Somber Saturday

Two weeks ago while Scott was in Orlando, one of our students was killed in a car wreck in Lower Valley. On the Wednesday after his death we held a memorial service at the college and yesterday was his funeral. Scott gave a brief speech at the funeral service on behalf of the college and several of the students in attendance went up with him to represent ICCI. We often jokingly complain about the stupidity of drivers in Cayman particularly the young ones who speed around in their cars like they are immortal. Yesterday was a stark reminder that no one is immortal and having such a feeling is just not reality. It was a difficult Saturday afternoon and burying a student is something we hope to never have to go through again.

Queen's Monument

We took advantage of the national holiday this afternoon and headed up to the north side of the Island to snorkel the Queen's Monument area. We had not been up to that part of the island for several months and it was great to get out there again. The tide was in so we were able to swim over many of the coral areas which were very active. Among the many new species we saw today were a Bearded Fireworm (at left), Yellow Fanworm, Flamingo Tongue (below) and a Nimble Spray Crab. We normally look for fish species but today decided to focus reef creatures since we have a book for those and haven't been able to fill in many of the varieties as having been identified. The water was fantastic and we actually spent a good hour snorkeling. We have found a very secluded entrance to the snorkeling area and once again had the beach to ourselves. The new camera worked great and fits the case perfectly.

National Heroes Day

Tomorrow is the celebration of National Heroes Day here in the Cayman Islands, a national holiday. Heroes Square in George Town will be the site of a big formal event. The crowds are usually pretty big and so of course Kathleen and I will head to the other side of the Island for a nice quiet picnic and some snorkeling. We picked up a new camera while I was in Orlando (thanks to my brother Kevin, for bringing it down to us) and plan to test it with the underwater case. We are both doing well with our exercising and Katie has celebrated the loss of ten pounds since we started (me around 4 pounds).

Local Coverage of Earthquake

Here are some articles from our local papers. We cant seem to get the link to load as a hyperlink so just cut and paste into your address bar.

http://www.compasscayman.com/caycompass/2010/01/20/Earthquake-rattles-nerves-in-Cayman/

http://www.caymannetnews.com/breaknews-19981--1-1---.html

Earthquake in Cayman

Update at 12:45 p.m.

The Earthquake has caused a few sinkholes on South Sound and apparently the buildings in George Town swayed a bit but we have no damage to our residence or to the college. Whether or not you felt the earthquake appears to be determined by if you were inside or not. The all clear has been given on the Island and no tsunami watch or warning was ever issued. They felt it at the college when it happened but other than being scary for those who felt it, nothing bad appears to have happened.

Original post

We wanted to let everyone know that we are just fine. Apparently there was a 5.8 magnitude earthquake about 30 miles off the coast of Grand Cayman this morning. We were out on our morning walk and didn't even realize it had happened. There are rampant rumors but we wanted you guys to know, since CNN just aired something, that we are just fine.

Tsunami Paranoia

Last night around 6:30 one of our students came breathlessly into my office announcing that the Cayman Islands were under a Tsunami warning because of the Haitian Earthquake. We quickly let him know that in fact there was never a tsunami warning only a tsunami watch and that it had only applied to eastern Cuba and the Island of Hispaniola (on which sit Haiti and the Dominican Republic). Further it had expired over an hour earlier. Never the less, for the rest of the night we had to assure restless students who came in after getting texts from friends, that we weren't all going to be washed away by a giant wave. It is amazing how quickly rumors fly on a small island. It was a reminder though that while tsunami's are rare in the Caribbean they are not impossible and with the Cayman Trench a mere hundred or so miles from Grand Cayman a magnitude 7 earthquake there would pretty much wipe out the Cayman Islands. We morbidly joked for the rest of the night that our tsunami evacuation plan involved two bottles of rum and kissing our rear ends goodbye as there really is no high ground on this Island (besides the trash dump). Oh well, another day in paradise.

