Friday, July 31

August Really Starts Tomorrow?

There was some intense rain last night. It poured down on the roof loud enough to stir me from my sleep. I enjoy the sound of rain. I fell back asleep and woke up with the sensation of something furry brushing against my arm. I am not sure if it was a nightmare or if it as a real animal in my room. I'm hoping it was more nightmare and less reality. I looked around and once I had the light on, I could see a softball sized hole in my window. Some tape on some cardboard, which had been covering the hole, came loose during the rain. I tried to patch up the spot and go back to sleep.

In the morning, I made a few calls and tried to get the spot patched up. Ultimately, a trash bag and duct tape seemed to fix the problem. However, I had to make the unpleasant decision to temporarily discontinue use of the portable AC unit. I'm not a big whiz on air conditioning systems, but I do know that the portable units tend to have installation kits for windows, so a duct or hose can go up to the window (blowing hot air out) and have plastic or another material cover the part of the window around the duct, so the window isn't just sitting there, with a 4” tall rectangular opening. The cardboard had been covering the rectangular hole until all the rain arrived. I'm wondering if maybe a trip to Home Depot or another hardware store might help me find the right kit and materials to fill up the window space so I can use the AC again.

Jeff, one of the divers I mentioned earlier, just had an article published online. It's a pretty interesting read about coral bleaching. The abstract and link to a PDF can be found here:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/t8474w3380q1814q/

Thursday, July 30

Snorkeling

I started the day with a trip out into the water with folks from the dive team. Water temperature data is being collected by submerged devices at a bunch of sites around the island. As the divers set off to find each data logger, I stayed on the surface and did some snorkeling. The water and weather cooperated, for the most part. Some huge swells caught me off-guard and a white-cap actually broke over my head. It was a bizarre sensation. A massive pounding sensation on my head was followed by me looking around, expecting to see a large bird that had just dive-bombed me, thinking my snorkel was some kind of tasty fish. I saw no birds anywhere nearby and noticed the surface was still pretty foamy and white, as is the case after waves break away from shore. I waited a few more moments and another wave broke in nearly the same spot. Eureka! I swam away from the pounding waves and scanned the rocks and reefs for more blue tang, trumpet fish, trunk fish, and anything else I could find to fill up my viewfinder. The dive spots (snorkel spots for me) included Mennebeck Bay, Haulover Bay, Newfound Bay, Yawzi Point, and Tecktite. I snorkeled everywhere except Tecktite, which was a little too deep for snorkeling. At Tecktite, I stayed on the boat. I collected quite a few rays from the sun. By evening-time, I was doing well with a lobster imitation. It was really great to get out on the boat with the divers and see them in action. The dive team rocks!

I've been meaning to workout more often. I heard from Jeff, one of the divers from today and also a super-cool fish biologist working in the Biosphere, there is a race coming up in September around Labor Day. There is a triathlon and also a swim/run event. I'd love to do the swim/run! So, after work, with the Army Ten Miler and the potential for a local race in mind, I ran for about an hour. I weaved around the trails near my house and then set off on the Margaret Hill Trail. I made it almost to Centerline Road (a fair distance from my house) before turning back to come home. It felt great and I very much enjoyed having brought my water bottle along for the run.

The new housing needed a little bit of home-making. I did some dishes, put down a towel in the kitchen (No rug? Use a towel!...), did some laundry, and sat down for a tasty dinner of tuna salad. I caught up with Kevin, who will be here in less than a week! Woo-hoo! He's quite excited to be on a vacation and also travel somewhere he's never been before!

Wednesday, July 29

Great Friends are Great Indeed

The dust is still hanging in the sky. Warnings of haze fill the forecasts. I'm avoiding running, just so I can still breathe by the time I finish breakfast. Breathing is more difficult when the dust events are of greater intensity. Right now, I look out onto Cruz Bay and cannot see small islands that I normally should see in the distance.

Here is a website that will show you the current dust activity:
http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/tropic/real-time/wavetrak/winds/m8g10split.html

Standard transmissions are in a lot of cars. Folks born in the 80s are often lost with a manual vehicle, grinding the gears and stalling out every 10 seconds. See: Clueless. I'm now 26 and getting on in my years (I know, if you're over 30, you're saying “spare me!”) so I figured it's high time I learn how to deal with a manual transmission. Today, I went out for a lesson driving standard with Thomas and it was freaking awesome! I did great in the parking lot practicing popping the clutch and of course, not popping the clutch. We headed out onto the open road after about thirty minutes and started out letting Thomas shift for me. On the road home, I shifted and drove all on my own, with promptings from Thomas. I'm well on my way to driving standard solo. I am addicted to learning something new.

The internet at the office and throughout the park was out today. It made it quite hard to do research with the internet not working. I did catch up on revising a huge document that is one of my biggest priorities, so that was great.

After work, I got to see Christy's shack on the hill out in Coral Bay. I've never been so jealous of a shack. She's got an amazing place with a really great outdoor shower. Seeing the stars and feeling a breeze while showering is priceless. If you get the chance to install an outdoor shower, don't pass it up. For dinner, we headed to Shipwreck Landing, in Coral Bay, where Christy's husband is the main chef. Amazing Curry-Nut Chicken! The meal I ordered was fabulous and mouth-wateringly good. A sweet glaze topped the spicy and nutty chicken. With each crunchy bite, my mouth oohed and ahhed in response.

I forgot to mention, I've established an almost regular status at at least one bar down here. I know, this is not something you might imagine happening to me, since I do tend to stay home like an old lady much of the time. I walked up to the bar a few days ago and the bartender handed me my bottle of Tropical Mango, done. It's nice to have people know your drink.

This weekend will include a trip to St. Thomas on Saturday to stock up on groceries. I'm anxious to get a large supply of frozen chicken tenderloins, fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, and more yogurt and cheese. I may get a case or two of soda if I'm feeling rebellious to better nutrition. There may also be time for a viewing of the new Harry Potter movie, if we get over to the theater early enough!

The best part of my stay here in St. John will be hard to identify and pinpoint, but I did happen across a moment today that ranks very high in my list of instances that gave me a deep sense of happiness and pleasure.

So, Keith came in today and told me there was a package for me waiting in the visitors center. I didn't know a package was coming, so I got quite excited! I hustled down to the building to see what was so heavy that Keith didn't want to carry it up the hill. A box! From Becca Hall! The box was a quick carry to the car and then I hauled it to my house, and immediately went at it with a big sharp knife. By the time I got all of the box emptied, my kitchen table was FULL!!! Wow! My first impression of the box: Becca is one of the most wonderfullest people in the world. It was so thoughtful and amazing of her to send me such tasty treats and things I love- every single thing in the box made me want to eat a fourth lunch! (I had three lunches already- two were tuna sandwiches, one was a small bag of oreos). The care package made me realize how lucky I am to have such great friends. When it comes to the five love languages, I definitely am feeling a full love tank right now, so gifts must be fairly high on the list of languages that I understand. I have the cheesiest and biggest smile on my face after opening the big box. I bet you can probably imagine what that looks like :-) I am so excited to enjoy all these tasty items!

Tuesday, July 28

Visitors

Kevin is coming for a visit! August 6-12 he'll be here and I'm really looking forward to his visit. I'm excited to show him around St. John and share my experiences here with someone familiar from back home! :)

Another good friend from my college days will be local, August 8-15, in St. Thomas. I'm hoping I'll get to meet up with her as well!

September, 5-10, Mom is here!

Should be a great next several weeks!

At work today, I spent a good bit of time researching a handful of topics related to some of my findings from the risk assessments I performed last week. I also got another book from Susanna to read when I'm not working. Glassbottom Days is now on my list of books to read very soon. The other book she let me borrow is Death in Grand Canyon. Both should be very good reads. I'm hoping I can find the free time to read them, soon!

Sometimes, I feel bored as soon as I get home. I'd much rather go out somewhere and soak up the sun as long as it is above the horizon, be near people rather than an empty house, etc. It just doesn't seem right to let the sunshine get away from me. Tonight, I did go home right after work, but the delicious Four Bean Pigeon Pea Chili was waiting for me. There was also a long list of posts to throw on the blog. I'm sad to read there's less than 43 days left on the island, unless I get a temporary or permanent position somewhere here. I'm looking!

Monday, July 27

Anniversary of 26 Years Ago!

The first few seconds of being awake on your birthday are always pure happiness. I let my memories flood back into view and think about all the times I bounced out of bed, rushed down the stairs, and searched high and low for something wrapped on the table, a card tucked under my breakfast plate, and/or a hug from a loved one. Today, my moment of pure joy was seeing a short video of Hokie singing, which mom recorded and then e-mailed to me. I do love my doggie.

The day got better with every hour. Congo Cay and Grass Cay quickly filled up my morning as I hopped aboard the Low Key and set off to be a rescue victim for day one of the rescue class. I was even told I was the Meryl Streep of panicked divers today, nearly convincing the captain he needed to call the coast guard. Either he was making fun of me or genuine in his review of my performance. Either way, I'm going to take it as a compliment. I flailed around and tried to tear off masks, grab snorkels, act scared, all the things that very well could happen in a real dive scenario. The students responded as they are trained to respond and things went well. Most of the scenarios today invovled work on the surface. With a pretty strong current, we had to pause every so often to swim back in the direction of the boat. At the second stop, Grass Cay, I even spent some time underwater, which amounted to about 26 minutes at 25 feet. It was fantastic.

Back on shore, I headed for the office for a half-day of work. Kevin, one of the maintenance guys at the park, was really helpful in getting my new housing unit ready quickly so Beth, Oliver, and I could move in and get away from the ratty Island Fancy. I wrote him a nice thank you card and he was very appreciative of the card. I think simple things like thank you notes are forgotten all too often. Speaking of thank you notes, I need to write another one. There are many folks that have been very friendly and done a lot to make me feel at home here on the island. I got cards from a handful of people here in the park and I am grateful for their thoughtfulness and kindness. I really would like to stay here beyond September! The happy gestures continued through the day. For lunch, I was treated to a tasty lunch at La Plancha, which I can now say is definitely one of the best places to eat lunch on the island. For $10 you can get lunch a ton of places, at La Plancha, it's around $8-$12 for a lunch item, plus the building has AC, it's easy to park, and the service was friendly. I'm going with a few thumbs up.

