My St. Kitts Adventure!

Sorry! :)

2009-11-14T20:51:00.008-04:00

I don't even know where to begin. Life has been busy and challenging to say the least lately. Things between Javin and I are really great. We are a great team and we work together in all that we do. I'm really happy! I've also been busy working on my photography hobby. I take so many pictures all the time, I'm just inspired by the scenery around me here. I'm sorry for not having updated my blog sooner. OK - let me at least give you a quick update on the last several months.

September - The last week of August I returned to school after a lovely summer. The first week of September the children reported back from their summer vacations. We had a great start. My class is 16 students, 8 in each grade. They are a great bunch of students. A combination of new students to the school and returning students. Being that it is my second year here now (TIME FLIES!) I definitely felt much better starting up this year. We have several enhancements to our curriculum including an active living component where we do more physical activity as well as have more time scheduled for our anti-bullying program, Social Decision Making & Problem Solving and other topics.

This year I'm also teaching some new courses. This year I'm also responsible for the delivery of the Social Studies curriculum. I'm having a blast with it developing PowerPoints and also great on-line games with a new website I'm using called Quia (all you teachers out there, check out quia.com). I'm also teaching a high school Information Technology course for our grades 7 - 9 students. This is a CXC (Caribbean Examination Council) course which can earn 'subjects' toward graduation.

My parents came down mid-August for 7 weeks to house/dog sit for some people we know down here while they went back to England to have their first child. It was nice having my parents here, kinda strange that for a time they had their 'own' house here. I could pop over after work just like when i was in NJ. It was nice to be able to see them for such an extended period of time.

October: October came and went quickly as well. My birthday passed - the big 32!! I had a great day with my sweetie, Javin. He made my day very special. My students also floored me by bringing the most beautiful home-made cards, flowers, jewelry & more. It was unexpected but nice.

Toward the end of October the St. Kitts Hashers Club had an anniversary hash weekend with 4 days/nights of events, all with a PIRATE THEME! On Thursday evening they had dinner and drinks at Shipwreck Beach Bar. This night we got assigned to our 'team' for the weekend.

I was a Scurvey Dog!

Friday night after work we met at the TDC field all told to wear red dresses for the Bearded Lady, Red Dress, Rum Run. We walked all over the city of Basseterre from bar to bar for a drink or soda. It was a fun night - but everyone else was staring at the MEN and women in red dresses. Afterward there was a great dinner for all to enjoy! Saturday I missed the days festivities as I needed a break. Sunday however, was a blast! We went to Nevis on the Shiggidy Express, Mr. X's powered catamaran. Once on Nevis we took a hike and then came back for lunch and games on the beach. It was over all a very fun weekend.

October at school also brought our school's first ever school dance. It was for grades 5 - 9 and they loved it. We converted my classroom into the dance floor and pumped up the music. The decorations came in from Georgia, complete with disco ball! It was really fun and already we have another planned for November.

Also in October was Halloween. We had a fun Halloween Party at school. On Saturday evening we had trick-or-treating in Calypso Bay where we were dog sitting for Herbert (the best dog EVER!). It was so fun because they don't really trick-or-treat here, so the ex-pat families arrange this for the children. The kids knew I was staying up there so they all came to the house! It was a lot of fun.

While over in Calypso, we also took the opportunity to get Javin's family together for a gathering of food, fun and pool time. It was great to get everyone together and just relax and unwind having a nice Sunday together.

November: Well on a personal note we finally got an offer on our house. However, it has been the most horrible experience. There have been so many errors made in the appraisal and other things. We are just holding out and waiting but HOPEFULLY we'll close on the house this month and be free to move on with our lives.

My parents also decided while they were here that they'd like to send my mom's car down to me here on the island. The way it works here is that you have to pay a high duty to bring vehicles in. They charge you 84% of the purchase price & the shipping costs. Then depending on the age of your car you pay an environmental levy. Because my car that is coming is a 2003 I have to pay $5K EC toward that. The car has had quite a journey in getting here. First it went from NJ to Florida on a truck. Once it got to Florida Tropical Shipping took over. It then went to US Customs to be searched for drugs and weapons and then back to Tropical Shipping for its voyage to St. Kitts.It will be on the open seas for about 1 week and then it will arrive here. Once it arrives here I've hired a broker to get it out of the customs lock-up for me. Then i have to do the running from Traffic Department, to SNIC (my insurance co), then to Hanley's to get it inspected and then finally to Inland Revenue where I can finally register it. Never dull..... But I'm excited to get a new car down here (well new to me). I sold my car in October. It had been very good to me and I was sad to see it go!

At school this year we have our first ever sport team. The SKI Academy STRIKERS are our soccer/football team. They are competing in the Private Primary Schools Football Competition. It is a month long competition where we play against the other private schools on the island. They take place on Monday afternoons so we all go down as a school to cheer on the team. It is so fun to have a sports team to root for.

There have been lots of friends down from my travel forum. It is so nice to be able to see everyone when they come down for their yearly or twice yearly visits. I really enjoy the time with them all.

HMMM..... I guess that is all for now. I promise to not stay too long in writing again. I do hope this blog entry finds everyone well. Write when you have time!

Love

Krista

New Jersey Visit

2009-08-14T17:38:00.003-04:00

Hi All-

I know this blog update is LONG overdue. For that I apologize. Things get mighty hectic in life. The end of the school year was busy and fun. I can't believe I've been living in St. Kitts for over a year now. Time sure does fly.

In June, Javin went to Barbados to once again try to get a US Visa. We tend to forget as Americans how lucky we are that we are free to travel pretty much where ever and whenever we want. Other people are not so lucky in this world. If you live in St. Kitts and want to travel to the US, you must first apply for an appointment at the US Embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados. Once you are granted a date you must book your flight and hotel. In the meantime, you must prepare the necessary paperwork (Embassy forms, job letters, bank statements, background checks, and any other paperwork to help your cause). Most people are turned down several times before getting a Visa, some never are granted a chance. They are given no reason, just a "no". It is so sad, good people try spend hard earned money to try and get a chance just to VISIT the USA. For Javin, it turned out that the third time is the charm. He was granted a US Visa for a period of 10 years! Yippeee.... planning for our summer trip began the night he returned from Barbados with his Visa!

After school let out for the summer, Javin and I ran a summer "Adventure Camp". Camp was two weeks long, Monday - Friday, 9am - 3pm. We had anywhere from 12 - 22 kids each day. We had to hire an additional counselor & a bus driver. Our campers & I had a blast. We did all sorts of different things each day. Our top adventure was zip-lining 200 feet about the canopy of the rainforest. We also spent the day on a beautiful catamaran. We did lots of hiking, took a Caribbean cooking class, spent afternoons at the beach on water trampolines... the whole nine yards. It was a great two weeks and all of the campers had a blast. The parents said it was the best camp to date and already started booking slots for next summer.

When camp ended we had a few down days then off to Jersey. Things always go smoothly right? Of course not... the day before we left Javin had to have a tooth pulled on an emergency basis. So our trip started out with Javin in discomfort and I felt horrible about that. Once on our trip he continued to have some discomfort but was a trooper for the most part. The week after we arrived I took ill, and wound up with a nasty case of sinusitis and on antibiotics. NO FUN! It also turns out that Javin is allergic to shellfish and had a horrible reaction to shrimp and calamari (yea calamari is shellfish, who knew?). Anyhow - those were the unexpected quirky things.

We had a great time in NJ visiting with family & friends. Of course, the time went too quickly so I didn't get all the time I'd hoped for with everyone. However I'm so grateful for the time that we did get with them. Here are some of the highlights of our trip.

• Statute of Liberty

• Dorney Park with Eileen, Gabi, Melody & Emma

• Canoeing on Kamphee Lake in Bloomingdale - so pretty

• NYC for the day (Top of the Rock, Central Park, Times Square, Rockefellar Plaza, FAO Schwartz, Toys R Us, Hard Rock Cafe and more). Our excellent tour guides were Diana & Steve. It was a great day!

