Our new life begins.

Well we are here on St. Kitts.  We finally got internet and cable yesterday.  We signed up for it about a week and a half ago but I guess the cable company has had a lot of work to do because it's taken a while.  They have this thing called "island time."  Which pretty much means that time and appointments do not mean what they do in America.  It's part of the islands charm but also a little frustrating at times.

I like our apartment.  It's not an "American" apartment but for not knowing what it looked like before we got here I was really quite pleased with its size and location and the landlord.  He's a Kittitian and he's so nice and accomodating.  He's going to let us get a dog even though the previous tenants completely trashed all the furniture and he had to buy new couches and bed.  I will take pictures of the apartment once I finish doing my intense cleaning.  It really needed it and its starting to feel a little bit more like home. 

We also got our car.  It's a 2001 Volvo.  It's in excellent condition on the outside and engine but the inside is a little beaten up.  I think the sun exposure can really do some damage to the interior.  I will also take pictures of our new ride when I get the energy to go out into the heat to take them.  It is HOT here.  Some days there is a really nice ocean breeze and it's not so bad.  But other days the air is stiffling.  Those are the days Royce and I stay at home.  And now that we have cable my whole day is filled with mindless hours of vegetation.

But to recap what we've been doing - the first week here was orientation week for the students.  They took us on an island tour.  We drove all around the island and looked at a lot of the touristy spots.  The school hired out a taxi bus all week.  Our driver was a preacher named Brother B who does taxi driving on the weekdays.  He was really a nice man.  He always had his Bible sitting on the dash of the taxi. 

This is just a shot I took while we stopped at a street vendor to get drinks. 

This tree is called the "Rum Tree."  I think that's self-explanatory. 

Our first real stop was at a big tourist spot where they make traditional caribbean style clothing.  Although from what I've seen - nobody but tourists really wears it.  They also had a lot of older buildings from the English and French being on the island. 

Poor Royce, I try to keep him out of the son - he gets so hot!  Even with all the sunscreen I put on him he's still getting a little tan.  The people on the island love his chubby little cheeks though.  Everyone says "He's so fat!"

Our next stop was called Brimstone.  It's an old English fortress that was built by the slaves that they brought to the island.  It's pretty interesting to walk through it and think about them building it in the insane heat.  Can you tell that I'm hot here?  It has an amazing view over the ocean.

 Little Royce was strapped into his carrier most of the day.

Wonder how many tourists have this same hokey picture?

This is Brother B.  He was our tour guide for the day.  It was pretty funny because a lot of times he would just read the tourist signs that everyone could see and not add much else. 

There was a lot of driving so it was a little hard to get some good pictures.  One of our last stops though, was a beach with huts selling drinks and souvenirs. 

We went around the whole island and it didn't take that long.  It's pretty strange to think about how small it is here.  Not a whole lot of places to go.  We did other things that week.  We went on a Catamaran trip which was so much fun.  We went to St. Kitts sister island Nevis to the beach and went snorkeling.  I will have to write about that one later though.  Overall we are all happy and healthy and trying to adjust to a whole new way of life.  So far, it's pretty fun.