First Week of the Term and Grand Opening of the New Building

Last week was the start of our fall term and with 233 students registered it was typical first week of the quarter insanity.  Adding to the regularly expected insanity were three things.  First Katie is back teaching for the first time in over a year.  She is teaching two classes, both on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  That means a sitter on Tuesdays and that on Thursdays I am working a full day and then in the evening watching Arianna.  Katie is very excited to be back teaching and has already set out weeks worth of lesson plans.  The second thing was that with the first week, a board meeting and the grand opening of the new building, John was on island and staying with us.  Finally, there was of course the new building and getting it opened and in use.  It was supposed to actually host classes last week but we couldn't get electricity to it until Friday so we had to move classes around all week while we waited for that to happen.  Tonight will be the first classes in the building which is quite exciting.

The ceremonial grand opening went off Friday afternoon with the Minister of Education on hand to give remarks and representatives from the financial services organizations that had donated money to outfit the two classrooms.  Arianna was on hand and happy to be passed around by her ICCI family all of who wanted to hold her and pay attention to her.  The building looked great and it will definitely be well received by the students who take classes in the new classrooms.  The first official function in the building would happen Saturday as the Board of Trustees held its fall meeting in the CISPA (CI Society of Professional Accountants) classroom.  In a bit of good timing this was the bye week for the Horns so no football watching was harmed in the insanity of this weekends events.

Arianna in her outfit for the ceremony

Arianna and Daddy after the ceremony

Gang War in Cayman

The real world is interrupting this island's desire to be a quiet sleepy tourist and banking destination.  Two gangs from up in West Bay the far west and northern part of the island have broken into open warfare and there have been four murders in the last six days in tit for tat shootings.  That is almost as many as these islands will get in a year.  The Governor called a special meeting of the top government officials and there has been open discussion of a curfew for the West Bay area and with the spread of shootings to the capital yesterday the Premier made an address to the nation yesterday about it.  So far at least everything has been far away from our neighborhood and from the college but we are keeping an eye on things.  Everyone seems conscious though of the fact that this is one short step from us being like Jamaica and not being the "safe" tourist destination in the Caribbean so we expect heavy police presence and crackdowns over the next few weeks.

Classes started yesterday but unfortunately we had a hiccup with the new building as CUC wont get electricity to it until Wednesday.  That meant last night we had to move classes around and use the canteen, something we will have to do again tonight while we wait for the new classrooms to open.  Yesterday was number 41 and we did a baby swap sitter and had a nice birthday dinner for me Sunday night at Yoshi's to celebrate.

New Building on Campus Complete

McLaughlin Hall

Last fall we broke ground on the newest building for our campus, a new classroom building to be called McLaughlin Hall after one of our distinguished graduates and benefactors.  It had been two plus years since completing the tearing down of the old administration and library building and that work had left a big empty space in the rear of our campus.  During the spring we dealt with delays from the architect and from planning but as we entered May construction finally started.  All summer we have been watching the construction of the new building with growing excitement.  The weather has been kind enough to not cause too many delays.  That doesn't mean we didn't have problems but the majority of issues with it were caused by government's generally slow and plodding movement which isn't unexpected, though definitely frustrating. 

Still, everything has finally been resolved, the construction completed and Monday the new McLaughlin Hall classroom building will finally open.  It is the third building on our campus and is to the rear of the Friends Hall classroom building back where the old storage shed used to be, behind the old library.  The new building has two large classrooms with seating for 32 students.  Two local financial organizations sponsored the classrooms purchasing smart boards, lecterns, whiteboards, tables and chairs for seating and generally insuring that these will be state of the art classrooms.  It is an exciting time on campus and will definitely make for a fantastic fall term as we get the 2011-2012 academic year started.

For comparison, here is an aerial view of our campus taken in 2008.  You can see the white shed to the rear of the campus where the new building and parking lot now sit.  The college owns the field north of the lot and Clayton Strain so there is still a lot of room to grow.

