Week in Review

By Scott:

This past week has really seemed like a whirlwind. Katie and I are supposed to be going into work Monday through Thursday at noon but on at least three of the four days we found ourselves going in around 10:30 and working until after 11 at night and on the fourth, Thursday we were in at 9:00 a.m. and didn't leave until 11:30 as an exam ran very late and we are the ones who lock up the campus and turn off the lights, A/C etc. when everyone leaves. Then Friday night we worked until 5 and then i proctored two exams from 7-9 p.m. We only got to ride our bikes once, on Tuesday when we made a run down to Fosters. This week was exam week and also registration for the summer quarter so things are hectic. The one problem with living at the college is that when we get bored we work and so it almost seems like we are working all the time.

We had a couple of storms blow through and are still dealing with the leak issues. The latest caused a small leak in our bedroom which is a major concern (it also created a lake as the post above shows). We are watching more and more leak points form in the ceiling with a lot of concern. The apartment is a really great place if you can use the whole place but with half of it unusable when it rains and therefore really not usable at all since it rains all the time that makes it rough. When it is finally fixed we will feel a lot better.

I am going to be teaching this summer after all. I have a graduate course called Environment of Business which is a Law Business and Society course, basically legal and ethical issues for businesses. I am also helping three under-grad students who are taking the Business Law course by exam with weekly tutoring sessions.

Katie has been working overtime on the registration, she is fixing the spring quarter that we just finished while also getting the summer quarter going. She is also adjusting to having two employees who answer to her, she is developing into quite a good manager with just two weeks under her belt. On Wednesday I attended a meeting of the Cayman Mathematics Association in George Town. ICCI hasn't been represented at associations like that for a while and I am getting my face out there and meeting potential professors. I drove Elsa's van and got my first taste of George Town traffic at 5:00 p.m. Everyone is trying to get out of town on a one lane each way road and that backs things up for miles. It took 55 minutes to go 8 miles from the school district (where 5 schools are all right next to each other) back to Newlands. We did orientation for new students Thursday evening and have been watching the first season of "House" most evenings to wind our brains down.

We are radically changing our diet. The food is very expensive and with bikes you cant carry a lot. Throw in the fact that we have no refrigerator and the one in the teachers lounge is small and only partly working so we keep just milk and a few essentials in there. That means very little meat for me which is a huge adjustment. We have been eating lots of pasta since that stores easily in cabinets before being made. While we don't have an oven or microwave, we do have two good burners and have made chili, corn on the cob, spaghetti, beans and rice and a really good stir fry with some chicken we had bought the same day. Before each meal I walk from our apartment into the college, get stuff from the refrigerator, put anything we need microwaved into the microwave in the teachers lounge and then walk back. We actually have a microwave but it blew out the extension cord and we think there is an electrical issue with it. The only thing we really microwave is popcorn to watch "House" so it just becomes part of the routine to walk into the lounge and use that microwave.

We are both losing weight and getting darker just from regular activity outside. When we get a car we still plan to do mostly biking but shopping will get easier and we can go into George Town some evenings. Our Cayman experience has been largely limited to Newlands and the bike excursions since we dropped off the rental with a few work related trips thrown in using the van.

The people here are very friendly once they realize you are friendly. Katie and I have both noticed that they maintain cold veneers at first but once you smile at them, wish them good morning and show interest (ie you aren't a snobby tourist afraid they are going to pick your pocket) they open up. It seems like the onus is on us to break the ice but once we break the ice everyone has been great from the cashiers at Fosters to our neighbors etc. There really are all the comforts of the U.S. from Domino's Pizza to Subway to supermarkets and a blockbuster, they are just a lot more expensive and without a car mostly inaccessible. Still, two weeks in and we are both happy to be here. The challenges will make great stories some day and the three buckets we have to put out will become ten and the leaks will become floods to rival Noah and we will thoroughly enjoy recounting our experiences.