Andreas Returns

We walked over to the Kings Center roundabout at 11 and were very happy to find that the cars behind us had opened an easy to get to path down the hill and off the roundabout (picture below). We plugged the battery back in and Andreas started on the first turn of the key. While walking to the car we saw a tree cut in half in the Hurleys parking lot (see picture left). We drove around and along south sound to check out the damage. We saw one downed power line and a lot of downed limbs but very little surge damage. It is still a little breezy but no rain.

Mid-Morning update

After waking up around 4:30 and then getting back to sleep around 5:15 we slept in until 8:45. A quick look outside reveals a mostly overcast morning with gusts still occurring with decreasing frequency. We should keep having those gusts until around one in the afternoon. Gustav has apparently grown to a category three this morning as it moves over the warm waters west of us. We are very fortunate he waited to grow until after passing through our Islands. We have the mountains of Jamaica and the fact that he stayed a tropical storm while passing over that Island to thank for that. In looking at our parking lot we got a surprisingly small amount of rain and didn't see any tree's or limbs down. Even the small tree next to where we park which we both thought wouldn't make it through the night is still standing. The spot where we park wasn't flooded at all and the two areas that water always accumulates even from a normal rain had pools but not huge ones. The all clear has not yet been given as of 8:00 a.m. so we wont go get our car until this afternoon at the earliest. There is apparently heavy wave action and will be for the next 24 hours with heights pushing 14-16 feet.

The Net News has the following damage reports for the three Islands:

Little Cayman A number of light poles are down. Some are described as “cracked in half.” Trees were also toppled by the hurricane. Several docks are reported destroyed. Several boats have been washed ashore. Debris clutters the roads making them difficult to pass. As the storm was approaching, a couple was treated by the nurse after being washed into the sea. They had been on a dock taking photographs. Other than these two, there are no reported injuries at this time. Damage to the Southern Cross Club has been reported.

Cayman Brac A number of light poles are reported down.

Grand Cayman During the night, an East End shelter lost generator power. A great deal of debris was washed ashore near The Edge in North Side. There are many reports coming into the NEOC of downed trees, including one that fell on a shelter warden’s car. Fallen trees blocking main roads will have priority for cleanup

Unlike Jamaica and Haiti where there are reports of deaths it appears we have escaped with just some damage to property and a few injuries. So long as Andreas made it we will have weathered this storm none the worse for wear.

Gustav moving off

I awoke this morning about 4:20 a.m. from a particularly loud gust rattling the upstairs shutters and was very pleased to find that we did not lose power or water as the storm passed. Gustav is now about 60 miles to the west northwest of us and moving away at a 12 mph clip. We continue to get tropical storm force winds and probably will for a couple of more hours. The news reports say the sister islands got winds between 80 and 100 miles an hour. It appears our winds maxed out at 55 mph and right now they are gusting in the 30-40 mph level, just a gentle Caribbean breeze right. Though it is raining now, we have actually gotten very little rainfall and it bears repeating that we were south of the storm and not in that upper right quadrant where most of the intensity would be. There has been some flooding of low lying areas including parts of Cayman Kai and North Sound Estates which is right across from the college. We also hear that the gully which runs from the southern coast up through Newlands has flooded some houses though that happens anytime there is any kind of a storm. Will find out later today if the college had any flooding and how the roof there did. Our place has had no issues at all.

The difference in sounds between our downstairs and upstairs is dramatic and has probably affected how we felt in terms of nerves and how we reacted to this storm in comparison to Dean last year. Last year we rode out the storm upstairs with no TV and no television background noise, hearing nothing except the winds gusting outside the plywood. This year we were downstairs for the most part and had the TV on pretty constantly. When we went to bed at 11 you could really hear the gusts upstairs which was in stark contrast to what we had just experienced downstairs where they were muted and drowned out by the TV.

The AP report from George Town says a curfew was never imposed and one of the local papers, the Cayman Net News, says on their web site that as of 9 p.m. last night no curfew but police were encouraging people to stay in their homes. Not that we have any intention of going outside anyway. Grand Cayman was definitely spared all but a very glancing blow and for that we are very grateful. Will know more in a couple of hours when we can go outside and walk around. There was a surge so the beaches will be full of rocks and who knows how south sound was affected as it is particularly vulnerable to surge flooding and damage. Our biggest concern now will be getting the car back and hoping that he hasn't been blocked in by other vehicles parking under us on the roundabout. That is the one bad thing about the roundabout solution to the car, you are stuck there until all the people who come after you and block you in come to get their cars. Fortunately we parked there yesterday after most of the people who would have left the Island were already gone so we should not be stuck there long. Last year after Dean cars were still on the tops of the roundabouts 4 and 5 days after the storm as people tried to get back on Island that had been evacuated.

As the storm is moving away it is gaining strength and we should all keep the people of the Isle of Pines and western Cuba in our prayers. Finally, lets also hope that the storm does not make landfall in a very populated area of the gulf coast as it moves through the Gulf of Mexico toward Louisiana and Texas. We will be thinking good thoughts and saying prayers for the parents and family of Brent the husband of Scott's sister Johanna who live in Slidell, Louisiana which is outside New Orleans.

Heading back to sleep for a while, will update later and take some pictures of the Island to let you see the aftermath.

Closest point of approach

Here is the link to stormcarib.com's closest point of approach feature for Grand Cayman. Looks like around 2 a.m. and just over 50 miles. Just click on Cayman Islands Grand Cayman in the drop down menu and then click show me how close it can get.

http://www.stormcarib.com/closest2.htm

Eye moves closer to Grand Cayman

The track has moved a little closer to Grand Cayman and the eye is now about 55 miles to the east-northeast of us. We are experiencing tropical storm gusts and the upstairs shutters are shaking every once in a while. A few of the gusts have been pretty loud but nothing like the Dean noise last year. As the eye gets closer it will get louder but so far its just an annoyance. If last year is any indicator, Katie will sleep through it while I get up every hour on the hour. Our lights have flickered a few times but power has been constant. We see on the net that they have lost power up on the north side of the island but here in Red Bay the lights are still on. Both Katie and I are able to use the laptops as the Internet service still has five bars. CUC, Westel and the Water Authority here are just doing phenomenal jobs of keeping everything working through this storm. They really learned their lessons from Ivan four years ago and have put those lessons into practice. This would be a very different experience if we were in a dark house with no air conditioning and no water. We were ready for such a situation but its very nice to not have to face it at least so far. Looks like the 13 gallons we pumped today of potable water into our garbage can will now be used to flush toilets for the next couple of days.

7:00 track continues to be good

The latest track is out and the storm is definitely not going to hit us with hurricane force winds. It is now some 90 miles east of us and heading north-northwest at 11 miles an hour. It is hitting the sister islands with hurricane winds up to 80 miles an hour but here on Grand Cayman so far our gusts are just 30-40 mph. The closest point of approach on its current path and speed will be 61.2 miles away and that will happen around 1:30 a.m. our time. Every so often we hear a gust but nothing like what we heard last year with Dean and what we expect to hear later as the storm gets closer. Louie got bored and so we let him out to explore. Gypsy is fascinated by him but Ginger is keeping her distance and hissing whenever he comes close. he is back in his room right now crying through the door. He is on a special diet and so we cant let him get to the girls food and we don't want him using their kitty litter. As we approach 8 p.m. here on the Island there is rain and wind outside but full power and water to our neighborhood. we had a great dinner of beef and broccoli with pasta and are watching Stephanie's DVD's of season nine of Friends. Will try and post late tonight as the storm increases to give everyone a feel for what is going on.

Good news from Water Authority (and now CUC)

Update: We have a curfew now in effect and it will remain in force until the all clear sometime tomorrow morning. I am monitoring the storm carib site and someone just posted that the CUC (Caribbean Utilities Company) management has advised the local authorities that they would monitor line conditions and only shutdown areas that indicated a problem. They will continue to provide power and no specific shutdown has been scheduled.