• The Great Falls of Paterson & Lambert Castle (did you know the falls are now a NATIONAL PARK?)

• Canoeing 8 miles down the Delaware River with the Moran crew

• Many trips to Ritas with Meg C.

• A family BBQ

• A friends BBQ

• A great party at J Mo's house with my former Riverdale co-workers... thanks Eileen & Jen

• Mini golf with Eileen

• Eating everywhere (as these places are new for Javin) Wendys, McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, Nathans, Outback, even Hibatichi, NJ pizza & bagels too

• Whole day with the Moeller crew at the pool laughing and having fun.

• Going to Harley Davidson & other bikes stores for Javin

Javin and I really enjoyed our trip - the great quality time with friends and family, and all of our sight-seeing. It was really great.

Now we are back in SK. My parents arrive here next week for 7 weeks in paradise. Just about when my parents arrive a hurricane MIGHT be coming our way - so please say your prayers that it spares us here in the Caribbean.

I hope you are all having a great summer... I can't believe it is almost over. I go back to work August 27th.

Write/e-mail when you get a chance!

Love,

Krista/Ms. Vics

PS - pics to come soon!

I guess I missed April!

2009-05-12T14:42:00.011-04:00

There are no words to express how fast time really does go by. I find myself staring at the calendar as of late saying how on God’s green earth is it already the middle of May. What makes it even more mind-boggling is the fact that I’ve been living in St. Kitts for nearly 10 months when in actuality it seems more like 10 minutes. I wish I could actually account for all of my time and tell you detail for detail all of the fun things I’ve been up to, but I’ll do my best to fill you in on my adventures.

Let’s go back to April. April was a busy time at school. We were preparing for End of Term Tests as well as Sports Day (Field Day), and our class trip. Sports Day was a great afternoon of fun. There were races and obstacle courses. Parents were involved in several of the days events as well. The afternoon started off with something called a “March Pass”. During the March Pass the teams walked onto the field following a drum core of about 10 drummers and a drill sergeant from the local military. The teams were each presented for inspection and then the events began. It was a ton of fun.

For our class trip, with the help of one of my great parents, we arranged a lovely island tour. The kids toured all 9 parishes of St. Kitts getting out to see and explore along the way. We hit historic points as well as many of the beautiful places to see on the island of St. Kitts.

April also found me with two heavenly weeks off for Spring Break. In all the years past I dreamt of spending my Spring Breaks in St. Kitts and that was seldom possible. But there year I was already here, and I was more than ready to make the most of it. I spent time doing all sorts of things. I was busy enjoying the beach, spending quality time with Javin and my friends, and found plenty of time for rest and relaxation. That was much needed.

During Spring Break I’d heard from a friend in NJ that one of her friends was coming to St. Kitts. She asked if I’d like to meet up with them and I said sure. So Javin and I met Danielle and Kathy from NJ. Danielle works with my friend Suzanne, and we started e-mailing back and forth about their trip. When they arrived we met up with them for drinks and then the following day took them on a brief tour of the Southeast Peninsula of St. Kitts. In conversation it turned out that Kathy works with my friend Diana at Morristown Memorial Hospital. It is truly such a small world. But it was fun having the NJ connection and making new friends.

Spring Break also brought with it the launch of a small side business related to my St. Kitts travel forum. Javin and I have been working in conjunction with Drew who is our mastermind web programmer. What we’ve done is go “commercial” selling advertising space on the forum. Drew did all the coding and Javin and I hit the streets selling ad space to local business owners turning the forum into something that will actually generate money for us all. It has been a slow start but we’ve had some great advertisers purchase space and it continues to grow daily.

Javin and I also launched the start of a small hiking business for him as a sideline to his regular job. This business will take visitors and locals on hikes up the “ghauts” or rivers of St. Kitts. The beautiful part about these hikes is when there is rain in the mountains. It causes the ghauts to flow creating pools of ice-cold mountain fed water for you to swim in. It is one of the most exotic places I’ve ever experienced. The ghauts are nestled in the rainforest and there are amazing plants, and trees as well as monkeys and other animals. There are also bamboo plants that tower into the blue sky, growing taller then I ever knew bamboo could get. Javin and I created some beautiful walking sticks for our future hikers out of bamboo stalks – not only are they strong they are also soft as silk for holding onto while walking.

School has kept me busy too. The day-to-day routine is fun. My kids are energetic and fun and keep me on my toes. They know how to be serious and fun which are great qualities. We just finished reading the novel Sounder, one of my favorite novels of all time. We are gearing up for the Test of Standards (which are like the NJ ASK tests), which takes place the week of June 9-12. The kids have tests in language, math, science and social studies. We are also preparing for our end of the year concert, which will take place June 24^th. We are doing a Disney theme and my students and I are working on two songs currently: Under the Sea & A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes. It is fun getting ready and singing together.

Outside of school finds me very busy as well. I currently have 5 students that I’m tutoring 1 or 2 times weekly. In addition my Photography Club wrapped up with a luncheon at one of our new upscale beach bars called Spice Mill. The kids worked hard and became really great photographers. After the kids Photography Club was done there was some discussion amongst the parents about them wanting a club too. So I have 7 adults taking my 4-week class – this Wednesday being the conclusion. It too has been great fun.

Once Photography Club ended I started a Technology Club. I have 10 students. We meet twice weekly, Wednesdays for 1 hour and Saturdays for 2-3 hours. We are learning to blog, create newspapers, manage pictures on-line and do video editing. On Saturdays we go on various adventures: hiking, exploring sugar cane fields and farms, etc. Wednesday afternoons we will blog about our activities. It promises to be great fun. The class will run all of May & June for a total of 8 weeks.

Aside from work, work, work there has been some time for fun too. I took a fun hike in an area called Bloody Point. Bloody Point is an area that is said by legend to have been the site of a brutal battle between the Europeans and the Carib Indians. It is said that the Europeans wiped out the Carib population on the island and that there was so much bloodshed that the earth was colored red. In either case, today in modern times there is a great hiking spot where you can see petroglyphs, which are ancient drawings of the Carib people. I hiked this with my friend Sharon and her family. One of the really cool things were the exposed roots of this huge tree. I put Sharon and her family in the tree and took some cool pictures!
I’ve also spent a good deal of time swimming, snorkeling and enjoying some time at some local beach bars with friends. I still find myself taken by the beauty of St. Kitts. I don’t go anywhere without my camera and find myself taking tons of pictures. I will share some of them on the blog with you for your enjoyment.

Coming up, I will be housesitting for a friend for 4 months. I will have a lovely condo in the area called Frigate Bay. I will be there through September and will enjoy having a pool a few steps away and the beach within walking distance. Ahhhh… should be a lovely way to spend the summer months. I’m also planning a summer camp for the first two weeks of summer. It will be an adventure camp full of lots of exciting events. Upon completion of the camp, I plan to return to New Jersey for a couple of weeks for a visit.

I hope this blog entry finds you all well. I know time flies and I apologize for not keeping up with the blog as often as I planned to. Please write to me and tell me how you are doing. I’d love to hear from you all! I hope all is well… summer is coming!!!

It's Only March for 2 More Days! What?

2009-03-30T12:23:00.016-04:00

Hi Everyone!

I really must apologize for taking so long to write to everyone here on my blog. I can’t even believe that it is almost the end of March. I’m shocked at how quickly times seems to fly. Right now I have one week to go and then I’m on Spring Break for 2 weeks. If I was still in New Jersey, I’d be complaining that I can’t go to St. Kitts for Spring Break because the ticket price is so high and now I’m already here. So I can just kick back and relax! Nice!

Well let me at least give a quick recap of what I’ve been up to:

In early March my dad had a hip replacement surgery. At first everything went smoothly, then there were some complications with his incision. He had to go back to the doctor to have it looked at and they wound up replacing his hip AGAIN and putting him on strong antibiotics to keep infections away. He is now slowly getting back to normal but it has been a long road for both he and my mother.

