All of the volunteers left Saturday, except me. We were all very close so it was a very sad day! All I mangaed to do was sulk in the hammock and eat chocolate chips. It has been so quiet around here which feels very weird after being used to living with 13 people.
I helped out with summer club a lot this week. There are about 25 kids around 10-15 years old that come up to the garden, go snorkeling, do crafts, or go hiking with us a few times a week. It all sounds cute in theory but is pretty much dreadful. Too many kids. Too much yelling. Too much energy. I am absolutely exhausted after about 4 minutes. Since all the volunteers left, I got to hang out with the kids all week! It was interesting to say the least. I may have found my self having a bit of fun here and there but for the most part I was counting down till there parents arrived to take them home.
After a long week I have a terrificly exciting weekend planned! A group of us are flying to St. Maarten tomorrow evening staying the night and then sailing (yep, like in a real sail boat on the ocean) to Anguilla! EEeeekk! So excited!! There is a huge party on Aug 1 for Carnival that we are heading over for. The beaches are supposed to be amazing as well! I will take loads of pics as usual (I have managed to take at least 2000 pics so far, I have no idea how) and share them when I return. Well if I return b/c there is a big storm coming through that has a tiny possibly of turning into a hurrican. No biggie though. We'll just be on a boat in the middle of the ocean. I guess the area that we'll be in is supposed to be ok and actually better than being here on Statia. No worries!
Well not much else is new. OH! Did I write about the night dive we all went on last week? I don't think so. IT WAS AMAZING! The most surreal feeling in the world. It was at a shipwreck site and we went down while it was still a bit light out. Then it just kept getting darker and darker until you couldn't see anything without your flash light. Cool! We saw huge sea turtles that were there sleeping and big ol' crabs. The best part was the bioluminescence the glowed when you moved your arms and legs. It was like fairy dust all over you! I think I spent most of my time with my flash light off and dancing around to see all the glowing bits. I hope I can do another night dive before I leave. We were all so excited when we got back on the boat and were jumping around like little kids (different from usual? Nope.).
Ok, now I have nothing else to write about. Hope everyone is doing well.
Bye!
Friday, July 29, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
SABA weekend!!
Hello all!
Whew.
What a weekend. A group of us went to Saba (a nearby island) and had an absolute blast. I can't remember that last time I had such a good weekend. I took 1,000 pictures. Seriously. I will post a few of them when I bring my camera to the office but most of them are probably best to keep to myself being that none of us were sober the entire 24 hours. I have never laughed so much in my entire life (which says a lot b/c I am almost constantly laughing if you haven't noticed).
A few people went diving but a few of us, including me, never made it out. We stayed at this place called the Eco Lodge that was so beautiful we couldn't bring ourselves to leave. It was up top a mountain, slightly cool, and in the clouds. The whole thing was in a very green, lush garden with cottages placed about along a trail. Each cottage had a hammock and mini hot tub on the porch and there was a pool in the middle of it all. We arrived and started on a mission to try all the different kinds of cocktails they made and to take as many photos as possible. Both tasks were accomplished quite successfully. It was so nice to get a way from the garden for a day and see some different scenery.
Hmmm. What else have I been doing. It has been raining quite a bit lately. We cleared a trail in the rain today which was kinda fun gave us a break from the hot sun.
Oh yeah, I extended my stay for 3 weeks so I'll be here until August 13 now. I suppose I will come home for a bit after that but am not really sure. I really just want to hop on someone's boat and disappear at sea for a while. Do you think they'd notice me? I can offer to do the dishes or something??
Well the truck just pulled up to take us to the garden for lunch so I gotta run. Hope everyone is having a good week!
Hillary
Whew.
What a weekend. A group of us went to Saba (a nearby island) and had an absolute blast. I can't remember that last time I had such a good weekend. I took 1,000 pictures. Seriously. I will post a few of them when I bring my camera to the office but most of them are probably best to keep to myself being that none of us were sober the entire 24 hours. I have never laughed so much in my entire life (which says a lot b/c I am almost constantly laughing if you haven't noticed).
A few people went diving but a few of us, including me, never made it out. We stayed at this place called the Eco Lodge that was so beautiful we couldn't bring ourselves to leave. It was up top a mountain, slightly cool, and in the clouds. The whole thing was in a very green, lush garden with cottages placed about along a trail. Each cottage had a hammock and mini hot tub on the porch and there was a pool in the middle of it all. We arrived and started on a mission to try all the different kinds of cocktails they made and to take as many photos as possible. Both tasks were accomplished quite successfully. It was so nice to get a way from the garden for a day and see some different scenery.