For dinner, I took the evening to cook up a delicious Four Bean Pigeon Pea Chili. I've not had pigeon peas since my arrival in the Caribbean. Think: lima bean and chickpea, mixed together, greenish in color. For the chili, I mixed kidney beans, black beans, pigeon peas, butter beans, rice, cheese, taco seasoning, salt, and pepper. Wow! It's a simple meal and requires little more than cooking rice and using a can opener, but it came together to be quite a tasty meal. With 6 cups of rice and four cans of legumes, things came out to around 4 servings. Yum.

I almost headed for bed rather early, but then I realized, I had not yet had cake! What sort of crazy-talk is it anyway, no cake on a birthday! Willing to avoid the proposterous, I happily joined Oliver on a trip to Starfish Market. With a large slice of red velvet cake and cream cheese icing in hand, I felt like my birthday was complete. My final birthday present to myself, a good night's rest.

Sunday, July 26

Beach Party!

Heck yeah! Time for the big party! I picked up Lauran and headed for Starfish Market to get the last few essentials before the big bash. Before I had left the grocery, I got a call from Mom to wish me a happy birthday. Not only did she call a little early, she called to let me know she'd just bought tickets, to come here! Yee-haw! So, it looks like Mom will be here Sept. 5-10 and she'll even be sharing the plane ride home with me. I'm very excited and can't wait to show her all the cool things here in St. John!

Debauchery soon followed as we made our way to the house. We kicked off the party with a tasty tray of capers, locks, ritz, onion, and cream cheese. There was also a tray of deviled eggs. I love food. Soon, the strata was ready. I'm not sure if you know what strata means...so I'll elaborate. We're talking a scrumptious blend of quiche and bread pudding, breakfast style. The perfect mix of eggs, bread, sausage, eggs, cheese, spices, and other flavorings filled up the casserole dish and was sublime. Kudos to Keith for whipping it together. Next in the buffet line was a huge pile of home fries and then a large bowl of popovers. I could smell the popovers baking in the oven, so by the time they were in the bowl, I already had two. Smearing a large gob of raspberry jam on the fresh pastry was heaven. I would like to get the recipe from Keith, soon. The popovers were fluffy, bready, eggy, and buttery goodness, all in one. I'd almost compare it to one of my favorite items at Buzz Bakery- their breakfast brioche, a sausage and egg breakfast pastry that looks almost like an engorged muffin, only it has a texture like that of a croissant. Mmmm...I have to admit, I'm a little bit excited to be home again and indulge in a brioche and latte on a Saturday morning.

Soon after we started eating, the mimosas and bloody mary's were pouring into glasses. I love Martini & Rossi Asti with Tropicana. I'm think 75% Asti and 25% OJ is a good mix. Mimosas are just perfect for every Sunday morning brunch! We cleaned up the plates and headed for the beach soon thereafter. What a beautiful day of weather! I don't think I could have ordered a more pleasant breeze, light cloud puffs, good wind on the water, and sunshine. Susanna and Ron brought the sunfish with them and just about all of us took our turn sailing it around Cinnamon Bay. I love sailing around in a Sunfish! I capsized it a few times, naturally. There was a strong breeze once I got a hundred feet or more from shore, so it was awesome to zip around and practice tacking and jibing.

Sometime in the evening there was a short rain storm to cool off the hot skies. It rains often when there is not a cloud in the sky. They call it the devil beating his wife with a broom when it rains when all you can see is sunshine. In contrast, the rain that came during the party brought with it large grey masses of clouds. Fortunately, the clouds did move through quickly and before long, we were basking in the sun again.

Eventually my stomach was running on empty again. Despite the late afternoon hour, I baked up a dozen biscuits, scrambled half a dozen eggs, threw in some shredded cheese, and made 7 or 8 scrambled egg biscuit sandwiches. Wow, a scrambled egg sandwich really is the best way to cap off a day of mimosas and hanging out on the beach. As goes with most parties and celebrations, the guests trickled slowly out the door. We wrapped up the night by watching Stepbrothers in blu-ray. I definitely get roaring with the laughter when it's Will Ferrell in another one of his movies.

What started around 10:00am ended somewhere around 1:00am. What a great birthday celebration!

Saturday, July 25

Still Living the Dream

I love the weekends! I hopped on the Hey Now and ventured off with Low Key Watersports for two dives. Carvel rock and the north side of Congo Cay. Carvel was great. Congo was a drift dive, passing octopus, a new species of eel that I had not yet seen, more arrowhead shrimp, cleaner shrimp, a crab with a pincer the size of my forearm, another lobster with a head the size of my head, and a new type of coral or sponge that I had not ever seen before. It is almost black, with clear tentacles exposed during the daylight. It was around 50 feet that I found it most. My first official drift dive at Congo Cay was fantastic. Post-dive, I helped load the boat up with more tanks and then headed to the grocery to stock up on some essentials for the beach party tomorrow. I got some eggs, biscuits, champagne, rum, and orange juice. What more could be needed?

There's a wine & cheese party this afternoon and I'm anxious to head to St. Trauma...er...St. Thomas, to enjoy more good times with awesome folks.

Update:
The Ferry to St. Thomas didn't quite leave when we thought it would...so there was time for a drink or two at The Beach Bar before we scooted off across the water. In Red Hook, we hopped into a taxi. The tinting on the windows had been scratched away, only on the passenger side windows, near the doors. I wonder if it was because people have been trying to claw their way out of the vehicle? Ha! The short, less than a mile, taxi ride dropped us off at our destination and we headed for the wine & cheese shindig. There, I enjoyed at least two delicious pina coladas and more snacks and hors-de-vours than I could keep count. The view from St. Thomas onto St. John was really neat at night. I could see the dim lights surrounding my old place at Island Fancy in contrast to the bright illumination surrounding my new place at Lind Point. It's nice to be in a slightly more populated area once again.

The ferry ride home brought small trickles of rain onto my face as I stared up at the star-filled sky. Out on the water, the stars were highly visible and I forgot where I was for several moments, as I stared off into the sparkly air. Back on land, the night wasn't ready to be over. We a bit of a boomerang trip and returned to The Beach Bar. I turned in a little on the late side and prepared for the next day....beach party day!

Friday, July 24

TGI Friday!

Wow! What a busy day! There was a full day with Sara from DC and I moved housing units!

While at Trunk Bay today, I tarred in a few short clips demonstrating some safety related tips for snorkelers. For lunch, I tested, to the extreme, the seagull deterrent system. I teased the seagulls with a fresh basket of french fries. Sure enough, they swooped down just moments after I escaped the boundaries of the deterrent zone. But as soon as I went back into the protected area, the seagulls backed off. It was great!

After work, I confirmed my new housing unit was ready!!! I packed up my bags and drove them into town with the help of Breslin. This new housing unit is fantastic!!! I've got my own bathroom, windows with glass, a full refrigerator, a working washer/dryer, a TV, fans that pump out some nice cool air, a full kitchen with more counter top space, no vermin/rodentia, multiple pieces of furniture, a real dining table, multiple chairs, and another amazing view! I can see all of Cruz Bay from my living room. I also have an AC unit in my room, which is like a gourmet box fan. Life is good.

For fun, after unpacking was complete...which didn't take long since I'm still living out of my suitcases, I headed to The Beach Bar, followed by Woody's, finishing at Crazy Crackers. What a great finish to the week!

Thursday, July 23

Sugar Cane and Ginips

Local flavors have always caught my fancy. I tried fresh sugar cane and ginips today. The cane was cut and I chewed on the small piece, enjoying the sugary juice that delighted my taste buds. The ginip trees were dangling their sweet fruits right in my face, so I couldn't help but enjoy a few. There is a wonderful dude at Annaberg that keeps a garden with local plants and fruits available for cultural demonstrations. Fresh sugar cane is amazing. Fresh ginip, also a new favorite. It's like the inside of a grape, with a large pit in the middle. You can't eat the skin though.

My new swimsuit has arrived! I love how I can order something from speedo.com and it shows up in a size that actually fits! Sweetness! I will now have a super awesome suit to wear on my Birthday!

The day was awesome today, despite more Saharan Dust. Sara came in from DC and we had a safety meeting, a tour of the island, and more meetings in the afternoon. The day went by in a flash and it's already almost nighttime. Another evening at AquaBistro to catch up on Facebook, the blog, and e-mails.

Yesterday, I swam about ¼ to ½ mile in the ocean, without fins. It was great exercise and I'm excited to try it again in my new suit, especially since it's designed for racing. We shall see how a “racing” bikini works. I'm no Michael Phelps, so I'm sure I won't get slowed down by the drag of two separate pieces.

Wednesday, July 22

Five Days from 26

In five days, I'll be 26. Am I getting too much older or am I still plenty young? I've woken up the past few days with epiphanies about life and where I am going next. I bet you can't keep up or even guess where I'll be next. I certainty do not know, yet. For now, I will soak up the sun, enjoy the job, and visit as many snorkel spots as possible.

It's ponzu tuna night again at AquaBistro. The Ponzu tuna nights are everywhere around here and everyone probably claims to have the best version. I'm interested to try out the “appetizer” version at AquaBistro. For $15, you get a huge towering plate of sushi quality tuna. I didn't get it tonight, but I'm tempted to get it soon! Tonight was instead a delicious dinner of chicken and pasta alfredo at a friend's place. I love homemade meals. I feel like I belong here on the island.

Tuesday, July 21

Baywatch Wannabe

7:45AM I was on the dock and getting on the boat for lifeguard practice drills. We did backboarding in 50 ft. of water, loaded someone onto the boat, practice high-speed bailouts, and regular bailouts. It was awesome. Looks like I'll be a certified lifeguard by the time I come home.

The work day continued with finishing up my assessments from yesterday. I took photographs and kept a list of all the items I noticed. As part of my internship, I'll provide recommendations for the park on how to deal with what I've found.

