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 24th. 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!!!