Original Post: The water authority just issued a notice that they will not be cutting service tonight. Because we are south of the storm and the hurricane winds are to the north we wont get hit with more than tropical storm force and they don't expect a surge that will affect the water supply. CUC hasn't yet issued a notice and we hope that means they don't intend to cut electric service. Water is affected more than electric by the storms so that is a great sign. Its amazing the difference between a category 5 to the south like Dean 100 plus miles away and a category one 60 miles to the north. The Brac and Little Cayman are getting hit pretty hard and have already lost power intermittently.

We are getting drizzly rain and the wind has picked up. It will get stronger as the hurricane approaches and based on the last track its closest point of approach will cross right at 60 miles north of us. The local stations have gone to 24x7 coverage of the storm, one by just playing the Weather Channel and the other by simulcasting Radio Cayman. We have the Weather Channel on and they are doing a lot of Cayman coverage so for continuous updates check out that cable channel. The speed is up to 12 mph so its effects will not be as long as if it had stayed at less than 10 mph. Waiting on the 7 p.m. track which should tell us how the rest of the night will be.

Luigi and other photos

Here is Luigi our refugee visitor for a couple of days and a couple of shots outside of our shuttered up front and the trees in the wind.

Rotation really happening now

We are definitely feeling the outer band effects of the storm. We both stepped outside a few minutes ago to take stock and the clouds are moving in a counter clockwise rotation from the north to the south as they head east. The trees are swaying strongly with the gusts of wind and you can feel it against your face as you step outside. Its completely overcast and there was a little rain a while ago but right now no rain is falling. They are projecting 6 inches over night so our parking lot and access street will be lakes. The activity outside has ground to a halt and everyone is just hunkered down now. Gustav is moving at 12 miles an hour and is still 100 miles away so we will be feeling this for the next 18-20 hours. The track continues to be north and the most recent update has Grand Cayman outside the cone for the eye. With all the rain expected everyone has moved their vehicles and our parking lot is empty but for one vehicle that is dead and another big truck that is well off the ground. All the windows are boarded or shuttered closed and it has the feel of a fortress. We are cooking dinner early just in case and will update every so often as long as we have power.

Hurricane Again

The local media just flashed an update that Gustav is again a hurricane. The tracks continue to be good for us as it is veering north. It will pass between the three Cayman Islands and on its present track will be 60-70 miles out. The two sister Islands will get hit by category one force winds while we should top out with tropical force and occasional hurricane force gusts. The shutters have a nice plastic center so we can watch the approaching storm. It is different from having plywood where you really don't know what is going on. The Brac which is the northernmost of the three Islands has a huge bluff and most of the residents are taking shelter up on the bluff. Little Cayman which will be the closest hasn't been evacuated but there are only 100-200 residents and they did fly off most of the tourists on Tuesday when the original track for Gustav had it passing north of the sister islands.

The winds have started picking up here but there hasn't been any rain and there is still activity outside our house. The government hasn't yet issued a time for when the water or electricity will be cut. The airport did close at noon but there wasn't the sound of planes constantly taking off this morning like there was just before Dean last year. We also haven't yet been given a curfew time though all the advisories ask that no one be out tonight. We ran the dishwasher and are finishing all our laundry in case we lose water and to be safe have filled up our trash can with potable water and now are just basically sitting around waiting for it.

As I finish this entry I can just hear the rain starting outside. The very far outer bands of our uninvited guest. If he stays on his current path it will be a lot of sound but not much fury.

10:20 Update

The 11 EST track just came out and brought more good news. The storm is drifting further north and now will pass closer to the sister islands of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. It is very possible now that we wont get hurricane force winds here on Grand Cayman just Tropical storm force. The 2 and 5 p.m. EST tracks will give us the final verdict as we start to feel the winds early this evening.

The hardest part about these storms is the waiting time. We took our car to the King Sport Center roundabout at 6:30 this morning and found a good spot slightly up the hill. The roundabout was almost full so we went at the right time. We unplugged the battery and put it in the back. Katie reminded Andreas that he got his name last year by surviving Dean so he needed to be a trooper again and not let himself get flooded. The walk back to our house was a little over a mile so not a bad early morning walk. As we walked back the familiar sound from last year of drills was very evident. Many people had gotten up early to board up their houses before it gets too hot or the rains come.

With everything closed and everyone just basically waiting this is truly the calm before the storm. I am still not sure which I prefer the sudden warning of tornado's with them passing quickly or the longer warning of hurricanes where you have plenty of time to prepare but then have to sit around a long time waiting for them. Thanks to everyone who has sent us email encouragements. We are becomming veterans at this storm thingy and with the line up of storms that are apparently going to give us an active September that is a good thing.

Friday Morning Status

This mornings early track brings a mixed bag. The good news is that the track is still north of us, though just barely, and Gustav is still a tropical storm. But it has moved closer to Grand Cayman and it will strengthen as it hits open water. That is Grand Cayman outlined in red just under the Saturday at 2:00 a.m. mark. The storm is only moving 8 miles an hour and unless it picks up speed we are in for 24 plus hours of getting smacked around starting later today. At 5:00 a.m. here on the Island it is calm outside. We got a heavy rain late last night around 10:30 for about 30 minutes but otherwise a calm night. We are filling our trash can with potable water and moving the car in a little while. The planes are still flying and will until early afternoon. There hasn't been nearly the panic as there was with Dean last August to get off the Island. The attitude of many is that this is just a Category 1 (or maybe 2) and that so long as you take precautions you should be fine. Most of the companies on Island that charter evacuation flights only do so if it is a category three or higher. Will post here throughout the day until the government cuts the power and water as the storm approaches. For Dean we only lost power for three hours, don't think we will be as lucky this time. Poor Luigi is a big baby and is crying in the back guest room. We cant let him out because he and Gypsy really got into it last night. If things get hairy later we will have to bring him upstairs and put him in our bathroom. This storm does mean that the first day of college football season, a holiday in this household, will not be celebrated as we had hoped, sitting in a sports bar watching all the games including the Texas Longhorns season opener.

Thursday evening update

8:45 update: The Cayman Islands have officially been put on Hurricane warning this evening meaning that hurricane conditions are expected within 24-36 hours.

Original Post

Today has been an extremely long day and it isn't even dark yet. In the hot sun I got to spend all afternoon and early evening, over 5 hours boarding up the college with two other men. One was Eric, April's husband and the other a worker for Dorothy Scott, an ICCI grad who owns a construction firm. Between the three of us we got all the boards up over the windows and the doors and the college is now secure. I am sunburned and in pain, this is definitely not the normal job description for an academic administrator. While I was getting to experience a construction job, Katie was busy getting the interior of the college ready, getting all the files into plastic bins, covering all the computers and basically getting this place ready in case the roof leaks. We are still at the college tonight because one of the classes wanted to finish their exam.

(By Katie) The animal folks know our names and once again we have volunteered to be a refuge for a cat. His name is Louie though the lady at the vets office where I got him called him Luigi. I ran over this afternoon while Scott was working on the college and picked him up. He is a very vocal cat who cried just like a baby the entire car ride home. When we got to the house, Ginger was somewhat interested but then was more concerned that this thing was coming to replace her. Gypsy on the other hand was not happy and, after a short bout of just sniffing him through the carrier walls, fluffed up and hissed terribly at him. He had been quiet up until that point but decided to let the girls hear his voice. That definitely freaked out Gypsy who went on a rampage. They got very upset when I carried him into one of their forbidden rooms (the downstairs guest room). It was like they were saying "HEY! You bring some stranger into the house and HE gets to stay in the forbidden room!" When I came back out, Gypsy was still all fluffed up but Ginger was very, very lovable. I think that she was worried we were going to get rid of her. Unlike Gypsy who was just upset at this new boy, Ginger was thinking of the possible long term consequences of this boy coming to stay with us. I left Louis in the guest room exploring, Gypsy with her nose to the crack under the door, and Ginger sitting in the middle of the floor looking very worried. We will post pictures later and update you on how the girls are taking to him.

