Monday, June 21, 2010

Lady in Red


It's become customary here at MUA to let friends/classmates know when you're going back stateside in case there is something they need that they can't get shipped to Nevis. To make a long story short, one of my landlord's good friends has a daughter that graduated from high school here on the island this past Friday. Her dress (and her friend's dress) couldn't make it to the island on time from the states, so they were shipped to my house in Michigan. I arrived on St. Kitts on Monday -- plenty of time to get the dresses to the girls. Of course, I arrived on the island only to find out that my bags were in Chicago.

After a couple rounds of phone tag, fruitless promises by the St. Kitts American Airline crew, and one frustrated jet-lagged American - my roomate Hunter and I were one a 1 way ferry boat to St. Kitts to personally pick up my luggage that arrived the previous afternoon (which was promised to be sent to me on Nevis). Customs was scheduled to be open until 9pm, and since we didn't have a ferry boat back to Nevis, we arranged our friend to pick us up in his boat from Frigate Bay in St. Kitts. We arrived only to find out that the Custom's office closed early, and nobody could be reached to come get me my luggage. Luckily we caught our taxi driver right as his shift was ending -- and he became our personal chauffeur for the night.

Thankfully, we got ahold of friends who go to school in St. Kitts who kindly offered us their couches for the night -- as we had to return to Customs by 6:15am to get the luggage -- and make the 7am ferry to Nevis, for class at 9am. We arranged for our taxi-driver to pick us up at 6am so we would have plenty of time to get things taken care of. As you might have already guessed, our taxi driver never showed up.

As Hunter and I were walking along the main road at 6:05am, a local "bus" (van) happened to pass by, and we flagged him down for a ride. After going 90mph through narrow island roads, the driver got us to the airport by 6:20am, I got my luggage, and we caught a taxi back to the ferry port by 6:55am -- just in time for the 7am ferry.


Adios Nevis

God was on our side from the beginning!

Arriving in St. Kitts at dark

"Yankee" - our taxi driver, trying to get some answers!

Me and Airport Security in Yankee's taxi, named Air Force One

Yankee's favorite spot - The Heineken Bar

Me, Hunter, and our new friends

The Hard Wine Bar

Align Center
Frigate Bay - Buddies for dinner

Our friends' place at 5:55am

St. Kitts Customs at 6:25am

Loading the taxi at 6:40am

Delivering the dresses at 8:05am (in Nevis)

THE DRESS!

4,500 miles in 6 days


After having just taken my genetics mid-term, I am now trying to decide whether or not the weekend trip home was worth while. Okay, who am I kidding -- of course it was worth it! Ten years down the road I won't remember what I got on this exam, but there's no way I'll ever forget my best friend Kenny (and his beautiful wife Kristi)'s wedding. I managed to traverse 4,500 miles over 6 days, which consisted of 3 full travel days, and 3 days in Michigan. It was tiring, stressful at times, and without a doubt it set me back quite a bit with my studies -- but if I could do it all over again, I wouldn't think twice. I was honored with the opportunity to stand up for Kenny as part of his wedding party, so I wasn't able to take pictures during the ceremony -- but I did manage to get a few on the party bus after the wedding, and a few at the reception as well.


Post-Wedding Party Bus

Katie and I holding down the back of the bus

Bride and Groom

Quick stop at the beach

My baby sister and me

Scottyboy

Taking a quick break from the dance floor

Hangin out with Phil and Nate

Me and Drewwer

Another break from the dance floor for a drink with Drew and Mary

Cheers!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

It's that time of the year...

Avocados and Star Fruit


We're just about to hit summer in full-stride here on Nevis, and with that comes a plethora of delicious tropical fruit, grown right here on the island. Yesterday I came across some of my favorite Nevisian fruit -- star apples -- and I just had to have them. I'm not sure they get much bigger than the one I found...


Larger than my hand!


Star apples, and a few locally grown avocados