It's official...my house IS a sauna and did I mention the sharks were HUNGRY today???

Ok, so, I realize I haven't blogged in awhile. When you work 24/7 things get in tha way u know? Instead of posting a monster blog I'll catch up wit lil ones. Starting today an workin backwards I guess. To explain the title let's jus say tha at any given moment it in the high thirties in my house. You can jus be sittin there an sweat be drippin in beads like it does on em basketball players. Cancel your leisure centre membership an come to my house cause the benefits are fo sure the same. Unbelievable heat. The other day I had to take 4 showers. But tha jus how it is. I pretty used to it now. The air conditionin be makin me sick so there's na much choice! As for them sharks - it was back to Stingray City again today. Two back to back trips. Now we do a 3 stop snorkel trip an one stop is to the reef where we ga a resident moray eel (Psycho) an a couple a nurse sharks. They friendly enough but today is the first day I pet them on the first trip which was all cool. On the second trip I decided to feed him. He wa jus swimmin under me and then I fed him an we was playin and swimmin round each other but then when I ran outta calamari he decided tha he wa still hungry. He wa encirclin me which wa still all good but then he came right up in my face an kept trying to get his mouth near me. Tha when I was thinkin 'k, is he bein nice an friendly or is he wantin to clamp onto my flesh wit them jaws'. So I tested it out by swimmin away but he kept on after me an he would catch up an come to my face again. So I decided I had enough playin for tha day an a couple a fin shakins wa enough to get rid of him. They're good sharks though nutin to really worry bout. It wa probably jus tha squid tha Shane so meanly rubbed on my shoulder b4 I ga in tha water. It was pretty fun out there today. But boy the stingrays were real feisty too. They were jumpin out and rubbin against with force today! I didn't even have calamari in tha water at one point but a couple of em still tried to give hickies on my thigh-cheesum. I never been able to catch an hold em b4 cause I jus couldn't do it but today on both trips I was able to catch an hold em which wa pretty cool. I still don't really trust their venomous barbed tails when I holdin em like that (I had a couple of them 'playfully' fling their tails at me b4) but like I tell the customers....na, nutin to worry bout. It my day off tomorrow which is great cause I almost dead from bein so tired wit work an everything. Don't know if one day is enough to rejuvinate though....an on Sunday we ga go an work on em Bat Caves so we can get tha trip up an running. So I ga be crawling in small crevices an be gettin covered in red mud...as long as I can stay awake - I might mistake the dark cave for much needed sleep an fall asleep wakin up with guano on me. Anyway, tonight will probably be another late night cause it my only Friday night so to speak... Next blog I'll tell ya bout my offshore fishin trip last Saturday. Aie!

lil sis

Lisa I know you're busy in India but this is to update everyone on who what where how my lil sis is doin - u can read it when you get back home in less than a month! I haven't chatted to you much since last summer when you came to Canada and chilled with us rednecks. That's just wrong sis - we need to stick together and lets not forget mother hen sis. It seems longer than just last summer. It's very cool that you're doin all that mission work in India. That was brave of you to go into the unknown but when you workin for God its that much easier to have faith that everything will work out. I hope you don't mind but I'm posting some of the pics you sent me. We're really in desperate need of another road trip. I'd tell you and Melsey to come out here for one but we'd be at the other end of the island in an hour - ha! We need one of em good few day long road trips were we just give er - next year for sure. And we can't let those Busted tunes die just yet: 'Air Hostess, I like the way you dress...' Take care eh?