On Friday, I've got plans to learn how to drive a standard, better. I'm stoked.

By tomorrow, it is possible that I could be in new housing! Let's keep our fingers crossed that housekeeping is able to make it out to the unit so I can get my things in there and enjoy the new home.

Kevin, one of my awesomest dive buddies, is planning a trip! The plans are still fuzzy but I'm hoping he'll be able to make it here for August 6-12 and that we'll be able to do some hiking and diving, in addition to having a blast.

Honestly, how long does I take to get a package from Puerto Rico to St. John? Well, it left Puerto Rico on Sunday. It's still not here. I'm anxious to get my new swimsuit! I'll keep checking the mail and hope that it arrives tomorrow or soon!

After work, it was AquaBistro and then Island Blues to fill up the evening with great friends and fun times. I had a Mahi melt sandwich, which was delicious. The night wrapped up with me giving Lauran a ride home, filled with conversation about interesting bits of island history. The history here is so rich and overwhelming, I am hoping to learn as much as I can, while I can.

Monday, July 20

Another Manic Monday!

There will always be work to get done and journeys to undertake. This week started off with a meeting to check on the status of past risk assessments in the park. I'm going to head off into the park and visit most or all of the sites and help out with the re-assessments. I'm excited!

I made a trip out to Trunk Bay, Cinnamon Ruins, and Annaberg. I find that I've been at Trunk Bay a ton lately, most likely as a result of the seagull deterrent installation. The system appears to be working really well and I'm proud of the solution's success.

I almost fetched a portable AC unit for my sweltering hot bedroom, but there is word that I may be in my new housing unit as early as Wednesday evening! As soon as housekeeping can get into the house and spruce things up a bit, I'll be unloading the suitcases. A bigger place with more bedrooms and bathrooms, closer to town, I'm excited! Oh, and a driveway that doesn't scare the bijezus out of me!

Still no swimsuit yet from Speedo....I'm crossing my fingers and almost holding my breath for it to arrive! The suit was in PR on Sunday, so I know it has to be somewhere close!

I got a lovely gift from Grandma! She sent a card and my present and to my delight, the letter arrived within just a few days!

Just before bed, I found a spider crawling on my bed. I grabbed my flip flop to terminate the bug. My shoes were (and still are) ruined with heavy dirt . I tried to swat at the spider anyway, but missed. The spider is still crawling around somewhere in my room.

Rats: 7
Not a rat: 2
We've adjusted the rat-trapping scheme and now only have one in the attic...hope it works. I was thinking mass annihilation, but perhaps the one at a time theory will prove wiser.

Sunday, July 19

Get Down!

The crust on my eyelids had barely formed by the time my alarm went off in the morning. I packed up the car and headed off for the dive shop! Mingo Cay and Congo Cay were the two dive destinations of the morning and I had a fantastic time! Dropping down below the boat and starting the dive with the divemaster, Forest, we started out right away with great viz and three small reef squid floating above a section of the reef. Reef Squid are on the verge of becoming my new favorite reef sighting. Undulating in the water column, they change colors and camouflage themselves with the surrounding area. At the end of the first dive, I practiced, after a short bit of instruction, blowing bubble rings. Sort of like smoke rings with cigarettes, you can blow bubble rings with scuba gear. At 11 feet, I sat on the bottom for a good five minutes trying my best to create a bubble ring. My first try, success! The tricky part is getting the bubbles to form concentric bubble rings. I will have to practice some more.

After the diving and hauling tanks, I set off with my newly purchased wallet (compliments of an awesome tip for the day). Keith's was the place to be once again. We all walked over to Cinnamon Bay and enjoyed a nice swim in the ocean. On the way back, we were slammed by an intense isolated thunderstorm. Lauran was walking across a rock as a gust of wind hit us. If I hadn't known any better, I would describe Lauran as trying to surf across the rocks. We snuck into the vegetation, hid from the storm, waited it out, and then went along the trail again once the storm quieted down for a little bit. By evening, I had a few traces of sunburn.

The evening included fresh coconut, a result of Breslin's hard work in cracking the coconut. There is nothing tastier than a coconut peeled apart by a good friend and mixed into a pina colada. Lauran and I enjoyed a few sips of the pina colada while watching The Dark Knight in blu-ray on Breslin's awesome flat screen. I had not yet seen the movie before today and... wow! What an amazing movie! Heath Ledger is fantastic as the Joker. After the movie, there was a delicious gourmet dinner of capanada, drunken marinara sauce over pasta, and garlic bread with freshly grated parmesean and peppers. It packed some heat and it was delicious. There's rumors of an eggplant pizza in the future.

Dessert: there are two “s” because I always want seconds. That's my mnemonic device. Ice cream and hot fudge. The ice cream here on the island is like nowhere else. Oh wait, never mind, it's like being in a microwave. Within ten minutes, it gets soupy. It's like waiting an hour, in ten minutes. It was a happy moment to have a big bowl of ice cream after a day of diving, the beach, dinner, and a great movie.

Next weekend, I am going on a sailboat! That's right! On Saturdays, in Coral Bay, they have a program for St. Johnian kids to learn how to sail. Volunteers are always needed. I'm excited to help out some kids with an amazing activity!

On Sunday (the 26th), it's time for a Beach Party!!!!! To celebrate my birthday, we're going to have a huge brunch and beach party. Should be fantastic- I can't wait for real breakfast food, mimosas, and Keith's strata!

Saturday, July 18

Another Weekend on the Rock

I slept in. It was glorious. I woke up late and enjoyed the view as I munched on my breakfast of granola and yogurt. Chores. I went over to Keith's and borrowed his laundry machine, since mine isn't quite as clean as I'd prefer. After throwing the load in the dryer, it was time for lunch. Why sit around and wait for an hour for the clothes to dry when you could be at The Beach Bar in Cruz Bay? We headed into town and I made a stop at Low Key Watersports to make sure I'd still be able to dive on Sunday. Confirmed. The boat was unloading just as I walked into the shop, after a trip to the wreck of the Rhone. It's unfortunate that I missed out on a trip to the Rhone. Hopefully I can make the trip sometime soon!

I couldn't help but enjoy a bottle of Tropical Mango while at The Beach Bar. For being a fruity beer, it's good. Next stop after lunch ('Tuna Down Now' was my lunch) was the store to pick up some supplies for a cookout at friend's place. Somewhere in the journey between laundry and getting home from the grocery, there were a few spouts of rain that unleashed from the skies, but nothing more than just a few light isolated rain showers. The real storms didn't brew through until the evening. Blowing water rushing through the palm leaves and vegetation is a soothing sound. It pelts on the glass window coverings and sounds almost musical. I enjoy the rain. Knowing the cistern is nearly full again is a great incentive to appreciate the rain.

At the bbq (really just a cookout), I had a blast. Good food, good drinks, good times. I love throwing some protein on the grill and kickin' back. There was some tasty cole slaw, potato salad, lentil bean dip, asparagus skewers, shrimp, chicken, brats, dogs, burgers, chicken, chips, french onion dip, fresh salsa, and a few other items I'm probably forgetting. It was a late night.

Friday, July 17

Lifeguarding

I am going to begin training to get a lifeguard certification. In a few weeks, I'll start the training and after a long week or two of some intense hours, I think I will be a lifeguard. Awesomeness!!! Terry, one of the lifeguards at VIIS is going to be my instructor- he is fantastic!

Friday, July 17

Two Trips to AquaBistro

Last night did in fact end with a trip to AquaBistro. I am a big fan of free wi-fi. I really enjoy visiting places with neat regulars and a chill crowd. I sat there enjoying the wi-fi before my battery died and before long, I had a guy across the bar buying Lauran and I drinks! What do you do when someone buys you a drink? I froze. I don't get out much. I wasn't born yesterday, but honestly, I didn't know what the hell to do. There was the obvious shout of “Thank You!” Beyond that, I am ashamed to report I have not had very many drinks bought for me from across the bar. It's happened before, but the night always ended with a rather creepy guy coming towards me and thinking I owed him something for accepting the free drink. Not sure of how the custom is here on the island, I stared ahead like a deer in headlights. I wasn't really going to drink anything else and would have been happy to sip on some water the rest of the night. I followed Lauran's selection and ordered a shot of Cruzan Guava Rum, chilled. Bo, our bartender, fixed us up and cheers! we knocked them back. If we had returned the gesture and sent shots back to them, it would have definitely implied interest on our side of the bar. The shout of thank you was repeated when our benefactor came over to our side of the bar. We left things at a polite thank you and went on with the evening.

Another trip to AquaBistro today after work got the weekend rolling. What a cool way to end the day: watching the sailboats moored in the bay, enjoying a cold beer, chatting with good friends, and soaking-in the last few hours of sun. I ordered a St. John Brewery Summer Ale after I discovered the Tropical Mango wasn't available. The Summer Ale isn't bad, but it's not my favorite bottle to throw back. I made Budweiser my second bottle of the day. I've had enough tasty drinks here in the Caribbean I think it is high time I add a section on the blog to keep a list going of drinks I've enjoyed. Check it out! Here's what I added so far:

Caribbean Thirst Quenchers:
The Bushwhacker – Fat Turtle in St. Thomas
Painkiller – Soggy Dollar Bar in Jost Van Dyke, BVI
Presidente – Donkey Diner, Skinny Legs, Coral Bay
Amstel Light from a can, always a delight – Willy-T off Norman Island, BVI
St. John Brewery Tropical Mango – The Beach Bar, Cruz Bay
St. John Brewery Summer Ale – AquaBistro, Coral Bay
Fort Collins Chocolate Stout – The Tap Room, Cruz Bay
St. John Brewery Ginger Beer Soda – The Tap Room, Cruz Bay
Cruzan Guava Rum, chilled – AquaBistro, Coral Bay
Budweiser – AquaBistro, Coral Bay

After some socializing and wi-fi'ing at AquaBistro for a short while, I ventured off to Maho Bay for Prime Rib Night. You can't beat a prime rib steak, baked potato, steamed veggies, salad, and water for $13.20 on this island. The 40% off park discount is major awesomeness. Sadly, tonight was the last night of prime rib, possibly forever. I will be sad to see the dissolution of Friday night's prime rib. As I finished the last few bites of my steak, Finding Nemo started on the movie projector screen right at the restaurant. How cool! The movie grabbed my attention straightaway and before long, I was once again enthralled in the scene with the sharks and the “fish are friends, not food” club.

