Sunday, September 9, 2007

Watching College Football in Cayman

After spending another afternoon at the college catching up on work that never seems to end, Katie and I headed over to Davy Jones Locker a sports bar in Grand Harbour about a 2/3rds of a mile from our place. Many of the major US colleges were represented as ex pats wearing shirts from Michigan, Florida, Florida State, Alabama, Texas (that was me) and Texas A&M gathered to watch football. Katie was the only female in the bar for a good hour plus after we arrived except for the waitress, a fact she pointed out to me several times.

The Texas game didn't come on until the second quarter as the early game went to triple OT which would have been really cool to watch except I knew the longer that it went on the less of the Texas game I would get to see. When the Texas game did come on, Katie who had already eaten her nachos and finished a margarita decided to abandon me and go home to talk to her sister on windows live. With only one vehicle that meant I got to walk home after the game. As soon as she left, Texas fell behind 10-0 on two interceptions and I was convinced she had jinxed us by leaving. That 10-0 halftime deficit had me considering thoughts of just how much alcohol I could imbibe and still safely walk home. Fortunately the second half saw Texas actually show up and make plays outscoring the Horned Frogs 34-3 to win 34-13.

This will be an easier week for my former law partner Jerry Bullard in Fort Worth, home of TCU. Gary sold my ticket to this game for a profit and I might actually make money on my Texas season tickets this year if he continues to be able to sell them at the pace he is going (no pressure Gary but keep up the good work). I am loosely planning to try and get back to the Texas Tech game in November which falls on a holiday weekend here on the Island, if my wife will let me and if our budget isn't too strained.

When the game ended I started my walk home. It had rained so there were a lot of puddles and Cayman is not big on sidewalks outside of George Town. I maneuvered around the water and watched for traffic walking on the main road then turning up Selkirk. I got about halfway up Selkirk, when Katie drove up and took me the rest of the way home. She said she saw on the Internet that the game was over and thought she would drive to the bar and give me a ride home (I have an awesome wife).

Davy Jones was not a bad place to watch but the quality of the big screens was pretty poor and the food from the Black Pearl Galley next door was just OK. In a few weeks for the Rice game we will try Lone Star in town. Of course next weekend we will be in Florida so if I get to see the Texas game against Central Florida at all it will be at a US sports bar in the keys.

Tomorrow we start our Caribcert program. We have 20 apprentices who come to the International College two days a week for classes this fall. The Orientation and pictures with the Minister of Tourism are at 8:30 a.m. That means a long day for Katie and I because our normal classes also meet until 10:30 at night. Once the program gets going it wont be as big a deal because I teach at 1:00 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays so I will still have my normal work days but tomorrow will just end up being a full day. Katie draws the black bean because she will be working on our Annual Institutional Report all day which is much harder than what I have to do. We are really excited about the tourism program because it is the first partnership with the other college on the Island and the government and because it is obvious the University College and the government didn't want us involved and thought we would drop out, but we never have and now it is actually happening.

The other big looming event is our 37th anniversary celebration on September 22nd. We have the plaque and invitations are going out Monday. We need to finish the program and finalize the speakers but it should be a great PR event for the college. We have invited the Governor and most of the government and private industry big wigs to the college so if even a few show up it is good for the college.

We are both counting the days until Friday and our getaway weekend. Katie is furiously looking for a hairdresser place near our Miami hotel on Friday for an appointment and seems to be looking forward more to a vist to Target for clothes than Key West to watch the sunset. Beaches and sun lose their appeal when you live near them but cheap clothes that you cant get on Island grow in stature the less access you have to them.