World Cup 2014 Qualifier

Cayman scores its only goal on a PK in 4-1 loss

One of the perks in my work for the Ministry of Health is that the Minister of Health is also the Minister of Sport and from time time that means an opportunity to attend significant sporting events on the island.  This evening was one of those times as I got to sit in the VIP section of Truman Bodden National Stadium in George Town as the Cayman Islands took on El Salvador in World Cup 2014 qualifying.  I attended with the CEO of CINICO and was a few rows up from the Governor of the Island and most of the CI Government Ministers and officials.  We were also one row above the officials from El Salvador and it was interesting to watch how they were living and dying with every pass and shot.

El Salvador was unlucky not to get two or three first half goals as the half ended in a nil-nil draw. But as the second half began they scored twice early to take a commanding lead.  But then, trailing 2 nil Cayman had a fantastic ten minute run that included their goal on a deserved PK and then culminated just a few minutes later when a great shot from distance after three beautiful set up passes almost tied the score at 2 but went just over the cross bar. The crowd was really into the game and you could feel the electricity in the air.  After that though it was back to dominance by El Salvador as they scored twice more and easily could have won 7 or 8 to 1 but hit the post at least four times. The crowd of around 2000 was great for a small nation and it was a blast to see world quality futbol (such as it was) in person here in the Islands. Even though it was "work related", it was a great evening and a fun match to watch.

Fan below us shows the colors

With one of the El Salvador officials before the match

First Day of Football

The sixth annual First Day of Football (FDOFB) celebration kicked off in the Cummings household last night with the ceremonial giving of gifts.  This year that consisted of two new Longhorn car decals for our vehicles and some Longhorn cookies made by Katie.  One of the decals we had been trying to find for a couple of years and Katie found it on the Internet and secretly ordered it.  Unfortunately, a few months ago I randomly ran into someone in a parking lot at a restaurant who just happened to have the decal.  With Katie watching on in horror I proceeded to ask him where he got the decal and after he mentioned he was leaving island began to negotiate for the purchase of it right then and there.  That forced Katie to step in and reveal she had already bought one and it was a FDOFB present.  Although the surprise was lost, it was still great to finally put the decal on the car after waiting patiently for a couple of months knowing we had it.

Katie also hung out the Texas Longhorn flag this week from the window of the nursery overlooking the living room.  This morning we took some family photos decked out in our longhorn gear and this evening I will head over to the sports bar which is going to be streaming the Texas opener against Rice.  Someday this will take a lot of explaining to Arianna why Daddy gets his own private Christmas in September (after all, it is the most wonderful time of the year, the start of the college football season).  I am so lucky to have married a women who embraced my obsession rather than fighting it. Lets hope my daughter is as understanding as her Mom.

August winding down

Sunday Dress

As August winds down and we head into September this past weekend was the last one before, as Katie likes to say, "my mistress begins to want time with me".  By mistress, she means of course football season.  Though somehow calling football a "mistress" just seems strange to me. Obsession sure, but mistress, not hardly? Regardless, with our cable just having added ESPNU and the Big Ten network (though no Longhorn network just yet) we are definitely ready for the games to begin.  The hope here is that last years disaster of a season is not repeated.  In this family we celebrate "first day of football" as a holiday and it will be Arianna's first.  We have her Longhorn onesie ready to wear and new decals for both cars.

We have two weeks left in our summer term and are getting ready for the grand opening of our new classroom building.  It has been great watching it go up all summer and now that they are in the final stages everyone is watching and the excitement is rising.  The celebration with the ribbon cutting is set for the 23rd though we actually will start classes in it on the 19th.  I have my surgery on the 14th during the off week between classes and should be ready to go by the 19th.  I meet with the anaesthesiologist next week to finalize everything.

We hope all our relatives on the east coast came through Irene OK.  The locals down here have questioned why the fuss over just a Cat 1 storm because down here going through a Cat 1 as we did with Gustav and then Paloma a couple of years ago was easy.  But we forget that those were small storms no where near the size of Irene and that had this Island been hit even by a Cat one for as long as areas were hit by Irene we would have massive flooding and issues too.  The storm season isn't even yet at its mid way point so we are still being vigilant.