The storm track keeps changing every few hours. For most of the day it was headed right for us. Now it is tracking north of us and will pass between the three Cayman Islands. By tomorrow morning it will no doubt have moved again. Once we finish up here tonight all we have left to do is get the car tomorrow morning to high ground and then sit through it. They will cut the power as the storm approaches and the water so our updates tomorrow will be sporadic.

Boarding Up

Home for a quick lunch break. This morning we put up the shutters at the house and are now in process of boarding up the college. It looks like a category one or two hurricane and right now the track is right over us. Its hot and humid here today which is making for tough work outside. Will update tonight when we have time. The whole attitude of the Island has changed overnight and today the gas stations have long lines and the supermarkets are packed. The sound of drills is now being heard pretty regularly. Fortunately our house was almost ready yesterday and we also pre-prepared the college windows and plywood so we just have to put the wood up and attach it. If that sounds like an easy job, it isn't. The wood is heavy and takes two people to carry and lift then try to line up the holes that are often over our heads. It is a heck of a work out. Will know more later tonight about the track to us. Keep an eye on the sites listed in our blog to see how things are setting up.

Thursday Morning bad news

After a full day of good tracks, the last one Wednesday before we went to bed had Gustav turning south. As we wake up this morning it has moved dramatically south and now we are in the bullseye with the storm soon to again be a hurricane expected to go just south of Grand Cayman and pass only 9 miles off our southern coast. This is the worst possible news. We will update today as we can but will be spending the day getting everything ready at the college. Our home is ready except for the shutters which we will put up this morning after my TV interview at 7:00 a.m. Keep an eye on the track and you can use the feature in the entry below from stormcarib to see how close it will come to Grand Cayman. We should start seeing the effects later tonight and will have to move our car since a southern storm means a surge that can reach our place.

Afternoon Track

The late morning and early afternoon tracks of Gustav continue to bring good news. It remains downgraded to a Tropical Storm and is drifting slightly north. It should now pass some 92 miles to the north of us Friday late afternoon as a category one hurricane. We decided not to put up the shutters today at both the house and the college and will decide tomorrow morning based on the overnight tracks whether they will go up at all. If the hurricane will pass within 100 miles we will put up the shutters just to be in the safe side. The news is not good for the two other Islands that make up this country as both will have a close encounter Friday morning and afternoon with Gustav. Many of our students have family on the Brac which is the northernmost Island in the Caymans and they are keeping close tabs on the storm. With finals going on this week this has been an unneeded and unwanted distraction.

Wednesday Morning Gustav Update

The news this morning is good. Gustav stalled out over Haiti (good for us bad for the Haitians) and the interaction with land lessened the winds to tropical storm force. The NHC and several of the other tracking sites say that it will probably stay a tropical storm through today and regain hurricane strength early tomorrow. That means it wont be as strong as it passes north of us and hopefully wont have the time to grow too much either. The better news is that the track has stayed north and right now the closest point to Grand Cayman is projected to be 82.1 miles on Friday around 5:30 in the evening. Yesterday we filled up our second 5 gallon water container with filtered drinking water so we have 10 gallons of drinking water. We haven't had to do any shopping because we filled up our kit with food back in July. Once again its more about just waiting than anything else. Ironically, Scott has a TV appearance tomorrow morning similar to last year when his appearance right before Hurricane Dean got postponed. The TV appearance hasn't been cancelled yet so that's a good sign that the TV station's weatherman hasn't pushed them to 24x7 coverage as they do if a major weather event is going to happen.

Tracking Gustav

This evening the Cayman Islands are officially on a Hurricane Watch. the radio has hourly updates and we are all checking the various websites with increasing frequency. The current projected path of the hurricane takes it above Jamaica and south of Cuba. The sister islands of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman are just below the path and as you can see on the track to the left, Grand Cayman (the largest of the three small islands west of Jamaica and furthest south of the three) is further south of the storms projected path. The best place to be is south of the storm and right now it is a small storm only about 30 miles in diameter. Its closest point on Friday is projected at about 72 miles so if it doesn't grow too much when it hits open water we shouldn't get hit too bad. The problem is it will grow when it hits open water and is projected to be a Cat 3 hurricane by Friday. At 70 miles we will get a lot of wind and rain but if it stays north and over 70 miles away hopefully not much if any flooding. We have our hurricane kit completely stocked and tomorrow morning we will put up the shutters. We learned our lesson last year with overreacting in terms of our furniture and personal items and will be more judicious this year with what we move upstairs. The college will be open tomorrow so we will still be working and we expect to have a long day getting the college ready for the storm. We will be updating the blog as events warrant to let everyone know what is going on. Keep a good thought that the storm stays north and doesn't grow. After Dean last year it isn't as scary getting ready this time but still it isn't much fun either, the price of living in the Caribbean in August and September.

Hurricane Watch

Looks like we will be getting an uninvited visitor later this week. Gustav is tracking into our neck of the woods and we are starting preparations. Today we will be inventorying our hurricane kit and buying any items, food etc needed to make sure it is complete. We are also moving all of the loose materials in our yard inside and making sure that we dont leave any potential missiles outside. This afternoon wll be spent organizing the college. Tomorrow if the track continues we will put up all the storm shutters and start moving things upstairs. By Thursday we will have to move the car. Right now the track has it coming as close as 94.7 miles north of Grand Cayman Friday around 5:30 p.m. our time. Will keep you all updated as we learn things.

To follow the official tracks go to the National Hurricane Site http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

You can also track how close it will come to Cayman by going to http://www.stormcarib.com/

Under Monday August 25 update click on the closest point of approach and then click on Cayman in the drop down menu.

Another good time to keep a good thought for us and a prayer or two.

The difference for Pina Colada's

Since we got our blender, we have struggled to find a way to make good Pina Coladas. We have discovered the secret..... good rum. In the past we have used Caymanian coconut rum. This past weekend we tried using Appleton Estates Rum from Jamaica and it made all the difference in the world. We just need to find some cherry liquor and we can do our own Cayman Coladas.

Why its good to be south of a storm

Last month as Dolly formed to the south of Cayman we got treated to a long Sunday of a lot of rain. Cayman was to the north of the storm and that upper right quadrant of storms here in the tropics usually gets the brunt of any storm. We were lucky that with Dolly we got hit before it even really formed a tropical storm so all we got was a whole lot of rain. Today we got to experience what its like being south of a storm......not a thing. We got a few passing showers that were likely not even caused by Fay but mostly sunny and calm. Now it helps that the storm is a good 150 miles north of us but usually even if a storm is two or three hundred miles south we get a lot of rain. Today you wouldn't even have known we were officially on a Tropical Storm Watch status.

There is a party going on today for the Jamaicans on the Island. The Jamaicans make up 20% of the population on the Island (and when you include those with Jamaican heritage but Cayman status there are even more than native Caymanians) and the party started yesterday when a Jamaican won the Olympic Men's 100 Meter dash and continued today as the Jamaicans swept the Women's 100 Meters. It got mentioned at the wedding reception yesterday and the Jamaican flag was in evidence this morning when we went to church and it got a mention in the sermon. We are getting Caribbean coverage of the Olympics so any Caribbean medal is getting a lot of play but these have set off huge celebrations amongst the Jamaican community here on the Island. Swimming is also huge here so the whole Michale Phelps thing is getting a lot of play. It is neat getting the coverage from the CMC network as we get coverage of a lot of sports that are big here but don't get much coverage if any in the States, like sailing in particular.

Weddings and storms

This morning we drove all the way to the northern tip of West Bay to attend the wedding of one of our instructors at the Villas Pappagallos Restaurant. The wedding was beautiful on the water (Pappagallos is not on the coast but on a canal just down from the coast) and it was really a picturesque occasion. The big talk during the reception was on Tropical Storm Fay and whether she will impact the Cayman Islands. Right now the two sister Islands are in her cone with Grand Cayman south of the cone. All three Islands are officially on a Tropical Storm Watch and we keeping a watchful eye on the storm to be prepared if it takes a turn south. This weekend is a clean up weekend as we get the house cleaned up after a month and half almost solid of guests.

