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
