Barefoot beach

Showing posts with label Marriott Beach. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marriott Beach. Show all posts

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Olympics, Mustaches, and Tropical Storm Maria

When last we spoke, I told tale of Rob and the Red semester's soccer prowess.  Since that first day of the Olympics, we have been having more fun! Thursday was kickball day, both Rob's team and my VIPs were out first round. Rob was a good boy though; since we got home early he went and studied his butt off at the anatomy lab with his friend Brayton.  I watched TV and ate cookies. My life is hard too.  Friday was flag football. Red won their first game, lost their second, and was SUPPOSED to play for third place. However, they skies opened up, and people scattered. Unfortunately, the rain didn't last and Red had to forfeit because they did not have enough players.  The Yellow VIPs played a great game against the 7th semester Orange team.  However, flag football turned into tackle football. We were winning, then close to the end of the game Orange scored to grab the lead. Yellow was able to make a last second touchdown, only to be told, oh sorry time already ran out! We never win.

After football was the BOSP, or the beginning of the semester party. It was located at the "Dome House" which is literally a house in the shape of a dome. It was a bit weird. There is a theme each semester, and this semester's theme was mustaches (I have no idea, don't ask). If you wanted to get in, you had to have a mustache. Rob, Brayton, Leann (Brayton's wife), and I all banned together and made matching 'staches. They were very fancy. We were some of the first people there, and it looked like it was going to be quite lame. After an hour or so, things really picked up and tons of people were there.  We hadn't eaten dinner, and I was starving. Since other people also mentioned being hungry, we decided the only course of action was to order pizza. To a stranger's house, in a neighborhood we didn't know... After about 45 minutes and several phone calls from the delivery boy, we finally got our pizzas and promptly scarfed them down. Best idea ever. We headed home around midnight, which might have been the second best idea ever because it started to pour after that.  Rob and I went to bed assuming that Tropical Storm Maria was upon us.

Mustachioed friends.
When I awoke Saturday morning, I saw the clear, blue, sunny sky and immediately thought I was dreaming. We were told Maria was coming Saturday, and I was prepared to spend a rainy day in my pajamas watching movies.  I was not dreaming, it was, in fact, a clear, blue, sunny day. I called up our friends and we planned a beach day. We figured we wouldn't waste a beautiful Saturday just because a tropical storm was headed our way! The Marriott beach, on the Atlantic coast, was our destination, and we were not disappointed. We spent several spectacular hours in the nice warm, clear water. The waves were a bit choppy, but not the worst I've seen.  The Marriott beach is artificial, so there are several areas where they have placed rocks as barriers. We stayed in front of the rocks; the water was calmer, and the waves crashing on the rocks was really pretty. After rinsing in the pool, we headed back to Ross via the grocery store. Due to the alleged tropical storm, everything was shut down and we had to try three store before we found one open. Oy Vey.

Waves at the Marriott Beach
Last night Brayton and Leann had some people over for what was supposed to be a hurricane party, but Maria failed to make an appearance. We drank a lot of rum, ate salad, guacamole, and buffalo chicken dip. We also played a lot of card games; Rob and I realized that out of the five card games we brought we forgot our beloved Phase 10! Devastation. Despite the lack of Phase 10, a good time was had by all (especially the boys).

It's like we're back in college. Yikes.

This morning when I woke up, I realized that Tropical Storm Maria must have gotten tired of all the trash I was talking because it was cloudy, rainy, and the surf in the Caribbean was pretty high. My first thought was, "hey, why don't we go down to the beach and take some pictures and video?" Luckily, I have a wilder-y husband and off we went with our friend Trevor. The rain had slowed, but the wind was so strong I needed help opening the door to our building!  We made the trek down to the water meeting some angry looking cats and millions of very adorable hermit crabs along the way. Once down at the beach gazebo, we were not disappointed by old Maria. The waves were really cool, exploding into mist upon hitting the rocks. The water was neatly split into three colors: murky green near shore, bright aqua just off shore, and deep dark blue farther out. After we had our fill of splish-splashing we headed back home. On the way we met a super cute lizard hanging out upside down on a palm tree. His body was bright green, but his tail was reddish brown. Rob took about 100 pictures of him; Hurricane lizard likes to model.

Ross Beach during Tropical Storm Maria
Same shot as above, different wave!
Now we are all settled in for the day. Rob is studying like the vet school nerd he is, and I plan on watching food network for the next 8 hours! Hopefully Tropical Storm Maria will spin out today and we'll be back to beautiful weather!

Close up of Lizardo the fantastic Hurricane Lizard.
For all of the pictures from the last few days click here.
Side note: my cousin Lia has booked her trip down here for my birthday! I can't wait to see her in October!

Monday, August 29, 2011

Reggae Beach- Live De Life!

The past few days have been kind of a slow whirlwind, which incidentally, made sense when I heard the unofficial island motto- Rush Slowly.

Southeast Pennisula
Saturday we all loaded up in our taxi, Sackville Grey has been our driver, and he took us to Reggae Beach, at the very tip of the island. Reggae has a motto if it's own- Live De Life.  I plan on following this motto during our time here on St. Kitts.  Reggae Beach is really nice; like Shipwreck, there is a beach bar, chairs and umbrellas (free to "Rossies"), oh, and there is a giant wild boar named Wilbur, a goat, and a monkey (I think the monkey and goat are Bff; I saw the monkey hug and kiss the goat, and on the website, they look like they are cuddling). I also made friends with an adorable little kitten!

Part of Reggae Beach
The water was really really clear, and Rob and others in our group when snorkeling. Rob came back with two giant sea urchin shells... or at least we think they are urchin shells!  There were a bunch of upper semester students at Reggae, and a friendly beach volley ball was started, and then interrupted by Wilbur. He apparently hates volley ball and tries to stop any attempt at playing. Rob, which his innate pig wrangling skills, quickly got Wilbur off the court and the game going again. Wilbur, quite dejected, when for a dip into the Caribbean.

After the beach, we went to Rock Lobster for dinner. I had some super tasty sangria (for free!), and some nice shrimp and mussels. Nothing to fancy, but it was nice to finally eat some seafood!

Yesterday we went to the Marriott hotel beach. The Marriott itself is really nice, the pool is pretty, and the beach is nice too. At the back of the lobby, leading out, it has a scale replica of Christopher Columbus' ship, La Nina. It has a manmade beach on the Atlantic side of the island. The water is a bit cooler (just barely), and is a bit more choppy.  Rob snorkeled again, and I slept for just about the whole day, excluding during lunch and the two times I went swimming. I probably slept for four hours.  Live De Life indeed.

El Nino is Spanish for, The Nino!
Last night I cooked my first meal in St. Kitts. Nightmarish. I hate electric burners, I have no oven, and about 8 square inches of counter space. I was out of my element, but managed to pull together a decent meal. I can't wait to start looking for apartments for next semester!

Snorkeling at the Marriott
Today is the official first day of orientation. We got up early and had breakfast, turned in part of Rob's paperwork and got him measured for his white lab coat, and various other odds and ends. Later we have more stuff planned- banking, financial aid, security meeting, getting our ids (yep, I get a Ross ID too!), etc. Orientation is all week, and luckily I am not required to go to everything. The week ends with an island tour (Friday), Catamaran trip to Nevis (Saturday), and Zip-lining through the rainforest (Sunday). I can't wait for Friday.
Marriott Beach
Oh, for those of you without Facebook, you can see all of the pictures we have taken if you click here.