Tomorrow I'll visit the Lienster Bay trail, soak in some sun off Waterlemon Cay, and then head to a cookout at a friend's place. It should be the makings of a great day. Sunday, I have plans to be on the dive boat again. I'm mega excited! Hopefully, Monday or Tuesday, my new Speedo swimsuit will be here. Yes, I ordered a new swimsuit! The elastic on my existing bikini died this week. The fabric simply gave out on me and at this point, the bottoms don't really hold their shape at all. The material is also far too sheer to keep wearing the suit in public. I'm ready for a new bikini. I tried to get one on the island but I found it impossible to get anything that looked like it might stay-put in tough surf. Thus, I looked all over the web for something that I knew I could order online and have a good chance of finding a good fit once I opened the box. Honestly, very few places will ship to the U.S. Virgin Islands. I always noticed the fine print about domestic shipping rates and the exclusions for Puerto Rico or U.S. Territories, but it wasn't until life here that I came to appreciate a company that will actually ship to the U.S. Virgin Islands. Speedo is wonderful. I found a sweet looking suit with a funky and snazzy pattern and I'm hoping to wear it on the beaches soon! If you're interested to see what I got, browse under flip-turns for bathing suit styles and it's the only one that is a bikini style that has the color “blue.” The color really isn't even blue- its shades of orange and pink and blue with big blue hearts. It's reminds me of the stickers I used to see all the time in elementary school, the ones by Lisa Frank.

Oh geez, there is too much food and drinking and not enough running and swimming. I need to do some more hiking. And more running. And more swimming. I'm setting the goal of swimming half a mile two times each week. Running three times each week. Hiking, at least once a week. I hope that by writing it in the blog, I'll somehow magically feel an obligation to actually get the workout schedule built into my routine and do more than keep it in my imagination. Tomorrow, I have just realized I have a whoppingly huge pile of clothes to launder. Maybe I can load them into the machine and take a run while the machine is roaring around.

Wednesday and Thursday, July 15 & 16

Coral Bay and Skinny Legs

Not my legs, it's a restaurant and bar. Skinny Legs is the place to go for a taste of the island crowd. I saw a real pirate last night. Very cool. They have a considerable library of beach books and I'm eager to see if I can add my book to their collection for the enjoyment of folks on the island.

Today and yesterday made for another typical work day. I don't think I ever do the same thing two days in a row. Wednesday was a trip to Trunk Bay to check out the seagull deterrent system I'd installed. I also helped repair a roof structure that was too low. By moving around a few pulleys, we raised the roof (ha-ha) to 6'9” clearance. Now, only the ridiculously tall people will hit their heads.

After work on Wednesday, I made a trip to Coral Bay and enjoyed hanging out at Skinny Legs doing some quality people watching. I stopped at the Jolly Dog Trading Co. and found several awesome t-shirts and more tourist garb to fill my shelves if I ever feel the inclination to clutter my life with stuff. I found some awesome Dakine sport packs which caught my attention. I am one of those people that will happily admit I can never have too many packs, purses, totes, or pieces of luggage. Again it comes down to need vs. want. I always want the new and shiny something. I don't really ever need the new and shiny. We shall see if there is any birthday monies leftover in the next few weeks and maybe I can splurge. Everything is tax-free here... In other news, I have found Presidente to be a tasty choice of those brews available on island. What do you call Presidente lite? Vice Presidente. Hah!

Tonight, there are plans to make another trip out to Coral Bay, this time to AquaBistro, where free wi-fi and a Cocktail-eqsue bar await (read: like the Tom Cruise movie, there is a bartender in a tropical-floral shirt pouring drinks from sunup to sundown). I'm going to happily sip on something hydrating and get some more new fiction pumped out onto grogshopnapkins.blogspot.com or possibly something good enough to keep to myself for now, and let the pages spill into the next novel. I've got a few good ideas brewing and the more I sit down to write, the more the ideas keep on coming.

I forgot to mention, on Tuesday, I met Oliver, Beth's significant other that is here for 6 weeks. He is very nice and seems pretty awesome! He is staying with us at the park housing and it's cool to have someone else here to be excited about the island and all that there is to explore.

Tuesday, July 14

Flying Rats!

I'm talking about seagulls. They're like flying rats. They dive-bomb bald people and steal hot dogs right from your bun. I have seen fishing line used at pools and restaurants as a seagull deterrent. I knew it might be worth a try here in the Caribbean. We got some fishing line and installed the grid of fishing line between the concessions stands at Trunk Bay today. Immediately, several seagulls were deterred from entering the food areas around the snack bar. I returned to the office for a short while and came back to Trunk Bay closer to lunch time to get a better feel for how the seagulls might behave after they've been taunted for several hours by hot dogs and french fries. The dive-bombing and fry-stealing activities of the seagulls was reduced. A few birds still managed to get through the lines and swipe a fry or two, but I feel like the system is a definite improvement. We've got plans to go back and put in a few more lines to fill-in gaps and areas where birds are finding ways to sneak into the picnic tables and harass the visitors. Of course as I sat there filming the lines to see if I could catch a bird getting caught in the line, a small teenage girl threw a french fry right to one of the birds. Moments later, the birds swooped in all around her and she scurried off, covering her basket of fries, terrified. When people like that have their food attacked by the flying rats, I don't know that I feel all that bad. You can only save people from themselves to a certain degree.

Kevin is coming for a visit! Hooray for a dive buddy! And for a visitor! So far, I've had a few folks let me know they'll be in town at some point, but no dates are set for meeting up with anyone just yet. I'm anxious to have friends come into town and see the island. I would love to give an island tour if you're looking for a great place to vacation!

I hope to work on some new writing this evening!

I forgot to mention it yesterday- Jessica was the ranger for my hike yesterday. She's awesome and did a super job with the hike!

Sun-Mon, July 12 & 13

A Couple of Hikes

L' Esperance and Reef Bay Trail filled the past two days. There was another cookout and more delicious food to be enjoyed.

Sunday:

I woke up fairly early and got my day started by paying a few bills (first time since getting here that I had to sort out paying the bills waiting for me back home). I had the job of bringing some soda to the cookout, an all-girls affair scheduled for Saturday night. I hiked up the steep driveway, went to the general store at the Maho Bay campground area and carried the 2 gallons of water, 2 liters of soda, and 1 pint of Gatorade back down the street and down the steep driveway. It was a good bit of exercise to transport my small batch of groceries from the store to home. Thank goodness they gave me a small box to make the trip a little easier.

I packed up my hiking pack and filled up my water bottles and snack bags. We set off to meet with Lauran, Meika, and Susanna somewhere off Centerline Rd. After parking at Lauran's, we had a short walk and we were on the L'Esperance trailhead. The roads here don't have sidewalks and most of the time there is no shoulder, only a cliff on one side and a wall of dirt on the other. There's not much room for pedestrians. Walking to the trailhead was not fraught with any mishaps for us, but I'd like to point out I wouldn't necessarily recommend getting to the trailhead by walking.

We wound our way down the trail at what I consider a fairly zippy pace. Our hike included the L'Esperance ruins, Sieben ruins, Reef Bay Great House, Reef Bay Factory, Genti beach (saw a few sharks and pelicans), the Petroglyphs, a beach scramble, seeing Lauran surf in Parrot bay, and a steep hike up to Gift Hill Rd, with the assistance of static nylon ropes tied around trees. Without the ropes, the steep hike up the terrain would have meant a likely fall or tumble down the slope. We were picked up from the end of our trail in Fish Bay and headed back to where we'd parked the car. There was a quick trip home to freshen-up and then we all reunited for a cookout of awesomeness! The all-girls-night cookout brought burgers and chili dogs to our starving bellies. I normally don't like potato chips or super junky food. After the hike on Saturday, I happily munched through quite a few handfuls of the savory Ruffles Cheddar Sour Cream and Onion chips. All of the food was fantastic, thanks mostly to Lauran and Susanna.

For food, it has been a good weekend.

The inevitable food coma and deep sleep after a day full of hiking made Monday come quickly.

Monday:

More hiking. The Reef Bay Trail is a self-guided hike from Centerline Rd. down to Reef Bay, on the southern side of the island. I joined the ranger-led hike offered through the Visitor's Center, as part of my assessment on safety here in the park. The hike is more on the strenuous side and proper footwear, a snack, and adequate water are all very important things to keep the hike more comfortable. We used taxis to get to the trail head. The trail was amazing and we were cooled off by a deluge of rainfall for about 10 minutes. I think I was just barely dry again by the time we hopped on the boat in Genti Bay. Sadie Sea navigated the irregular and large swells between Genti Bay and the Visitor's Center in Cruz Bay. Back on land, I finished up my work day and before going home, explored more of Mongoose Junction. There wasn't much more to see, except for an awesome surf-type shop with upscale beachwear and some neat St. John tourist shirts. I saw a few that I liked.

Fri-Sat, July 10 & 11

Dive and a Mongoose!

What do you do when you catch a rat in a live trap? In the tropics... there is a rat problem. There are many solutions. There is much argument about the solutions and which is best. I think if you were the ultimate animal supporter, you'd say all rats should deserve to live, and then I'd have to disagree with you and point my finger to the plague and say, no, you're wrong. Rats are bad. With that in mind, I prefer the spring-loaded snap traps. When you're using the live trap, the politics of how to dispose of the creature really can be overwhelming. You could just let it go... but wouldn't it come right back to your kitchen and start crapping on the counter, sharing hantavirus with the neighborhood at your next cookout? I've heard of freezing the live-catch cages. They go to sleep and just don't wake up. I've heard of euthanasia, also, going to sleep, permanently. There's BB guns, there's other types of injections, there's garden tools, the list can go on as long as minds remain creative. I'm not sure what exactly happens to most of the rats on this island, but I can assure you that I am hopeful they all end up as far away from my housing as possible.

