Cayman "Snow" Day

In Texas we used to get a lot of grief from our neighbors to the north when we would have a snow day at the first sign of some snow flurries or a little bit of ice. Today we learned just how different living 1300 miles south of DFW can be. Today we had a "snow" day.

All the public and private schools were closed. The government college stopped classes for the day. Govenrment programs such as NEPP were cancelled. ICCI closed down for the beginning part of the day. People didn't show up for their dentist's appointments (we were able to get in quickly!).

Yet the temperature was 86 degrees with a heat index of 99 degrees.There were no snow flurries, no ice. There was lots of rain and wind and we were on a tropical storm warning (complete with red flags with black squares) but nothing that would normally cause an entire country to shut down. Yes, there was some flooding. Yes, some roads were impassable. Yes, there were some wind gusts. No thunder. No lightning. No trees knocked down.

Some may ask, "what?!? A little rain shut everything down?!?" Yes, here in Cayman the rain and wind with the red nautical flags with the black squares threatening the possibility of another hurricane developing caused the country to go into "snow" day mode!

Lots of Rain and Wind Today

Lots of wind and rain today as the storm has seen its center move north of us but it is so large we are still in its rotation.  As you can see from the radar at left the storm completely covers the western caribbean.  We had to cancel classes last night because of flooding and today is 50/50.  The public schools have already announced they are closed today.  We are nice and dry inside and the winds are just a nuisance so far and not any real issue.  Our home is high enough that we don't have any problems unless there is a really high surge and this storm is not bringing that problem.

Tropical Storm Warning

All night long we have been getting rain from the system that is about to form Tropical Storm Nicole.  This morning we were officially put on tropical storm warning though the NHC site tracking map which I copied below shows the storm to our north.  We are the Island outlined in blue just below the center of the storm and to the right.  You can also see that the sister islands Cayman Brac and Little Cayman are under the same warning.  Right now it has stopped raining and we are hopeful that the flooding which usually comes with these storms will be limited.  The college again has Lake ICCI and too much more could flood our parking lot and lead to cancellation of classes.

40th Anniversary Dinner

Last night was the Fortieth Anniversary dinner for the college.  It wasn't lost on me that I am the same age as the college.  The dinner was held in the Governor's Ballroom at the Westin Causarina Resort on Seven Mile Beach.  There were 320 seats sold for the event and the room was packed by the time the event started.  There was a rain storm outside which drove the reception that had been planned for the lawn overlooking the beach inside but no one really noticed. 

There were graduates present from every decade and the Master of Ceremonies was the Hon. Anthony Eden who was actually a member of the very first class at ICCI in 1970.  He is the past Minister of Health and is currently a Member of the Legislative Assembly.  The music for the evening was a jazz artist named Devon Edie who was incredible on the saxophone.  Our featured speaker was another early graduate of the institution Carlyle McLaughlin who after attending ICCI in the 70's and getting his Bachelor degree, went on to get his Masters in Accounting and CPA and became a Senior Partner with Ernst & Young as well as founding his own computer company.  In his speech he talked about all the roles he has had with ICCI suggesting that everyone in the room consider their roles at ICCI.  He came up with ten including scholarship recipient, student, graduate, ambassador (he was one of first ICCI students to go abroad for Masters), alumni, spouse of ICCI graduate, faculty member, Board of Trustees member, Donor, and Parent of ICCI graduate.  A Power Point of forty years of photographs was shown as were two videos, one made in the Seventies and one recently which really helped show how far and how wide and impact the college has had.

Today is a Family Fun Day out at the college with an open house and lots of kid related activities.  Tomorrow a couple of the local churches are doing services in honor of the college.  It really was a fantastic start to the weekend of events and we look forward to a great day today.  Before we head over to the college today we are going to an event out at Camana Bay called "Yeah Baby" which is an expo of merchants and schools of all things related to kids.

Cayman dog "walking"

On the return trip from Cafe del Sol (our local "Starbucks") where I was working on my Capstone Proposal, I saw Cayman's version of dog "walking" just as I was pulling into the Butterfield roundabout near the industrial district. I wish there had been a camera in the car as it would have made the most hilarious picture.

Riding into one of the busiest intersections on the island was a man on a bike, not an odd occurrence at all. Sitting right behind him on a piece of plywood about 2 ft by 3 ft was large yellow lab (or mutt with strong lab tendencies)! I couldn't see how the wood was attached to the bike but the lab was balanced on all fours on the wood happily being carried along. It had to be fairly secure because the dog didn't once teeter and did not seem at all concerned at his method of transportation.

Only in the Caribbean....

The Big 4-0!

Yesterday was Scott's 40th birthday. We had planned an evening of sunset and sushi and were pleasantly surprised when we also received a hotel stay at Sunshine Suites right behind our favorite sushi place.

ICCI has a visiting consultant this week as they prepare for accreditation. There was some confusing with getting a place for her to stay and the college ended up with a prepaid night at Sunshine Suites that wasn't being used. Kira, the Business Manager, graciously let Scott and I use it for his birthday!

After an afternoon of giving Gypsy lots of lovins in the other room while one person packed so that she couldn't tell we were leaving (she has been very needy lately), we set off to pretend we were in a far away land!