Graduation, National Championship Game and Cold Weather

Last week was our graduation ceremony and on the same evening Texas played Alabama for the national championship. The ceremony was fantastic, the game not so much. The acting Governor, the Premier, the Minister of Education and several other Ministers and members of the Legislative Assembly were part of the crowd of close to 700 people who attended the ceremony. It went off mostly without a hitch and everyone raved about how great a job Kathleen did in coordinating the entire event. Scott made it home with about 5 minutes to go in the first quarter and agonized through the game which he is still convinced would have turned out differently if Colt McCoy hadn't been injured on Texas' opening drive of the game. This week the real story down here is how cold it is. The temperatures have been as low as 63 which is downright freezing for us. We haven't turned on our Air Conditioner this year and today actually wore sweaters outside. On Thursday Scott heads up to Orlando for a workshop on accreditation and is meeting his brother and family later in the weekend. he comes back on Monday of next week.

Happy New Year

We celebrated New Year's Eve in our normal fashion by being in bed and asleep by 10:30 p.m. This morning we did what is becoming our traditional New Year's Day bike ride out to Eden Rock. We have done a good job of keeping up our work out regimen these past couple of weeks since we got back from our cruise and are hoping that 2010 is the year we are able to keep going with the exercise and not putter out after a month or so. We wish everyone a very Happy New Year and a prosperous 2010.

Post Christmas Snorkeling

This morning we headed over to Sunset House to do some post Christmas snorkeling. We weren't able to make it out yesterday choosing instead to get in an exercise walk. For the second year in a row we are both carrying extra pounds that we need to shed so we are trying to get in a walk or an exercise ride each day. Today we got in our walk early and then got on our swim suits and pulled out our snorkel gear. We were both a little shocked to realize that neither of us had been out swimming since August so we weren't able to swim for long. We swam out to the mermaid Amphitrite and then on our way back saw an Ocean Trigger Fish for the first time. It was nesting near an outcropping and at first we thought it was a ray the way it was swimming near the sandy bottom. We both realized how much we miss snorkeling and vowed to try and get out more often. This evening we are having dinner with a friend who used to teach at ICCI and has moved back to the States but is visiting for the holidays.

Merry Christmas

We want to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas. We are having a quiet Christmas here on the Island. Later this morning we are going to church and then we will go to a beach and snorkel which has become something of a tradition since we have been here.

Computer Issues and TV appearance

This week we have gotten to experience life without home computers. We already had one lap top stolen and this week our second one gave up the ghost with the hard drive giving out. That means having to go in to the college to check emails and the like. We should have two new lap tops to start the new year but until then postings and emails from us will be sparse. Meanwhile since we have limited access to Skype, Merry Christmas to everyone and we will try to call as possible.

Linked below is Scott's TV appearance from earlier this week announcing another recognition for ICCI.

http://www.cayman27.com.ky/news/item/3747

Bahamas Cruise

We are back in Cayman after our 5 day cruise in the Bahamas this past week. We left from the Port of Miami last Monday and stopped Tuesday at Freeport on Grand Bahama, Wednesday at Nassau on New Providence and Thursday at Great Stirrup Cay in the Berry Islands. At left is a picture of us at the lighthouse on Great Stirrup Cay that we hiked out to. The cruise had a couple of shows we were really excited to see including a salute to Broadway with songs from Wicked and a tribute to Frank Sinatra, who we consider "our singer". Scott got to play poker and made us about 100 dollars which we used to pay for all of our souvenirs in Freeport and Nassau as well as part of our day trip in Freeport to Port Lucaya. We are back in Cayman through the holidays and will enjoy some down time here as we get ready for the start of the Winter quarter and for our graduation ceremony on January 7, which Scott would like to point out is also the day Texas plays Alabama for the national championship. The ceremony starts at 6:30 and kickoff is a little after 8 p.m. so you know Scott will be headed out as soon as the last diploma is handed out.