T-shirts are not for the Caribbean

My goodness its smokin hot out. Just went for a short bike ride this evening and its bakin out there still - even when it dark. Only tank tops and bikinis will do - forget the t-shirts that's just foolishness. Remember that next time ya plan a trip here. Wit my air conditioning on full blast I can still only get my room temp down to 83 F today.
So much to blog and so little time - where do I start? First of all, dad you asked what the significance of the pic on the last posting (the abstract shot of the buoy and tie ropes on the back of the boat). No significance whatsoever (I jus like it). Moving on... Well, Thursday night we ended up going to Over the Edge as part of Ross' send-off and also Lou lou's b-day. Got home at sometime after midnight and work the next day at 6:30 - the troubles of not havin your own car!
Let me tell you, the fishin on Friday was madness. They jus lifted em into the boat. And to think they almost didn't go out. The Mahi mahi are running hard now so they caught a couple of them - beautiful fish. They also caught like 5 or 6 tuna. And of course the token barracuda. The cooler was just full. Not the best-ever fishin trip as Joey put it - but I'd have to say pretty darn good. I took a couple pieces home but the tuna still in the fridge as I haven't been home fa a meal lately. Baked the mahi mahi tonight -with some Jamaican piccapeppa. Ya baby.
Friday night was the OF send-off for Ross. We all headed to Kaibo Yacht Club and OF bought us all supper and drinks. It was some good steak - especially when it be free. We chilled there until close and the moved on to Driftwood. Oh and Krista, I gave Frank (the owner of Driftwood for all you who don't know) your message and he says hi. Well, 'hi' and 'can I buy you a drink?' jus like he does.
Sat was a weird feelin. Woke up and said 'mornin' to good ole Rossco for the last time. Me and Jane headed in wit him to the airport. Despite some car over-heatin we made it there and he checked in then we all went for lunch at Sunset House in town - Ike met up wit us too. Fish & Chips, lemonade and choc milkshakes don't really mix. It was nice to just chill there. It was so freakin hot out on Sat. SO HOT. Like you wouldn't believe. Just sweatin. I ain't complainin' though. Then Jane and I dropped Ross off at the airport and that was pretty sad. But he loves Calgary (who know why??? Just kiddin.) so we be meetin up again at some point. Strange to go home to an empty house. The first thing I did in this empty now-boy-free home is bleached everywhere and did some major house cleanin - by far the cleanest it ever been. Before goin out I had to get my clothes washin done across the road which kinda messed up me catching the first part of the Oilers game. Whoa - b4 I go further about the miracle game from heaven I gotta say this - best hitchin luck I had since I got here. On Friday night I needed to get to Kaibo which is about a half hour drive. Jus outside my driveway this couple stopped - I usually have to walk at least to the castle before anyone even passes. They said 'Kaibo is far' to which I replied 'just take me as far as you goin' and turns out they were just goin round the corner but the girlfriend said 'no, I'll make him take you to Kaibo'. So they took me all the way there (half hour drive). I was impressed cause that jus don't happen to often - wit me anyway. And then, on Sat night I needed to get to Over the Edge to meet up with Rob to watch the game and same thing happened, just different person. He was headed round the corner but took me all the way there. Of course he expected a phone number, which is what usually happens, and I once again got the 'I know you, but you don't know me' speech cause people always be seein me here and there. It was creepy the first 20 times, now its jus normal enough. And back to the game. Total madness. By the time I got to Over the Edge the score was already 2 nutin. And Rob had been drinkin since afternoon or so it seemed (he had a good day with timeshare sales)! Yikes, easy on the Jager shots Rob. What a sweet win. For the next game we're going into town to a 'Canadian' bar to watch - probably Legendz. Should be a good time. Especially if they win baby. After last night's game I would expect it. It woulda been fun to be home for that one - but it was still crazy fun here.
And today is Father's day. I jus chilled at work - tons of people at the Reef for the buffet. Miss Jacqueline took me for lunch to Arlain's in her break and then we came back to the Reef to eat it outside which was so great cause its a super nice day. A little tired today cause the last 3 days its been late nights and early mornings.
Something's goin on wit dominos tonight. Granted, on any given night you can see or rather hear a slammin domino match but when I rode out tonight one of my neighbour's seemed to be havin a hard-core tournament with half of East End turnout. And of course there was an intense match happenin at the playing field too. I'm fallin asleep as I write this so its time for me to sign off - peace out.
Hey dad, Happy Father's Day eh? I'll have a Pina colada on the beach to help celebrate! This one's for u!