Another reason why this is not exactly Paradise

August and September are our yearly reminder of one of the costs of living in "paradise", storms.  It looks certain now that Irene will not be paying us a visit but the shooting gallery has 8 more weeks so while we breathe a little easier this morning that is just until the next one on the assembly line rolls off the African coast.  We get other reminders from time to time too.  A couple of weeks ago, I was in the kitchen when out of the corner of my eye I saw a pretty big black object moving into our downstairs bathroom.  Initially thinking that it might be the largest roach ever I cautiously approached.  When it came fully into view I was shocked to see that it was in fact about a 4 inch long scorpion that had wandered into our house.  It did not survive the meeting with my shoe.  We get other exotic visitors every once in a while from centipedes to strange looking water bugs driven in during the hot summer.  With Arianna moving all over the downstairs we are extra vigilant as we don't want her making a new "friend".

Again with the A/C

Yesterday afternoon around 1 p.m. Katie called down stairs to tell me that the air had gone up to 88 degrees in the house.  We checked the air conditioner and could feel air coming out but it wasn't the normal cooled air.  We were able to get a Sunday service call but it was not a repair that could be done that afternoon and the return call would not be until first thing Monday morning.    We got a hold of our landlady who is currently in Panama and she asked us to get a second set of eyes to look at the unit and give an estimate.  Unfortunately, the man she suggested also couldn't come out until first thing Monday morning.  After some debate about spending the night at a hotel we decided to tough it out and use fans to get through the night.  It was a miserable night as poor Arianna just couldn't keep cool even with a fan on her crib.  She woke up several times and at one point was awake for about a two plus hour stretch between 1:00 and 3:30 a.m.  She finally fell asleep and slept until a little after 7 a.m.  She was happy this morning but still tired and went down for her 9 a.m. nap happily even though she had only been up two hours. 

The repairman suggested by our landlady showed up right at 8 a.m. and for now has gotten the unit back up and working (cool air never felt so good).  It is a bit disappointing that the first repairman couldnt get it back up and running at least for last night as this one did.  However, even this repairman says it is just a temporary patch job and that the unit will have to be rewired and repaired though his estimate is substantially less than the first one.  He is communicating directly with our landlady who to her credit has said to him to get it fixed asap.  Much like the blackout last week this was another dry run for a hurricane aftermath when we wouldn't have A/C though this time we got to see how it would be if we at least had battery powered fans and frankly it is only marginally better.

Blue Dragon's

The Rock and Chloe's Iguana at the Mission House
 in Bodden Town

Yesterday afternoon we went in search of more blue dragon statues to add to Arianna's photograph collection.  We have been trying to get photographs of her with all 15 of the original Blue Iguana statues that comprise the Blue Iguana trail on Grand Cayman.  We have a map of where they are supposed to be but have discovered to our distress that only about half of them are where they should be and thus far only have six of them photographed with her.  We had two hours free and wanting to keep Arianna occupied we set out to find the one in Bodden Town.  As luck would have it, we found two of them (neither of which was where they were supposed to be).  We found them at the Mission House a national trust historic site in the original capitol of the Cayman Islands.  One of them was the Bodden Town statue, the other was supposed to be out in East End.  Neither were attached to their pedestals and had we been more felonious, we could have taken one home as a souvenir as they didn't seem very heavy.

Chloe's Iguana which is supposed to be out in East End

Lights out in Cayman

Last night about 9:10 p.m. as I was working in my office the power suddenly went dead.  We are used to the occasional rolling brown out in Newlands so at first I just sat there for a moment expecting the power to pop back on any second.  The college has emergency lighting and after a few seconds it was clear this wasn't something that would pop back on any moment and I started to wander the campus checking rooms and making sure that no one was stuck somewhere in the complete dark.  About ten minutes into the blackout it was evident that this wasn't going to be a short one and so we ended classes early sending everyone home.  I had called home to Katie who told me the blackout was affecting Red Bay as well and that it had awoken Arianna.  After getting everyone on campus off safely and making sure the radio station was unplugged and all the A/C's along with as many lights as we could switch off were turned off, I headed home.  It was weird driving home as everything was dark except for the car headlights.  The power outage seemed to be island wide.

