Football and Pujaa

Almost there.

We are glad to be here in Nevis after a good day of travel on Wednesday. We got a giggle when, after reviewing her airplane beverage options, Ava ordered "crapple" juice" from the flight attendant instead of cranapple.  Ha.  Get out much?

Our last flight was a low island hop, at sunset, so beautiful it hardly mattered that the plane was old and tiny.  Here is the refueling crew on the tarmac in St. Maarten.  In Nevis, we went directly from the airport to our favorite restaurant.  Turns out Bob has not refilled the propane since depleting it last month.  All this time, he has been cooking using only the microwave and the electric rice steamer.  I might use the microwave to sterilize the kitchen sponge, but that is it.  So...here's hoping the gas gets delivered Monday. I have already started in on my emergency supply of smoked trout. 

Only one of our six pieces of luggage was selected for inspection by the customs officer.  It was full of boring stuff, and Bob told me later I was lucky they didn't find the bow and arrow I had packed.  I guess I'm so used to my 2nd Amendment rights I think nothing of a primitive stringed instrument.  I looked back at the customs declaration I signed and discovered that not even toy weapons are permitted.  Oops!  How am I going to channel Legolas if I can't practice?  Yes, it is Ava's bow and arrow.  Bob asked Ava what she was going to shoot anyway, and before I could get a reply out about a feedbag stuffed with dried grass, Ava says, deadpan, "Goats and sheep."  But Ava loves goats and sheep!  We were confused.  Turns out, Ava didn't want to kill them, just slow them down so she can catch them.  She spends a lot of time chasing them around and trapping them in the yard.  She figured shooting them first would make that job easier, plus have the added benefit that she could then nurse them back to health.  And what eight-year-old girl doesn't love helping out wounded animals! And the little guys would learn to love her during convalescence.  (Yes, I read that one.  Stephen King.)

Good News!  The IGA is OPEN FOR BUSINESS

It is clean, bright and well-stocked.  

Brunch at the Hermitage

 I took the Christmas tree down and packed it away with the decorations.  We've been swimming in the ocean every day, watching football, and last night we went to Shirley's housewarming.  She and Vic have been building a new home for years, and  now they are moved in.  We were expecting to give hugs and drop off a gift, then mosey on over to a friend's house for Saints v 'Niners.  Once again, we are treated to a reminder that we are not in Kansas anymore.  We walked into a full blown Hindu blessing ceremony: the living room had not a stick of furniture, and it was packed tight, everybody dressed up and seated on large pieces of cloth on the floor following the lead of a swami, singing, chanting playing drums and other instruments.  We were the only white people there, obviously coming in late.  Not awkward!  Shoes came off.  People made room.  Ava plops down and starts singing in that toneless way kids do when they don't know the words or the tune.  Or the language.  Good for her.  We grinned through rituals involving bells, beads, banners, coins, the polishing of unidentified objects, admiration and adornment of framed photograph, ghee, oil, water, fire, incense, soil, cotton, etc. etc.  Both my legs fell asleep.  An elaborate offering of food was painstakingly created, but it was for display only. We were hungry. There were preparations of a feast happening in the kitchen.  There was no program.  No sign of an intermission.  Bob had a bag of kielbasa and sauerkraut in the car calling his name.  They were still going strong when we slunk out the back door in pursuit of more familiar rituals of beers and ballgame.  Got there in time for the 3rd quarter.  Life is good!

Saltfish...a taste from the past.  Found in every store.

Sweet Donkeys

Well, we loved having the young donkey boys.  Lewis and Moby were eating out of our hands by the second day...they were very timid at first but had a special weakness for banana peels.  Could not resist them...just like Honeybear, our beloved donkey from the Humane Society days.  The weather has been extremely dry so our grass is brown--not much grazing available.  The donkeys looooved having their own never-ending water bowl.  While we had plans to pick up some hay and sweet feed from the grain store, Ava went out of the yard to collect grass and didn't latch the gate.  Soooo, our donkeys wandered off.  Moseyed past Ava on the road while she entreated them in her best donkeyese to come back...it was VERY sad!  But also a Good Thing.  Because of culling efforts, donkeys have become nocturnal, and these guys made a bloodcurdling racket hee-hawing at night.  Oh, the video clip gets it just about right (thanks, Dad!)  They also chased each other in circles around our house, and since we sleep with the windows open, the thundering hooves were hard to sleep through.  Also hard to miss: donkey poo all over the yard!  I was shoveling and raking to beat the band.  So when I say it was very sad when the donkeys wandered off, I mean the kind of sad where you are waving your arms and making quiet little shooing noises.  That kind of sad.