Into the Blue

This post is from yesterday but fa some reason I'm just uploading it now. Cayman time I guess:
Well I've been here almost two weeks again but today was the first time back into the blue. The boys have been out fishin all week (its called fishin not catchin) but of course they won't let me go with them cause I jus the girl. They say girls are bad luck but hey maybe they woulda had better luck this week with me onboard - couldn't have been worse than it was. We had an East End Wreck & Reef Snorkel, but we kinda catered it a little differently cause we had a super small group today. One of the girls was my twin...so that's the pic to the left. Well, not really twins but she did confuse me for herself if that counts. She said 'we both have the wide hips' to which I was thinkin 'speak for yourself' but I guess I gotta agree wit her there. Being back in Canadia for 5 weeks sure makes you lose your tan fast. So anyway, didn't see much snokeling today. Just a couple of lobsters and the same ole fish - yellow tail snapper, squirrel fish (saw a honkin one of em today), parrot fish, wrasse, fairy basslets. This morning was a crap day but I regained that moment of realization of why I'm out here when I was in my 'uniform' (bikini) hanging off the edge of the boat staring into the blues as we cruised along the reef.
One of the guests from the reef gave me a couple of her home-made truffles. Me and Jacqui both got them and I chowed down on mine cause they were so good. I didn't go biking tonight (bad I know) cause I just wasn't feelin it. Depending what time Ross' leaving do is tomorrow (free dinner at Kaibo Yacht Club from the gang at OF - technically I'm not OF staff but hey they gotta feed the boy's roomie) then I'll go hard then - probably to Frank Sound again. Speaking of Rosco, we made a quick jaunt to lil' Fosters this morning cause Ross needed milk. I was done sending the boat off by 7:30am and technically I'm not 'supposed' to work until 8:30am (ya right, as if that ever happens-I'm usually out there at 6:20am) so we went to see Alby at Morrits and then to Fosters where Rosco actually bought me a cookie and the lady at the till thought we were brother and sister. And that was all before 8am - you may think life here is laid back but as you can see we don't waste any time. I'll skip the rest of the horrible morning and go straight to supper. Again, Rosco must be in a giving mood cause he's leaving to be wit his girl in Chicago but ya, he actually cooked me supper (actually, he's pretty good at that we've shared meals a few times - and he makes a darn good chilli-eh Ross?) Sign me up. Anyway, it was cajun chicken and shrimp and it was good. Then off to 'Over the Edge' with the OF gang. I'll post pics from that latah.

Alberto and Beef Patties

So buddy has a name now - its Alberto, the first named storm of the season. For coverage check out CNN.
I've pretty much run out of groceries already. I spent 20 CI last week which I'm impressed cause it lasted me most of the week. But today lil Fosters was of course closed cause its a Sunday (this island shuts down on Sundays). And tomorrow is another random holiday (Queen's b-day I think!) so I'll have to wait until Tuesday I guess. The other day I had to do an errand in town for work and so I made a quick side stop into National Bakery to pick up 4 beef patties. They sell them everywhere here at gas stations but there are two kinds and not many people carry the good spicy beef patties. So whenever I go into town I pick up a couple straight from the source! If any of you come to visit me I will buy you some for sure. You can't understand how good they are.

Almost Drowning

Wow. Has the hurricane past through yet? Ha! Well if that wasn't a hurricane then I don't know what is! I heard the other day that by the time it reaches Yucatan it will be the first named storm of the season. That's why I haven't blogged in the last 3 or 4 days. They disconnected the wireless net cause they didn't want the lighting to strike it again like last year. A couple people were saying the rain seemed worse than Ivan cause when a hurricane comes its out within 24 hours. Anyway, enough about that - it wasn't that bad, just got a bit wet that's all. Even though I like it, I'm glad the rain is stopped cause now maybe our bathroom floor can dry a bit. Water has been leaking like mad from our bathroom ceiling and so the whole floor is flooded. Its just something you get used to though. I can't really remember a time when it was dry anyway. First it was wet cause of the lack of shower curtains, then cause of the leakin toilet, and then because of the jackhammering going on behind our house and now the ceiling. Hmph...
Yesterday was my one day off in the week. I spent the day relaxin and chillin, went for a bike ride to High Rock (with a stop at the local gas station to top up my phone - ah, the simple life!) and then caught a ride to the game with a Canadian who works at the Reef. What a stressful game. I guess there is hope for the Oilers yet - well, sort of. Can't wait for Monday's game. I should have brought an Oilers jersey or something though. We went to Davie Jones. Half the people were Canadians and Americans watching the hockey game and then the other half were Brits and Caymanians watching the Boxing.
Joey was telling me that they've caught 16 Dolphins (not Flipper) in the past 3 weeks. That's a lot of Mahi Mahi. Next time they catch one (when we finally have another trip!) I'll have to post a pic but in the meantime the pic here is from awhile back (January I think).
The weather is all ambiguous today - just like my writing style. Catch ya latah - if I haven't drowned by then...