I got home to a dark house that was quickly heating up with no air flow.  All we had for light were flashlights and the upstairs was too hot to get Arianna settled down.  We decided to bring Arianna down stairs where it was cooler and set up sheets and pillows on the tile floor as well as her pack and play.  It wasn't so  much that the house was hot as it was there was no air flow from the fans and that makes the heat stifling.  Arianna was freaked out and didn't understand what was going on.  We tried rocking her and shushing her but she was very disturbed by how dark it was.  We opened the downstairs blinds because the near full moon gave us some good ambient light.  The power outage lasted almost an hour after I got home finally coming back on around 10:45.  It was a short dry run for what it might be like during a hurricane if we do lose power.  We definitely learned that we need to have flashlights in every room and some battery powered fans for air flow.  We found out this morning that the outage was over most of the island and caused by a truck accident right near CUC's power plant in the industrial park.  Last night was Arianna's first Caribbean style black out and hopefully isn't something she gets to repeat these next few weeks during the height of hurricane season.

Sunday Morning Snorkel

Several weeks ago Katie started a baby swap with several of the mommies in her baby group.  Basically it is free baby sitting as one mommy watches the babies for a couple of hours while the other couple gets time out.  We used one of our turns to go see Harry Potter a few weeks back and this morning cashed in another one to go have brunch at Eats cafe and do some snorkeling over at Eden Rock.  We havent been able to snorkel together just the two of us since Arianna was born so it was nice to be able to do that together again.  Here are a few shots from this morning.

A tarpon that meandered beneath us

Stoplight Parrot Fish

Black Durgon

Friday afternoon in George Town

For a long time we have talked about picking an afternoon and going into town to play tourist like we just came off a cruise ship.  Yesterday we finally found the time to do it and after packing up lots of food, toys and other items for Arianna drove over to Bayshore Mall on the water front and parked to begin our tour.  We started looking for the National Gallery which is moving to a new location on the Harquayle bypass but for now is still located in the Harbour Shops.  It took us a little time to find it but eventually we did and went in to see an exhibit on the Persistence of Memory.  There were only two viewing rooms which made it a brief stop but still interesting and when they move to their new larger location it should make for a nice afternoon out.  After the gallery we headed into the town square.

Saturday is Jamaican Independence Day and with so many Jamaicans on island, Cardinal Avenue was closed to traffic for a two day festival celebrating their independence from Britain.  We wandered past the booths smelling the food and enjoying the cultural displays.  We were headed to the downtown post office and the two blue iguana statues that are near it.



Arianna with Arti who celebrates 500 years for Cayman

 

Across from the historic downtown
post office



Arianna really liked the blue iguana in the post office roundabout and played with it and on it for several minutes.  But when we crossed the street to get pictures of her with the second statue she decided she had had enough and wanted to be held and given water (it was quite hot so we completely understood).  Katie held her for a moment we clicked the shots for the blue iguana trail book we plan to do and then it was on to Heroes Square and some food.

Our next stop was Heroes Square the town center of George Town and a look at the statues of some of the national heroes and the wall of history as well as some peaches and bread sticks for the little one.



Statue of James Bodden, First National Hero
and the man who donated the land on which ICCI sits

From Heroes Square we made the short walk over to the waterfront and Fort George.

After reading the markers we headed down the waterfront and back toward Bayshore mall.  To really be tourists we took one more photo.

Walking around in the hot sun for two plus hours left us all a little exhausted.  We headed up to Camana Bay for some frozen drinks and a chance for Arianna to unwind.  It was a great afternoon and we got to see some parts of George Town that we have always intended to visit but just never found the time.

Rainy July gives way to likely stormy August

There hasn't been a whole heck of a lot for us to write about these past few weeks other than the usual updates to the baby blog.  Of course Arianna dominates our days and activities.  In non-baby news,  my father was on island for a week and a half for college business as we get closer and closer to opening the new classroom building and negotiate with the government on the daytime program we have been working with them on for the past year.  August promises to be eventful though not necessarily the type of events we want as the storms are lining up over in Africa for their long trek across the Atlantic.  Emily should form later today though she may be a problem for Florida and hopefully not us.  We have been watching the TV series Lost and at a rapid clip of 2 plus episodes a day will finish all six seasons in just a little over a month of watching.  We have decided to do a team triathlon in November with Katie doing the ten 10k me doing the 40k bike and one of Katie's Mommy group friends doing the mile swim so we are both in training for that now.  Football season is inching closer and just the dog days of August to get through.