On to brighter topics, I got on the dive boat today with Low Key Watersports. I dove with them at Congo Cay and Grass Cay. Two amazing dives. The day began early and I enjoyed watching several shop owners getting started for the day during my short walk from the visitor's center to the dive shop. I quickly met a handful of folks that work at the shop and in no time at all, was helping them get set up for the day. I've been with a variety of dive shops over the years and every shop has its unique way of running the show. I was and still am excited to get to know how things run at Low Key better. One of the cool elements about Low Key is the shore entry to the boat. The beach is a few feet from the doors of the shop. By the time you're waist deep in the water, you're at the ladder to the boat. For tanks to get off the boat, the general practice is to toss them overboard, float them across the water and carry them up the sandy beach and some stairs, to get them to the shop's compressor. To get them back on the boat, float them in the water and then hoist them aboard. Pretty neat. I got to know the crew better during the morning and through the dives and I'm happy to report, they are in fact, more interesting than some of the corals I've seen. I'm hoping to get in the boat again soon and do some more diving with them!

Now, more about the dives themselves! I was working, sort-of, during both dives, so it wasn't completely recreational. I did catch a few glimpses of the reef between scans of the group of 7 divers in the water. The water is so clear and the visibility so great, things at 40 feet are as well illuminated as I might expect at 5 feet in the Florida Keys. Great viz. There were the usual suspects and then there were the cool things. Cool things to me are things that you may not see every dive. Today, I was able to see some trumpet fish, a ginormous trunk fish, an enormous lobster (I'll get to that in a minute, it was so big it deserves its own paragraph), a part of a shark (the reef provided just a little sneak peak of the shark and some of its gills), a super-neat sea urchin that can be handled, if done carefully, and that is sticky enough to stick to your tank if you find one large enough (if you don't follow leave no trace, etc), clusters of sea monkeys, the clacking and snapping of shrimp, cleaner fish on the trumpet fish, and an overwhelming sense of “this is awesome.”

I enjoyed the topography of Congo Cay the most, as the reef undulates between depths and provides a very beautiful mixture of hard and soft corals, fish, and underwater wildlife. The second dive, Grass Cay was also very enjoyable. With its shallower depths, the visibility was even better than Congo Cay and meant the colors of everything underwater were all the more vibrant and beautiful. I saw magenta and fluorescent purple corals juxtaposed against a more rusty and orange tinged coral landscape, making the colors appear all the more interesting. The other divers in the water shared reports of great experiences and by the time of their departure, I had earned a few tips and coins for my assistance. I thought going out on the boat and working a little was fantastic. Getting a tip on top of it- very fantastic. I was also invited back for more diving, which is awesomeness. I hope to make some bubbles again soon!

The lobster. It was huge. The lobster are more scarce here, but when you find one, they are massive. In the Keys, they are smaller and much more plentiful. The lobster I saw during my dive today was of insane proportions. I'm guessing there was somewhere around 10-15 lbs of meat on that tail. The head of the lobster was about the size of a human head. The spines were possibly two or three feet long. It was a big big lobster. I really wish I had brought a mesh bag and a pair of gloves with me. A camera would have also been a great way to prove the sight that I saw. Unfortunately, with a camera, you're watching the lens more than the divers in the water, and since I was working, the camera is an obvious no-no. I guess it'd be like talking on a cell phone while driving. If I am able to get back to the same site, I will for sure see what I can do about bringing the mammoth catch home.

After all was done at the dive shop, I took a seat at The Beach Bar. The Tropical Mango Pale Ale from the St. John Brewery is delicious. It smells more like mango than it tastes, but it carries a fruity essences down to the last drop. I enjoyed my bottle tremendously. I think the next time I go out for a drink or two I will definitely pony up for more of the Tropical Mango goodness. It was quite serendipitous that I bumped into Keith and Breslin at The Beach Bar just as I finished up my diving. I quickly found out about a BBQ going on all day at the other end of the island, in Coral Bay, at Donkey Diner/ Sputniks.

The fundraiser BBQ will help some St. Johnian kids go on a trip to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. To do my part in helping out the kids, I was happy to indulge in a great big plate of roast pork, coleslaw, potato salad, a johnny cake, and plantains. It's a BBQ, Caribbean style. I thought everything on the plate was in contest with some of the tastiest bbq I've had in North Carolina. I'm talking moist, smoky, a little bit greasy, lip-smacking hamness. There was live music which could have kept us there for hours. Unfortunately, right around 5-6pm, the biting bugs really get an appetite going for my legs and any other bits of exposed flesh, no matter the concentration of DEET. The wearing of St. John's cologne (OFF! Repellant) can only deter so many buggies. We scurried out of the bbq and headed for a stronger breeze, namely AquaBistro. I have heard about this place and seen it from the road, but never actually stopped in for a drink or a bite. There is free wi-fi. I am a huge fan of free anything. Free wi-fi, particularly on the island, is really hard to find. Back at home, free wi-fi spots are sprinkled all over the place. We took advantage of the internet connectivity and enjoyed the bug-free breeze until just after sunset.

Rats: 6
Mongoose: 1

Yes, a mongoose! They are a bit like squirrels, minus the bushy tail. They are fuzzy and vicious. I saw something in my trap and went to get a closer look. As I bent forward to study what was inside the trap, I heard the most alarming and scary screeching hiss. If I didn't know better, I'd say the thing was rabid! I backed away from the cage quickly and was glad to see the cage stayed securely shut.

The following morning, Saturday, I prepared to carry the cage into the car so I could transport and dispose of the critter. I could barely get a finger on the carrying handle before more hissing and squealing and screaming issued from the mongoose. I am not one to get squeamish or frightened by wildlife in general, but I was most admittedly terrified of the sounds coming from the cage. I decided to let someone manlier and burlier than me deal with this wild animal. I left the cage where it was and hoped to get someone's assistance by the end of the day. By the time I got home again, before any person had been able to confirm they'd help me, the cage was gone, along with the mongoose. I'm relieved. If it was my roommate that took care of the miniature beast, I am most grateful to her.

Thursday, July 9

Great Things Happen

I swam a half mile today during the afternoon swim session with Susanna. What a great workout- especially with using the fins. The surf was not too harsh nor too calm, which was Goldilocks-style, just right. I snorkeled along at high-speed and watched the corals and fish pass through my mask's view. I saw a school of jacks skipping across the surface chasing their dinner. I scanned the water for any neat creatures like a seahorse or sea turtle but found only more spiny sea urchins and more parrot fish. The views underwater are endless and always full of so much life! The water is about as clear as every swimming pool I've ever been in. I think today I could see about 30-40 feet. Not bad.

I'm on a mission to do some more exploring. I've only done the Francis bay loop and a portion of the Leinster Bay Trail. Of all the hikes surrounding me, I'm sad to report I've only done one in three weeks. I must do more hiking! Fortunately, all is not lost- as part of my internship, I'm supposed to conduct or co-conduct a visitor risk assessment. That is, help the park find places where visitor safety could be improved. Along the trails, there are usually plenty of places were a warning that rocks are slippery when wet, steep drops ahead, etc could help a clueless hiker. I don't want to create an obnoxious laundry list for someone to fix and repair what isn't broken, but I would like to see areas where visitors are commonly trekking around the park and make sure there aren't any previously unrecognized hazards where something should and could be done. I'll have to strap on my boots and see what my eyes find. I'm excited!

I started working on a new piece of fiction tonight. I thought I'd share the fruits of my labor and see what everyone thinks... please post comments below if you're reading this and have something to say!

Tree frogs chirp across the landscape that unfolds before me. A small weight blows in the light breeze causing the wind chime to bless my ears with the hollow melody of bamboo stalks. Slow-moving clouds are dark grays back-lit by a series of rose colored cirrus streaks across the sky. Miniature iguanas, or very-Caribbean lizards, approach my plastic lawn furniture. Their small webbed palms and feet lightly tread across the tile floor; they are nimble and quick. Saharan dust clouds the vanishing horizon. Crisp sea air blows in from the bay below and mingles with the smell of melting cheese and buttery vegetables sizzling in the wok.

A local by the name of Crusty Pete swaggers into my yard. “What've you got brewing in thar?”

“Hey Pete, it's just some veggies au gratin, how are you?”

“Fine, fine, and you?”

We go on and review our day and all that may be of interest since we spoke last, which was a few hours ago. I comment on the dust affecting the sunrise. He slowly rubs his peppery beard and asks if he can borrow, permanently, a taste of some Black Strap from my liqour cabinet. A round for both of us is the only way
to get Pete back on the trail leading to his mooring.
© Sarah Bowman

Rats: 6 (3 were caught by Dwight, 3 by Beth)

I need to improve on my hunting skills. The most popular spot for success is just outside my window on the iron stairs into the attic. The live traps have the unfortunate side-effect which includes me hearing their teeth gnawing on the metal all night long. I would much rather they decide to eat the peanut butter bait on the snap traps. We also have a bait/poison station outside, which reminds me of the ones I usually see outside of restaurants. Gross.

Thursday, July 9

Only 9 More Weeks

I'm sad to know the third week is wrapping to a close. Time has gone by very quickly here on St. John and in the Virgin Islands. It has been almost a month that I've been here! I started the experience on June 14th in Mt. Rainier. It's almost July 14th and my jaw is in need of getting scraped off the floor. I finally made it to the dive shop on the island, Low Key Watersports. I met an awesome chick named Sandwich and talked to the manager at the shop- there is hope that I can get in with the cool folks at the shop and do some divemastering. I'm juiced!

This Saturday, I'll make a trip out to blow some bubbles and work on the boat and get a better feel for the shop and help them get a better feel for me at the same time. I'm so excited to be in the water again! I've got to take in a copy of my resume and hand over a few copies of my assorted dive cards, including my Divemaster ccard, liability insurance, first aid, wemt, cpr, all those things. They also do IDC, IE training to bring me up to an instructor if I've got the time and $ while I'm here- it would rock to finish instructor training here on St. John. Even cooler, to do some instructing!