Chickens and Crabs and More Rain

So I was supposed to have a ride into work this morning but they were a no show so I start walking/hitchhiking there. There are so many random chickens and roosters running all over peoples yards - its quite funny. Actually, because of the roosters I need to have my fan on full blast throughout the night to drown out the noisy birds. And just so you know, they don't just cockaldoodle in the morning. But, I learned that the first time I was here.
I got picked up quite a ways after passing Vivine's Kit-hen. Before that though I somehow murdered my toe on the pavement in my flip flops. At least it was just the nail this time - last time it was chunks of flesh. Brutal. It happened right in front of some construction workers who are re-building some hurricane Ivan homes. So of course they were very concerned. Anyway, the driver of my hitch hike ride was late for work so that was nice of him to stop. He was building cabanas on the public beach in East End - his workers were already on the job. And today there was more rain. And then more. And then some more. And its still raining. But its lovely cause its still all warm and humid out while its raining. Isn't great for business, but considering our boat is out of the water until who knows when I guess its a good time for rain! Was hoping to go into town (or at least part way) to see the Oilers game tonight. Both of possible rides ditched on me though so you guys will need to fill me in. So I went for a walk instead. As what usually happens on my evening walks, good ole Billy drove by and reversed 'hey babe, where ya heading tonight. need a ride?' and as usual I respond 'no Billy, I'm just out for a walk', and his reply 'one of these nights I'm gonna stop and take you out for a beer'. Its funny cause its the same conversation every time. He's a hoot though. For those of you who don't know Billy, the famous East End fisherman, then I'll have to do a write-up on him - but that's a whole 'nother blog. Ah yes, the crabs. Some of you have heard about these land crabs we have here. My first encounter with them were with my roommates scoring points each time they drove over one (it isn't without consequence, these suckers jab their claws into the tires and puncture them - so watch out). My second encounter with these critters was when I opened my room door one day and here was this honkin crab looking up at me with his beaty little eyes as if asking permission to come into my room. I said aloud 'I don't think so buddy' and as soon as I said that he started walking through my doorway sideways with claws opening and closing mid-air as he scavenged in. I shoved him out into the hallway and went about as usual. Don't ask me why I only pushed him as far as the hallway, but hey, I never saw him again (from there when I went to have a shower and pulled back the curtain there was a scorpion awaiting me - but that's another story...let's just say that whole day was strange). And my third encounter with these happy little hunters was tonight on my walk. Buddy rushed out in front of me and then wiped his eyes which was weird in itself and then acted all defensive. They really like roads and cars, so he then tried to get run over my oncoming traffic but failed to due so...Its almost like they're just begging to pop some tires, even if it costs them their life. Oh wait, there should have been one more encounter before that, it was a pancaked crab on my way to work this morning - amazing how flat they can get.

White squalls

Hurricane season here we come. Now don't get me wrong, there definitely aren't any on the horizon, but a few white squalls rip-roarin through. Gotta love those torrential rains that come and disappear in 10 min. The clouds get so nauseated that they just upchuck the rains like mad. Today was work as usual at the Reef...saw more people I hadn't seen since I got back. So that was pretty rad. And oh my goodness, just about gave poor Papi a heart attack. So funny.
Found out today that the tank of our boat has a hole in it (dear Liza dear Liza) and that they need to fly someone in from Miami to fix it - totally whack. So I guess no trips for this week! Hopefully next week will be packed with Deep Sea trips. Worked a full day today - catching up on May's leftovers. And oh ya, I hitch-hiked to work today. An immigration worker picked me up. We had a lovely chat. Nothing sketchy there. Oh, and for lunch I walked across to Little Fosters (yay little Fosters!!!!), or new and only lil' grocery store on East End and I bought a whole roast chicken for lunch. It was SO good and so NOT fried for once! I brought it back and me and Jacqui had a feast. Started to hitch-hike home today but then Jane from OF picked me up before I'd really left the Reef area so that was sweet. When I got home it started pouring but I was determined to go for a bike ride plus I needed a cell top-up so I rode to Texaco in the rain. Then we hooked up my dvd player to our communal tv that the boys set up while I was away and tested it out by watching my uncle's (Dr. Vij Sodera htttp://www.onesmallspeck.com)
dvd on Evolution Impossible. And then a surf video. So all in all, a dec day.
Alright -latah.