Hmmm. What else have I been doing. It has been raining quite a bit lately. We cleared a trail in the rain today which was kinda fun gave us a break from the hot sun.
Oh yeah, I extended my stay for 3 weeks so I'll be here until August 13 now. I suppose I will come home for a bit after that but am not really sure. I really just want to hop on someone's boat and disappear at sea for a while. Do you think they'd notice me? I can offer to do the dishes or something??
Well the truck just pulled up to take us to the garden for lunch so I gotta run. Hope everyone is having a good week!
Hillary
Thursday, June 30, 2011
This week...whatever day it is. The month is June...I think.
Hello everyone!
We have 5 new volunteers as of this week making us a group of 13 now! Everyone besides one dutch guys is really cool and has fit right into the swing of things. The dutch dude is extremely abrasive and annoying so nobody likes him. He is warming up to me b/c I called him an asshole and tend to feed it right back to him if he offends me or the others. He is used to being frank so respects me for being so to him. No problem man, I will tell you exactly how much you annoy me anytime you wanna hear about it! I have now made it a joke and like to just refer to him as Asshole or Dutch Asshole.
Me and Dan helped out at the oil terminal the past two weeks. They are looking to expand the amount of holding tanks they have and hired STENAPA to do vegetation surveys. A lot of the land is covered in awful Acacia trees with thorns that tear your skin to shreds but besides that we had fun being a part of it. Every morning we got to go to the main office and drink real coffee out of a machine and everything! I don't even drink coffee but I participated b/c it was such a treat! We would see how many cups we could drink before our eyes felt like they were going to pop out of our faces. I got to one, Dan got to four. He wins. We'd usually go back to the garden and rub it in everyone's faces that we got coffee and got to use a bathroom where you can flush for number 1!
We came across all kinds of creepy crawly things in the woods that were really awesome (from a nice safe distance). We found a spider egg sack and tore it open a little to discover 100 (I counted) spiders crawl out of it!!!! Holy crap it was maybe the coolest thing I've seen yet. Cool as in: I wanted to run away, scream, film it, and get closer to see what was going on, all at the same time. Of course, none of us had cameras so you will have to take my word for it. And I assume none of you would really like to watch a video of 100 spiders coming out of something that looked like a marshmallow. Am I right? Figured so. The best (creepiest) part was when we thought the show was over and Dan picked it up to look inside. He saw that the momma was inside and was huge! It came crawling out one leg at a time and all 4 of us were left screaming and absolutely fascinated. I forget what kind it was but something poisonous with red fangs (for real, I didn't make that up).
I have done a few more dives with Zoe and Dan this week. We spend most of the time clearing our masks b/c we were constantly making each other laugh. We went to a shipwreck and swam through the ship exploring what's left. I loved every second of it and can't wait to go again!
Tonight a group of us are going to a graduation of one of the local high school boys that we see everyday. He helps out at the dive shop across the road. He doesn't have much family here so asked us to come and all of us are happy to go support him. I hope their graduations aren't as long and boring as the ones in the states. Wonder if they'll have Presidente?
Still no turtles! None. Zip. Lots of garden and trail work for us in the meantime. Come on turtles! Do your thing..........please?!
Well I am going to try and upload some photos so I better get started or I'll be at it all night. Take care everyone! Hope that Missouri heat and humidity are treatin' you great! (Now you see how I feel but have no ocean to jump in to cool off: suckers!)
XOXO
Hillary
We have 5 new volunteers as of this week making us a group of 13 now! Everyone besides one dutch guys is really cool and has fit right into the swing of things. The dutch dude is extremely abrasive and annoying so nobody likes him. He is warming up to me b/c I called him an asshole and tend to feed it right back to him if he offends me or the others. He is used to being frank so respects me for being so to him. No problem man, I will tell you exactly how much you annoy me anytime you wanna hear about it! I have now made it a joke and like to just refer to him as Asshole or Dutch Asshole.