Wednesday, July 8

A Run and a Swim

I woke up this morning and ran 2.5 miles. It felt awesome. I left the hilly driveway and headed towards Annaberg Ruins. Just shy of the parking lot, I entered the Lienster Bay trail. What a neat trail!!!! I ran along the gravel trail just a few feet from the shore for another three tenths of a mile. After 15 minutes of total running, I turned around and headed home. The run took me closer to 45 minutes than the intended 30 minutes. It's hot and the hills are steep. I'll work on getting faster once I'm more used to running in the heat. For 6:30am, it was hot. I passed two other tanned women runners during my workout. I probably looked like a newbie to the area, given my still pale complexion. I'm getting more tan, but slowly. Something interesting I learned on my run: there is a tree, and I forget the name and will add it later, with a fruit that produces a caustic sap which had been dubbed “death apples” by Columbus. I'd like to read more about that tree when I can remember the name to Google it.

The work day included an exciting Hurricane Plan Meeting. Part of the meeting involved an inspection of some park properties to identify any areas where there may be needed repairs prior to a storm making landfall. Things like tying down a gas tank, making sure storm shutters are available, making sure drop-down shutters work, cleaning up debris in the yard, and cleaning out gutters. We made a list for each place we had to inspect and then returned to our normal day. I hope the things we found get fixed before a big storm comes. Better yet, I hope we don't get a big storm while I'm here.

After lunchtime I had a wonderful call with the folks at the Risk Management Division in DC! It was mostly a call to check-in and see how things were going, summing up the park experience, and making sure I'm on track for the internship after two full weeks on-site. I feel great about my experience so far and it was awesome to touch base on areas where I felt like I wasn't sure where to go next and how well I'm doing overall, based on what I've sent in on my weekly reports. Things are going well.

More research and more reading filled up the afternoon quickly. Before long, it was time for a swim. I took the trail down to Solomon Beach and started swimming with Christy, one of the park's collateral duty safety officers. I only brought my goggles to work today, not my mask and snorkel, and boy, did I get a lot of saltwater in my mouth! Good grief! I made it probably a few hundred meters before I had to turn around and throw in the towel. I waded and treaded water around the shore and searched for sea glass. I found one piece. I swam for a total of about 15 minutes. After Christy returned to shore, we hiked back to the office, making a pit-stop to shower under our building.

Eventually, I returned back home and after catching up with Mom on the phone for a bit (she was calling from the beach at Ocean City, which made me realize it's kind of neat to know we're in the same ocean, something like 1500 miles apart). I grabbed a delicious and top-notch chicken parmesean dinner at the Maho Bay Restaurant with Dwight. I love the NPS discount there! Nowhere else on the island can you get a plate overflowing with fresh pasta, marinara, chicken parmesean style, with italian vegetables, a small salad, and iced tea for dinner at that price. Normally I think it's $18. I cleaned up with less than $11 of damage. It still put me about $3 over budget for the day, but it was well worth the wholesome meal. Apparently, it's movie night on Wednesdays! They were showing Harry Potter 3 (I can't remember the book- I know... it's a horrible shame) and I would have stayed to watch, but the mosquitoes were attacking. I had even brought my bug zapper racquet, but it's too late if they've already bit you. A new plan quickly formulated- watching Matrix Revolutions on the laptop over at Dwight's. Instead of popcorn, there was banana and chocolate pudding, the little hunt's snack pack type ones, which totally reminded me of elementary school pack lunches. It was refreshing to break the routine of coming home, showering, eating, and going straight to bed.

This weekend there is hope for a trip to snorkel Francis Bay and around Whistling Cay, plus a hike on the southern part of the island along the Reef Bay Trail area. I'd love to get out there this weekend and do lots of exciting things. I've been on the walking trail at Francis Bay and it was very cool to see the mangrove trees near the salt pond.

Tuesday, July 7

Full Moon!

Is it true that crazy things happen on a full moon? That sounds like a great lead-in for a big story, but I'll have to leave you hanging. It's 8:32PM as I'm writing this and nothing crazy has happened tonight, knock on wood. There was a rescue on the beach earlier and I finished reading the digital copies of a ton of materials. I've got the hard copies of other materials to dig through plus working on a draft for a Superintendent's Order about the Safety Committee, so my work is cut out for me. I'm juiced. Again, no craziness to speak of- maybe all the rat traps will fill up tonight and the rats will be gone for good. We can all hope.

This morning started out right and proper with a confirmed kill for a rat at Dwight's. One down. He makes a good hunter and trap setter. I would like to add that I did assist in the placement of the traps. For the ones set here at Island Fancy, we were also able to catch one. It almost made a narrow escape through the wiring of the trap, but it was just too big for the small cracks. That rat is also no longer going to be an issue. Maybe I'll keep a running tally at the bottom of my post and folks can check in to see the progress we're making on a day-to-day or post-to-post basis. I personally would rather not post about the rats directly any more than necessary, since it's kind of a topic that goes under “that which we do not talk about.”

On the list of things that can get talked about to no end, there is food. Food is soul-filling and smile inducing. It's amazing the happiness that can come from a well prepared meal. I've been blessed with a sense of smell and a working set of taste buds. I made a delicious dinner tonight. I cooked up some Kashi rice pilaf, a Kashi fiery fiesta microwave rice pilaf pouch, some frozen mixed veggies, and tossed on some salt and pepper. The meal isn't bad for missing my beloved animal protein. A bunch of whole grains and some vegetables. What I would do for some bacon. I should pick up a pound next time I'm at the grocery, if it looks good.

I got my first supplemental provisional package from home yesterday. The laundry detergent, some toiletries, my Timbuk2 bag, and some more shorts were a welcome sight. I hand out a hearty shout-out to my awesome mom that shipped it to me. Nothing like getting a box of things from home, opening the box, and breathing a whiff of home laced deep into the fabric of my shorts. What does home smell like to you? We all know that distinct smell. Smells ignite all sorts of thoughts and memories. I walked into the Tap Room here on St. John today after work and the bar smell was unmistakeable. It's not a bad smell nor a particularly good one, it's just a sweet smelling aroma from the alcohol that lets you know where you are. The Tap Room is an excellent establishment and they know how to make a tasty Ginger Beer. I tried the Fort Collins Chocolate Stout that a friend ordered and it was also quite delicious. I have not tried too many ginger beers in my day, but I love trying something new. The ginger beer I tasted had a likeness to ginger ale, but it had a lot more ginger flavor and it was a little bit more sweet. In sum, delicious. I can see where adding a shot or two of your favorite Cruzan rum, or something like Cruzan like black strap would be tasty- they call it a Dark and Stormy at the Tap Room. I guess the clear liquid of the ginger beer would get swirly and cloudy with the dark rum added to the glass. I will have to try one next time I'm up there. Or, the chocolate stout. Or, maybe their home-brewed root beer. It's a hard sell for me to find a new favorite root beer though, I'm partial to the frosty mug and bubbling brown bliss that comes from Dog N' Suds in Lafayette.

Rats: 2

Monday, July 6

Rats!

I saw my first rat today. I had heard them. I had heard about them. I have seen their pee and seen their poo. I have not seen the rats until tonight. What a horrid, gross, and disgusting creature...I feel a little guilty since I have seen “The Tale of Desperaux” and I should know not all rats are bad. The ones here on the island are all bad. They came over on pirate ships. Not really. However they got here, they are quite scary to hear scraping around in the attic and even more disgusting when you've got to sterilize your counter-tops ten times more than you might back home. We have had it with the Rat Zapper. It never caught a single thing- it's a free feeding station. We got two live traps today. Beth was the awesome roommate to set up the traps and bait them with gobs of peanut butter on cardboard strips. I hope we get something. Our traps at the house are live traps. I left our house just after Beth finished setting the traps to do laundry at the neighbors, since our machine seems to be the roost for a few rats. I stepped into the screened-in laundry area and as I loaded a few items into the machine and clicked on the water, guess what I saw scurrying across the rafters. A rat. A big honking furry and skinny tailed rat. It was brownish grey and about five to six inches long, no exaggerating. It was most surprising to see it since I've heard rats don't like light and they don't like noise. It made two laps between the hole in the ceiling and an area across the laundry room, going along the perimeter on the rafters. On the second trip, my breath caught up to me and I gave a shout and the rat stopped, stared at me, and then scurried off again. I screamed. Not the blood curdling horror film scream, but more of a shriek and then a gasp. Dwight, my neighbor, rushed to see, I told him I had just seen a rat and then, again, it popped its furry head out and scurried back from where it came. Good grief what a horrible sight to see AFTER I've loaded up the laundry machine. I know that I have to go back into that area again to fetch my clothes. Gross. I went back home, a short walk, and ate some dinner while I waited for the wash cycle to complete. Sure enough, Dwight did not skip a beat and he had loaded two rat traps with peanut butter and was setting them just as I came through the door. Fortunately, he could set them right where I'd seen the rat going along its favored path. I will be surprised if he doesn't catch one tonight. I grimace at the thought of seeing another live rat. The traps we have in our house are the live traps. I volunteered to help deal with the traps, but I'm secretly (and now not so secretly since I'm posting on the Internet) hoping that someone else handles the live catch. It makes you want to check every ceiling and every spot ten times before you sit down. There's an eerie feeling with knowing you're not alone. Maybe that's a little melodramatic. I definitely hope I do not see another rat or smell another rat.

