OKTOBERFEST comes to NEVIS!

This saturday Kris took the entire day off from studying and we spent it on the beach @ Yachtsman Grill celebrating Oktoberfest!  Evelyn and Greg set the tone for the day, complete with Lederhosen!!  We enjoyed German beer, bratwurst and schnitzel!!!

Happy Thanksgiving...Carribean Style

Our good friends asked us to join them for a small get together to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving.  Brad and Tanya are from Wetaskawin, Alberta and Brad is attending the university here with Kris.  The small get together soon grew to include 25 of their closest friends! It was great to have such good people surrounding us on a holiday that normally could have been very lonely without our friends and family back home.

If 1 woman and 1 man live together for X years, what is the probability that 1 + 1 = 3?

Any guesses?  Kris and I have been very busy lately and it doesn't look like there will be any slowing down now! I guess that the probability of 1+1=3 is pretty good....by now you should have guessed it......we are expecting!!!

This is our ultrasound of baby Poliakiwski at 13 weeks.

The top two images are from a 4D ultrasound and you can clearly see the baby's legs, umbilical cord and it's hands, held closely by it's face.(The ultrasound tech kept poking at me to get him/her to move)

Kris was able to be there with me and it was an amazing experience to get to see the baby move and to see and hear the little heartbeat as well!

We will try to keep everyone updated throughout this amazing journey, it feels great to be able to share this with all of our friends and family!

It's like I'm on the farm again...

This is dinner time @ the Slagon residence(the couple we are housesitting for).  The little sheep is named Sugarplum and she is only a few weeks old.  She was rejected by her mother.  The other black and brown one is named Truffles and he is 2 months old.  He was attacked by a dog a couple weeks ago and lost his nuts! And then there is Lambchop, who is 5 months old.  They are all here to be nursed back to health and then they will be returned to their farms to live. 

Sugarplum gets a bottle 4-5 times a day!

Trufffle has his bottle only twice a day.

This is Austin Powers and Buddy.  They are both senior citizens and need extra care.  Austin has a heart condition and takes 4 different medications, twice a day!  Needless to say, I have been keeping myself busy.

Thank-you Everyone

I wanted to thank everyone for the kind birthday wishes! I had an amazing day.  It started off with my husband making my favorite breakfast, french toast, with homemade blackberry syrup!

Then, we spent the afternoon touring the island in a Razor from Funky Monkey Tours(Kris and I are housesitting for the owners, so they let us take it out for free).  Luis and Daniella joined us for the adventure.

And then, we had a few friends over for a BBQ and dessert(Thank-you to Tanya and Daniella for the delicious birthday cakes!).

Where do I start?....

I sometimes find it hard to find the words to describe the inner workings of this island that we live on. 

Before Kris and I arrived here, we had our own ideas of what island life would be like.  Everyday, I am astounded by things that happen to me and around me.  I know that it is hard to comprehend so here are a couple examples.

Yesterday morning I was on my way to work when I came upon a work crew that was repairing the potholes in the road.  The main road around the island is paved, but for some reason unkown to me, the locals insist on filling the potholes with concrete.  Actually I don't think that I can call it concrete because concrete is a mixture of stone and water.  What they really fill the holes with is the concrete powder.  They dump enough stone mix into the hole to fill it and then walk away and hope that it rains!  They don't even pour water on it themselves!!

Then....

This morning at the dental office, we had a patient call with an emergency.  A crown that we had cemented a couple months ago had come loose and fallen off.  We asked her to come right away so we could cement it back on.  Not only did she arrive 45 minutes late but she arrived without the crown!  When Dr.Stuart asked her where it was she replied "in me trans", which would translate into 'in my car', at this point Dr.Stuart raised the patient chair to allow her to go get it, but she did not get out.  Instead she picked up her phone and called her office to instruct a laborer to drive through town, to the dental office, to get her keys, to unlock her car, to get her crown and to bring it to us.  After waiting awkwardly for several minutes she cursed and got up, out of the chair, to go get the crown herself!!  What is that???  Dr.Stuart and I both looked at eachother dumbfounded, wondering if that actually just happened.

No matter how many times Kris has to remind me I still cannot help myself from asking WHY??? 
There is no answer, not one that you want to hear or that you would understand anyways.

While I'm at this maybe you can help me decipher some of these signs that we have come across on the island.

Confused?

Yes, that says what you think it says!

Ideas anyone?

Need some help here....

For the last six months I have been keeping my eyes open for storage and shelving options on the island.  Our apartment was built as a vacation rental so we do not have a pantry or even closets.  This really limits my storage space and cramps my style when I love to spend time in my kitchen, cooking and baking.
Anyways, almost everything I have found in local department, hardware or even bargain stores has been ridiculously expensive and of cheap construction.....until last week, when I found this!

Last week, Kris had invited me to tag along and go with him to see his mechanic Faud.  I was waiting for him in the car when I glanced from the shop over to the house, where this shelf was sitting up against the wall.  The wooden shelves were rotten and vines were growing up through the bottom.  On our way home I asked Kris if he thought Faud would sell it to us and he agreed to ask him the following day. 

Apparently Faud was just happy getting rid of it because he let Kris take it for free!

My only dilemma now is I don't know what color to paint it.  I'm thinking that a bright carribean color would be suiting, but I can't decide on just one.