Watching an 8 month old

While the majority of updates on Arianna are going on the blog especially designated for her, it is hard to update in general what is happening with us as a family without focusing on things related to her.  This weekend for example we decided we had to address the fact that our little "thrill junkie" loves to climb up the stairs. This of course required one of us to follow very closely behind to catch her if she missed a step or took a tumble. 

The problem of course is that Arianna doesn't realize she needs Daddy or Mommy to go up with her and wants to climb them all the time.  We put the laundry hamper in front of the stairs as a temporary measure but she quickly discovered that she could climb over it or pull it out of the way so we couldn't look away for even a moment when she is on the floor downstairs.  When I was in Miami two weeks ago I picked up a gate and on Sunday we had some time to put it up.  We borrowed a drill from a friend and after a few starts and stops got her new gate up.

We are going to add a few more gates around the house in the next few weeks as we get a better feel for what areas we dont want her getting into so easily staring with the top of the stairs so she can start crawling around the upstairs. 

We are now in the fourth week of our summer term.  I have been reappointed for another one year term as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Cayman Islands National Insurance Company and this past Friday began service on a government committee examining healthcare costs to the government in the Cayman Islands and ways of reducing them. We are now entering the real hurricane season which everyone says starts on July 15.  The Cape Verde season doesnt begin until August 15 but we are now into that mode of checking the NHC site every morning and having plans in place to move quickly should it look like we will get a storm.

Visit from Danny Knowles and Family

All of us at Rum Point

Today we got a visit from Danny Knowles and his family who came to Grand Cayman on a cruise ship and were in for the day.  Danny is the Minister who married us just over five years ago and it was great to see him and catch up with him and Sharon.  We got to introduce them to Arianna who was very happy to make more friends that would play with her,  We took them out to Rum Point and got to do some swimming and snorkeling as well as all have jerk pork for lunch.  It was a far too quick a visit as we had to get them back to their tender so they could head out early in the afternoon.  Still, it was great to see them and really good to spend some time with people from home.

Home from Miami

I am home from Miami this evening after a long five days away.  I have never been happier to have a bumpy landing in Cayman than tonight so I could get home to Katie and Arianna.  This past weekend was our Seminar on Religion up in Miami and I attended my first ever Muslim call to prayer and service, Jewish service, and Hindu morning service.  I was really fascinated by all three and learned a lot I didn't know about each of those faiths.  One thing I had experienced before was Greek Orthodox service, but after a four hour long Greek Orthodox service this weekend, the only thing I took away was that I will never again complain about Mass running long.  Today is also a national holiday in Cayman for Constitution Day so no school as we traveled back.  Tomorrow it's back to the grind of classes and the dog days of summer.

--Scott

When you are the immigrant "stealing" someone's job

Next month both Katie and I apply to have our work permits renewed.  They both expire at the end of August and we are making sure our applications are in with plenty of time to spare.  We probably won't hear anything until later in the fall as there is a huge backlog and the wheels of immigration move slowly down here.  These renewals are an every two year reminder that we are guests in this country and here by permission not right.  Most locals are very welcoming and view us as a part of the community.  Our students in particular could not be more open and friendly whether you are an ex pat or a local.  We feel a sense of obligation to our community and do what we can to pitch in and be a part of it. 