Chanel Swim and Lost Boys

We had a good weekend but I wish you could hear the ruckus outside my window right now.  Saturday Ava had a sailing lesson that ended up lasting over four hours with her not coming back to the beach all that time.  She went out with one of the instructors, who did an intentional turnover in the sunfish, just to get that over with.  After she and Ava got the boat righted, Ava ended up swimming over to another sunfish with one of the other students, and those two sailed all around Oaulie Bay for hours, and overturned their boat three more times, twice intentionally.  It was quite the adventure.  Also Saturday the island hosted its annual triathlon, so we were excited to see the some of those athletes in action.  The bike ride goes all the way around the island.  Three times.  Craaazeeeeee.

Last weekend the island hosted the 9th annual cross channel swim (2,5 mi), and we went down to the beach to cheer our friend Garry, who was participating for the first time.  Almost 100 swimmers, but no Nevisians finished!   It was a great day with calm waters and swimmers from many other Caribbean countries.

Congratulations to Garry!  He made it across and didn't have to be rescued by the small fleet of zodiac boats keeping an eye on the swimmers.  I thought Garry was very wise to paint his standard issue swim cap with big red blobs.  He knew several of the rescue boaters and thought he'd hedge his bets in case of a mass drowning situation, I guess.   But no swimmers were lost.

SO, back to this weekend, last night we were enjoying take-out pizza and dominoes at home with our friend, Bill, when I looked out the kitchen window and saw two donkeys grazing in the yard.  We get sheep and goats all the time, but this was the first time I'd seen donkeys wander in.  I called Ava over to take a peek, and she immediately got the idea to trap them in the yard and thereby instantly gain two pet donkeys.  We undertook a family discussion, carefully weighing the pros and cons of such an action.  It went like this:

Ava: Shut the gate!  Shut the gate!

Mom: Now, these are wild animals, you can't just--

Ava Shut the gate! QUICK!

Bob: You want me to shut the gate?

Ava:: Shut the gate! shutthegateSHUTTHEGATE!

Mom: But, hang on--

Bob: Well, OK!  I'm shutting the gate!

And now we have two donkeys.Two juvenile boy donkeys, probably pushed out of a herd.  We lob them carrots and apples.  We call them Mobie and Lewis.  They play together and zoom in circles around the house.  Oh, they're nocturnal, so the thundering stampede noises and hee-hawing all come at night time.  It's 11:30 PM and they are right NOW making the most heinous noises you can imagine.  Ava sleeps right through it.  During the day they graze and take naps in the shade.  And POOOOOOP.  Like machines.  So it's day 2 and I've already broached the subject of OPENING THE GATE!!!  Didn't fly with Ava, but let's see how she feels tomorrow after she has to shovel up all that fertilizer.

Phagwah and Conch Fritters

Last week Bob's cousin, Rob, and his wife left Nevis after a two-week visit.  We had a lot of fun playing tour guide around our island home.  Although Rob is recovering from heart problems, he and Linda managed to get a lot packed in their short time here--swimming, snorkeling, conch-catching and cooking, sampling the various restaurants, even went to the the Cultural Center for the Hindu Holi celebration (a celebration of youth and spring), toured sale properties with a real estate agent and joined the Nevis yacht club!*  They promised to come back--and might even sail back on their boat.  

Here is Ava waving bye to the ferry with Rob and Linda in it.   Bob made it back from New Orleans that same day.  He had flown in for a conference a few days early so he could get there on Fat Tuesday.  Tried his first oyster.  Had acid reflux for the first time as well, thought he was dying!  But overall had a blast.

Ava and Garry set sail at Oualie Bay

So Ava is finally getting to learn sailing.  The same Garry from Australia that teaches her riding lessons also teaches kids to sail on the weekends out of the Nevis Yacht club.  He does this for free and seems to have a great time of it.  This is Garry and Ava taking off from Oualie Beach, and also Garry with a conch that was turned into fritters later that evening.  We went conch collecting on the same trip that we found the wreck of a small plane that has been eluding us for years.  A cesna that didn't quite make its landing properly...now a destination for snorkelers, and home to quite a few lobsters.   We made conch fritters out of all those conchs plus quite a few more we caught that day.  OK, "caught" may be overstating the hunt a little.  It's not like they have legs.




