Big Storm

Last night we had one of the biggest thunderstorms since I've been here. It was very comparable to the one last summer that occurred while Tropical Storm Chris was passing nearby. Dave missed both of these, as he was in the states last August, and right now he's on Virgin Gorda playing tourist with his parents. But I know he had a good storm before I arrived on island two years ago.



The rain came in spurts starting just after I got home from work yesterday, around 6:30. But the real fun began around 11pm. The lightning was so bright it hurt my eyes even through the curtains. As I tried to doze, the bright light would wake me back up just before the earth-shattering thunder boomed. It felt like an earthquake the thunder was so loud. The storm must have been moving around the island, coming and going, because for about 10 minutes or so the thunder would be immediately after the lightning and super loud, then it would be about 10 seconds after the lightning and much fainter. Every hour or two, the storm would get very, very loud. Remember, we have a metal roof so that we can get the rain water into our cistern. So heavy rain is deafening. The power went off a few times but surprisingly was never out for more than thirty minutes or so. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep! The photo here is the remnants of the storm lifted from the weather radar online just now, hours after the storm ended. I'm surprised the radar is working actually - it typically does not work when we actually have weather that warrants checking it out.

Longest Day . . . or is it?

Happy Summer Solstice! Today is the longest day for most of our faithful readers. I don't really understand this at all, but I thought it was worth posting about. Something about today is important. I think the sun stops moving (i know, it doesn't move at all) northward, or something like that. So, the days stop getting longer and start getting shorter. I thought there was something different about it here, at Latitude 18. Because the sun is at its zenith here twice, so wouldn't that make it so we have TWO longest days? Dave said something about it. But when I tried to google it, I found mixed stories. I don't know what the scoop is, and maybe it's not blog worthy. Especially since I don't have the time to figure it out, and Dave doesn't have the time to write about it. But, nonetheless, it's the Summer Solstice. We celebrate summer here every day. Apologizes about the most confusing post ever!

Fort Restoration

Restoration of Fort Christian on St. Thomas is resuming this week after a nine month break. It's been under renovation since we moved here. From the outside it looks like they've managed to paint part of the building in that time. A large portion of the funding comes from the Federal Highway Administration. This struck me as strange initially because I recalled some rumor that the FHA didn't give money to states where the drinking age was lower than 21. The drinking age in the VI is 18. I looked into it briefly - as far as I can tell, only 10% of FHA funds are withheld as a penalty from states/territories that have a lower drinking age. Considering we don't have any highways, I guess we don't really need much FHA money....

 

Fort Christian is the oldest standing building in the Virgin Islands, built sometime between 1672 and 1680. The Fort helped protect the town from pirates and European armadas. It is in town near the current Legislature building and the vendors' plaza. Over the years it has served as a courthouse, a church, town hall, a jail and the governor's residence (not simultaneously, I assume...). The Virgin Islands Museum is also in the Fort, but since it hasn't been open in the last two years, we haven't stepped foot inside.

Constitutional Convention

Yesterday was an exciting day in Virgin Islands history. It was election day, which also meant local holiday for those lucky people who don't work for the federal government. We voted for delegates to be a part of the upcoming Constitutional Convention. The VI doesn't have a Constitution yet. (I think it's the only US territory without one.) Our current government structure comes from the Revised Organic Act, which is federal law. The Constitutional Convention will begin at the end of July. This is actually the fifth time a Constitutional Convention has convened, but for one reason or another, no final constitution ever came of the previous conventions. My rough understanding is there is a deadline of about one year for the delegates to come up with a draft constitution (needs 2/3 approval of the delegates); then it is submitted to the VI Governor, who then submits it to the US President. The President has 60 days to submit it to Congress, and I assume Congress has to approve it. Other than voting for the delegates, I'm not quite sure how Virgin Islanders really get to take a part of their constitution, given that it's subject to the approval of the President and Congress. Such is the life of us third class citizens who live in territories. (Or maybe that's how all the states got their constitutions too? Sadly, at the moment I have other things to do than research this issue.)

There were lots of people on the ballot - teachers, lawyers, jewelers, law enforcement officers, politicians, electricians, legislative workers, a former judge, a car salesman, etc. It was reminiscent of the California gubernatorial recall election in 2003. Residents of the St. Thomas/St. John district votes for 13 delegates from those islands, and also 4 at-large delegates: 2 from the St. Croix district and 2 from the St. Thomas/St. John district. The convention will have a total of 30 delegates. I have visions of white guys in wigs in the hot Philadelphia summer arguing about what democracy is. But that was 220 years ago, and I don't think many wigged white guys will be involved here. Nonetheless, it is pretty exciting. I hope something comes of the convention this time. Then it'll seem like we really got to take a part of creating a constitution with our votes yesterday.