Any suggestions?

Hello Nevis Peak!

This is Nevis Peak.  It is an extinct volcano that rises to the height of 3,232 feet!

Today Kris and I decided to go for a little hike...

little did we know that there was more climbing invloved than actually hiking!

Most of the trail was so vertical that you would have to pull yourself forward using roots or ropes that had been tied to tree trunks by previous hikers.  The hike started out at Peak Haven, a local tourist hotspot, and led us forward through dry forest and then humid forest and then above that was the rain forest.  The only problem with the rain forest was the trail was so wet that it made things very slippery and dangerous so it was hard to look around and really enjoy your surroundings. If you weren`t watching the dirt, planning your next step you would trip and fall and look like this by the end of the day....

All the little slips and bumps and bruises aside, we made it to the top and enjoyed a snack while taking in the view of the Atlantic side of the island.  On a beautiful clear day you can see up to three neighboring islands.  Today we managed to hike the peak without being in the clouds but it was still a little overcast and only got a view of Montserrat.(I know we have it rough!)

Spice it up!

Kris and I have been enjoying a much needed break over the last week.  On thursday we decided to head to St.Kitts for a date night and stay at The Marriott Resort so we could go to the movie theatre there.  It didn't take much convincing for me to talk Kris into staying an extra night to really enjoy ourselves. We laid by the pool....

and went to the spa....

and enjoyed dinner at Spice Mill, right on the beach......

Kris, being such a loving husband, had told them it was our honeymoon.  So we were treated to a special table on the beach and the royal treatment all evening!

FINALS ARE HERE!

Everyone, Meet Kris

See Kris Study

Study Kris Study

Kris officially finished classes on friday this week and now has 3 exams to study for. Next week he will write his Cell Biology exam on tuesday and then his Chemistry and Anatomy & Physiology on wednesday.  We both cannot wait!

I've got a lov-e-ly bunch of co-co-nuts......

......deed-il-e-dee, there they are standing in a row....boom-boom-boom.....big ones, small ones, some as big as your head!!!

Okay...so they aren't exactly coconuts(they are mangos!)but they are still lovely and HUGE!!!

I have never seen or tasted any mangos like these!

In order to preserve these mangos for future enjoyment, today I canned approximately 6 quarts and froze 6 quarts worth of mangos.  Oh, and I also made Mango Crisp.....mmmmmmmmm!

CULTURAMA CONTINUED

On Tuesday, August 2nd, in true Nevisian style, a parade went through the streets of Charlestown.  Not at 12pm like they had told everyone, but 4pm when they finally managed to get everyone organized!

A week ago, a patient at the dental office had approached me and asked if I would like to get involved in the parade.  She was entering a "troupe" and needed more people.  I thought it would be a great opportunity to get involved and learn more about the culture of the people here.  So I said "yes" and signed my friend Daniella up with me.

Sian(the local lady that asked me to join her troupe) called me on Friday last week and told me I could stop by her work to pick up my costume.  I had assumed that we would be dressed in tradional Nevisian colors; Red, Black, Yellow and Green.

This is an example of a folk dance troupe, they perform traditional dances ranging from the French-derived kwadril to African war dances.  The term kwadril is a Creole term referring to a folk dance.  There were several groups in the parade dressed like this with participants of all ages. 

So I stopped to pick up our costumes and this is what I got.............

 

Go ahead and laugh!!! Laughing was all that Daniela and I could do because at this point it would have been so rude to back out.  Oh and just wait, it gets worse!!!

 I should know better than to assume anything on this island!

The idea of our troupe was that we were supposed to depicte a peom that they teach elementary kids in school, about a flying fish and a shark.  I guess we were supposed to be the ocean????

CULTURAMA 2011

Today they had "street dancing" in Charlestown.  When I heard this I thought it would be a great cultural event to take in.  So I hopped on a bus this morning and went to town to check it out(my scooter has a flat tire).  I guess I shouldn't have been surprised but the street dancing was not a competition or a show, it was simply people dancing in the street...and by dancing, I mostly mean grinding.

Regardless it was quite the sight and the energy of the people was amazing. Check this out...

For your viewing pleasure I have posted a PG version of some of the dancing.
I apologize for the sound quality; the music was soooo loud it would pound in my chest and make it hard to breathe!  The poor drivers on the tractors had toilet paper crammed in their ears.

Sunday Funday

On this sunday,  we decided to take the scooter out for a trip across the island to find some ice cream! 

Just to set the stage, I should start by reminding everyone that the grocery stores here turn off their freezers at night to save on electricity.  As a result all of the ice cream you find in the freezer has been paritally thawed and re-frozen several times before you buy it.

After driving to the other side of the island, only to realize that the ice cream shop was closed, we found ice cream at a Oualie Beach.  

Going Bananas

To keep us from going BANANAS while Kris is in school, we try to get out of the house once every two weeks.  This time we actually went to BANANAS for dinner and drinks.  BANANAS is a locally run restaraunt that is found after quite the drive up the mountain.  We each enjoyed their signature passionfruit martini before our dinner.

After dinner we attempted to find a pool table for Kris because he hasn't touched one in 6 months.

Ahhh, Success!~~~sort of~~~as long as you don't mind the rips in the table