Russ and Gail headed home

Today was Russ and Gail's last day on the Island and after a morning snorkel at Eden Rock and Devil's Grotto we put them on their flight back to Houston this afternoon. Yesterday we went snorkeling at Cheeseburger reef, a reef that is about 150 yards out from a Burger King that sits right on the water just north of the George Town harbor. Then we headed back to the north side of the Island to try Queen's Monument again from a different entry point. In total this past week and a half we hit 11 different snorkel sites around Cayman with them and they hit three more on their sandbar trip to see the stingrays. As a result, we really feel like we now have a handle on the best places to go to see the different varieties of fish, reef creatures and coral. We had a great time with them and really enjoyed their visit.

East End and Northside

We woke up early this morning and headed over to the Market at the Grounds at the Agricultural grounds in Savannah. We bought some june plumbs, guava and other fruit and after walking around for a while headed east to see the sights and do some snorkeling. We stopped at the Blow Hole in East End and got some photographs. We also stopped at the Lighthouse Park and at the Wreck of the Ten Sail Monument thus hitting three of the big East End sights. We then headed around the Island in a big semi circle ending at Rum Point on the north eastern point of the North Sound. After getting in some swimming at Rum Point we headed over to the Cayman Kai public beach and swam out to the reef for some fantastic snorkeling. We saw a Caribbean Lobster, another spotted porcupine fish, a great barracuda and even a ray that swam past us.

After running over to Rum Point for some drinks to rehydrate, we headed to the Over the Edge cafe in Northside for lunch which was a new place we hadnt been to before. Finally we drove over to the Queen Elizabeth II monument just east of Old Man Bay to snorkel the reef there. We had never done that location before and were amazed at the extraordinary corals. We saw another turtle, and many familiar species of fish but the phenomenal corals were the big hit. This evening we went to the Grand Old House for a great dinner out on the deck getting to see the sunset and have dinner with the waves crashing against the shore below us.

Olympic Opening Ceremony

One of the nice things about television here in Cayman is we get both the American networks and the local networks. For the Olympics that is going to mean almost 24 hour a day coverage as the local channels pick up the Caribbean feed and then NBC gives us the American feed which is delayed until prime time in the evening. The Caribbean feed is live which meant that we got to watch the opening ceremony this morning before heading in to work. Since we work nights, the morning live feed coverage means we will get to see most of the Olympics and not miss out.

Snorkeling Cayman

This week we have tried to introduce Russ and Gail to as many of the snorkel sites here on Cayman as we can. We have hit the usual ones like Eden Rock, Smith's Cove, Cemetary Reef and Devil's Grotto along with the wreck sites for the Gamma and the Callie and the sites that are part of the Sting Ray Sandbar trip including the Sandbar, the Coral Gardens and the Trench. We also drove up to the top of West Bay and snorkeled the Turtle Farm Reef where there is a mini wall. This weekend we plan to go up to the northside of the Island and snorkel Cayman Kai and Rum Point. Gail's turtle whisperer powers continue to attract the green turtles as we saw another turtle up close at Smith's Cove (picture to left) and a turtle deep in the water at the Turtle Farm Reef. Our underwater case is working great and we are getting some great shots of unusual fish. We saw a spotted porcupine fish with its spiny needles extended, a Honeycomb cowfish, some smooth and spotted trunkfish and a couple of angelfish. With the higher resolution camera we are better able to determine the fish later with our Reef Fish book or as Katie calls it our "fishy book". We are now tracking the different species we see with date and location. Russ wants us to start a computer database with fish species, location and date seen and photograph. Most mornings this week we have gotten up and gone out snorkeling before Katie and I have to go in to work. Russ has come in a couple of times to do some computer work for the college (and thus get to write of his trip) and Gail has worked on her on line course

On Thursday we bought some fresh fish downtown in the harbor and Gail made a traditional Indonesian meal of Ikan and Colo (which is a fish based meal). We have also made our hurricane ribs and taken them to some of the local restaurants. Tomorrow we plan to go to Grand Old House and sit out on the deck at sunset. Russ and Gail leave on Monday to go home. Katie is still waiting to hear from The University of Denver on her admission to their Masters program this Fall starting in September. We have three weeks left until the end of the Summer Quarter so things are really picking up at the college. Our President Dr. Elsa Cummings announced her retirement yesterday so there will be a transition from her that will take up a lot of our time. We will have an interim President (Scott's father John) while the board looks for a permanent replacement. It shouldnt affect us much and will mean visits from John about every 6-8 weeks. Selfishly that is great for us because it means we dont have to fly up to Miami every two months or so to buy stuff and deposit money. At some point we will get Island fever and have to go but it wont have to be a packed weekend of shopping and errands instead we can relax.

Dark Knight and Wreck Snorkeling

Friday, Russ and Gail got the ultimate Cayman experience with a trip out to the sand bar to meet the stingrays. They had a blast but both got sunburned. Saturday needed to be a little slower pace so we went to the Marquee theatre and saw the Dark Knight during a matinee showing. The old style Cayman theatre is probably not going to be around much longer. The Hollywood theatre showings of the Dark Knight were all sold out while we were in an almost empty theatre. The movie was really good and we finished the day making tacos back at the house for dinner. Today we went to both the Wreck of the Gamma and the Wreck of the Callie to snorkel. While snorkeling, we saw a new species of squid and some unusual porcupine fish hiding under both wrecks. We got to try out our new underwater case for the digital camera and it worked great. We finished the day with dinner at The Lobster Pot which overlooks the north end of the George Town harbor. We sat next to the window and got a tremendous view of the water, the harbor and the school of tarpon hanging out below the deck just under the restaurant. Scott's father John is on Island teaching his class again this weekend so we have a full house.

The Turtle Whisperer

This morning we headed up to West Bay to take Russ and Gail snorkeling at Cemetery Beach. The water close to shore was very murky but after we got about 50 yards out it really cleared up. As we headed out to the reef another green turtle swam under and around us the third we have seen in two days. Gail told us that they hear her calling them and want to come see her to say hello. Gail is popular with turtles since she raises their cousins back in Texas with her classes. From now on we are calling her the turtle whisperer. We found a new part of the reef out from cemetery beach that we hadn't seen with Stephanie and an area with literally hundreds of fish congregating around including a smooth trunk fish, a juvenile French Angel fish and what had to be 20 or 30 species with huge schools of their young. After an hour or so in the water we headed up to Hell so Russ and Gail could see the tourist trap. Tomorrow morning they are doing the sand bar trip to see the sting rays while we are at work and then tomorrow night we are doing Yoshi's sushi. Saturday is the Cayman movie experience with the old theatre and the Dark Knight.

Surprise Visitors

Yesterday evening Katie's parents Russ and Gail arrived for a two week vacation. Katie had no idea they were coming and even when we went out to the airport thought we were going to pick up someone coming down to the college. She found out as they were about to exit the plane and was very happy to have them down. We have snorkel trips planned all over the Island and with two weeks to do things want to hit all the highlights of Grand Cayman. This morning we got up early and went to Smith's Cove. The water was very choppy and murky so we only spent a few minutes before deciding to head over to Eden Rock where hopefully the visibility would be better. When we got in at Eden Rock the visibility was much better and we got a fantastic surprise, two young Green Turtles were hanging out near the entry point and we got to swim with them for a while. This was the first time since we have been down here that we saw green turtles in the wild while snorkeling and it was a great way to start Russ and Gail's first real snorkel of their vacation. We stayed out for about 45 minutes and the fish cooperated by swimming up to us and truly making it seem like we were swimming in a huge aquarium. We are working in the afternoons and evenings so they will be getting to rest during that time or we will drop them off at different places to explore on thier own. Should have a lot of updates with the fun things we get to do with them over the next two weeks.