In other and more happy news, I had a great day (up until seeing the rat, which made my day turn into a mostly-great day). And by popular request, here's a bit more about what I'm doing here during the work day: The day at the office today was a bit slower than usual and for the bulk of the day I caught up on some badly needed reading. There are several stacks and megabytes full of information that I've collected in the past two weeks. The information is mostly about park safety, the work that was done by my predecessor, safety information from other parks, OSHA standards, and risk assessments, among a litany of other topics I'm forgetting now that I'm away from my desk. There is plenty to read and review to get a better general picture of the safety program in the park. It's great to talk to folks to get a feel for things, but reading documents is also hugely useful. I definitely only made a dent in the copious amounts of materials while at work today so I'll take another stab at it tomorrow and hopefully make more progress. One of my main goals here with the internship, which I'm taking straight from my job description, is to assess and evaluate the overall safety program of the park. I'd like to think of the National Park as a complex organ, like the heart, with many factors working together to keep the beat going, like blood and oxygen, there's visitors and there's employees. Both are required to help the park fulfill its mission; to be a place for people to enjoy natural resources, now and in the future. I'd copy and paste the official mission from the Organic Act or the most recent version, but I think paraphrasing will do for now. The park needs visitors for it to be enjoyed. The park also needs staff to support the visitors and the natural resource itself. Somewhere in there, safety is directly related. Injuries mean you're probably not going to visit again (especially if the injury is fatal). Visiting now and in the future is part of the mission. Not coming back, that's an epic fail for fulfilling the mission. Ergo, safety is important. It's hard to know how “safe” or “risky” a location is until someone gets injured or meets an untimely form of peril.

The rain just started and I'm hoping the living room doesn't flood. I've heard the room floods at Dwight's when there's bad rain. Cross your fingers I don't get stuck at his place all night in a flooding living room.

Back to the description of work and safety and those types of things... We're a reactionary society. Safety is no exception. Someone once said maybe we should lock the cockpit on the airplane. Nobody listened until you know when. There's a 6 foot drop into an uncovered cistern. Well, it's plain to see that it's not a great place to hang out and find out the hard way that you could fall in and then have a crazy difficult time trying to climb back out. Unfortunately, some people need things like rails or signs to keep them out of trouble. That's understandable. Something to be aware of: it's hard to draw the line on what's an obvious risk (don't touch the fire) and a not-so-obvious risk (fast moving water that looks calm on the surface). And then once you've realized the risk is there, who's fault is it if someone gets hurt? When you're in a park, who is at fault when there's an accident? Legally, there is a precedent for answering that question, so I need not go into detail further. I find it a little disheartening when I hear about cases where someone put up a ten foot fence around a pool to keep people out and then someone drowns in the pool, then you heard that they got sued for something like negligence because there should have been a better illuminated exit ladder that was handicapped accessible.

I digress. There's only so many signs you can install and only so many warnings you can shout. It's easier to be agoraphobic (what Paula Dean had some years ago) than avoid every single possible risk that's out there. I'm a big fan of avoiding a sign for every step in the staircase saying “watch your step.” We all should know it's a good idea to watch your feet as they travel through the journey that is life – how else would we come to care so much about our footwear and what it looks like- we're looking at our feet and we're watching where we step, most of the time. I guess I'm trying to find out those few places where people forget to look down and see where they're going. What's more, how is the park assessing those types of things on their own and how can I help that process. I'm here to help in whatever capacity I'm needed. Keep people watching where they're going and away from injuries and risks. I've put in over 170 hours since I started with my training in Mt. Rainier three weeks ago. I have to volunteer a minimum of 450 hours while I'm here in the Virgin Islands.

Sunday, July 5

A Trip to the British Virgin Islands

Part 1:
Regretfully, did not get to go to see the parade yesterday at Carnival. I'm sad and upset that I missed the commotion and excitement surrounding the past two weeks of drama downtown. I did see awesome photographs of the floats and folks walking around town during the events. I'm not a big fan of large crowds and riotous levels of blocked roadways, so on the whole, I think I had a pretty fantastic day despite missing the parade.

Got up and headed for Keith's to meet with the crew for a breakfast at Lucy's in Coral Bay. From there, we'll meet Peter around noon and head for the British Virgin Islands. I've packed up my snorkel gear and swimsuit, plus a few hours worth of snacks to keep me satiated during the day. I can't wait to see some more beautiful beaches and more amazing underwater scenery!

Part 2:
Breakfast/Brunch at Miss Lucy's in Coral Bay was fantastic. I had heard that it's not the place to go for an in-and-out quick meal. It's a slower-paced, enjoyable, brunch. Live jazz musicians played some tunes and small chickens clucked around as we found a free table and pondered how to start the day. Bloody Mary, Screwdrivers, these types of things. I started with more coffee. Menus came somewhere between me staring in amazement at the beautiful sea grape trees and staring into the turquoise bay water a dozen feet away. I got the eggs florentine, which is served on an english muffin, poached eggs, spinach souffle, hollandaise, with sides of home fries and a fresh fruit salad. Darn good breakfast for somewhere around $11. That's a good deal here. I'd say don't come to Miss Lucy's Brunch unless you're cool with a 2 hour meal event. It's worth every minute. While we waited for our food, we took notice of a poor Trunk Fish swimming on its side near the shorebreak. At first there was much deliberation on whether it was a turtle or a baby chicken. We walked toward the water for a closer look and confirmed it was a baby fish, not doing so well. I'm not sure how the fish landed in its situation, but not being an aquavet, I decided to let nature do its business and leave the fish alone. If you're in St. John, brunch at Miss Lucy's is a great idea, especially on Sunday.

After brunch, we returned to Keith's and prepared for a day on Peter's boat. A small squall hit us just as we walked out onto the beach. The intense downpour soaked me and my things entirely. Thank god I'd put all my important things in a dry bag. My towel happily absorbed every drop of rain possible. My snack bag also soaked up the fresh rain. These things happen. I dried and wrung out what I could and went on with the day.

And what a full throttle day it was! Keith often says, “Peter knows two speeds, Fast and Faster.” It's true. We hauled on over to Norman Island and set up at Willy-T for several hours, enjoying good music, tasty beverages, and some stormy clouds. A few squalls passed over while we sipped and/or gulped our libations aboard the William Thornton, BVI. What a neat bar! It's a sailboat with a floating dock attached and aboard, two levels of bar awesomeness. I enjoyed my first can of Amstel Light ever... I didn't know they made a can version! I enjoyed counting the seconds between thunder and lightning and guessing how far away the storm was at any given point. I tried to video the lightning going from cloud to ground/water, but only captured the booming stereo behind me and the scene of dark clouds on the horizon. Apparently, the frame rate of my video function is too slow to capture things like lightning.

After an enjoyable afternoon at Willy-T, we set powered over to Jost Van Dyke and dropped anchor. No dry entry to the bar possible. We jumped in the water and SWAM to the Soggy Dollar. The bar is a bit of a must-see, must-do, must-drink kind of stop if you're in the Caribbean. Folks come in from all around and make a stop there for at least a few drinks, if not a few drinks, a few times. I had my first real Painkiller and it was tasty. It's a rum drink and it's mostly pineapple juicy tasting. They sprinkle a good deal of fresh nutmeg right over the top and shake it up before handing you your cup. Although I'd classify it under the fruity-type drinks, it's no margarita and it's got a good punch, at least they do here. I got a t-shirt, of course. It was paid for with nothing other than a sopping wet, soggy $20 bill. I'm going to wear my happy new shirt tomorrow, since I'm one of those people that really likes to use things right away after buying the item.

Right now, there are booming rumbles of thunder and sparks of lightning alternating much quicker than the storms in the BVI earlier today. I welcome the rain and can appreciate having a full cistern. It's nice to know we're not in fear of running out of water with the next shower or hand-washing, or glass full of water. The rain also can bring a cool breeze and refreshing bits of air. Hopefully it does not scare the creepy and crawling critters into our house. I haven't had too much rain here on St. John since I've arrived. I'm anxious to see how road conditions change in light of the increased slipperyness and possible mud spreadage.

Saturday, July 4

Independence Day!

For the first time since getting here, I slept in late. I made my delicious breakfast of granola and plain yogurt and filled up my mug with some tasty coffee. I'm excited to brew the stuff I bought in St. Thomas soon. For now, I've still got a few more batches of Maxwell House to burn through the brewer. I ventured off to the beaches somewhere around noon. My lunch was a few handfuls of trail mix and some kiwi and bananas. I stopped off at Trunk bay for quick swim and ended up talking to the lifeguards for 2 hours. Kind of like how yesterday, I stopped by law enforcement and ended up having a two hour conversation. Guess I like to talk and listen. A few hours of work in a weekend isn't going to hurt anybody, so I'm happy to have more information that will help me along with the internship.

After trunk bay I went to Keith's house to see what was going on for the day there. I hung out for a bit and swam on his beach before heading to get dinner with him and the folks he's got visiting in from Ft. Lauderdale. We tried about five places in Coral Bay before getting to Sweet Plantains and getting a table. Not much is open here on the Fourth of July. Understandably so- it's not only Independence Day, but also Emancipation Day, and Carnival! At Sweet Plantains I had the tastiest meal of coconut curry chicken with rice and fried sweet plantains. It was delicious, every single bite. I happily enjoyed the treat of dinner at a nice place out and yawned a little on the way home knowing my belly was full and my eyes ready for some sleep. Back at Keith's, where I'd left my car, I sat around and chatted with Paul, Kim, Keith, and Breslyn until just after 10 or so, which is late for me. My typical bedtime is like 9pm. I got home, showered off the three or four layers of sunblock with a cold water shower and got some rest for the adventures tomorrow---- a trip to the BVI on Peter's boat!

Oh, and the rat zapper does not work. I am disappointed and sad not to have zapped a rat. A rate has stolen our bait twice now, with no zappity-zap. We are not interested in feeding the rats for free, so we'll just have to look around for an alternate trapping device.

June 30-July 3

A busy week! Carnival and Island Life

Island life has caught up to me. I'm posting Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (and Friday) all at once, since I'm a bit behind. The days have not been any less exciting or any more busy, but I have found things to do other than sit and write on the blog. I take that back, I guess I have been busier! I did go for a lovely run on Tuesday evening. I went on a beach walk at Francis Bay on Wednesday. It's Thursday and my calves are a little tight and I'm anxious to ingest some potassium to loosen up the muscles and break down the lactic acid build-up. Now it's Friday and I've made a trip to St. Thomas with Keith and his son, Breslyn, and picked up two guests at the airport. While in St. Thomas, we made a short shopping trip to Kmart and the Grocery to pick up a few items for WAY less than it would have been in St. John.