March kept me busy with my 7 student Photography Club. We’ve been all over the island photographing everything in our site! We hit several beaches, went to Romney Manor, Brimstone Hill, went out on a fishing boat.. man it has just been fun.

Each week we’d meet on a Wednesday afternoon for an hour, and talk about cameras and different functions & download our pictures from the previous weekend trip.

Each Saturday we’d travel for 2 - 3 hours to a different spot on the island. It has been great fun! My students have really learned a lot and turned into really great photographers. So much so that now I have their parents and other adults asking me to run a course in the evenings for them. So I’ll be starting that after Spring Break! Should be fun!

One Saturday in March, I took the ferry over to Nevis. My friend Amelia and her husband Chevy we having the grand reopening of their beach bar, “Chevy’s Calypso Bar & Grille”. I went over to lend support and assistance to my Nevisian friends. I was picked up at the ferry terminal by two of their friends, Paul & Jahlive. We ran a few errands picking up last minute items for the days/nights events. Once over to Chevy’s I was able to see the beauty of their new restaurant/bar. Their original bar was totally destroyed during Hurricane Omar. They rebuilt a bigger and better Chevy’s over the next several months. I had a great night with friends old and new. The topper was that Amelia told me she’d have a place for me to stay, well that was an understatement. She put me in a three bedroom private villa with a plunge pool - just for myself for the night. Man was that great. I was planning to go back to St. Kitts via ferry on Sunday afternoon. We were hanging out at Chevy’s and the Irie Lime catamaran pulled up with a bunch of my friends on board. They invited me go back with them on the boat and it was nice. I got to sit up front on the nets watching the sun set over St. Kitts. It was the perfect end to a great weekend.

Javin and I have also had some fun. We spent one Sunday morning at our new favorite beach, Whitehouse Bay. They recently built a lovely dock into the water. We spent the morning snorkeling, and swimming around and really just enjoying each other’s company. I took a ton a pictures of Javin doing flips off the dock and just being a monkey. It was great fun! Javin and I also went to a pajama party that his cousin had. It was a fun night too. There is always something fun or silly to do on this island!

Things at school have been really great. My students are a lot of fun. We’ve had two behavioral challenges: The Valentine’s Day Challenge, and the Shamrock Challenge. After earning their cotton balls they earned parties. One was a movie party and the other was a board game party. It was great. Coming up this week we have Sports Day (which is like Field Day) and a field trip around the island, visiting all nine parishes on the island. I’m really looking forward to both events, it should be a really nice week - and then TWO WEEKS OFF!!!

One more thing before I go... I just wanted to tell everyone that on April 24th the triplets will be turning 5! How is that possible? Where does the time go? I can’t even see how those little babies are almost 5 year old boys. It seems impossible. I’m just sorry I won’t be able to be there to celebrate with them on such a special day! Happy early birthday guys! I love you!

Well I guess that is it. I’m trying to plan some fun activities for my Spring Break, so I’ll be sure to check in as often as possible and keep you up to date! I hope everyone is doing well and that you all have a Happy Easter when it comes!

Be well!

Love,

Ms. Vics/Krista

February is Flying By..

2009-02-10T14:31:00.010-04:00

Hi everyone-Is it me or does time just fly by? I've been very busy here in St. Kitts. Since my last post I've done some fun things that I'd like to report in on. I went on my next hash early in the month. The Hashers Club is a group of people who get together every 3 weeks on a Saturday to go on a run/walk through really pretty spots on the island. It is a nice way to spend some time on a Saturday afternoon. I went Tina and some friends. We had a really nice time. Tina and I stop way to much to take photographs of everything we see around us. I took a great picture of a sugar mill that I then edited and turned black and white that I'll be posting.

After returning from the hash, Tina and her friends dropped me back off to my house. As we were standing on the street one of the girls notice that something was trying to break into my bedroom window. That something was a centipede. Centipedes on the island are HUGE. They grow to be 6 or more inches long, have nasty antennas on their head, and a bite so painful that it discolors and swells your body. Well I'd never had to deal with one and didn't know what to do. So I ran to my neighbors house who instructed me on how to "deal with it." He watched from his window laughing at me as I tried to take the enemy down. Before attempting to end this centipedes life - I did pause to take a picture of him which, of course, I'm attaching.

I've also been spending some Sunday afternoons at the beach with my friend TG and his children. I've known them for years and they've included me in their weekly fun of beach time and football (soccer) games, although I'm always picked last... ha ha! It is fun to hang out with the boys because they are well behaved and very respectful and just really enjoy having fun!

My Photography Club started this past week. I have a total of 7 students signed up which is a perfect number.

We met at Frigate Bay near the Shiggidy Shack. We had several things we were working on, framing, leveling the horizon, getting on the level of your subject, fast action settings, macro settings and other great lessons. The kids were instructed to come in their bathing suits and to be ready to get wet and be the subject of some pictures and the taker of others.

We had a wonderful time. We staged boogie boarding pictures, shots jumping off tables and other such objects, and sword fight pictures with nerf swords. The highlight was me getting my friend to take the whole class on a 15 minute boat ride on the Shiggidy Express. The kids loved the treat and we put our cameras on fast action and this time practiced with us being the moving object and taking pictures of still things. It was a great day!

Well, I guess that is all for now. My calendar is getting filled up. I'm currently tutoring Monday, Tuesday & Thursday afternoons. I walk or hike on Monday, Wednesday & Thursday afternoons, I have Photography Club Wednesday & Saturdays, and I have a computer class that I'm taking on Tuesday & Thursday evenings. It is a busy schedule but it is very rewarding.

I am also working to start a library in the village that I live in. This is in the works with one of the government ministers and it is quite exciting. I'm currently sorting and making a master list of the thousands of books we have in storage on the island. We also have 8 - 10 new computers secured for the library once completed. The building will be about 40 foot square and should be a great space. The library will be run by volunteers but we are planning to run one week afternoon/night day and a Saturday session. We will host story hours for the younger children and I will be running free computer courses in the evenings. One of the younger, high school, volunteers will be running computer courses free for younger students. It should be really great when it is all up and running. I know we will be looking for newer book titles when we get closer, so anyone who has books that might be good, let me know and we'll try to figure something out.

Well, I guess that is all for now. I hope everyone is doing well. Please write and let me know what you've been up to! Miss you all!

Love,

Krista/Ms. Vics

2009....

2009-01-30T20:12:00.010-04:00

Hi everyone-

Sorry that so much time has passed since my last posting. I've been trying to post two blogs per month, but sometimes I can't keep up with how fast the days go by. So this will just serve as a quick update on what has happened so far in 2009, in St. Kitts.

2009 rang in quite differently for me than all my past New Years. In St. Kitts the party does not start until after midnight. Javin and I went to a New Years ball at one of the hotels. All of the hotels hold balls from 10 until whenever. It was well done and there

was great food, decorations and music. Being that we have are an hour ahead of you all in the NY/NJ area we could not even watch the ball drop... again an odd experience for me. However,

my first New Years Eve in St. Kitts was memorable. There were many parents from my school at the celebration as well as my friend Tina & her friend John. We all enjoyed our night and bought in 2009 without a hitch!

Carnival/J'Ourvet was a great experience. It was a time full of street parades and colorful costumes. I got to go to the street parades where there were children through adults dressed in great costumes. Groups formed Carnival Troupes and marched to music in costumes specific to their troupe. Bands played on huge flat bed trucks with 20-30 huge speakers on each making the whole town literally feel like it would bounce off its foundation. There were Mack Jumbie, stilt walkers who towered about the crowd nearly 10 feet or more in the air. The feeling in the air was of excitement and joy. Everyone was there to have fun and take in the sights and sounds associated with this festive time of year here in St. Kitts.