Snorkeling the Wreck of the Gamma

Sunday afternoon we headed over to the far southern end of Seven Mile beach just above George Town harbor and snorkeled out to the Wreck of the Gamma. Unlike the Callie that we snorkeled with Stephanie and that is in the harbor about 20 feet below the surface, this wreck is right near the shore and is visible from the beach. It is perhaps 50 yards out from the beach and the top structure of the sunken freighter is visible above the water. This wreck can actually be snorkeled into as the top of the ship has been torn off so you swim over the side and into the ship then through it and out the other end. We should be getting our digital camera case later this week and will definitely head back and get some photos to post. We cant wait to get our underwater case and start to do the digital photos.

Invasion of the Crabs

The flooding over the past weekend has driven the crabs out of their holes and into yards, roadways and parking lots. Everywhere you look now you see the creatures scurrying about. No doubt they are waiting for all the water to absorb or evaporate so they can re dig their holes. For now you have to really watch where you walk and where you drive so as to not run them over. We have two different crabs hanging out in front of our house and just fascinating Ginger and Gypsy. We also have three feral cats hanging out under the car across the way that Dave and Kathleen our neighbors feed and those cats have been chasing the crabs all around the parking lot.

Island of a thousand lakes

The storm yesterday has moved on and now looks like it will hit south Texas Wednesday as a hurricane. It left Cayman with a lot of flooding and lakes in everyone's yards, streets and parking lots. Because most of the Island is at or just above sea level, there isn't much room for runoff and the rain tends to build up. The field across from ICCI is once again Lake ICCI and will probably take several weeks to dissipate. Driving to work today our small car had to navigate a completely washed over road to get out of our complex with water that was a good 3-4 inches deep. We need several days of no rain to let the accumulation soak into the ground or evaporate. With the height of rainy season still to come in August this was an early indicator of things to come.

Stormy Sunday

UPDATE AT 12:25 P.M.: The storm has now formed into Tropical Storm Dolly. It has moved to the west/southwest of Grand Cayman but we are still getting its remnants.

The Cayman Islands are getting hit this morning with the strongest storm since Hurricane Dean last August. As I look out our front window there are sheets of rain coming down sideways in our parking lot and just lashing the heck out of the cars. The tree's and bushes sway strongly every few moments as gusts of wind blow between the two buildings. The weather service says that the system hasn't formed into a tropical storm but that it is producing tropical storm force winds. It isn't quite like the sound of airplanes taking off that we experienced last year but it is still pretty spectacular watching what mother nature can do. We didn't put up our hurricane shutters so the cats have been sitting on the couch by the window and watching the storm. It should blow over by late today or early tomorrow and hopefully wont bring too much flooding to the low lying parts of Grand Cayman. As a precaution yesterday we bought the rest of our supplies for the Hurricane Kit and filled up one of our five gallon water containers with filtered drinkable water. If there is a surge they cut of the water for a while so we laid in a days supply of drinking water just in case. We do still need to get some containers for potable water and will probably do that this week. Everyone has been talking about how early the season started this year. Bertha which fortunately moved north and never entered the Caribbean is the earliest Cape Verde storm in 22 years and the longest lived July storm ever recorded. It looks like Bertha will make it all the way to Iceland and into the Arctic Ocean which is amazing when you consider it formed off the coast of Africa and crossed the Atlantic. It will literally affect weather systems in four continents (Africa, N. and S. America, Europe) and possibly five (Asia over the Arctic circle).

Some interesting fish we have seen

Here are a couple of photos from last week. If you click on them they can be viewed in full screen. On the left is a school of squid we found near Eden Rock. They had come in to eat and were being followed by several sergeant major fish. On the right is a spotted trunkfish we found out at Cemetery reef.

Storms and Flat Tires

As the week draws to a close and all of our guests have left the Island we got treated last night to a tremendous thunder and lightning storm. There are two different weather systems in the Caribbean that we are watching for any cyclone development and while they haven't formed any depressions as of yet they are lashing us with a lot of rain. This morning we also awoke to a flat tire. We have a had a slow leak for a while and on Wednesday had pumped up the tire again hoping it would last until next Monday when we planned to go over to a tire store. As usual the best laid plans always have something go wrong and this morning the tire went from a slow leak to a quick one. We pulled out the spare and discovered that the tire jack we have was completely rusted. Fortunately, one of our neighbors was pulling out at the same time and loaned us his jack. Our car is so small though that the jack wouldn't fit under the car so Scott had to lift up the car so our neighbor could put it underneath. Not sure if that speaks to Scott's strength or how small our car really is. With the spare on we went to work and then over lunch went and got our original tire fixed. We should be getting a lot more rain this weekend and are watching the National Hurricane website closely something we will have to do for the next two and a half months.

Stephanie headed home

Yesterday was Stephanie's last full day in the Island. We slept in a little to digest the great meal we had the night before at Grand Old House. The picture to the left is the three of us on the deck. This morning we took Stephanie back up to West Bay to snorkel at a new site we had never been to called lighthouse point. We were hoping to see some green turtles as the site was just down the road from the Turtle Farm and the place where they release turtles into the wild. However, there were none to be seen. We snorkeled out a hundred yards or so and came to a mini wall where there was a drop off of about 45 feet. We got to see jellyfish (Scott got stung) some new parrotfish and the wall was really fascinating. There was another drop off to three thousand feet further out but we weren't sure how much farther and didn't want to snorkel that far out without a flag. The afternoon was spent making banana bread and snicker doodles and basically resting. This morning Stephanie had a 7:40 a.m. flight and is now on her way back to the States. It has been a great 10 days and as much fun for us as we hope it was for her.

Snorkeling the Wreck of the Callie

This afternoon we snorkeled out to the Wreck of the Callie in George Town Harbor. The ship sank in 1944 and was later blown up by the British Army because it was a hazard to navigation.

It is about 100 yards off the shore just north of the harbor. We got some great photos and saw some new fish. Wreck snorkeling is a new experience for us and definitely something we want to do again. There are several wrecks around Grand Cayman and many of them can be snorkeled as well as dived. Tonight is our dinner out at Grand Old House. Scott's father is on Island to do some work at the college so both guest rooms are now in use at our house.

Para sailing on Seven Mile Beach

Yesterday Katie and Stephanie went para sailing on Seven Mile Beach. They caught a tender at West Bay public beach out to the boat. Once on the boat, they got hooked up to a harness and life vest and then sat down on the back deck of the boat. They were attached into the bar that hangs from the para sail and waited for the rope to be released. Stephanie had her camera attached to her wrist tightly to take pictures. As the rope was released they slid off the back of the boat and into the air. They got up a good 200 feet and were up for about 10 minutes. Stephanie took a bunch of pictures from the sky and both said they could see across the island to the north sound. Near the end Stephanie discovered why it isn't a good idea to eat Chinese takeout before going para sailing. The two deposits into the water meant that the ceremonial dip into the water at the end of the journey were to clean as well as celebrate the completion of the flight. Both thoroughly enjoyed the flight, none the less next time we will just have to plan better with lunch and some nausea medicine. This weekend is Stephanie's last on the island and we plan to snorkel a couple of the wreck sites and also the Northern tip of West Bay where there are some turtles.