I encountered my first motor vehicle collision, of sorts, on Wednesday evening. There was a cement post involved. Nobody is hurt and the damage could arguably be repaired using nothing more than some touch-up paint and a nice buffer. Or, here on the island, it's “nothing.” Now that I've grabbed your attention and at the same time not made you start holding your breath in fear that something awful and terrible has happened, here's the dramatic version...

The driveway into my housing unit is harrowing, at best. The main roads on the island are few and far between. There is Centerline Rd. There is also Northshore Rd. Other than these two roads, you're on your own. My house, Island Fancy, is just off Northshore Rd, by way of a unpaved, switch-backing, bumpy, steep, sloped, angled, twisty, did I say bumpy yet, road. The driveway, which is a nice bit of graded concrete, breaks off the dirt trail and drops at about a 45 degree angle and ends with the concrete disappearing into deep and thick vegetation about 100 ft. from Maho Bay's shoreline. At the end of the concrete, there is a dirt driveway on the right and left. On the left, there is a house and a fairly easy to use driveway. On the right, my place, the driveway is impossibly scary to use. The huge concrete posts holding up a cast iron gate declaring the residence as “Island Fancy,” are wonderful and historic, yet in the way and annoying, for parking. I totally respect the need to keep the home close to its original look and feel, but when the thing gets in the way of using the driveway... I have issues. If you look at the driveway to the property, the large concrete post is on the immediate right, just as the concrete leads towards the house, just slightly. On the left, about 5 feet ahead, there is a very large slab of concrete about 5 inches above the lay of the land, with a sparkly new generator perched on top of the concrete. The angles involved make me surprised that something like what happened on Wednesday has not happened sooner or more often to other persons visiting the property.

I woke up today, Thursday, to the sound of squawking creatures near my window. I think it could have been some wild mongoose having beach party. It may have been some wrestling rats in the attic. On Friday, more animal sounds outside the window ensured I was awake around 5:00AM. As you all may know, I am not usually someone that fancies getting up early in the morning. I have changed entirely since moving here to St. John. I would prefer to be awake by 6, at work by 7 and done with my day by 3 or 3:30. That leaves plenty of time in the afternoon for adventures and a bedtime of something like 9pm or thereabouts. I have had the difficult challenge of car sharing and working with other folks' schedules to arrive and leave when it is convenient for other people. I'm finding getting in around 8pm and leaving around 5pm is less enjoyable. That, and having less than 2 hours of sunlight once the day is complete is a bit annoying and useless, for planning any kind of beach trip or hike. Keith, my supervisor, has made available the vehicle for official business, which includes transportation to/from work. I think I may try to use that privilege to get in earlier in the day rather than carpool and come in so much later, as much as I would like to save the gas and environment from having one more vehicle on the road.

For lunch on Thursday, I made the attempt to fetch some tasty Paté with Christy. I hear paté is the island specialty and it is a dish that must be tried. It's basically a fresh-made deep-fried hot pocket. There is an outer layer of delicious bread with a tasty inside middle stuffing. The places Christy and I tried declared no paté would be available until after 5 or 6pm, or on the weekends, in a non-carnival situation. The plan is now to re-attempt a paté meal on the next Saturday possible.

Skipping around to another topic, I did some shopping in St. John on Friday, the day off and Federal Holiday that was enjoyed by many around here. I went to the Plaza Extra in St. Thomas and was highly pleased with some of the “deals” that I found, as compared to prices in St. John's groceries.
Plaza Extra in St. Thomas
1 lb. Caribbean mountain coffee, $9.99
2 lb. Kraft Mexican Cheese Shredded, $10.29
Bird's Eye 5 lb. Mixed vegetables, $7.29
1 Can Green Pigeon Peas, $1.29
California Valencia Oranges, 4 ct., $3.58
Fresh Ripe Caribbean Grown Bananas, $.75/lb
Red Seedless Grapes, 1 lb., $3.14
Handle of Cruzan Rum, $7.88
12 pk Coke, $3.99
Box of Ritz Crackers, $4.99

While in St. Thomas there was another stop at Kmart, where I took the opportunity to get myself an early birthday present and purchased a lovely Timex watch. It's a Timex and hopefully it will last me a long chunk of time (ha, ha....time...)

Let's rewind a smidge and review the week....

I still love life here on the rock. The island is full of the most amazing scenery and every day off is splendid... you're essentially at one of the best destinations for vacations, as soon as you clock out! There are struggles in day-to-day life here just as there would be anywhere else on the planet. What's different here is the amazing sunset that greets you every night, no matter the day or the challenges in getting through the day. I am pleased by all of the folks that are here who have been so welcoming and friendly to me as I get acclimated to life on the island. It really is wonderful to have friendly faces and smiles to greet you each day.

Homesickness has not filtered its way into my thoughts. I think I'm not missing home mostly because of the views and the nice people I've found along the way. I'm also happy to have things to fill my time and people to share my experiences with, here on the island. I am in fairly good contact with home on the phone and internet and I've tried to keep in touch with several friends using the same channels, which seems to be working out so far. I think I'd like to talk to Becca a bit more, but I keep getting her voice mail.

Friday's trip to St. Thomas was awesome. We loaded onto the car barge from Cruz Bay and landed in Red Hook some 30-40 minutes later. We stopped off first thing at the Fat Turtle for lunch. I got to try the island favorite drink, a bushwhacker. Whoa! It's like a white russian on steroids and it's delicious. I had a tasty cheeseburger and felt wonderful. The trip to Kmart and grocery are mentioned above with the prices, to give you a feel for what it's like down here. After shopping, we stopped at the airport to pick up two of Keith's friends visiting from Ft. Lauderdale. There were a few adult beverages that we got from the nice tiki-style bar near baggage claim. Then, on the barge ride back onto St. John, there were more refreshments to be enjoyed. Back on St. John, we unloaded and I headed home to put my groceries away. A little while later, I headed out for a small party and fun times with Breslyn and a few of his friends here on the island. I stayed up the latest I've stayed up here, I think, which was just before midnight.

In other random news, Mom sent me my first provisional care package! I totally needed a few more shorts, some aloe for the impending sunburn of doom that I will likely get soon if I'm not careful, some other toiletries, and a computer bag since I don't have anything to pseudo rain-proof my gear while traveling to/from the office. I'm very happy to have someone at home to take care of me and send me awesomeness in a flat rate box. I think the package is $14 flat rate, no matter what you fit into the box... if it fits, it ships. Even though they say delivery 2-3 business days, I'm hoping for getting it in less than 14 days, on the optimistic side.

Tuesday or Wednesday... my days are running together a little bit, I went for a boat ride in the superintendent's boat! We tested out his newly repaired boat and jetted across the northern shore of the island about as far as Mary Point. Then, we dabbled across the waters and hovered near the international water line and got a peak at the British Virgin Islands. Without our passports handy and a not eager to deal with customs, we only saw the BVI from a distance and did not pull into any ports there. We headed back for St. John and went around the south western part of the island and then finished the ride back at Cruz Bay. It's so wonderful to just be on a boat! I think I've said it before, but I definitely prefer being on or in water to being on land.

As the week unfolded, Carnival here really heated up. It is an annual festival that is like Christmas, but so much bigger. Children have a carnival village of their own each night during the week, where they can buy tickets and play games for tokens. In turn, the tokens can be traded for toys like stuffed animals or skateboards. What makes the whole thing so special though is stuffed animals and skateboards aren't even available on St. John. You'd have to make a trip to St. John or further to get some of the toys they were handing out. Very cool. I had the awesome pleasure of checking out the carnival events mid-week on Wednesday with some park folks here on the island. Part of the night included stopping at the Surly Cantina and getting two soft tacos with spicy chicken. For $3.00 a taco, dinner can't get much more affordable on the island. The Surly Cantina has a bit of a reputation for not being open when you're in desperate need of a tasty taco, so finding the place open, even with a full belly after eating a dinner of four tablespoons of peanut butter, I splurged and got some tacos. They were tasty and totally worth every penny. One of their specialties there is the Surly Corona- a corona beer with a lime, a dash of salt on the rim, plus some hot sauce, drizzled around the rim of the bottle. Interesting. I didn't try one, but it seems to be a fun thing to try at least once. The other local drink is a rum and root beer. I hear it's also quite tasty.

I perhaps forgot to mention a small pestilence on the island. I have not seen them. I've only heard them scraping through the attic and across the ceilings. I've seen their poop on the floors and counter-tops in the mornings. Rats. I am suspicious that there are no rats, despite what the locals tell me. I wonder if they're really just mongoose, only somehow domesticated because they find a way to live in your house more often than not. The mongoose I've seen on the island are much like a squirrel you might see at home, only with a rat-like tail. They are fuzzy and cross the roads in front of your car, escaping at the last minute. We got tired of the rats scurrying about, pooping on our house's surfaces, and scaring us halfway through the night. The solution.... a RAT ZAPPER! I don't know why I've not heard about this amazing invention sooner. It's a small plastic cylindrical square with a metal grate on one end. You put some bait into the one end near the grate and turn on the device. Allegedly, once something enters the trap, ZAP! I wish Billy Mays was still around so I could see how he might market the Rat Zapper to a rat-tired public. We used a piece of dog food coated in peanut butter for our bait. Once the zapper has caught something, there is a little blinking red light that should tell us to empty the trap. To empty, you simply pour the rat into the trash. It's a bit morbid, but I hope we catch a rat soon. After two days and still no rats, we considered disabling the zapper to help get the rats used to the idea of getting fed from the trap each day. Then, after a few days, switch the zap back on, and boom!

On Thursday... I ate some tuna that is a few days old on saltines for lunch, which is a typical meal here. I'm stoked to visit St. Thomas tomorrow and get some real produce to fill up my belly with nutrients. Indeed, as you read above, I got some veggies and I got some fruits and I should have maximum nutrients in the next few days, for sure.