First day back in Grand Cayman...

So it was my first full day back in Cayman today. It was strange seeing the pictures in my photo album come alive again -- you don't get to do that often.
I arrived yesterday afternoon at about 1pm. Someone was there to pick me up at the airport so I was happy! It was an excrutiating journey though. 20 hours and 2 stopovers. 3 hours in Seattle and 5 in Miami (it only takes an hour and a half from Miami to Cayman so that was frustrating). But all the other flights were 17 or 19 hour stopovers so its all good. Missed a full night's sleep but nevermind.
It's so hot here. Only about 30 I think but the humidity has come in full force. It's sweet though - that's what I like is dewy air. Plus its awesome for the skin and hair - since I don't have a mirror its an added bonus baby.
As I write this I'm looking at a pale green baby gecko on my bedroom wall. I'm so happy I finally have one to eat the bugs in my room. My roommate had 2 forever and I was jealous. Granted the bugs are much bigger than him (the baby gecko, not my roommate!), but the little guy will grow with each bug he eats. What should I name him...any suggestions? Yesterday just before I went to bed I saw one of them huge jumping spiders in my room. I tried killin him by throwing a book at him -twice - (he was first by my pillows and then under my bed) but then he disappeared. I hope he doesn't eat my baby (gecko that is). Or me for that matter.
This morning we took the boat in for repair. The bilge was full to the brim with diesel (last night and this morning) so off to Scott's Marine we went. We must have lost over half a tank of diesel. Sucks to be Eco-Panga (our little 26 footer). Hopefully they'll fix it quick so we can start with trips again. Then I had some Caymanian stewed chicken (which looked more like beef) with typical side of rice and beans and a plantain. yum yum. That was the first time I ate since lunch the previous day - just not hungry.
The most random crazy and unplanned assamblage took place today. Most of you know about some of my sketchy hitch hike rides (no I was not hitchhiking today). Well, there was one where there were two young Caymanian guys fighting (and calling and hanging up on relatives over the phone to try and settle the matter) over land and sidelining down backroads including to go argue with the old sailor domino-playing grandpa before they so kindly dropped me off at the place of my appointment in town. Ya, that hitch hike story. Anyway, I ran into the one in the front seat today in town. I was like 'hey, aren't you the guy that gave me a hitch hike ride that one time'. And he just about fell over laughing and said 'ya, we were fighting over land that whole way'. He was talking to my boss cause they've known each other for years. It was hilarious. Then he was like 'Oh my goodness, the driver is here waiting in the truck I'll go get him' and so he came in too and told me (after I asked) that he did end up getting the land in Boddentown. Good times.
Then of course I had to go see lady Jacqui at the Reef (my bestest Nicaraguan - living - in - Cayman -friend ever!). She was on the phone at the bar (looking the other way) so I went and pulled up a chair super close and when she turned to check out what creep just sat so close she was so shocked and hung up her cell and we caught up on everything!
It was a shorter work day than usual so I got to chill out a bit and catch up on some much needed rest (even though I slept 12 hours the night before!).
And then came our attempts with the hockey game. Nowhere on East End was playing the Oilers game and we couldn't go into town. So we tried to find it online and the best we could do was live radio (anyone know of live games you can watch online?). With our touchy wireless internet it kept cutting in and out so we missed the first goal but managed to catch the rest. I'm the only one who stayed up for the last goal though - that was a sad moment spent all alone -haha. But that's too bad. They'll just have to kick it up a notch I guess.
My gecko friend has moved from my wall to my ceiling and that is my cue to sign off. Who knows what tomorrow holds - more Cubans coming in, a hurricane or more coke on the beach? Oh, that reminds me - I didn't get a chance to see Papi today.
Peace out you crazy Canadians and creepy onlookers.
ps- did I mention I came home to a just-flooded room yesterday. Yes, just what I wanted! Thankfully my roommates were very kind and broke in, mopped the floor and picked up any wet stuff to dry.