Anyway, as soon as Bob is over whatever virus he picked up on the airplane ride back to Nevis, we will truly be back to normal around here.  Alden turns 22 on Monday...so we will be celebrating from across the ocean.  And getting ready for the next wave of visitors--looks like Evan will be here in April, and possibly Bob's dad and stepmom from Long Island.  

The dancer on the left is the daughter of our Shirley who cooks for us.

Well, I was a little late getting this posted! Bob is still sniffling with his cold but I think he's turned the corner!  

Happy Early Spring!

Ava practices cuneiform

 Ava and I doing well here in Nevis, but missing our family and friends.  The temperature has started creeping up here, and I have been thinking of the beautiful spring-like weather being enjoyed in Raleigh...spring without the pollen!  Mangoes have come in season here, and we have been giving the Magic Bullet As Seen On TV quite a workout...with smoothies, hummus and my attempts at chutney.  I love the MB because it is powerful AND easy to wash by hand, which, as you know, is the way we roll here. 

The beach at MUA campus

Full moon bonfire

Percy (kitten) and Morie (doing yoga)

Officially Our Cat: Sidecar, Sweetest Kitty on Nevis

  Our water heater burst a week ago, and we are still waiting on the replacement.  As I write, I am adding kettles of boiling water to Ava's bathtub so her bath will be ready when she's back from her snorkel trip.  Bob took her out with a group on the dive boat after lunch today, dividends of his job at the dive shop.  He's been letting her experiment with an underwater camera.  So far lots of sand and thumbs, but I expect she'll get better.

 
The gym on campus opened--after how many years?--and it is nice!  I've been trying to work off those Indian lunch deliveries.  The calorie-counting function of the workout machines needs to be calibrated, I am sure.  A person shouldn't be able to eat more in two minutes than they can work off in half an hour, am I right?  The heart monitor is a little TMI also, if you ask me.  Watching it makes it go up--I have tested this--so it needs to be calibrated as well. 

Ava has been riding horses, swimming, snorkeling, "playing soccer" and finding little play dates with the odd assortment of kids we bump into along the way.  She chased down a sheep in the yard the other day and held it in her lap for a while.  Since we won't get her her own pet lamb or goat, she's having to make due with the two stray cats (Morie and Percy) that she's been feeding.  So far the little kitten won't let us touch her, but Morie is very friendly.  We fit in a little school here and there...and she's been reading up a STORM.  She's trying to savor Book 5 in the Percy Jackson series because she doesn't want it to end.  I can't wait to get to Ancient Greece in her world history curriculum, she is so ready for it!  She reads at least a couple books every week and will quickly go through the considerable book order I sent over via Amazon.  Then I am going to have to share my Kindle :-(

Bob's cousin and wife are coming to visit for a couple weeks at the beginning of March--and Bob won't be in Nevis one of those weeks!  I have never met this particular cousin before, so we are all in for an experience. Let's hope the water heater is in by then, or I will be going to the French Quarter in Bob's suitcase.  Or maybe in Bob's place!

If anyone remembers Shirley, the most excellent cook, housekeeper and enabler of my past roti-addiction, you'll be glad to hear she's starting back next week.  She is usually booked up during high season, so I am SO excited.  I will just have to squeeze in a few more visits to the gym.  WORTH IT!!  Happy Pseudo-spring to you all--and thank you for the Valentines!

xoxoRachel

Custard apples and Valentines

Ava's microscope class at the Ishmael's

Walking down to our car this morning.  Flip flops were not a good choice.

Custard apples.  Who knew?

Air squash?

So, another week has passed...I mentioned our road being under construction in the last post, and, two weeks later, this is a picture of that same road this morning!  Still not passable.  And every day our water is cut off as the progress continues..so we all now leap out of bed at the crack dawn to brush our teeth and flush the toilet lots of times.  Bear in mind this road is about a quarter mile long.  We just hope it's not worse than it used to be after they are finished!  Another challenge associated with the only road to our house being closed has been the lack of garbage collection.  After some major cleaning of cabinets and fridge, we have towers of rubbish on the porch making people with noses think twice about visiting.  We can't leave it in the yard because goats keep getting into the trash.  Oh, those goats.