We've been to the little grill here (see Sunshine Grill Dinner) at the hotel but have never stayed in any of the rooms. Each room has a kitchen area with a big fridge, stovetop, sink, and a little dining table. It is set up nicely to allow visitors to do a bit of cooking for themselves to keep their costs down. Scott really liked the flat screen TV and watched some football while I got ready since it always takes me much longer!

After getting all dolled up we walked over to Yoshi's.

We get sushi ("fake" sushi lately) about twice a month but it is Scott's favorite on the island so he wanted to do it for his birthday. To make it more special than the normal takeout we get, he decided to go for the Love Boat. When we first arrived on the island, we used to go to Yoshi's all the time and each visit we would get the Love Boat. It is a "boat" (they used to use this really cool wooden boat for the sushi but we haven't seen it in a while) filled with sushi that comes with multiple courses. You get to enjoy miso soup, tempura, rice, teriyaki chicken, and, afterwards, mango or green tea icecream (we both always get the mango). It is A LOT of food (hence the reason we stopped getting it) but since we were in "vacation" mode we scarfed it all down! We did some substitutions for the sushi rolls so that they were all "fake" sushi and I could eat them but Scott really enjoyed getting to have nigiri and sashimi sushi (one is just cuts of the raw fish and the other is raw fish over rice). After packing up some of the leftovers so that Scott could eat his customary "midnight sushi" (usually eaten around 8 p.m. because we aren't night owls...), we headed back to the hotel.

With me 8 months pregnant and Scott exhausted from many weeks of running like crazy with work, we ended up crashing! We'd planned to change back into shorts and go walk on the beach right at sunset but when we got back to the room we were just too tired to go back out. We'd brought "Harry Potter: Prisoner of Azkaban" to watch (I'm rereading the books and we are watching the movies as I finish each one). Only about an hour into the movie (which is the most inconsistent from the book of them all so far!) Scott just couldn't keep his eyes open. We had the "midnight sushi", tried to make it a bit further in the movie, and then decided to call it a night. Scott zonked out around 8:30! Aren't we just the happenin' couple!?! We are turning into my parents! :) It will just get worse when Baby C joins our family!

He needs to get a lot of sleep because this next week is going to be NUTS! He has visits from Ministers, meetings with the Education Council, a mock accreditation visit, and ICCI's 40th anniversary celebration on top of his regular responsibilities! After everything calms down, I'm sure that he will update everyone on all the events of this week.

The Right Place to Be

There are no less than three major hurricanes active today and fortunately not a one of them is in any way affecting us or appears as if it will.  Karl was nice enough to wait to form to the west of us while Igor and Julia didn't even knock on the door of the Caribbean the way Earl did before turning north.  The season is still barely over 1/2 way done but so far at least it has been another quiet one for us.  Knock on wood, lets hope that continues.  Fortieth Anniversary week is next week and we are finishing the first week of the fall term today.  With 225 students this is our biggest term since we got here.

Zachary Alexander's Baptism

Yesterday up in Naperville our nephew Zachary Alexander was baptised.  I am the Godfather and my cousin Chuck Hughes graciously stood in for me since I couldn't get up there for the ceremony.  It was good practice for Chuck as he will be Godfather to my daughter when she comes in a couple of months.  We really wish we could have been there.  Zach along with his parents Jo and Brent and his brother Nicholas were in our thoughts yesterday.  We send all our best wishes up north.  There was also a surprise 60th birthday party for my Mom who was there for the baptism.  Anyone who has pictures from either the baptism or the birthday party please email them down to us we would love to see them.  Thanks.

40th Anniversary of College

This month is the Fortieth Anniversary of the college.  We have a huge weekend of events the weekend of the 24th and the media blitz about it is on going.  This morning I was on TV talking about the anniversary and the upcoming events.

40th Anniversary TV Appearance

Football Season

As many of you already know, the first day of the college football season is celebrated as a holiday in the Cummings household a tradition begun by my beautiful wife some five years ago when she gave me a first day of football present the morning of the Texas-UNT opener in 2006.  This year I was presented with a small book that had the words to the Eyes of Texas and the sonogram photos of our little girl with various Longhorn and football related stickers strategically placed on the photos.  I got to watch the Texas game from the comfort of my own living room since it was on the main ESPN channel that we get.  The Horns were solid if unspectacular and it was good to see them win though they aren't nearly the team of the last two years that challenged for a national title.  With the youngster due in early November football this year really is taking a backseat to real life. 

We finished our summer term last week and have a week of administrative duties before we start the fall term on the 13th.  Late last week it looked like we might get our first storm of the season next week in Gaston but right now it is up in the air whether he will reform and if he does whether he will track our way.  If he had you know that Katie who is a huge Beauty and Beast fan would have been humming Gaston's song from the movie and play all the time.  Next week is our nephew Zachary Bernard's baptism and we want to send our love and thoughts up to Naperville to him and the whole Bernard family.

New Government Position

So I know I will get some grief from my brother and sister about the appellation before my name but here is the link to my appointment to the CINICO Board of Directors on the government web site.

CINICO Board