February is Flying By..

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