Me and Dan helped out at the oil terminal the past two weeks. They are looking to expand the amount of holding tanks they have and hired STENAPA to do vegetation surveys. A lot of the land is covered in awful Acacia trees with thorns that tear your skin to shreds but besides that we had fun being a part of it. Every morning we got to go to the main office and drink real coffee out of a machine and everything! I don't even drink coffee but I participated b/c it was such a treat! We would see how many cups we could drink before our eyes felt like they were going to pop out of our faces. I got to one, Dan got to four. He wins. We'd usually go back to the garden and rub it in everyone's faces that we got coffee and got to use a bathroom where you can flush for number 1!
We came across all kinds of creepy crawly things in the woods that were really awesome (from a nice safe distance). We found a spider egg sack and tore it open a little to discover 100 (I counted) spiders crawl out of it!!!! Holy crap it was maybe the coolest thing I've seen yet. Cool as in: I wanted to run away, scream, film it, and get closer to see what was going on, all at the same time. Of course, none of us had cameras so you will have to take my word for it. And I assume none of you would really like to watch a video of 100 spiders coming out of something that looked like a marshmallow. Am I right? Figured so. The best (creepiest) part was when we thought the show was over and Dan picked it up to look inside. He saw that the momma was inside and was huge! It came crawling out one leg at a time and all 4 of us were left screaming and absolutely fascinated. I forget what kind it was but something poisonous with red fangs (for real, I didn't make that up).
I have done a few more dives with Zoe and Dan this week. We spend most of the time clearing our masks b/c we were constantly making each other laugh. We went to a shipwreck and swam through the ship exploring what's left. I loved every second of it and can't wait to go again!
Tonight a group of us are going to a graduation of one of the local high school boys that we see everyday. He helps out at the dive shop across the road. He doesn't have much family here so asked us to come and all of us are happy to go support him. I hope their graduations aren't as long and boring as the ones in the states. Wonder if they'll have Presidente?
Still no turtles! None. Zip. Lots of garden and trail work for us in the meantime. Come on turtles! Do your thing..........please?!
Well I am going to try and upload some photos so I better get started or I'll be at it all night. Take care everyone! Hope that Missouri heat and humidity are treatin' you great! (Now you see how I feel but have no ocean to jump in to cool off: suckers!)
XOXO
Hillary
Friday, June 17, 2011
Wow! Pictures!
Some kind of an Orb Weaver
The view from the Jenkins Bay hike we cleared in the rain. The 3rd dive I did was in the water below these bluffs as well.
Crushing up dog food with rocks to feed to the chicks that hang out by the office. I think I have officially crossed the line and have turned into a crazy animal lady.
Me and Tracy. Nadio (works at the Marine Park) came up to the garden grilled us some tuna he caught. It was fantastic.
Coral, Andy, and Dan
Zoe and I
Zoe, Me, Coral, and Tracy
Me and Dan acting childish as usual. We are very good at making light of situations by either making fun of each other or of ourselves.
Our beer tab. Seems I am the only paying up hence the -1 tally by my name.
Coral, Zoe, Sam, Me, and Tracy. Oh and Dan being creepy in the corner.
The group at a BBQ. Mmmmmm. We made enough meat for about 30 people and then all slipped into a meat coma.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Diving! Yay!
Hi guys! Sorry it's been a while since my last post, this week has flown by.
I started my open water certification for scuba diving on Monday. It is so awesome! I absolutely love it! It has made me realize how much of the day I spend talking, laughing, and being very antimated b/c I can't do those things underwater so I just have to chill and take it all in. Why didn't you guys tell me that I spend my whole day being a goofball? Wow. Oh well, I guess that makes me me. I am just getting ready to walk out the door and do my 3rd dive, yay!
Other than that we have just been doing the usual: work, swim off the pier, meet for drinks, shower, and then go home and make dinner. We have fallen into quite the little routine and I am loving every minute of it.
Sorry this is so short but I have to get going! Hope everyone is doing well!
Cheers!
I started my open water certification for scuba diving on Monday. It is so awesome! I absolutely love it! It has made me realize how much of the day I spend talking, laughing, and being very antimated b/c I can't do those things underwater so I just have to chill and take it all in. Why didn't you guys tell me that I spend my whole day being a goofball? Wow. Oh well, I guess that makes me me. I am just getting ready to walk out the door and do my 3rd dive, yay!
Other than that we have just been doing the usual: work, swim off the pier, meet for drinks, shower, and then go home and make dinner. We have fallen into quite the little routine and I am loving every minute of it.
Sorry this is so short but I have to get going! Hope everyone is doing well!