Tuesday is market day.  We have discovered custard apples! They look like knobby green brains and have big black seeds on the inside.  The taste is amazing.  Passion fruit is in, as well as long beans (my favorite) and some nice squashes that Bob puts into soup and chili.  Thank goodness Ava isn't a picky eater--so far she has been willing to try everything.  AND she loves the food from the new Indian restaurant down the road, which is great since it has become the Wednesday night tradition.  The best garlic naan I have EVER had, and they deliver lunch to the school every Thursday and Friday.  (Since I am down to my last can of emergency smoked trout, this is all very good news.)

Tuesday is also soccer class for Ava, who was basically thrown to the wolves--these kids (mostly children of students and faculty) can all play better than Ava, who not only doesn't know how to play, but who doesn't really even "get it" yet.  I can't bear to watch--she has such a great attitude but just runs around the field chasing the ball but being careful to not ever get too close.  She took a ball to the head yesterday that seemed to impress her friends.  She told me about that later when I asked her what the best part of soccer practice was.  I'm putting this in the Character Building column.

We put some Valentines in the mail and we're off to the beach for a swim. 

Happy February!

WE ARE HERE!

Well, we've been here almost a week! Hard to believe-it has flown by! Our travel on Monday was uneventful.  I was especially thankful to be boarding with the the elite group "Zone 5" in Raleigh, as by the time we were finally called to get on the plane, all the overhead compartments were chock full and we were encouraged to check our biggest carry-on all the way to Nevis.  Hooray!  We were WAY overburdened with carry-on despite the fact that every year I swear that "next time" I will have my pocketbook and my kindle, and that is it.  HA. 

We got into Nevis on time, and our last flight, a low jump from St Maarten to Nevis at sunset, was gorgeous as always.  Bob managed to squeeze our luggage into the jeep and whisked us home to freshen up before dinner at Pizza Beach.  We had a belated Christmas after dinner, and Bob was so excited to get the Wii Fit that I've always wanted, and Ava got her favorite wii game as well.  We were SUPER bummed, however, to discover that the Wii itself and all the games and accessories had been stolen.  Turns out that Bob had hired someone to do a little cleaning in anticipation of our arrival (I am sure this place looked like something out of Animal House) and they cleaned out the game cabinet as well.  No good deed...And it's not like we can run out and buy another one. 

So....life goes on.  Bob decided for some reason to wait until we got here to have two teeth extracted, so he did that that Tuesday morning and hasn't been able to take Ava snorkeling because of the stitches.  So Ava and I have been enjoying the beach on our own, as well as the pool at the Ishmael's house.  I got my driver's license, and had to off-road it getting home that first day due to some construction on the only road to our house.  And I have said it before, but...driving on the left is such a bad idea, don't know how that got started!  And I keep getting in the wrong side of the car, where there is no steering wheel.  School for Ava started up again as well, and Bob has taken over the math instruction, which Ava and I BOTH appreciate. 

Today is Sunday, and our big task for the day is to PURGE the kitchen, as Bob had apparently been living on cashews and take-out for the last six months, and the same groceries that I left here last June are still with us.   Including the eggs.  Apparently cleaning out the fridge was not part of the clean-and-heist service Bob paid good money for.  Oops, still bitter.

Hope all is well with you--Ava has been missing her cousins and friends, and we will be asking for some addresses for her postcards.   Hope you are warm!

Kids v Parents

Ava is continuing to hang in there for soccer.  I'm not sure how much she is learning.  Maybe standing right there in the middle of the field she can't help but notice how the game works and one day it will just click.  So far she's still in the observation stage.  The other kids don't seem to mind and just work around her. 

Last week was kids versus the parents.  I had decided to come down with a big ol' headache just before game time (the extracurricular activities are BOB'S responsibility, right?) but as we were getting ready to go, Ava just looked so excited.  And she's had such a great attitude with soccer practice, not knowing what was going on but not letting that stop her or even slow her down, how could I model anything less?  So I put on my game hair and hit the field with the other moms and dads.  What a savage sport!  Everybody in a clump kicking and shoving after the ball.   It was so much fun!  The temperature dropped, the breezes blew... the coach was more than forgiving of our transgressions.  The parents wisely conserved their strength and didn't even try to go after the balls that rolled way out of bounds.  The only injuries were kids face-smacked by fastballs kicked by their own flesh and blood, so the guilt was minimal. We crushed them like bugs and then we all had watermelon. Yay!

I was shocked, SHOCKED,  at how sore I was the next several days.  My thighs!!!!  Who knew? I guess that was my first ever game of soccer.  Sure, having opponents that averaged 3' tall may have added a lot to the experience, I'll give you that.   But the parents couldn't make a cool human pyramid afterwards, either.  And we tried.