Playing Tourist

We continue to get to play tourist this week showing Stephanie around the Island. Since we work nights the mornings are completely free to do things and we have been active the past two days. Yesterday we went back to Eden Rock for some more snorkeling. In the afternoon we worked while Stephanie stayed home and rested (we think we may be wearing her out). In the evening she came with us to the college and attended Katie's class. This morning Scott had a TV appearance on the Daybreak show at 7:00 a.m. in town and from there we headed up to Cemetery Beach at the northern end of Seven Mile Beach for some snorkeling. The fish there must be used to snorkelers feeding them because they swarmed us as we got to the rocks about 200 yards from shore and seemed almost angry when we didn't have food. We laughed saying that the fish were telling us "attention human servants we are ready to be fed". After an hour of snorkeling we headed further into West Bay and over to Hell. Stephanie got a bunch of post cards to send out from the Hell post office and we got those into the mail. We then headed back home stopping to pick up a DVD of our stingray city trip and also a book on fish so we can identify all the species we have seen. This afternoon we are taking Stephanie shopping in George Town during our dinner break to pic up t-shirts and other touristy stuff and to see all the neat shops in George Town that the cruise ship traffic frequents. We both realized that we have done more snorkeling in the five days she has been here then the rest of the year combined and its been a really great way for both of us to feel more connected to the Island and remind us what a beautiful place we live in. It is so true how much you miss when you are just working every day and not getting out to see everything. On Friday, Katie and Stephanie are going to try para-sailing so we should have some interesting things to tell this weekend.

Boatswain's and Sting Ray Sand Bar

One of the reasons we love to get guests is that we get to do all the things with them that make Cayman an incredible vacation spot. When you are working all week its hard to get out and do the vacation things but with Stephanie in town we are trying to hit them all. Last night we drove out to East End and stopped at the newly reopened Blow Hole site to watch the water come spurting up. We walked out to the Wreck of the Ten Sail monument and then had dinner at Portofino which overlooks the water and the wreck out on the reef. We ended the evening at the reef resort having Cayman coladas out on the beach.

This morning we got up early and headed up to West Bay. Boatswain's Beach which houses the Turtle Farm was having a free day in celebration of Constitution Day, normally it is 75 dollars for tourists to go in (only 10 dollars for us locals). Even with the locals discount we had never made it up there so today was a great day for our first visit. The turtle farm produces all of the giant green turtle meat used in the restaurants on Cayman. The giant green turtles are an endangered species so the farm produces most of the turtles for release into the wild and actually puts out more turtles than would otherwise survive. We saw the breeding pools for the turtles as well as the pools for each of the age groups. We got to pick up turtles and also swim with them later in the lagoon. There was also a pool with waterfalls and we walked the nature walk. Around 11:30 we had to leave for lunch and our sting ray snorkel tour.

We had lunch at Eats cafe which is a U.S. style diner with pictures of Marilyn Monroe on the wall and on the menus. After lunch we headed out on Captain Marvin's tour of the sandbar and snorkeling sites. The weather early in the day had been threatening but by the time our boat headed out the dark skies had moved away and the sun was even peeking out. We hit the sandbar first and got to feed the sting rays. They are so used to humans that they rub up against you and are very insistent on being fed the squid. Everyone got to kiss a stingray (which brings seven years good luck) and we got some great pictures. From there it was over to the Barrier Reef and then the Coral Gardens for snorkeling. We all had a great time and are exhausted. Stephanie has her digital camera and has already taken well over 1000 pictures in just three days.

We still have trips back to West Bay to visit Hell as well as lots of snorkeling tours planned for the rest of the week. Tonight is a dinner at the house and some DVD movies to rest up after a very active weekend.

Stephanie visiting

Katie's sister Stephanie is visiting this week for her graduation from high school present from us. She arrived on Friday and the last two days have seen us hit four different snorkeling sites, two movies (Wanted and Hancock), sushi, A la kabob and tonight a visit out to East End and the Portofino wreckview restaurant. We had planned to hit the sandbar today but overcast skies and rain caused us to reschedule for tomorrow. Also on the agenda for tomorrow is a visit out to Boatswain's Beach which includes the turtle farm and other attractions. Its free tomorrow since it is Constitution Day on the Island and they are doing a lot of Cayman heritage events. We will go to Boatswain's in the morning, the snorkel tour to the sandbar and the stingrays tomorrow afternoon then perhaps back to Boatswain's in the evening for the fireworks. We have things planned for every day this week while we are at work so that she gets the full Cayman experience before leaving next Monday.

Katie has been doing much better since her surgery though she has only been back to work for two days. Next week she will be back full time and we will see how she does. We are into storm season and have been tracking the storm that is crossing the Atlantic though it looks like it will be heading towards the east coast of the U.S. and well north of us. That will be a normal occurrence for us the next three months through the rest of the summer until the end of October. We are both teaching this quarter and with the biggest summer class in several years we are staying busy.

Katie doing great

Katie's surgery went very well and the Doctor said she is in complete health though she will be in a lot of pain for the next couple of days while she recovers. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers they definitely worked. Katie is on a mission to be completely healthy by one week from today when her sister Stephanie arrives for 10 days.

Meanwhile our thoughts and prayers are with Nick and Julia Koclanes and Maryann Walsh. We are so sorry to hear the news and will be thinking of you.

Update

So much has gone on the last three weeks and we just haven't had time to update our blog. Last week Katie felt some pain and after a visit to the emergency room we found out that she had a ruptured cyst and will need to have Laparoscopic surgery on June 25 at the George Town Hospital to remove another cyst. We have a great Doctor and are very hopeful that things will go off with no complications. Not to be outdone, the kitties both started having sneezes and droopy eyes and the vet indicated that they have kitty herpes most likely caught back at the humane society kennel so their weakened immune systems are susceptible to that type of problems. They have been on antibiotics and are doing better.

Prior to that we had Katie's concert over at the Grand Old House. We have photo's, digital clips and also a DVD that in time we will post on this site in some form or another. It was a tremendous concert and evening. The music and meal next to the water were just incredible. The choir is on hiatus now until September when they start preparing for their Christmas concert season.

Prior to that we hosted Scott's father and his wife for a long weekend and spent time showing them around the Island. They were a dry run for the family coming in the months ahead starting with Katie's sister Stephanie who comes at the beginning of July for 10 days.

We are in the first week of the summer quarter and with our business manager just having given birth and our Director of Operations now being the news director at CITN we are having to cover several jobs and that has made things a little insane at the college.

Will let everyone know about Katie as soon as we know more. Keep her in your thoughts.

Rainy Season comes in with a bang

The rainy (read Hurricane) season officially started on Sunday. From Wednesday of last week on though we got a preview as for five straight days we have gotten rain. Much of it is from the hurricane in the eastern Pacific and from the tropical storm that hit Belize. We are getting the outer bands of both of those storms. Yesterday, Katie and I went to Cost U Less the Cayman version of Costco and stocked up on bulk canned good items for our hurricane kit as well as picking up some 5 Gallon Water containers for drinking water supplies. We hope to finish out our kit over the next few weeks. Katie's concert is this Saturday at the Grand Old House and she has rehearsals for it three times this week. Next week is final exams and the end of the Spring quarter. We have a National Holiday on June 16th celebrating the Queen's birthday then jump right into the Summer quarter beginning on the 18th.

Second Anniversary

Hard to believe but today is our second anniversary. It seems so recent but two years have passed since our ceremony in Aurora. Since we have to work this afternoon and evening, our gift to each other was our trip last weekend to Little Cayman. We did celebrate this morning with a breakfast of cinnamon rolls (reminder of our wedding cake) and some early swimming and snorkeling up at Rum point. Our wedding was at 10:00 a.m. so it seemed appropriate that we celebrated our anniversary in the morning.

Little Cayman

Last weekend we headed over to the smallest of the three Islands in the chain, Little Cayman. With less than 200 people and over 2000 iguanas we were headed to a very secluded and quiet place that was still in mostly pristine condition. We went for four days of rest and relaxation at the Beach Resort on the western end of the 10 mile long Island. We did some biking on Saturday after we arrived to check out the western tip of the Island. The airport bisects the main road and you actually bike over the runway to get from one side to the other and continue on the road. On Sunday morning, we Kayaked out to Owen Island which is a couple of hundred yards off the southern coast and is small uninhabited Island. It was about a 25 minute Kayak and we were both pretty tired when we got to the Island. We spent about two hours out there exploring, swimming and snorkeling. We kayaked back to the resort and took a nap before lunch. When we got back Katie was a little pink but not bad. When we awoke she was bright red on pretty much all of the parts of her body that had been exposed to the sun. We learned later that because of the winds our sunscreen that we applied before leaving was only good for about an hour and not having taken any out with us we didn't have a chance to reapply. I was wearing a tee shirt and had a walking hat on even in the water so I only got slightly burned in a couple of places. Katie was burned bad enough that she was pretty much out of action the rest of the vacation.