Unfortunately there is a small but vocal group here, much like some Americans back home, who view all immigrants with disdain and distrust.  In their minds we are just here stealing some Caymanian's job and we will always be the "ex-pats" who are just taking advantage of the "true" Caymanians.  There is even a morning talk show on a major radio station that seems to feed on the "ex-pat" hatred.  Sadly, some local politicians also seem to believe they can make their careers capitalizing on this anger at "ex-pats" and they stoke the fires whenever they can even in the most absurd of cases.  In the last two years, several thousand ex pats have left the island according to the government figures.  That is a couple thousand people no longer renting properties to live in.  Those same thousands are no longer buying groceries, or clothes, or eating at restaurants.  They aren't buying cars or gasoline or having their autos serviced.  No cable or electric usage or work permit fees being paid to the government or importing goods and the attendant duties government relied upon or using the banks and those fees.  In the same time unemployment (which is calculated only by Caymanians since all ex pats must have a job to be on island) has grown and now tops ten percent.  In the same period, long time restaurants and businesses are closing and the government is struggling to bring in enough revenue to continue to operate. 

It has also created a sense of resentment amongst some ex pats who then go on to act exactly like they are accussed of, giving nothing back and just making their money and leaving.  A vicious circle that benefits the community not at all.  The law of unintended consequences comes into full play when you run off thousands of people who were pumping money into your economy.  The USA in many ways and on a grander scale faces this same issue and perhaps would do well to look at Cayman and see the stark consequences of scapegoating foreigners for your own issues. 

Gnips and Red Plums

Although the summer means heat and hurricanes down here, it also brings us my two favorite tropical fruits, gnips (pronounced ga-nip) and red plums.  Gnips are small golf ball size fruits that grow on trees.  They have a tough outer shell that you split and pull off.  The fruit itself is around a hard pit and you literally chew it off the pit in your mouth until you have gotten it all (at least that is how I eat them). Other more refined individuals probably bite off small bits thus leaving way too much still on the pit when they finish.  Red plumbs also have a skin and pit but you eat the skin of them along with the fruit around the pit.  Willie's fruit stand near our house has started carrying early season pickings of both fruit and this week we got our first batch of both.  Arianna has already tried red plums and likes them as much as her father, gnips are for later this week.

Father's Day out at Rum Point

Yesterday was my first official Father's Day and to celebrate we loaded up the car and made the drive out to Rum Point on the north side of the Island.  We went out early to beat the heat which has been pretty intense down here.  Arianna loved the water as she always does though after a long day at the beach yesterday she was ready to call it a day earlier than she might have under other circumstances.  Katie and I have started watching "Lost" so we headed home to a quiet afternoon of DVD watching and playing with the little one.  All in all it was a fantastic first Father's Day.  This is an off week at the college with no classes, though we do have our comprehensive examinations for graduating Bachelor and Master candidates along with the summer faculty meeting and summer orientation so it will still be busy.  The summer is traditionally our smallest term so it shouldnt be quite as hectic around the college for a couple of months.  We are looking at a huge fall though so we are already gearing up.

Saturday Afternoon Beach Cookout

Yesterday the college held a cook out on Seven Mile Beach for students, alumni, and staff.  Arianna had a great time meeting many of the students she hadn't been introduced to yet and was happy to be passed around and meet them and their children.  The event celebrated the end of spring finals for current students and was a chance for alumni to get together and reconnect with each other and meet the current students.  We spent several hours out there and everyone had a great time.

Grilling the Chicken



With Esther from Kenya and Maxine from St. Vincents



With Carmarla, Sheena, EJ (the other little one)
and Shakira all from Cayman

End of Spring Term

Yesterday was the official end of our spring term and for Katie and I the completion of four full academic years at ICCI.  Construction has finally begun in earnest on our new third building which will house some state of the art business classrooms and that has the campus even more busy during the day.  It is a great sight each day to come in and see the building going up bit by bit.  The foundation is already laid and this week the outer walls started going up.  We hope it will be done by the end of July in plenty of time to have our grand opening and use the classrooms this fall.  The summer is always a little more laid back as the student body is its smallest of the year and everything slows down with the heat and the rain as well as the constant watching for hurricanes.

On the home front Arianna is just a bundle of energy crawling all over the house and using anything she can leverage to lift herself up.  She is definitely going to be an early walker.  We were warned that once they started moving everything would be different and it certainly is.  The days do just seem to run together lately and I sometimes have to look at a calendar just to see what day it is.

