Only in St. Kitts Moment 1

Cramer and Lisa play on a volleyball team that competes in a semester long tournament.  They play every Friday and everyone wears tye-dye shirts that they made together at the beginning of the season.  Even I got a tye-dye shirt even though I never touch the ball (a very dangerous idea) because I always tag along to lend moral support from the sidelines and hold all the girl's purses.  Last Friday our game was scheduled at the Marriott resort beach right after class, so four of us piled into Casper (our wonderful island car) and headed to the biggest resort on St. Kitts.  We parked and made our way to play for an impressive WIN!  All in all the game took about an hour and then we went to pile in Casper again to head home.


Now, let me tell you a bit about Casper.  I christened him Casper because he is white and on his last leg.  The car has no rear bumper, several rust holes, no power steering, very little to no brakes, and a tendency to fill with water when it rains very hard (until Cramer punched holes in the floorboards to drain it).  The ignition tumblers are also worn out so that you could probably start the car with a stick at this point and once the car is running the key can be removed without turning the car off.  Such is Casper.


Now back to the story; out from the Marriott we came rejoicing the win when Cramer notices that Casper's windows are up.  We never roll them up unless we are parking for the night because it becomes unbearably hot inside cars here.  That was strange but what was stranger was the fact that the doors were locked.  We never lock the doors and were thankful that the key opened them at all.  As Cramer unlocked the car doors, he looked up suddenly scratching his head and said, "Guys, there is a Tv in the back."


Sure enough, there was a very large Tv (with remote) in the backseat of our locked car which had the windows up and upon further inspection had been moved one parking spot over!  Cramer votes to either take it or leave it on the sidewalk, Lisa votes to leave it on the sidewalk, but I decide to "do the right thing" and let somebody know; so we flagged down a golf cart with Marriott personal.  Two members of the Marriott security team arrive, declare the Tv stolen property of the Marriott, take our statements, and in general seemed to be laughing at our predicament.  They took pictures and then Cramer helped them load the Tv into their golf cart.  Before they left we were all standing around puzzling over the fact that someone would steal a Marriott Tv, put it in Casper, obviously drive the car, but then bring it back and leave it when Cramer says, "so since we returned the Tv do we get a free night at the Marriott," and the security guard replies, "no, but you might get a free night at the Queen's finest prison, the St. Kitts jail."  Dead silence....then we informed them that they would get no more information from us and they were not leaving until Ross security could arrive.  We called Ross and they sent the mobile unit to us within 15 minutes.  Let me tell you those 15 minutes were not fun as the security guards glared at us from across the parking lot and we realized they had all our information, Cramer's fingerprints on the Tv, and pictures of the Tv in the car with any or all of us in the background!


As soon as Ross got there, the security guards tone changed.  They claimed it was all a joke and that we just took their joke the wrong way.  Cramer informed them that when we joke in the U.S.A.  we tend to smile.  They said that they used to be in the St. Kitts military and so are trained never to smile; such nice men.


For the time being, Cramer and I are boycotting the Marriott and giving other beaches and businesses our E.C. (eastern caribbean currency).  Uncle Millie (our favorite taxi driver) is also very relieved every thing worked out as only a local of St. Kitts could have bailed us out of jail and he is our on call local :-)


Good luck to all the deer hunters back home and everyone be sure to eat some turkey and pumpkin pie for me!

Mango House Halloween

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays and just because we are in the Caribbean where the people are too superstitious to celebrate it doesn't mean the Mango House didn't raise the roof.  We had a bucket of candy, lots of food, and a Hallo-weeny roast that had to be lit twice because of a wonderful Caribbean downpour that blew through for about fifteen minutes.  Amazingly Cramer gathered enough wood on an island with nothing but a few fruit trees, mostly Coconut, to last all evening.  Everyone came in costume and had a grand old time eating and making merry (jello shots helped!).

At the beginning of first semester when we getting to know each other, Anna and I discovered at dinner one night that we are both the same 1/8  percentage of Cherokee.  The entire table got a very good laugh out of this as she really looks Native American and I'm about as much of a pale skin as you can get.  Anyway, it was decided way back then that we would be Indians for Halloween and Thanksgiving.  Since my costume was decided it wasn't that large of a leap to decide on Cramer being the cowboy and then all we needed was a horse...enter Conner.  I know what you are thinking, a cowboy should have a western saddle but I couldn't bear it, soooo, yes, that is a dressage saddle on Conner!

The evening was a great success with everyone having a great time eating, drinking, and playing ladder golf (we have a house set now made by Cramer).  We are also hosting the festivities at Thanksgiving and plan on a repeat performance next year.  The Mango house is the perfect setting for merry making, apparently, which doesn't bother any of us.  School is going well for all of us but it definitely takes it's toll, it is so nice to have a relaxing evening with friends once in a while to remind yourself that there really is life outside of textbooks and lecture halls!  Cramer also really cut loose, probably because he had gone on a 10 hour hike to the very top of the volcano starting at 6:00 that morning and so was very ready to relax and enjoy himself!

I hope Halloween was just as funfilled for all of you guys and I'd love to see pictures of everyone in their finery so if you have some send them to Cramer and I at prcramer@yahoo.com

Happy Halloween from the Caribbean Cramers and Winston (the carved pineapple!)

Conner's First Day at the Beach

The first weekend Conner was off of quarantine we took him to the beach.  We even went to the Atlantic side of the island so he could experience waves for the first time.


St. Kitts is situated with the Atlantic Ocean to one side of it and the Caribbean sea to the other.  The Atlantic always has waves and usually has stronger currents; the caribbean side is calm, greener, and saltier.  At North Friers beach, the point where the two meet, a Y of turbulent water is formed and we are told not to swim there as many deaths from occurred at that beach due to the rip tides.
  
I knew Conner would come into the water if I went in and called him but I never expected him to actually like the water!  It probably helped that our friend Cara brought her golden Grizzly to join in on the fun.  With a water loving dog playing fetch with YOUR dad you really have no choice but to dive right in and prove you can fetch too, even if your legs are only 1/4 as long :-).

This was definitely one of the days I was able to forget the stresses of school and enjoy the world around me.....not everyone is lucky enough to get the chance to experience a different life and culture. If you ever get the chance, take it; growth in any direction is always a good thing.

Jewels of the Caribbean

Just a few of my favorite pictures Cramer has taken on his adventures so far. Quite a few of them are taken from one of my favorite places on the island, Brimstone Hill Fortress www.brimstonehillfortress.org. There are some places where history can just be felt and Brimstone is one of them. 

Accident Prone

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 proceeded to get a shower and clean it well and hobbled back downstairs where I asked my roommates' opinion about whether it needed stitches or not.  At first, we settled on butterflies and proceeded to try to make them ourselves; after a while of studying and everyone walking by and watching it start to swell and gap more and more it was determined that stitches were definitely needed. 

Maggie had a plan B option but I decided to rule it out.  :-)

I absolutely refused to go to the island hospital for such a small injury and so my roommate Ashley broke out the expired suture she brought from her clinic to practice with.  After a few practice runs on a plantain, she sutured my knee for me.

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. 

Cramer wasn't so easily fooled and kept passing me the rum! 

The best part was the fact that I studied through the whole thing as I had a test on renal function the next day...True vet student in action!




The gash is mending well and I passed the test the next day with flying colors so all in all this escapade was a success.  Conner gets off quarantine this Saturday so more to come.  Hope everything is well stateside and know you are all in our thoughts.

 

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

prcramer@yahoo.com

304-277-7031

RUSVM

PO Box 334

Basseterre, St. Kitts

West Indies (and no zip code no matter what the PO tells you!)