We spent most of the next two days hanging out on the hammocks in the shade and reading. We had bought the full meal plan and the meals were incredible. The resort caters to divers and they need big meals since they burn so much on their dives. Katie said it reminded her of camp where everyone would get together for breakfast then go off for their morning activities, then come back for lunch and repeat in the afternoon with dinner being full of the "dive" stories. we both agreed that we need to get certified and do some diving.

Even with the unfortunate sunburning, it was a very relaxing couple of days. We plan to go back and see the rest of the Island sometime before we head back to the States. There are now just three weeks left in our Spring quarter and with no break before the Summer quarter begins things are moving fast and furious. The cats have beaten the ringworm and we havent had to deal with giving them medicine in a while. Katie is getting ready for her concert with the national choir on June 7 and we are looking forward to visits from various family members from each of our families in the next several weeks. Congrats to Stephanie, Katie's sister who will graduate shortly and is coming to visit us in july as our graduation present to her.

Little Cayman Trip this weekend

This coming weekend is Discovery Day weekend here in the Cayman Islands. It celebrates the discovery of the Islands by Christopher Columbus in 1503. He sailed along the coasts of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman claiming the Islands for Spain. Monday is a national holiday so we are taking advantage of the three day weekend and heading over to Little Cayman to spend three nights at the Beach resort on the Island. The smallest of the Cayman Islands, Little Cayman is just less than 8 miles long and has a population of about 150 people. It is about 80 miles north and east of Grand Cayman and about 5 miles west of Cayman Brac. From the western most point on the Brac you can see Little Cayman across the channel. This is our anniversary present to each other and should be a relaxing and very quiet couple of days. We will get our real taste of flying in the Caribbean as the airstrip is a dirt runway. We are also looking forward to the snorkeling at what are widely rated as some of the best dive/snorkeling sites in the world just off the coast of Little Cayman.

Batabano

On Saturday we went to Batabano, Cayman's Carnivale. Here are some pictures from the event.

Radio Commercials

Katie and I each have a favorite radio commercial that the local stations play. Mine has nothing to do with selling anything its just a funny liner... "there are three kinds of people in the world, those who can count and those who cant." Katie's is a commercial for the easy listening station for listening at work and goes..."all your friends and family think your life is a Jimmy Buffett song but your stuck at work grinding it out every day, so listen to Mix 106.1 ............". The radio here has all kinds of stations from hard rock to pop to country and reggae. The one thing we don't have is talk radio or sports radio. Even Radio Cayman is a Christian music station that will break in with the official news during important times.

Off Season Blues

Yesterday was the unofficial end of tourist season here on Cayman. The radio played a song by the barefoot man called Off Season Blues several times. The song talks about the resorts and condo's being empty, the sun tan lotion going unsold, the cars not being rented and the taxi drivers sitting around with nothing to do everyone singing the off season blues. Tourist season returns in November with Pirates week. Now of course comes what is setting up to be a very hot summer. Cayman in April/May is very reminiscent of Austin in August, hot and muggy. You also cant help but sense it is going to be a long summer before the cool "Christmas winds" return in late November and December.

Poetry at Dart Park

Havent had time to post since we got back from Texas as we have been busy catching up from work. Last Friday we took an evening off and attended a poetry reading at Dart park on South Sound road. Dart is a large corporation here on the Island and has a huge charitable arm to keep on the governments good side. The park is behind the national trust building, a building we have biked or driven past a hundred or more times, But until we went looking for it Friday we didn't even it know the park was there. The park overlooks the water and has an outdoor amphitheatre and play areas. The poetry readings were indoors since it was after dark and the mosquitos are too big a problem outside. We were able avoid the mosquitos for the most part even though we sat on a picnic table outside and listened in. The night was designed to have poets on Cayman of all ages read some of their work. We went because two of our students were having their poems read by a third student. Surprisingly several more of our students had connections as their children were reading poems. It seemed that several of the primary schools had their students do a poem for class and then many chose to read it at this event.

Katie is getting ready for her first concert with the Cayman National Choir on June 7th. They will be singing with the Cayman National Orchestra at an event to be held at the Grand Old House on Petra Plantation and the concert is called around the world in an evening. They will be singing songs from all over the world and every Monday evening she heads off to practice.

Coming back from Texas, we brought all of Katie's scrap booking supplies and her special suit case. So of course American lost our luggage and we had to sweat out 24 hours of waiting for them to arrive. This seems to be a common problem with American and its flights to Cayman. We think its because they always oversell the flight so it is always packed then everyone is bringing several suitcases since vacationers come here usually for a week. So they hit their weight restriction and have to leave luggage for the next flight. The problem is we were on the last flight of the day so our luggage didn't come in until the next day. This being Cayman we had to run to the airport to pick up our luggage once it arrived because if we waited for American to deliver it, it would be a couple of more days.

We are into week five of our quarter and things just continue to fly along. We cant even catch our breath once we finish one task its right into another.

Texas for dental work and surprise birthday present

We are back in Duncanville, Texas this weekend so Scott could get some dental work done and we could surprise Katie's Mom for her birthday on Saturday. We left Grand Cayman at around noon on Thursday getting to Miami by 2 in the afternoon. But storms in DFW delayed our flight then caused a three hour flight from Miami to DFW to become a 6 hour flight and an unscheduled stop in Lubbock to refuel when the plane couldn't land at DFW. We had hoped to surprise Gail at her school in the early evening but that turned into a 1:00 a.m. wake up surprise when we finally got to Katie's parents house. Russell knew we were coming late last week and did such a good job of keeping the secret Gail had no idea, even slipping out to pick us up at the airport when our flight finally landed at midnight.

Today Scott got his tooth fixed. He had cracked a veneer last week and since they use different bonding material in Cayman we had to get the work done in the States. We could have gone to a dentist in Miami but decided to spend the extra money and come to Texas for Gail's birthday.

We are here through Sunday morning then return to Cayman.

Spring Cleaning

The first weekend of April meant spring cleaning of our house. We have gotten into the habit of not regularly cleaning and sweeping which meant the job was longer than it should have been. But after a couple of hours we had a sparkling kitchen, bathrooms and bedrooms and a living room that looked more like a living room and less like a storage room for all the stuff we bring home. The cats were a little freaked out but seem to have adjusted.

Friday night we went to the movies at Caymana Bay and saw Vantage Point which was actually a pretty good movie. It was pretty clear many of the people in the theatre had not seen the commercials and they were surprised that it was basically a telling of the same story from several different vantage points which meant that it was jumping back and forth. The quarter is now in full swing. Katie has had two classes with her Intro to College Studies students and is about to start the on line component which we are doing as a pilot program. Its funny you finish one quarter and before you catch your breath the next one is going and we are even already working on the summer schedule and faculty since registration for the summer starts at the end of April. The wheel just keeps turning.

Cayman National Choir

Katie has joined the Cayman national choir and is attending weekly practices in preparation for some summer concerts. This is something she has been talking about for a while and we have adjusted our Monday night work schedule so she can attend the practices. We are both looking forward to her debut and will post photographs when it happens.

It is beastly hot here most days which means a very hot and sticky rainy season is just around the corner and is not good news for the approaching hurricane season which begins in less than 60 days. It is also not good news for our electric bill. Even though we keep our home temperature at 80 degrees it is running a lot and electricity does not come cheap on this Island. The spring quarter is now in full swing and we are both working long days. We are planning to go to Little Cayman for our second wedding anniversary and finally get to see the third Island in the group. We are also fast approaching our one year anniversary of moving to Cayman, it certainly doesn't feel like a whole year has almost gone by.