Fridays

One of the nice things about working at the college is the Friday schedule.  We have classes Monday through Thursday and thus are open from 9 in the morning until 10:15 or so at night.  While none of us work all 13 hours it does make for long days and evenings. Combine that with other events and weekend work and it is a tough work week.  We make up for it by working half days on Fridays.  Usually that means 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.  With the Government program going on for me lately that has meant 11-3 or on days like today where I have an external exam 2 to 6 p.m. 

So this morning with a full morning off we decided to head over to Camana Bay and introduce Arianna to the joys of playing in the fountains.  She loved it and here are a few of the shots.

First Day of Hurricane Season

If its the start of June then that signals the official start of hurricane season down here.  While things usually don't get interesting until August but not always.  When we first moved here four years ago a very eraly season tropical storm was busy dumping several days of rain on Cayman making for a very wet first few weeks.  This year our hurricane kit will include lots of baby stuff and we have already decided that anything over a category two and we are sending Mom and baby off island (now no cheering for hurricanes by our Texas relatives just so you can see the little one!).  Construction officially began this week on our new classroom building at the college and you can feel the excitement each day as people see the building start to go up.  It should be done in July depending on weather and other possible (like government) delays so with any luck we will have it available for classes this fall.  We have three weeks left in the Spring term so we are busy finishing that out and registering students for the summer.  Should be a quiet June travel and family wise but hectic work wise.

Four years in Cayman

Governor's Beach on May 28

May is the month for significant dates in our family.  We just celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary.  May is also the month we met and is the month we moved to the Cayman Islands. May 31, 2007 saw us take the leap and move down here to start our work at the International College.  Four years later we are still here and now with a new addition to our family as well.  As we look back over the past four years there are a ton of memories that jump out.  Going through Hurricane Dean just three months into our move was a sharp introduction to the reality of hurricane season down here.  Dealing with the high cost of living while enjoying all the island has to offer has been quite an experience too.  Where else could we live and only have to drive 5 minutes to be on a beautiful beach.  The work at the college has been both difficult and rewarding and seeing the college doing well today is something we take great pride in as we played a big role in that.  And of course Baby 2010 and the birth of Arianna.  No matter what happens to us this will always be the place our daughter was born.

Fifth Anniversary

To celebrate our fifth anniversary we headed up to Papagallos in West Bay.  Arianna's grandfather is on island for some work at the college and pulled down babysitting duty for the evening so we could have a nice romantic dinner, just the two of us.  Papagallos is at the very top of West Bay near Barkers national park and is in a somewhat secluded area giving it a real natural feel.  As we talked over dinner we realized we hadn't been up there since the graduation banquet for 2008.  So much has changed in our first five years together from where we live, to our jobs and now even to the composition of our family.  Thanks to all the folks who sent us congrats and who relived memories with us of that special day.  Katie officially graduates next Friday with her Masters degree so we have another celebration coming up next week.  Making the day even more special Arianna decided to say her first word "Mama" though whether she meant Katie or just that everything is "mama" we couldn't tell.  She did say it several times so we didn't have to ask ourselves are we really hearing this.

Five Years Ago Tonight

Five years ago tonight I was in my last few hours of being single.  I remember getting back to our apartment relatively early in the evening from the rehearsal dinner.  It was an early wake up call the next morning so I hadn't intended to stay up late but the combination of anticipation and a good basketball game kept me up into the wee hours of the morning.  Earlier in the day we had done the rehearsal out at the Ranch and then the rehearsal dinner at Billy Bob's.  Katie was staying at the Ranch and had the car we planned to use to drive back so my ride was one of my best men Gary who was to meet me the next morning at the break of dawn.  I kept reminding myself of this fact as I stayed up later and later.  Most of the night is a blur but I do remember not being nervous even though I thought I was supposed to be.  I was completely at ease with what was going to happen and I can distinctly remember thinking you should be nervous now, why aren't you nervous.  There was a lot of anticipation but not the questions I thought you were supposed to have the night before you get married.  Five years later there still aren't any questions and its even more clear now than it was then how fortunate I was to have met and eventually married Katie.  I love her even more now than I did then and look forward to the next five years, and the five after that, and the five after that............