 

 

 

 

Ava and Big Red

So here's Ava during last week's lesson on Big Red, Dawn's OTHER horse that she wants to find a new owner for in December.   Do you like the way I said, "owner" instead of "sucker"?  I hope so.  Taking the high road, here! 

It's who I am.  It's what I do.

Horse Heaven

Besides her Nintendo DSI (with horse game), Ava's favorite birthday loot was the toy horses and barn.  She plays with them all the time.  She is loving her riding lessons and manages to make extra trips to the barn with mangoes for the horses and treats for the tortoises that live there.  Since Ava's instructor doesn't have a work visa (she's a spouse of a student) we can't pay her for the lessons.  So in trade, Bob takes a couple bags of sweet feed to the barn and does some maintenance out there like weed-eating or fence-mending every week.  He's also getting used to being around and on horses. 

 

One day they came back from being gone for several hours and Bob said he'd spent that time "desensitizing himself."  To what? I asked, thinking maybe getting used to some kind of plant or weed out there.  No, he meant desensitizing himself to HORSES.  Only a shrink would put it that way.  I guess he was kind of nervous around them due to their size and general unfamiliarity.  He was shocked that there is a bone inside the horse tail.  But he went on his first and second ride recently, and next week for Ava's last lesson, we are going on a trail ride.  And Bob (I find out) has pretty much promised Ava one of these horses for Christmas.   So here is Ava on Fabiola.  Ava looks at her and sees hearts and sparkles shooting out of lucky horseshoes.  I see dollar signs!!!  Heck, Alden starts his senior year at NCSU in the fall, so soon enough we'll be looking for somewhere else to throw our money, right?

 

 

Lucky Seven

We took the car ferry over to Nevis Saturday and carpooled with our friend Tracey and her son, Neil.   Tracey teaches genetics at the school and is Canadian --used to be a competitive synchronized swimmer so my dream of learning some underwater dance moves is coming true!  One mustn't ever give up on one's dreams!  :-P  Turns out it is HARD!  And I was scorned when I said I needed some noseplugs so as not to drown.  But anyway, I am also learning to end interrogatory sentences with AY? since that is the way all the Canadians do it. 

 

Did you know that the people who live on the Isle of Man are called Manx?  And informally known as Yessirs because they end most sentences with "yessir."  This we got from an Irishman man in the hotel swimming pool, so it must be true.

The Seabridge ferry costs $56 round trip per car plus a little more for extra adults and is a 15 minute trip--much shorter than the regular ferry because it just chugs straight across, the shortest distance.  The other ferries take almost an hour but they go back and forth from downtown Nevis to downtown St. Kitts. 

 

As I mentioned, Sunday Ava woke up to find herself covered in balloons--she loved that.  She found a present buried in there--a camera.  Too bad mom didn't know it needed a memory card.  Oh well, more time in the pool, and then we were off to see the new Shrek movie.  I had only heard about the new cinema on St. Kitts but it exceeded every expectation.  Stadium seating, huge screens, new movies, good popcorn...and an adult ticket costs only $4.47!  And the snacks weren't the huge ripoff we are used to...makes me wonder why we put up with such highway robbery in the US.  Dominoes pizza for dinner, some fun playing with the birthday loot and we said goodbye to Tracey and Neil.  Then back to the pool for night swim!  Bob had to leave Monday morning, but Ava and I got to stay a third night and got another day of R&R before taking the ferry back to Nevis on Tuesday...just in time for soccer practice. 

Lucky Seven

For Ava's birthday we decided to spend the weekend on St. Kitts at the Marriott.  She could barely remember last time we were there but as soon as she saw the lobby with its fountains and sculptures it all came back.  We were teasing her on the way over that on her first trip to this hotel she draink out of the bidet in our room (imagine me flying across the room in slow motion yelling "nooooooooo" but too late) and she laughed it off--she's a worldly almost-7 and isn't going to drink out of the bidet, whatever that is.

 

So we got checked in and Ava and her buddy Neil changed into their swimsuits and hit the pool.  On the way out of the bathroom I noticed Ava drying her hands...but the sink is on the outside of the bathroom.  No prob! She had washed her hands ..in the bidet.  You have to be very specific with Ava. 

 

There's a pic of her in the pool.  The next day was her birthday, and she woke up in a bed filled with balloons, and was presented with a disgusting icing and sprinkled covered donut as big as her head.  It's gonna be a good day!