By Scott & Katie
We are back from the Caymans and have much to tell. As we flew to the island, looking out the airline window, all you could see was the dark expanse of ocean as we started our descent into George Town. Suddenly, the coastline became clear with the glittering of lights of West Bay. Quickly the plane descended and after a rough, slam-on-the-brakes landing, we disembarked from the plane and found ourselves on Grand Cayman.
We were there from Sunday night to Wednesday afternoon. The weather was a nice 75-80 degrees with bright, blue skies most of the time. It is a beautiful, though somewhat schizophrenic, country. George Town and Seven Mile Beach look pretty much like any American town. Almost every fast food restaurant can be found there including the Burger King, right on the water in George Town Harbor, where we ate breakfast on Monday morning. Major clothing stores like Polo Ralph Lauren and Hugo Boss can be found next to high end jewelers and accessory stores like Fossil and Rolex. Hotels and resorts crowd the land around the city with million dollar condos interspersed. The people you see walking around George Town scream vacationer and tourist with their swimsuits, shorts, and cameras. You can always see the tops of huge cruise ships as you near the harbor or, if it is rough on the seas (like it was for us on Monday), you can see the cruise ships and the subsequent people coming in at Spotts beach. Texaco and Esso gas stations service the island with On the Run convenience stores that are almost exactly the same as here in the States, if you don't look at prices. There is a Blockbuster, Subway, TCBY, and Haagen-Dazs.
Contrary to all that glitz, there is also a beautiful island with swaying palm, towering coconut, and full banana trees. Roosters roam free and can be seen (and heard) anywhere. Along South Sound Road, as you head towards the east end of the island, there are small pastures with cows (we saw a lot of young calves still nursing as well) and a random horse, such as the one tied up in the field adjacent to the college.
Once you get past Bodden Town, about eight miles from George Town and just east of the college, you enter a completely different world. There are long stretches of undeveloped land to your left and long, empty beaches posing as a border to the beautiful blues of the ocean. Most of the houses in the East End of the island are more traditional Caymanian but there is the occasional multi-million dollar home. Life seems to slow down (it even feels like it takes forever to get anywhere out there even though you're only talking about a 10/15 miles expanse of road). The traffic thins out and the people seem much more relaxed. The stark thing about the east end of Grand Cayman is the evidence of the damage from Hurricane Ivan. Homes are still completely gutted with trees down in what used to be beautiful yards. Trees are still trying to recover and leaves are just now starting to appear, according to John. It is Hurricane Ivan that brings us to Grand Cayman as well.
Hurricane Ivan caused massive destruction to the college. The building that used to hold their library and administrative offices still has a huge tree in it and another large palm tree fallen just ten feet away from the building as well. The room that housed their library and resource facility has absolutely no roof and still contains debris from the storm as well as new friends that have made the room their home. In the two years since Ivan, the college has rebuilt (with the help of generous community members) their classroom building as well as a new building for administration. The college has a nice apartment where we will be staying for at least the first six months. It is a small two bedroom, one bath with a good sized living room and a small kitchenette. These living arrangements will mean absolutely no commute, unless you count the ten step walk from our front door to the side door to the building. It also enables us to be around, if needed, at all points in time.
Hurricane Ivan didn't just wreck havoc on the buildings. Obviously, everything in their library was ruined and the student population has decreased from 400 before to storm to only about 100 now. The goal, at this point, is to try to return to pre-Ivan status. Scott and I are being brought in with that focus in mind. (They have also recently brought in a new business office person and a librarian.) We have, through a couple of meetings, gotten a clearer picture of exactly what we will be doing.
I am going to be the Admissions Rep and the Registrar. Increasing the student population is one of the big goals, so recruitment will be a big part of my job. I will handle the data side of the admissions process making sure that all applicants have what they need in order to be considered for admissions as well as the registration process and graduation.
Scott will be the new dean. His job will basically involve every aspect of the college from reviewing applications for admission and graduation to the accreditation process to approving class schedules and teachers and even counseling students and fund raising. He will also teach courses each quarter.
We are now in the process of getting all the information for our work permits. We have to get medical forms completed and even a certified letter from the police that we have clear records.
We will be heading back down for good in a few months. Scott is wrapping up his law practice and I will be getting everything together for our move. We are on our way to Chicago next weekend to meet our new nephew Nicholas. We will let everyone know how that trip goes.