Back at work things have been busy but good. I find myself getting more into the routine and feeling better overall with what I'm doing. Everything takes time and patience, so I finally feel as if I'm settling in here. I'm running a photography club starting next week for 8 weeks meeting for 3 hours a week. I have 6 children enrolled and I think it is going to be a blast. We will be doing one hour a week at the school and 2 hours at a location with great vistas to practice what we are learning. I'm really excited about it. I'll also be taking a computer course 2 nights weekly for 5 weeks brushing up on the Microsoft Office suite. Although the more I'm reading the more I think I could likely teach the course...lol!

On an interesting note. Last week we had FOUR cruise ships in port at once. I've never seen that before. You'll see in my photo that that there is one in the foreground. That one is at our cargo dock. Then you'll see one in the ocean - they brought people to shore in small boats, tenders, to get onto the island. Then you'll see (if you look carefully) two ships off to the right at our actual cruise ship port, Port Zante. It is amazing how many ships can come to this island at once, I never knew that was possible!

Well I guess that is all for now. I do promise to write more soon. Time moves so quickly and even with the best of intentions I don't always get to post as faithfully as I had hoped.

I hope that 2009 is treating you all well! Please write or comment when you get a chance. Looking forward to hearing from you all!

Love

Krista/Ms. Vics

A sad end to 2008....

2008-12-29T18:40:00.017-04:00

Hi everyone. I thought that I was only going to use this blog to share the good and fun aspects of my new life in St. Kitts. I will tell you that my first Christmas here was a new experience. Javin and I cooked up the ham and “Sam, the Christmas Snapper” (warning the photo is of a body double as Javin had already ‘dismembered’ the real Sam before I was able to take a picture of him. I do have a photo of his head – but that somehow seemed too morbid for my blog…lol!)

Javin and I cooked for hours on Christmas morning for our expected guests. The menu was a mix of traditional foods from both of our cultures. I prepared an 11-pound spiral ham, garlic mashed potatoes, asparagus, potato salad, stuffing and I baked a cake and made jello. Javin was in charge of preparing Sam, and also made a pot of rice & peas, stewed peas, macaroni pie and a wonderful gravy in which Sam was served.

The preparations were fun – but time consuming. So at about 1:30 I decided I needed a short break. So I put on my bathing suit and headed to the pool. Timidly walked in as the water was COLD and took about a 20-minute swim. That was all I needed to feel revived and good. I came back in, finished cooking and then got ready for our guests. The meal was delicious. We all had fun while enjoying the food and company.

The next day was J’ourvet Morning. J’ourvet is the kickoff even for Carnival season. Carnival is a week and a half (ish) long celebration of parades, shows and colorful activities featuring great music, food and amazing costumes. J’ourvet is a street party that starts around midnight and goes straight into the next afternoon, ending around noon.

All of the big bands from the island: Nu-Vybes, Grand Masters, Collision, etc get on huge flat bed trucks each equipped with an enormous generator and about 25 giant speakers and blast their music on the streets of town while troupes of people dance behind the truck. The atmosphere is festive and fun, but above all safe. There is lots of security and police presence to make sure that everyone has a fun and safe time. I joined the festivities around 8:30 in the morning and left at noon when it was done. I don’t know how some of these people party for 12 hours. There is NO WAY I could do that. There was even a wet down (pictured) where they turned a fire house on the crowd. I stayed clear of that - minus taking a few pictures.

The fun part about J'ourvet is that you can expect the unexpected. People are dressed in weird costumes, spooky masks, goofy animal costumes, feather masks, you name it they have it. Paint covering their entire head and hair. Things you'd just never expect. So part of the fun for me was photographing some of the interesting things I was seeing.

Anyhow, after J’ourvet was over, and Christmas behind me I decided to spend a few days of quiet time getting some much needed rest and relaxation. So that was what I’ve been doing when I got some very sad news today. The news being that Boomer, my beloved dog, that I’d left with my parents had to be put to sleep today. She’d been very sick, not eating, not enjoying the company of people, losing lots of weight, and her back legs which she’d had surgery on years ago were starting to ail her again. My parents have been taking her to the vet and getting all sorts of medicine for her, but Boomer has stopped taking the medications and there was very little left to do for her and it was felt by all that it was best to put her to sleep while she still had some dignity left. I’m heart broken over it all. That is where I had the tough choice of deciding to share other parts of my life here on the blog.

About a month and a half ago, Drew had called to tell me that Sasha, one of our three cats, had not been doing well. She had not been acting herself. Within a matter of days, while I was on the phone with him, Drew found Sasha dead on the floor in our old house. I didn’t post this on the blog – but now feel a sense of guilt because there should have been a tribute to her. She was a loving pet, a cat who overcame a lot in her short life. We believe she had been abused by her previous owner and it took a long time for Sasha to warm up and come around. She did however, turn into one of the most loving cats to ever walk the earth. The same could be said about Boomer.

Boomer had a tough life, she’d moved in with us after the Moeller’s (the family with the triplets) could not care for her due to the medical needs of the boys. The one thing Boomer did have was a lot of people who loved her, my parents, me, Drew, Dawn & Mike (her first parents). Boomer bounced back and became a loving member of our household. Our biggest fear at the time was getting Boomer and the cats to be friends, and we thought Sasha, because she was so timid, was going to be the hardest sell. As it turns out, Sasha was the first to become Boomer’s friend and it gives me great comfort to know that they are together somewhere, playing together. Ya see, by moving Boomer into a house with all cats she sort of started thinking she was a cat too. Boomer always wanted to play when they played but didn’t realize her size. It was actually kind of cute.

So in either case, I dedicate this blog entry to Sasha and Boomer! They were both excellent pets and friends. Sasha used to sleep in bed with me every night and Boomer would sleep at the side of my bed. If she had her way, she would have joined Sasha and I, but let’s face it, Boomer needs her own bed she is so big! I love them both and miss them both terribly. I never thought I’d move to St. Kitts and not see two of my beloved “fur-babies” again. It is truly hard to swallow.

Just use this as an opportunity to love the people and animals in your life. Time is short and you never know when your time on this earth will be up. So remember to show your love and express your love on a daily basis. That way you will not live with the regret of not having told someone that you love them! Remember that this holiday season!

Until next time….

Krista (Ms. Vics)

December is almost done? What!

2008-12-24T09:52:00.015-04:00

I can’t believe Christmas is almost here. It will mark my first Christmas away from my family and friends in New Jersey. It will also be the start of new traditions in my new life here in St. Kitts. I do wish you all have a very happy and joyous holiday season. Enjoy the time off and the company of those you love.

Well... since my last posting things have been fairly busy. At work we had a lovely holiday celebration at my bosses house. Everyone brought finger foods and outdid themselves in creating some favorite recipes. We all had a fun time eating, and being merry. Shortly after our holiday party we had our Christmas Concert. It was a wonderful event. The students had been working on many songs in music class. Then each class sang their own song. My class sang the “12 Days of Christmas” but with a Caribbean flare. We didn’t have a partridge in a pear tree, we had an egret in a cane field. The kids loved it and it went over really well with the crowd. That was on December 10th. On the 12th we had a half day and school officially closed until January 5th.

There have also been several members of my travel forum down visiting during the holiday season. I’ve been able to spend some time with all of them, even if for a short visit. Paula, Bernie and i had a great dinner at Formosa Gardens a new Chinese restaurant. The food was great, the atmosphere was wonderful and the grounds were beautiful. It will stay high on my list of places to plan a return visit to.

OnDecember 14th Jen and Diana arrived for a week in St. KItts.

This was not Jen’s first trip by a long shot, but it was Diana’s first trip to St. Kitts. The week went by extremely fast. It was full of fun times. We went on the Eagle, a 67 foot catamaran two times. The first time we went as guests because they were doing a commercial shoot for the boat and my friend, Captain Ian, asked

us to come and be a part of it. The second time we went as paying customers. The day starts leaving Port Zante at about 9:30 am. Then you set sail to a lovely cove for snorkeling. After snorkeling it is off to see Nevis and then back to Cockleshell Beach on St. Kitts for lunch and swimming. Being that we are in the know we got to have some fun on the Zodiak (a small rubber dingy) and head off on our own little journey onto the Irie Lime, where my friend Captain Antonio had invited us to join him for a short while. From Cockleshell it is about an hours sail back to port, putting us back around 4:00. One of the cool highlights was Diana and Jen meeting my friend Cindy. She is a Green Vervet monkey who is tame and takes pictures with tourists. She is a fun and friendly monkey.