Cheers!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
2 weeks in...6 to go
I have been trying my best to keep you all updated but the internet is so dreadfully slow it's a chore. That and I've been spending my time either swimming or sitting at the spanish bar drinking Presidente with the gang. It's been rough.
It has already been 2 weeks since I arrived in Statia. There are now 9 of us in the group and we all get along surprisingly well. Me and the girls in the group started doing Zumba a few nights a week and although we are totally lost, we have a really fun time pretending to be good. The boys play football (soccer) the same nights and we all meet up for a beer afterwards (to cancel out the whole getting exercise and being healthy bit).
As you can see in the picture I posted yesterday, I saw my first tarantula the other day! I was about to go to bed so I was in the bathroom having a wee and huge (seriously huge, like size of my fist huge) banana spider came running in along the wall heading straight towards me. I jumped up and ran out of the bathroom and as I was standing there, shining my head torch on the banana spider so I could see his every move, I realized I was right beside a tarantula. I was totally freaked out but managed to get some pictures and make it up to my tent without fainting or being attacked by them both simultaneously.
Yesterday we all worked in the garden together. Dan (23 year old from Maine) cut down a massive Acacia tree (which is covered in throrns) and we all chopped it up and cleared it out. All of us got cut up and I even managed to get a thorn stuck in my leg. Not surprising really. I thought it was just a little bit but when Claire pulled it out it was an inch long! (Mom: Remember that sewing needle you had to pull out of my foot when I was younger? That's what it reminded me of, except a lot less whining on my part.)
Zoe (a very cute 20 year old from the UK) and I have become quite good friends. We are both extremely clumsy and goofy and find ourselves laughing uncontrollably at nothing really at all. Her and I take turns stubbing our toes, falling down at the garden, or getting hit in the face with braches while we are riding in the back of the truck. Speaking of, because our work trucks are such pieces of shit, all 9 of us ride around in the one working (most of the time) truck. 4 of us sit in the back and have to dodge branches and thorny bits the whole way home. If you think of it as a game you can almost convince yourself it's fun! Almost.
It has been raining all day today which was much needed because our water supply at the house was getting really low. Yet when it's rainy and cloudy the sun doesn't charge the solar panels so then we have very little power.
Well gotta get going, ice cold Presidente awaits...
P.S. spell check doesn't work on these computers. Deal with it.
It has already been 2 weeks since I arrived in Statia. There are now 9 of us in the group and we all get along surprisingly well. Me and the girls in the group started doing Zumba a few nights a week and although we are totally lost, we have a really fun time pretending to be good. The boys play football (soccer) the same nights and we all meet up for a beer afterwards (to cancel out the whole getting exercise and being healthy bit).
As you can see in the picture I posted yesterday, I saw my first tarantula the other day! I was about to go to bed so I was in the bathroom having a wee and huge (seriously huge, like size of my fist huge) banana spider came running in along the wall heading straight towards me. I jumped up and ran out of the bathroom and as I was standing there, shining my head torch on the banana spider so I could see his every move, I realized I was right beside a tarantula. I was totally freaked out but managed to get some pictures and make it up to my tent without fainting or being attacked by them both simultaneously.
Yesterday we all worked in the garden together. Dan (23 year old from Maine) cut down a massive Acacia tree (which is covered in throrns) and we all chopped it up and cleared it out. All of us got cut up and I even managed to get a thorn stuck in my leg. Not surprising really. I thought it was just a little bit but when Claire pulled it out it was an inch long! (Mom: Remember that sewing needle you had to pull out of my foot when I was younger? That's what it reminded me of, except a lot less whining on my part.)
Zoe (a very cute 20 year old from the UK) and I have become quite good friends. We are both extremely clumsy and goofy and find ourselves laughing uncontrollably at nothing really at all. Her and I take turns stubbing our toes, falling down at the garden, or getting hit in the face with braches while we are riding in the back of the truck. Speaking of, because our work trucks are such pieces of shit, all 9 of us ride around in the one working (most of the time) truck. 4 of us sit in the back and have to dodge branches and thorny bits the whole way home. If you think of it as a game you can almost convince yourself it's fun! Almost.
It has been raining all day today which was much needed because our water supply at the house was getting really low. Yet when it's rainy and cloudy the sun doesn't charge the solar panels so then we have very little power.
Well gotta get going, ice cold Presidente awaits...
P.S. spell check doesn't work on these computers. Deal with it.
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