

A photo of me and Rochelle from Nov 2009.

YOGA: On Monday, I went to Jessie's yoga class. She holds it Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 11:30 a.m. for about half an hour. Yoga has been something I've always avoided because I'm not flexible and those stretching positions hurt. BUT---as I've gotten older, I'm a little bit stiffer when I wake up in the mornings, and my muscles just seem so tight and uncomfortable. I'm hoping that yoga will help with my inevitable aging. 

CANINE: I met the biggest dog ever.

The photo does little justice to this canine's true size.

OCEAN MOVES: I started working on my underwater tricks.

See me in the middle? With the kinked leg? Yeah...I've got a lot of work to do.

PAINTING: Painting my fingernails and toenails, that is. In the US, that was one glamorous task I avoided. Mainly because I never had the time or patience to do it. Well...now I have all the time in the world. I'd like to state that my painting abilities have seriously improved. Yay!

Island Dogs

Island dogs are...everywhere. I always see them lurking about and fending for their next meal. As unintelligent as some of them are, their street smarts often impress me. They know their way around cars, roads, buildings, etc. Unfortunately, I can't always say that about people.

When Mateo and I went to the IGA recently, I snapped a few photos of dogs at the grocery store parking lot. OISK!

A Special Visitor...

In St. Kitts, you run into all sorts of strange things, and creepy crawly bugs fall under this category. Check out the centipede that paid us a visit last night.