The following day we

hiked up the Cayon Ghaut.

Ghaut is another word for river,

basically. Anyhow, Javin, Apo, Shaddy, Jen, Diana and I set off on a nice hike up

the ghaut to the top of the mountain where we were planning to swim in a cold, spring fed, natural pool. We had to “skip stones” up to the top, meaning that we were jumping from rock to rock and walking through knee deep water on our way. It was a blast. Javin had arranged two of his best friends to join us so that each of us ladies would have a gentleman to assist us on the journey as some parts require more effort than others.

Along the way we swam in cold spring after cold spring. The water was bitter but refreshing. We hiked up for about 2 hours and then back took a bit less. It was a great afternoon. From there we

had a great jeep tour of the mountains. We had two jeeps lined up and the guys showed Jen and Diana the beautiful sites of the mountains and cane fields.

The next

two days were spent half a day in town shopping, then at the beach. The next day was half a day doing an island tour for Diana, and then to the beach. The island tour included stops at Romney Manor, Brimstone Hill, Black Rocks, and other scenic vistas along the way. We took lots of great pictures and made sure that Diana really got to see St. Kitts. Both afternoons we went to South Friars Beach. It is one of my favorites with great views of the Southeast Peninsula and Nevis in the distance. That evening we had a lovely dinner at Serendipity, my favorite restaurant on the island. It was a night full of laughter, good food, and good company.

Diana put in a request to go to Nevis for the day aboard our car ferry, the Sea Bridge. We left on the 9:00 ferry and arrived on Nevis around 10:00 a.m. From there we did an island tour of Nevis. Stopping at random roads to explore as I’m not as familiar with Nevis as I am with St. Kitts. Then we spent the afternoon on Pinney’s Beach, at the site of the new and improved construction of Chevy’s. We spent the afternoon chatting with Amelia and Chevy catching up. It was wonderful to see them, especially Amelia as I’d not seen her since moving down to St. Kitts.

The last day for Jen and Diana was Sunday. They had a late flight 6pm which allowed us to have the day to swim and have a bit more beach time which was nice. We grabbed lunch at Ziggy’s and then off to get ready for the airport. Their flight was delayed when we got there, so we checked them in, paid the departure duties, and then headed back to the beach. We brought them back about 6:15 where they quickly ran through emigration & security and then were the last two through the doors, to board the plane and take off to JFK.

That about brings you up to speed. Stay tuned for my blog about Christmas. Today I will begin preparations for tomorrows meal. I have some friends coming to join me for dinner. It will be a new Christmas experience for me, it will be with mixed emotions for being away from my family and friends in New Jersey.

Well.... all the best for the season. Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Love,

Krista (Ms. Vics)

November Wrap-Up!

2008-11-30T20:38:00.015-04:00

Hi Everyone!

I hope this blog post finds you all doing well. Things here in St. Kitts have been good. I'm going to share with you all that I've been busy doing since my last post.

My school had a Family Fun Day, fundraiser. It was a great day full of games, food, and fun! We even had a giant bouncy castle. The event was organized by one of our parents and my boss, and then other parents and staff members were recruited to assist in

the day's events. A great time was had by all, and we just about reached our goal to pay off

the 10 new laptops that were purchased for the school. The highlight of Family Fun Day was the "pitch-n-soak" - which is a metal contraption that has a target. When the target it struck a pin enters a water balloon suspended over the head of a teacher and then showers them with water. It was a huge hit with the

kids and we all had fun participating.

My Uncle Carl and Aunt Lisa from Arizona, came to St. Kitts aboard the Queen Mary 2. The world's largest ocean liner (cruise ship). St. Kitts was their first port of call after departing from New York City. I was able to take the day off to tour them around the island. Javin came along to assist with the tour. We met them at Port Zante at 8:45 am. From there we went to Brimstone Hill & Black Rocks. Then we took them up into the mountains, through cane fields, and rainforests to

a beautiful spot called Beerford. From there we went down the

Southeast Peninsula where we had lunch at Lion Rock. Then back over the peninsula to the Shiggity Shack for a drink with Paula. Then back to the ship. It was a whirlwind tour, but I can assure you that they saw nearly the entire island on their short stay here. They also got to quickly meet Dominic before getting back on board.

I also celebrated my first Thanksgiving away from New Jersey. My friend & neighbor Paula, invited me for dinner. Thanksgiving is not a holiday here, so it is hard to figure a way to cook a turkey which usually takes 4 or 5 hours when you have to work. Luckily Paula was not scheduled to work. So she cooked dinner for Javin, Pat & I. It was delicious. Turkey, mashed potatoes, yams,

squash, peas, gravy, cranberry sauce! The whole nine yards!

That brings us up to this weekend. This weekend was a fun one. I spent Saturday in search of a fake Christmas tree. I have some of my ornaments from NJ here, so I really wanted to find a tree and

decorate it, as I usually do on the weekend after Thanksgiving. Well... there are trees here, but not like what I'm used to. But that's OK. I found a tree, bought some trimmings, bows, garland, and a few extra ornaments to fill it in. I brought it back to the condo, and assembled the tree and decorated it while wearing my bathing suit and cover-up! I've never done that before in November in NJ. Then last night I went to a surprise 50th birthday party for my co-worker Shabbie's mom, Sandra, who I live next to in Keys. (small world!). I went with my other co-worker Nicole. We had a great time eating and dancing.

Today I went over to Nevis on the Seabridge (a car ferry).

Javin and I went to check out the new Nevis Drag Racing Strip. There were all sorts of crazy cars and motorcycles there! It was really cool. We got there early and got to go see his friend Malaki who works for and lives on the grounds of the Hermitage Plantation Inn. It is beautiful up there! Then over to the drag strip. It is built right alongside the water. It truly is a beautiful setting. It was a fun day!

Well... I guess that brings you up to speed on my life. I promise to write more soon. The next two weeks mark the end of the term. I have lots of end of term tests to give and grade. Then December 12th we have a half day and then we are off until January 5th. My friends Jen and Diana are arriving on December 14th and stay until the 21st! It should be a blast. Then after they leave it is Christmas followed by Carnival. It will be my first Carnival so I'm very excited and promise to take lots of pictures!

I hope you are all well. I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving and are enjoying getting ready for Christmas. Write when you get a chance!

Love,

Krista/ Ms. Vics

November Update!

2008-11-10T20:47:00.008-04:00

Hi Everyone-

I hope this blog entry finds you all doing well. This post will be an update for the past few weeks. The power situation on the island still remains a challenge from time to time, but my bigger issue has been the internet at the house. It works for 5 minutes then cuts out for a few hours. So finding time to post has been a challenge. I'll try to catch you up on what I've been doing though.

An old friend of mine from growing up happened to be coming to St. Kitts with her

husband. So I got to meet up with Kristy and her husband Quan twice during their stay. I didn't get to hang out as much as I wanted, but I was able to visit which was nice!

My parents arrived after their long flight ordeal. They were here for about 3.5 weeks and had a nice time visiting. Upon their arrival we had a dinner at the condo in which Tina, Danielle, Javin, Mary & Dominic came together for a lovely dinner. We've also spent a lot of time pool side which Dominic enjoys more than anyone I know. At the same time my parents were here there were several other people here from my travel forum. We all had a nice time hanging out,

visiting with old friends and getting to know new ones! A bunch of us had a pot-luck dinner at the condo where we had delicious food and great company with lots of forum members! We had many fun nights at the Shiggity Shack too!