Katie back on Island

Katie got back yesterday after being in Maryland for five days for the funeral of Nana. Unfortunately, the trip ended on an extremely sour note as the hotel room that she was staying in with her Mom at the La Quinta Baltimore Washington airport in Linthicum, got broken into and they got robbed on the last night of the trip. Fortunately, she and her Mom were not in the room when the break in occurred but whoever it was got a couple of lap tops and digital camera's. The biggest loss was all of the photo's from the funeral and all our photo's from the North Carolina trip which had only been saved onto the lap top that got stolen. We are also having to change all our bank account numbers as the robbers had access to those numbers through some documents Katie had in her bag. An all around crappy way to finish what was a difficult trip any way. Next week we are headed back to the Bahamas for our Christmas get away. We are trying to get a temporary digital camera for the trip and if we do will post some pics when we return.

RIP Nana

Katie's great grandmother Dorothy Carlyle passed away yesterday at the age of 105. She was affectionately known as Nana and will be tremendously missed. Katie and I were fortunate enough to see her before we left for the Cayman Islands and remember fondly the time we spent with her. Katie is leaving tomorrow for Maryland to be with the family and attend the funeral. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of Nana's children, grand children and great grand children, she leaves quite a legacy of family.

Wright Brothers Memorial

One of the highlights of our trip to the outer banks was the day we spent at the Wright Brothers National Memorial. The national park includes the original takeoff spot as well as the landing spots for the four flights flown on that famous day in December 1903. The first flight was only 12 seconds long but they were 12 seconds that changed our world. The park has a fantastic Visitor Center and the Century of Flight museum. It also includes Kill Devil Hill off which the Wright Brothers did their glider experiments and on which now stands the huge memorial column to them. We spent the morning and afternoon reading the exhibits and wandering the grounds where the first flights occurred. At left is a picture representing the first flight. Above is us by a tablet with the memorial column on the hill in the background and the Century of Flight museum to the side. Below is a picture of the original take off site and the four columns represent the landing sites for each of the first four flights. Interestingly, the park and memorial are in Kill Devil Hills not Kitty Hawk which is famous for the first flight. The only settlement in the area in 1903 was Kitty Hawk a few miles up the road so that is where the first flight is said to have occurred even though now technically the location is not a part of Kitty Hawk.

Hatteras National Sea Shore

Yesterday morning we headed south out of Kill Devil Hills down into the Hatteras National Sea Shore park. We stopped first at the Bodie Island Lighthouse getting to see our second of the four big lighthouses in the Northern Outer Banks. After a quick stop in Chicamacomico/Rodanthe to visit a life saving station we headed to the crown jewel of our day, the Cape Hatteras Light House pictured at left). We would spend most of the day at the Cape Hatteras Light House as it is Katie's Mom Gail's favorite lighthouse. At left is a shot of the two of us in front of the light. We got to see a movie on how they moved the light house 2000 feet back in 1999 to save it from falling into the ocean due to erosion. The light was closed to climbing but we did tour all the grounds and we also got to drive down to the original base of the lighthouse and compare where it is to where it was. We ended the day taking a ferry over to Ocracoke Island where we saw the Ocracoke light (pictured on right) as well as a cemetary for some British sailors killed in WWII off the Outer Banks. We have now seen all four of the lighthouses we wanted to see on this visit. It was a long day and we pulled back into Kill Devil Hills well after dark. Today is a visit to Manteo on Roanoke Island, will post more pictures later on the week.

The Outer Banks

We have arrived in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina for our week on the outer banks. Saturday we left Grand Cayman flying first to Atlanta and then on to Charlotte. We spent the night at a hotel near the airport then got our rental car and made the six hour drive across the state to our final destination the Outer Banks Beach Club on the Atlantic side of Kill Devil Hills. We are just south of Kitty Hawk and from our balcony can see the big Wright Brothers Monument. We are staying in a two bedroom condo with Katie's parents Russ and Gail and her grandparents Joyce and Chuck. We don't directly overlook the beach but are a short walk across a parking lot and through another set of condos from the dunes and the beach beyond. We got in last night around 4:30 and went for an evening walk on the beach after dinner.

