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