At school we've had some fun times. We had friends from my forum bring down a bunch of books and school supplies for my students. It was really great! My students loved the books, they are reading junkies. It is really wonderful how much they love to read. We also had a great Halloween celebration. Students brought in all sorts of goodies and we have an afternoon full of reading spooky stories and eating! It was great!

Since my last post, we also attended our second hash. It was a lot of fun. We went on a great hike up and over the mountains near Turtle Beach. The views were wonderful and we had a great time. Tina had her friend Danielle there from South Africa and Javin brought his friends Shaddy & Apo. We all had a lot of fun!

Now that my parents are gone, they left me in the possession of

a beautiful condo here in Frigate Bay. I have beautiful breezes by day, and can hear and see the ocean crashing from inside. There are also beautiful views of the

pool and ocean from here. I'll be here until mid-January. The good news is that I am "borrowing" internet from my neighbor who has wireless but I don't have the US phone here. So I'll mostly be available through e-mail, IM and Skype!

I hope that you are all doing well. Please stay in touch!

Love,

Ms. Vics

Hurricane Omar...

2008-10-17T15:40:00.011-04:00

Hurricane Omar just passed through St. Kitts and Nevis. His eye past 130 miles away from us, yet he caused severe damage to many parts of the island, especially on Nevis.

For me, at my house in Keys, it meant largely wind, rain and thunder and lightening. The wind was howling, the thunder booming, but other then that we had no problems at all. At just

before midnight on Wednesday our power cut out and it was still out today (Friday) when I left for work.

It also made for a crazy day for my parents who were flying in from JFK (in New York) on Wednesday. The flight came straight from JFK to St. Kitts (SKB). It then circled the island for an hour, and was rerouted to San Juan, Puerto Rico. After refueling the plane there they were all sent back to JFK. My parents then took a hotel room for the night and flew to Miami around noon on Thursday. Once in Miami they spent the night there to fly into St. Kitts today at 2:00.

Their flight had some delay - but is enroute as I type and will be landing at 4:10 - after a THREE DAY SAGA. I'm sure my parents are going to want to crash for a few days to recover for their journey.

Here in St. Kitts the "strip" on Frigate Bay was covered in ocean water as the sea swelled up very high bringing sand and seaweed into all the bars/restaurants along there. No structures were ruined so people just have to clean up and reopen. Other parts of the island were no so lucky. In an area called Old Road - a large portion of the road was washed into the sea. Telephone lines were actually IN the ocean. In a village called Halfway Tree several concrete homes were beat up by the

sea swells, and the contents of the homes were washed out to sea. There was major beach erosion, many fishing boats were flipped out of the sea and onto the streets of town. The bay road of town was also covered in water, dirt and debris from the storm. A massive clean up and rebuilding process is under way.

Nevis - was not nearly so lucky. On Nevis, the whole of Pinney's beach was demolished. M y friend's beach bar, Chevy's was totally wiped out. So was another bar called Double Deuce. The Four Seasons Resort suffered extensive water damage and all of their pools are currently filled with sand and seaweed. Two our of car ferries, the Sea Bridge and the Sea Hustler beached themselves after breaking free from their moorings at sea. They set themselves around pretty well and have not been budged free yet to return them to the sea. The whole of the pier in Nevis was underwater and so was their bay road.

This storm passed by as a category 2 hurricane. With its eye as far away as it was, we were expecting very little to happen to these islands. The storm approached from a backward direction most storms come from Africa across the Atlantic. This storm came from South America and moved northeast - very uncommon. Therefore, it lashed its fury at areas not used to taking the blow of a storm like this.

From all reports there has been no loss of life which is a blessing. Things can be replaced, building rebuilt, but lives cannot be replaced.

So this was my first hurricane here in St. Kitts. I was frightened, but we were safe and well protected at my house in Keys. I had my hurricane radio ready, flashlights and lots of extra batteries. I took all necessary precautions in terms of having LOTS of extra water and non-perishable food items on hand. I waited on line for 1 hour at the supermarket to get those things. Better safe then sorry, right!

Well that is all from here in St. Kitts! As I've heard many people say, they'd rather a bad day in St. Kitts then a good day anywhere else... that seems like the motto around here. Everyone feels blessed that so little actually happened to our tiny slice of paradise.

More soon, and thanks for all of your concern and well wishes throughout this storm.

October?? Already!!

2008-10-12T08:13:00.019-04:00

Hi everyone!

I hope that this latest post finds everyone OK, and doing well. Things here in St. Kitts have been interesting, as always. I must first apologize for the delay in my posting. We had a major disaster here on the island. One of our main generators at our power plant burned down. It also took with it the cables for one of the other generators. This left the island powerless for a few days. Now we are doing something called "power sharing." This means that we basically take turns sharing the power. You might have power for 12 hours and then off for the next 12. It has been a challenge to say the least. The initial reports were that this could take up to two months to fix. There is now talk that they might have things resolved sooner then that. In the meantime it has meant days without any power at my school, and some evenings with no power at home.

Aside from the generator problem, our house seems to have been zapped during a HUGE thunderstorm, rendering our cable modem useless. Cable and Wireless came to fix it, and gave us a new modem 2.5 weeks ago. But it died that night. From there, we had several weeks of begging someone to come and try again to fix it. Yesterday afternoon a new repair man came, and we are finally back up and running. So POWER permitting I'll be able to post again more often.

Even though there have been some challenges, I'm still really enjoying my new life here in St. Kitts. Since my last post there have been several fun things that have happened. Even school has been interesting. Since there have been many days with no power, it gets very hot, so we've been trying to get outside to find a breeze whenever possible. We've even been doing some of our reading outside which is fun.

On September 15, Mary (who I'm living with, Dominic's wife) had her 40th birthday. Dominic and I organized a surprise party for her at the beach, on the 14th. We had a nice time with close family and friends. We had a feast of enough food for an army out there. We had a wonderful day, and Mary was totally surprised. She said it was her first surprise party ever! Then on the 15th, her actual birthday, I took us all out for dinner at the Shiggidy Shack. It was a full moon and this is the only restaurant with tables right in the sand by the water so we could enjoy the full moon! It was a great night.

September 19th marked the 25th anniversary of independence from Great Britain here on the island. There were celebrations everywhere. At midnight on the 18th there was a HUGE fireworks display at Port Zante. It was one of the best displays I've seen yet. There were concerts, parties, and celebrations everywhere you looked. The government paid for each village (town) to have a party the day after, on the 20th. Dominic, is in charge of activities for his village, Keys. So I helped him to organize and get everything together for the celebration. We had to pick up 50 pounds of chicken, 50 pounds of mutton, 30 pounds of saltfish, paper products, seasonings, you name it,we got it! In addition there were 88 cases of drinks delivered from the brewery - malts (VitaMalt, GiantMalt, Smalta), beers (about 4 varieties), Ting (carbonated grapefruit juice), Peardrella (a pear juice), etc. They could not be delivered to the community center, because the door lock is broken, so they were dropped at our house for the night. We had to bring them all inside for storage, it was quite funny. The event itself was a great success. I helped all day (in the rain) as the cashier for the refreshments/food area. I got to see and meet a lot of people from my village. Sadly, I got no pictures that day due to the rain. But I do have one of all 88 cases of drinks on our front porch!

At school to celebrate our 25th anniversary of independence, we had an assembly. We had two guest speakers and then each class shared something with the audience. My students discussed the importance of our flag and told what it all means. The government also gave each school money to provide all the students with a free hot lunch and snack, as well as a huge sheet cake. In addition Cable and Wireless provided each child with a book bag filled with goodies, like a frisbee, a water bottle, pens, pencils and some candy. It was a really wonderful day!

