We made it!!! American Airlines allowed Conner to fly and Cramer actually got on the plane! He was definitely a nervous wreck, and taxi-ing for the first take off was the worst part. I thought he was going to fidget the seat apart but as soon as the landing gear left the tarmac he looked over at me and said, “this is actually kinda cool.” After that the trip went smoothly, very little turbulence and Conner was waiting for us at the airport in St. Kitts despite all the worst case scenarios I had worked out in my head.
Classes have started with a vengeance and I find myself buried in the books already. I was worried at first that Cramer would be bored to death as I don’t get out and do much, but he has made friends and has no problem with striking out on his own to the beaches and out at night to the strip! I’ve definitely been impressed with his willingness to try new things like:
1. Indian food- success
2. Sailing/snorkeling- would have been better without the rainstorm but overall success
3. Sushi- well, at least he tried it
Conner adjusted to the heat pretty well, probably due to the fact that I shaved him naked!
He also has settled into the household and is buddies with everyone already…not that I expected anything else, we are talking about Conner here, everybody loves him!
We are all enjoying the Caribbean and making the most of our time here. Cramer and I have been to the beaches quite a few times and Conner will go as soon as he is released from the house quarantine.
We also had a great day on the Catamaran, which is a type of flat bottomed sail boat. Cramer loves the wildlife here and the monkeys are his favorite.
Reggae beach is the most animal friendly beach here on the island and is actually owned by one of our professors, hence it is a Ross staple. There is a giant resident pig, Wilber, that takes up permanent residue along with Oliver, the monkey, and Mocha, the goat. The crew of the Catamaran instructed Cramer in the fine art of opening a coconut and so as soon as he saw Oliver and Mocha at Reggae…..
Let’s just say he made some friends!
The only big news on our end is the purchase of Casper, our brand new car! Of course, by brand new, I mean a ’94 Nissan Sentra. Casper is white with very little rust, is missing the back bumper, and wonder of wonders has a working CD player that hasn’t been stolen yet!! Also, both front windows still work, which is a true luxury. He was dubbed Casper because he is white and probably should have been in the graveyard a while ago J I can’t complain though, Casper made it out to the peninsula this past weekend which is the rite of passage here to be considered a good car and he only came close to overheating once!
As beautiful as it is here and even though we are having a lot of fun, yesterday was the autumn equinox and last night there was a full harvest moon. I miss the seasons and getting to see the leaves change. I know as soon as the first snows arrive back in the states I’m going to spend several boring lectures daydreaming about cantering through the powder and have the rude awakening of walking out of class into a humid 90 degrees. L Make sure you all enjoy it for me.
I hope all is well with everyone stateside and you are taking the time to enjoy the little things, like the orange full moon last night and the leaves changing all around you.
Rach
P.S. our contact info is below, drop us a line sometimes and keep us in the loop
304-277-7031
RUSVM
PO Box 334
Basseterre, St. Kitts
West Indies (and no zip code no matter what the PO tells you!)
It started out as a peaceful Sunday evening. I had just gotten home from dog walking on campus, which my semester is responsible for and each student is assigned 3 to 4 dogs for a week, and was running up the stairs with a laundry basket, backpack, and a physio binder in my hand. I had almost made it to the top of the stairs and BAM, my graceful genes kicked in and I manage to fall up the stairs, bashing my knee into the edge of the tile step. This bashing shoved my kneecap upwards and sliced the cutaneous layers below my kneecap open.
I have sutured myself before but it was in the stomach which is thin skin and doesn't have many nerve endings....the knee is very thick, tough skin and the cut was deep enough that there were definitely nerves present! I made it through the procedure though and managed to at least look like it wasn't bothering me as my roommates were impressed with the stoicism. 