Home from Florida

Katie and I are both back from Florida and settling in for the start of the spring quarter Monday. Katie learned a lot at her conference and it helped both of us to get off Island for a few days. Epcot center was incredible and we got some spectacular pictures of the fireworks and laser light display that closes the evening. We did a lot of shopping as we always do when we are in the States. It was also nice to catch up with family and see our niece and nephew. Last night we went out to a sports bar to watch the Texas basketball game in the NCAA tournament and this weekend is being spent doing the pre-quarter faculty meeting and getting ready for the new quarter. Will take a break tomorrow to watch the Horns in the Elite 8.

Friday in Central Florida

Katie and I are in Orlando tonight at the hotel which has free Internet access. We flew up to Tampa today and after a bank run drove over to Orlando where this evening we have been running errands and picking up items that are too expensive on the Island. Tomorrow is another day of shopping, errands and some fun with family. We are planning on doing Epcot Sunday and then I head home Monday while Katie stays for her conference the rest for the week.

We found out something fascinating about Cayman today that we didn't know. Camping is illegal on the Island year round except for three days, Good Friday through Easter Sunday when many of the Island residents camp out on the beach. Many people asked us if we were going camping and there were ads in the paper for camping supplies. Today we asked our neighbor Randy why the camping at this time of year and he related that it is a throw back to the era of slavery when the plantation owners would let their slaves free for the Easter weekend and the slaves would go down to the beach and camp with their families. There were very few slaves on Cayman which did not have many plantations but the tradition has now come down through the years and many Caymanians will be out on the beach the next two nights.

The quarter is over and this vacation and trip away could not have come at a better time.

Last week of Winter Quarter

It seems like the quarter just started but we have just four days left. That has meant dealing with registrations for the spring and finishing up this quarter. Katie is teaching the Intro to College Studies class next quarter so she is busy getting ready for that while still holding down all her registrar duties. She is also really looking forward to her first registrar conference in Orlando after the quarter ends. We leave Friday morning and fly up to Tampa then drive over to Orlando. Good Friday and Easter Monday are both national holidays so I am heading up for the long weekend to spend some time in Orlando before Katie's conference with her. I head home Monday as her conference starts and she comes home that Thursday. We have a week between quarters so Katie being gone for a week wont bring the entire college's activities to a halt.

We are both looking forward to a fun weekend in Orlando. Between meeting family and friends from the area and getting to see some of the amusement parks it will be a full weekend. Of course any trip to the U.S. means a long list of errands. We already have trips planned to costco, best buy and target as well as a bank run. There is also the mandatory scrap booking run.

I have joined the Kiwanis and yesterday spent a couple of hours at the Savannah Fosters helping to raise money for the Buy a Kid Breakfast program. There is no government meal program at the schools and so Kiwanis sponsors the breakfast program at five of the primary schools. We meet weekly for lunch in George town at the Britannia Golf Course which might be one of the strangest golf courses I have seen. A beautiful course designed by Jack Nicholas, it is also an iguana preserve and they lay out sunning themselves on the various holes. Katie and I are both trying to get more involved in the community and this is a good place for me. Katie is looking into joining the national choir starting in April and has also been talking to some fellow scrapbookers on the island.

Welcome Sarah Elizabeth Bezemek

On Monday night Gary and Elizabeth welcomed Sarah Elizabeth Bezemek to the world. Congratulations to them, we cant wait to meet her.

Back to Central Time

Cayman does not have daylight savings time so we awoke on Sunday to a new time zone. For the last four months we have been on Eastern time and our television shows have come on starting at 8:00 p.m. We don't get to watch TV during the week but on the weekends when we do it means late nights and no news until 11 p.m. Now that we are back to Central time we get shows starting at 7:00 p.m. and and actually get to watch the late news from the states before going to bed. Just two weeks left in our Winter quarter. Next quarter Katie is teaching the EN 100 Intro to College Studies class and she is doing it with an online component so she has been spending the last couple of weekends preparing for the class. Both of us have been sick with the flu which has been going around the Island like wildfire.

Constitutional Referendum

Here on Cayman it is election season also. In May the Caymanian citizens and status holders vote in a constitutional referendum on the proposed new constitution. As work permit holders Katie and I do not vote in the election and we stay as non-political as we can because the college has to operate in whatever political environment exists and we cant be in the business of choosing sides.

It is somewhat difficult to follow the debate. There is no question that Cayman is not looking for independence and wants to remain a protectorate. There is a debate about what that status means. Yesterday I attended a meeting of a civic organization I am joining, and the guest speaker was from the constitutional authority to talk about the referendum. She spoke of the current situation and why Cayman is drafting a new constitution. There was a similar process prior to Ivan but it failed and then when Ivan came along was shelved. This new process is well along and is ready to be put to a vote of the people.

After the speaker finished the floor was opened for questions. There were a few questions about helping the Cubans and about the impact on the roll over policy. Then a few softball questions about whether the referendum might get pushed back and the voting places that have been chosen. Eventually, the questions started coming fast and furious on whether or not the new constitution would have a bill of rights. At first I thought the questions must be because people wanted a bill of rights but it quickly became obvious that wasn't the case. In fact, it is having the bill of rights section that most concerned the questioners and finally someone said what apparently everyone else had been thinking but not saying which was does this new constitution and the bill of rights mean Cayman is going to have gay marriage?

Apparently there is concern here that since the U.K. has civil unions that will be imposed on Cayman and Caymanians are concerned that the new Constitution and the bill of rights in it is the vehicle for that. The speaker kept assuring the group that this was not the case and that the constitution does not change the definition of marriage. It was a stark reminder of just how conservative this Island is.

West Bay

The two hardest parts of the Island to get to from Red Bay are Northside and West Bay. We make it up to Northside every couple of months to go snorkeling at Cayman Kai or go out to Rum Point but other than two short trips early last summer we haven't been to West Bay at all. West Bay is the northwest part of the Island. It is at the top of seven mile beach and looks like the head of a wrench on the map. Hell is located in West Bay as are many restaurants and dive spots.

On Friday we decided to do something new for our date night and passed on another sushi run. Instead we made reservations at Pappagallos an upscale Italian restaurant in West Bay. It was about a 25 minute drive and once again we were reminded how spoiled we have gotten as that ride seemed to take forever. We used to not bat an eye traveling 30 plus minutes to Arlington or elsewhere to go to a restaurant but now 25 minutes seems like so long. There is only one road going into West Bay. It is the Seven Mile Beach Road that turns into the West Bay road. As soon as you enter West Bay you can tell it is the high population part of the Island. The density of houses and people is dramatic. We had been told that West Bay was where a lot of people lived but until we drove through it never really could picture it any differently than the other districts on the Island.

The houses ranged from obviously high income people to some neighborhoods that could best be described as a little sketchy. The richest people on the Island live right before West Bay on Boat Club drive and many have moved out to Savannah but the younger crowd that wants to be where all the action is live in West Bay. As we drove through we both realized that it was definitely not a place we would enjoy living in, too many people, too much traffic, not to mention the commute we would have to make out to Newlands.

Pappagallos was a really nice restaurant on an inlet near the top of West Bay. We didn't eat out on the deck as it was being used for a private party. Instead we ate inside which had a roof designed to look like a huge thatch hut. Around the outside of the room were parrot cages with brightly colored Cayman parrots. The food was very good and the atmosphere was really nice. We did notice a lot of tourists dressed like tourists. The other really high end restaurant we have been to, Grand Old House, people got dressed up to go to (even the tourists). At Pappagallos they were in their shorts and sun shirts. This isn't a restaurant we will go to very often, for one its pretty expensive (even more than Grand Old House) and its distance from our home is a factor. However, it is a special restaurant and can be used for some special occasions.

On Saturday we went to the movies and saw Juno. We are trying to catch up on all the Oscar movies as we hadn't seen any of the best picture nominees. There are just three weeks left in our Winter quarter and we are definitely ready for this quarter to be over. The cats are doing well, still fighting their ringworm medicine but settling in and walking around like they own the place.