Dominic is really busy in his village, and is the president of the Youth & Community organization. He just finished running his 2nd annal spelling bee. It was a great event. Minister Liburd, the Minister of Housing, was there, members of the Youth & Community office for the island were there, and the reigning Kittitian Superstar (our version of American Idol) came and performed for the event. The children did a wonderful job, and were all showered with wonderful gifts from the government for their participation, as well as, beautiful trophies for the winners. It was a great event. Dominic was surprised at the end when he was awarded two awards himself for all that he does for the community of Keys. It was a great day! I think the highlight was that about 2/3 of the way through the power went out. The event was finished in darkness, but it was still an amazing event!

One awesome thing is that we just got a brand new movie theater that just opened on the island. There was a movie theater here, but it was pretty grimy, showed old movies, and had to run an intermission during each movie to change the reel. The new one, Caribbean Cinemas is a multiplex. It shows 7 NEW movies at a time. It is state of the art with stadium seating in each theater, rocking chairs that are nice and wide, an amazing sound system, a great concession stand, arcade and even automatic flush toilets - which is not common on the island at all!

I've been to it twice so far. The tickets are $15EC dollars each ($1US dollar equals $2.65EC dollars), so I find the price to be reasonable. I saw the Mummy 2 (or something I don't remember the number) and then I saw Lakeview Terrace. It is just really nice to have another option of something to do in the evenings here on the island - and it is a place to go for guaranteed FREEZING COLD AIR!

Another cool thing is that I've done since my last post was to go on my first "hash." The Hashers are a group of people who get together every three weeks on a Saturday to go on a run or walk. They typically set up a course that takes you on a beautiful hike to see really nice views. My first one started in Banana Bay and we climbed up the steepest mountain I think I've ever climbed, but we wound up with amazing views along the way. I went with my friend Tina from Germany, and my friend Javin from here in St. Kitts. We all had an amazing time. This hash was a special one, so afterwards they had beach games, a bonfire and fireworks on the beach. It was an awesome day.

So other then that... things here in St. Kitts are really good. I spent time yesterday working on my car, got a few new tires and yes, splurged $200EC ($80US) on 4 new MATCHING hubcaps for it. They are now secured with 'zip ties' to keep them from falling off. My car actually looks quite nice again!

My parents are scheduled to arrive this coming Wednesday. They are coming in on the JFK direct flight to St. Kitts. For all of you who would like to come visit sometime, the JFK direct flight is Sundays and Wednesdays ONLY. However, it is 4 hours and directly into St. Kitts. It does not get better then that! My parents will be here for about 3.5 weeks. They rented a condo and will be enjoying some relaxing time here on the island. It will be nice to see them and to be able to show them where I work and live, and to have them see our old friends (they have not been here in about two years) and to have them meet some new friends too!

Well, I guess that is all for now. I do promise to try and write more often. Now that the internet issue to the house is fixed that is half the battle, the other half is the power issue! But they say there is always light at the end of the tunnel... this time that light was in the form of a rainbow - right across the street from my house.

I hope everyone is doing well. Please write when you get a chance, I'd love to hear how your year is going so far!

Love,

Ms. Vics

1st Day of School!

2008-09-04T00:45:00.006-04:00

Me, in my new classroom with my boss!

Me standing in front of my new school.

My new class - September 3, 2008.

St. Kitts Montessori Academy Grades 3 & 4.

Today was the first day of school. Wednesday, September 3, 2008! My students arrived around 8:30 and there were lots of eager faces on the front porch of the school. At 8:50 they entered the classroom ready to go. I greeted each and every one of them and showed them to their seats.

The day really flew by! But during the course of the day, I learned all 19 of their names, as well as their hobbies and interests. It was a wonderful day!

I have students in my class from many countries including: St. Kitts & Nevis, the United States (New York, South Carolina & Connecticut), England, Hong Kong, Canada, Trinidad, & Barbados. It was such a great experience to see children from all over come to a new place and all get along so well.

As promised to the Riverdale class of 2009 - I have the beautiful picture of you all in my classroom. I showed my new students that picture as well as a picture of the Riverdale Staff so you are all in my classroom in St. Kitts!!!

I'm going to include a few pictures of my school and one of my new class today!

I hope you all have a great back to school. It was weird to not be in Riverdale on the 1st day of school - but I am very excited about my new school here as well!

Good luck everyone!

Love,

Ms. Vics

Ms. Conn's Visit to St. Kitts!

2008-09-04T00:31:00.008-04:00

Poor Ms. Conn. While she had a great visit she had a lot of rain to contend with. She arrived on a Sunday afternoon and we headed to a birthday party. Then on Monday, we (Ms. Conn, Dominic, and I ) went to Nevis on the "Seabridge" the car ferry. We spent the day driving around Nevis and then the afternoon at the beach at Chevy's for lunch. We had a great day.

The other highlight of her visit was our tour around St. Kitts on the St. Kitts Scenic Railway. St. Kitts is the only island in the Caribbean to boast a railroad tour of the island. It is really cool! We went with my best friend Dominic and his wife Mary (the people I'm staying with). We saw the most beautiful views of the island that I've ever seen!

Aside from those tours, we had a lot of fun spending time with friends, old and new, for Ms. Conn. We got to go on a tour of the mountains and rainforest in our friend's jeep which was awesome!

Ms. Conn also got the chance to see my new school, meet my new colleagues & my boss! It was really fun to have here there to where I'll be in my new school!

Hope this finds everyone well!

Ms. Vics

Pictures from top left down:

Mt. Liamigua in the distance.

A palm tree grove.

Ms. Conn sitting at my new desk. What is she reading?

Dominic, Ms. Vics, Mary & Ms. Conn.

The mountains we toured in the jeep.

A secluded beach viewable from the train.

Greetings from Sunny St. Kitts

2008-08-08T13:28:00.004-04:00

(Another St. Kitts view!)

Hi Everyone!

Well I made it to St. Kitts... I've been here for almost two weeks now, and I have to apologize for not writing sooner. I'll fill you in on all that has been going on since I've arrived:

The flight down:

It was uneventful, thank goodness! My bags and I all arrive in St. Kitts on time and in good order! Upon arrival I was taken away to Keys, the village I live in to get settled in.

Getting down to business:

BANKING:

Upon arrival I wanted to open a bank account... seems normal right? I needed to have a letter from my bank in New Jersey that says I've been banking with them in good faith - meaning I'm a good client, and I had a letter but they were not happy with the way it was addressed. So I had to have my bank in NJ make a new letter and the fastest way to get it here is Fed Ex - well one little piece of paper is VERY expensive to send down here. So that is a little frustrating but it is all done now.

SHIPPING:

All of the stuff that I shipped down arrived down here on a holiday - so it took a few extra days for the cargo to be unloaded off the ship. Once it was ready I got a call from Tropical Shipping and I went to get it. Another lengthy process... first you have to go to the cargo warehouse.... there you are met by a Customs Officer. The Customs Officer opens up all of your packages - takes EVERYTHING out! Then they determine how much they think it is all worth and then charge you a duty (or tax) on what your brought onto the island. After that, you have to go to the customs office - which is NOT even in the same building so I drove over there and got that all taken care of. You have to pay warf tax for the cargo ship's docking fees, then wait in about 5 different lines and then go back to the cargo warehouse to have someone with a pick-up truck take it to your house! Fun huh!! The good news is that is all arrived in one piece and I've unpacked and feel way more settled in!

CARS:

I've been car shopping for days - because let me tell you taking the bus is NOT fun! It is a fun experience but it gets old after a while. My friend here on the island, Bulley, is a mechanic - so he and I have been going everywhere looking at cars - but they are VERY expensive - and you don't get much for your money. So as of yet I've not purchased one. I'll get there eventually though - especially by the end of the month when school starts back up. So that is one of my projects! I do have everything ready to go for when I do find a car though... I have an insurance policy I just have to bring the car information to them, and I have my number plates (license plates) ready to go too. That is half the battle from what I'm told.

Living de life mon!