Windsurfing Lesson

After some very loud, persistent rain during the night (the power stayed on!), today became another beautiful day in the tropics. Dave and I had our first windsurfing lesson this afternoon at Vessup Beach. I'd read and been told that the West Indies Windsurfing company is the place to go for lessons. They're open weekends from 10am-5pm and weekdays as requested. We called around 10am to get the scoop, but only got the machine which listed their above-noted hours and gave the owner's cell and home numbers. Awhile later I called the cell phone and we found out John, the owner (and only person working that day), was running late because there was a big tennis game he was watching at home. I only mention this because it's a pretty decent example of how some businesses are run here. Hey mon, it makes life easier if we can just relax a bit and be patient with each other.

We made plans to meet John around noon for a 2 hour lesson that involved about 45 minutes of instruction and 2.5 hours of windsurfing. (See, island time works well for everyone.) I had no idea what he was talking about as he instructed us on land. Once we got on the water though, things made a little more sense. Dave and I eventually became competent at sailing downwind while trying to go upwind and I managed to get stuck offshore when the wind was totally nonexistent. I swam backstroke with my foot hooked into the board to get closer to shore, and Dave swam out to help me too. The wind was very calm, to the point where it was difficult to maneuver much at times. Windsurfing wasn't quite as complex as I'd imagined, but we definitely need more practice. We're interested in trying it somewhere with some real wind next time, though nothing too scary just yet please.

Hiking on St. John

Saturday morning, we decided it was finally time to do the popular hike from Cruz Bay on St. John to Caneel Bay Resort. We took the people ferry to St. John (about a 15 minute trip for $5 each way, they leave hourly) and started the day with a trip to the Deli Grotto. The Deli Grotto is a refuge of comfort in the islands. We've been there about six times in as many weeks. It's a lovely cafe that has air conditioning inside (with internet access even!) but also a quiet shaded sitting area outside. Reasonably priced baked goods, sandwiches, breakfast foods, yummy smoothies and coffee can be found here. We were really hoping they'd have date bars, which we got for the first time there two weeks ago, but apparently there is no set schedule for when certain baked goods or salads are made. Chef's choice. Also missing from the day's choices was the popular coconut-chocolate-oat bar. Instead I narrowed my choice down to a fresh homemade donut or an apple walnut muffin. The donut I ate was enough food for the rest of the day, and probably not the best way to start a hike. I needed a nap. Dave chose a chocolate caramel bar. I could have stayed at the Deli Grotto all day (which had been my plan if Dave hadn't wanted to do the hike).
We ventured off to the National Park building and found the Lind Point trailhead. The trail was mostly dry brush with some night blooming climbing cactus. We found a wilted flower that must have bloomed the night before. One night of bloom - the end. Luckily the trail was in the shade, as summer has certainly arrived. It is not a dry heat and it feels like it's about 100 degrees during the day lately. We saw plenty of butterflies, centipedes, plumeria caterpillars, iguanas, anoles (little lizards), and donkeys. Yes, donkeys. St. John has wild donkeys, as well as wild deer, wild chickens, and roaming cows. On St. Thomas we have a couple random cows too, they mostly hang out near Home Depot.

After strolling along the trail for awhile, we came to Salomon Beach. Then we wished we had brought our bathing suits. It was hot; the water was the usual crystal clear, light blue tint, very inviting, and guaranteed refreshing. We hiked onwards to Honeymoon Beach where we once again regretted that choice. What were we thinking. We meandered onto Caneel Bay Resort's grounds next. It's THE resort to visit. It's where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie stayed... We didn't wander around too much, sat down near the bar for a few minutes, gazing at the water, wondering why nobody was enjoying it. Then we headed back to town on the same trail. Of course, we went back to the Deli Grotto for lunch. I was still full but managed to make space for a mango smoothie. Dave had the Trunk Bay Chicken sandwich. And we had plenty of water! Have to stay hydrated! We took our time and enjoyed the feeling of a temporary escape from hectic St. Thomas. (I can hear you laughing.)

The Deli Grotto is just one of many restaurants and shops that make up Mongoose Junction. While we were there waiting for the next ferry, we checked out the VI Pale Ale shop that just opened up. They sell VI Pale Ale and their very new Island Summer Ale (very tasty!), and plenty of t-shirts, bottle coozies, pint glasses, etc. We're getting to the end of our stay here, so it's time to stock up on souveniers! After we got back to our car on St. Thomas, we headed straight to Sapphire beach, jumped in with all our clothes on to cool off, and then drove home. The rest of our weekend included watching movies and participating in a 2 mile fun run to raise money for some kids to visit DC. It was the same route as two weeks ago, but with a much smaller field. We both won first place in our age groups. I have to admit, living in a community of 50,000 has been really fabulous for our egos! Reality is but a couple short months away.