Today we headed up to Currituck County for the first of four big lighthouses we will be visiting, Currituck Beach Lighthouse. We climbed to the top of the lighthouse and could see for miles down the sound on one side and the Atlantic on the other. The Outer Banks are very narrow at points and you can sometimes see both the sound and the ocean from the road. There were a couple of neat trails as well as a hunting mansion and a museum all within walking distance of the lighthouse. We ate a picnic lunch on the grounds and generally enjoyed a pleasant day out and about with family. We are both loving the fact that it is quite chilly here and we have an opportunity to use the hoodies and other "winter" clothes that never get used in Cayman. The weather today was supposed to be rainy but it held off and we had a fantastic day of lighthouse climbing and trail walking in Currituck. Tomorrow, weather permitting we are headed down to Cape Hatteras.

Fall Quarter Ends, Headed to North Carolina

Our fall quarter ended yesterday and today we are furiously trying to finish all our paperwork and grades so we can head out tomorrow for 10 days to North Carolina and a family get together with Katie's parents and maternal grand parents on the Outer Banks. We are looking forward to a week of Lighthouse hunting and Carolina Bar B Que. Will try and do an update and post pictures from our visit during the week if we have Internet access.

Miami and Orlando

By Scott: This past weekend was our fall Miami seminar and since I only had to work the seminar on Thursday, Friday and Monday, we took advantage of the free weekend to drive up to Orlando and catch up with my brother Kevin and his family. In addition, my Mom was able to fly down from Seattle for the weekend so we had a mini family reunion of the Cummings'. We hadn't seen my Mom since Christmas 2007 so it was very exciting that she was able to fly in.

I flew up to Miami Thursday morning and worked the seminar that afternoon and evening then Katie flew up Friday. We actually had to do paramedical exams Friday evening for our life insurance policies. We are adding additional coverage since we want to start a family and the exam had to be done in the United States. It was like a trip down memory lane since I worked my way through college and law school for a paramedical company. Katie and I went out to eat at Texas De Brazil afterwards, which is a Brazilian restaurant where they serve all kinds of meat on skewers which the waiters walk around with serving the various offerings.

We got up early Saturday and were on the road by 6:30 heading up to Orlando. It is about a 4 hour drive but with stops for breakfast and gas (as well as getting lost in Orlando when our google map told us to take the wrong exit), we pulled in about 11:15 at the hotel. We all went to lunch at a Chinese Buffet featuring Mongolian Bar B Que. Afterwards, my Mom, Kevin's wife Kristie and the kids headed to Sea World, Katie needed to work on her paper for her Masters so she took the early afternoon to do that while Kevin and I went to ESPN Zone to watch the Texas Longhorns football game which though it was played in Austin was ironically was against Central Florida, a University located in Orlando. After watching the Horns win 35-3 we picked up Katie and headed over to Sea World to hook up with everyone. We rode one of the big roller coasters, Katie got to walk through the Penguin experience and we saw the evening Shamu show.

Sunday was spent again at Sea World riding the other big coaster and rides. Kevin's family are theme park experts and we let them lead the way in terms of which rides to go on and what shows to see. It was great spending time with our niece Kelsey who is proving to be smarter than all of us and is headed off to college next year with some phenomenal college choices and spending time with our nephew Scott (otherwise referred to as Little Scott whenever we are together) who is growing so much every time we see him and who continues to impress us every time we see him with how mature and intelligent he is. It was great to catch up with Kevin and we engaged in our typical political debates and banter. Kevin and family had to leave around 2 to drive back to Georgia. We stuck around for another show then headed out to get some rest, do some shopping and go out to dinner with Mom. Monday we got up early to drop Mom off at the airport and then drove back to Miami to help close out the seminars. We flew back to Cayman last night for a quick eleven days of work to close out the quarter before we head to North Carolina on the 21st.

It was fantastic seeing family this weekend and a big thanks to Kevin and Kristy for setting up the hotel in Orlando for all of us and for coordinating everything. A big thanks also to Mom for doing the 7 hour flights each way to come in and see everyone.

Eastern time stinks

While the United States (except for Arizona) was setting back its clocks last night, Cayman slept through the night not even noticing the change. Except that now when we turn on our TVs everything is an hour later than it was yesterday. We are in for four plus months of Eastern time TV and until March rolls around that means 11 O'clock news instead of 10. Next week is our Miami/Orlando trip, looking forward to seeing family twice this month in Florida and then North Carolina at the end of the month.