As for the rest of things.... it has been fun spending time with my friends down here. I have major moments where I miss home a TON!! But for the most part it has been great. I've had the chance to go out sailing on my favorite boat, a 78 foot catamaran called the Spirit of St. Kitts. It sails from St. Kitts to Nevis and back. It is a snorkeling & lunch trip. I just get to tag along when I want because my friends work on the boat. I've also been getting some sailing lessons and they let me sail the boat in open water all by myself! I've learned what coordinates I'm to look for on the compass, as well as the distance from shore I'm to stay and how to make the wind stay in the sails... so that has been fun!!! Just call me captain Vics!

The other day while sitting on the beach I got to

play with a 10 month old monkey,

named Cindy, she was wearing a dress and a diaper - and was so friendly she was sitting on my shoulder just hanging out - it was really cute! There are monkey's all over the island, they are called, Green Vervet monkeys. So cute!!

I hope that this latest post finds all of you doing well and enjoying your summer. Sorry for the delay in posting I've really been busy!!

Love,

Ms. Vics

Getting Closer.....

2008-07-22T22:51:00.004-04:00

My stuff on a wooden skid getting ready to be shipped to St. Kitts!

Well - it is official... I'm down to less then a week before the big move. Today, my father and I took my stuff - 8 large boxes - to Tropical Shipping in Kearny, New Jersey. My 8 boxes were put on a 4 foot by 4 foot wooden skid, and then shrink wrapped with the largest roll of plastic wrap I've seen! The journey for my packages is a two week journey. They will leave any day for the Port of Palm Beach, in Florida. From there they will set sail to St. Kitts. They will arrive on August 5th. This morning was a unique experience. Before parting with my "stuff" I was able to take a picture it as it was loaded onto a fork lift.

As my time gets closer - I've been trying to spend as much time with family and friends as possible. People have been booking me for breakfast, lunch and dinner plans. It is nice to spend time with everyone before I leave.

I have to apologize for the delay in posting, I've been so busy packing my house for shipment and storage. It has been a hard, long process. It seemed never ending at some points. It is amazing how much stuff you can pile up in 30 years. So I've decided that less is more and I've really simplified what I have in terms of material items. The important things are those that remind you of the people in your life - so the most important things for me are pictures! I've packed lots of them!!

Once I arrive in St. Kitts I will be sure to post a picture of my new home, and of my wonderful friends Dominic & Mary Stevens with whom I'll be living. Dominic has been a friend of mine for about 13 years, I've often thought of him as the brother I never had, and he married a wonderful woman Mary - who is one of the kindest people I know. I'm excited to stay with them - so that they can help me settle in to my new life in St. Kitts.

I hope you are all enjoying your summer so far. Please keep reading - I'll have more to share soon!

Ms. Vics

A Video Tour of St. Kitts!

2008-07-03T11:34:00.002-04:00

Hi Everyone!

I thought you might enjoy a video tour of St. Kitts & Nevis. I made this for another purpose but thought you might enjoy seeing lots of pictures of St. Kitts. I personally took all the pictures, and the music is from the most popular band on St. Kitts. They are called Nu-Vybes International. They are a very fun-loving, up-beat band! I hope you enjoy a small sample of the type of music I'll be hearing a lot of when living on St. Kitts!

I hope you all have a happy 4th of July tomorrow!!

More soon!

Love,

Ms. Vics

My New School: The St. Kitts Montessori Academy

2008-06-30T21:13:00.007-04:00

(My new school, the St. Kitts Montessori Academy)

On my last day at Riverdale, I told many of you that I would be starting a new 7th and 8th grade classroom at my new school. The original plan was that I was supposed to be teaching a 3rd and 4th grade classroom, and I'm back to the original plan. I'll be the teacher of 3rd and 4th grade students. At last check there were 16 students enrolled in my class! I'm very excited to meet them and to get to know them! I hope they are as fun-loving as all of you!

I wanted to tell you a little bit about the school I'll be teaching in, the St. Kitts Montessori Academy.

The school opened in 2001.
The school spans grades 1-8. They have two grades per classroom. So they have grades 1 & 2, 3 & 4, 5 & 6, and 7 & 8.
The school has three trimesters (we have 4 marking periods). That means we have three sessions:

1) September until December (then three weeks off)

2) January - April (then three weeks off)

3) April - July (then two months off)

Students are in class from 9:00 am until 3:15 pm. Students get an HOUR for lunch, and a 20 minute snack break!
It is a private school, that means the parents have to pay for the children to go to this school.

I'm sure I'll have lots more to share once I get to St. Kitts! However, I wanted to be able to share a little bit about my new school with you! It looks so different from Riverdale School, right? It is so colorful with a big palm tree on the front lawn - not a big pine tree!

I hope you are all enjoying summer.... more soon!

Love,

Ms. Vics

St. Kitts: A Brief Introduction.

2008-06-26T12:31:00.000-04:00

Here is a map of St. Kitts.

If you look at the image to the right you'll see how far it is from Miami, Florida.

(Frigate Bay Beach, St. Kitts)

You all have heard so many stories about St. Kitts over the years. However, I thought it would be a good idea for you to learn a little bit about this mysterious place I'm headed to. The federation of St. Kitts and Nevis is a twin-island nation, formerly a British territory. They gained their independence from Great Britain on September 19, 1983 (that is like our 4th of July!). As a result of their British heritage there are several things that are different then here in the USA. Some differences are :

You drive on the opposite side of the road there!
The steering wheel of my new car will be on the passenger side of my car!
Things are spelled differently too: color - colour, flavor - flavour.

Here are some fast facts about St. Kitts:

St. Kitts is about 4,000 miles from NJ.
St. Kitts is 68 square miles (smaller then West Milford). Nevis is 36 square miles.
The population of St. Kitts is about 33,000 people, while Nevis has about 12,500 people.
English is the main language spoken in St. Kitts & Nevis.
St. Kitts is a volcanic island. Mt. Liamuiga is a dormant (non-active) volcano.
They use two types of money in St. Kitts: the US dollar and the EC (Eastern Caribbean dollar). 1 US dollar is worth 2.65 EC dollars.
The temperature in St. Kitts & Nevis, on average is 80 degrees year round. There are great breezes, and they have low humidity.
The capital of St. Kitts is Basseterre. The capital of Nevis is Charlestown.

There are so many great places to visit on St. Kitts! Aside from lots of beautiful beaches, there are old plantations, Brimstone Hill Army Fortress (a UNESCO World Heritage Site - pictured above), Romney Manor, the black rocks, the Golden Lemon.

There are also lots of fun things to do: catching some sun on a beautiful beach, water sports, catamaran trips, horseback riding, the St. Kitts Scenic Railroad.

(South Friars Beach)

I hope you've enjoyed this installment of my St. Kitts Adventure. If you want to comment on any of my posts or have any questions, there is a "comment" button underneath the post. Click on it and you can write to me. I hope you are all enjoying your summer so far!

More soon!

Love,

Ms. Vics

A Tearful Goodbye!

2008-06-24T13:51:00.000-04:00

I'm still sitting at my desk at Riverdale School. It is the last day of the year, and I've just said my goodbyes to all of you, my students, who have been a part of my life for as many as 8 years. The choice to move has not been an easy one, and saying goodbye to you today was one of the hardest things I'll have to do!

You have all touched my life in so many ways... you've taught me so much, you've made me laugh & cry. You've shared the good times and bad times in your life with me. I've truly been blessed to be your teacher and will truly miss each and every one of you!

Your cards (which I can't read because they are making me cry) will move with me to St. Kitts. My new students will hear all about the wonderful people I know in a tiny town with a huge heart called Riverdale, New Jersey!

So, as I sit at my desk here on the last day of school, my mind is full of so many happy memories. Although I'm leaving the country I'm not leaving your lives. This blog will be a place for you to share in my new adventure and for you to keep in touch with me.

This is not goodbye. It is a new chapter in my life... and I look forward to you all sharing it with me.

Remember if you are ever in St. Kitts - I'd love to share my new country with you!

Thanks for reading... come back soon!

I will always have endless love and gratitude for the past 8 wonderful years of my life here in Riverdale!

Love,

Ms. Vics