Home from Atlanta

After five days in Atlanta for the spring seminar I am back in Cayman.  Katie and Arianna did not come with so it was all work though I did take the time to go pick up a high chair to bring back.  I got to see my brother Kevin who helped out with the field trips in downtown Atlanta on Friday and overall the seminar went very well.

Solid Food at Last

With the Pediatrician signing off it is time to start introducing Arianna to solid foods and Tuesday morning was her first such meal.  Katie ground up some sweet potato into a mush that was soft and safe for Arianna and this time while Arianna sat at the breakfast table she got to participate.  At first she was a little confused but she quickly got the hang of it and at one point even wanted to take the spoon herself and put it in her mouth. 

Six Month Birthday

Six Months Old Today

It hardly seems possible but today is Arianna's six month birthday.  To celebrate she is seeing the pediatrician and possibly tomorrow may start solid foods.  All morning we have been singing the song from Alice in Wonderland (with a slight change) "A very Happy Half Birthday to you....".  She is also coming up on her six month shots later this week so we are a little worried about her getting sick as a result though she has come through each previous set of shots in good shape.  The cliche that "it seems like only yesterday" is so appropriate with her, it really seems like just last week we were bringing her home.  In other exciting news, we got a message from the University of Denver about the capstone which is now being submitted for approval (hopefully just a formality as it has been vetted by the advisor and academic director already for any necessary changes) and graduation is now set for June 3, 2011.

Happy Mother's Day

For us this is a significant Mother's Day as it is the first one for Katie with Arianna.  We want to wish a very Happy Mother's Day to our Mom's, you are in our thoughts.  For our first family Mother's Day we plan to head up to Rum Point and spend some time on the beach and in the water.

Afternoon Update

We had a great time out at Rum Point and Arianna went swimming not once but twice.  She is definitely a fish as she took to the the water like it was a second home and was angry when we took her out. 

First Mother's Day as a family

Other odds and ends catching up

Before we left for our trip to the USA we had a busy week in Cayman highlighted by a visit from Governor Duncan Taylor.  As many of you know, the Cayman Islands are a British Overseas Territory and while it has its own legislative assembly and Premier they ultimately must get the Governor's approval for all actions and his signature on all laws.  It is a subtle but firm reminder that the British are the ultimate government here.  He is the Queen's representative and is referred to as "His Excellency" the Governor.  We had been trying to set up a visit to ICCI for several months and had cancelled an earlier visit at the last minute when he got stuck in budget meetings.  This time he set aside a large block of time and came with his wife to visit the college.  He was given a tour as well as a chance to meet our staff and interact with a couple of our early classes.  He did a question and answer session with one of our classes and seemed to have a good give and take with the students during that session.



Governor Taylor and his wife with Friends Hall
in the background

Governor Taylor takes questions from students

Headed Home

A happy Cinco De Mayo and happy birthday to Arianna's Aunt Melanie.

To finish out reviewing our trip home, Friday April 29 was royal wedding day and the real reason we were doing what we called Arianna's North American tour since it meant we could do a ten day vacation and only miss three days of work (combined with the Easter holidays).  We didn't wake up early to watch it but did catch the balcony scene before leaving for our flight.  If the flight to Chicago was a good example of Murphy's Law the flight home was karma paying us back as we had no problems and Arianna even slept most of it.  Back in the metroplex it was time to do some shopping that we needed done and to spend some final quality time with the Loski grandparents and Aunt Stephanie.  We hadn't bought new running shoes in over three years and the folks at run on sports gave us funny looks when they saw the condition of our shoes.

 

As the long week came to an end we packed up the stuff we had bought and the stuff we had picked up from the storage facility and got ready to head back to Cayman.  The flight home included a layover in Houston so Aunt Melanie came out to the airport and brought us Indonesian food for lunch.

We got back to Cayman around 4 p.m. and were met by one angry cat who proceeded to yell at us for the next 6 hours until we went to bed.  We are back into our routine now and sliding back into our normal activities.  This month includes the spring seminar in Atlanta and we hope for certain milestones with Arianna like her first crawl.