25 September, 2008
In High Seas or in Low Seas...
Some of the best stories start with one of two scenarios: either someone mysteriously disappears or a stranger comes to town. I am undoubtedly the “newbie” on the island, and am sure to have plenty of stories myself, as well as produce certain oddities for others to share in their own narratives. It’s been a few days since my last post, and quite a bit has happened. Let’s quickly recap from the last few days to get you up to speed.
Sunday night ended with me struggling with one of the four locks outside for approximately 20 minutes. (This, my friends, is evidence that foreshadowing happens in real life, not just in carefully scripted movies and novels.) Monday morning, I awoke to the rain on the roof yet again. I figured it would be the perfect opportunity to organize and put away the rest of my things, as well as make my apartment a little homier. This not only took a few hours, but ended up consuming my day. You don’t realize how much 100 pounds of stuff is until you have to find a place for it.
So after putting some new sheets on the bed, attempting to put on a king-sized duvet cover, finding a place for the remainder of my clothes that could not be hung (since I have no drawers, oddly enough), and other oddities, I noticed the rain had briefly subsided. This was my opportunity to step out and breathe some fresh air! I stepped out onto the patio, and sighed of weather-related relief. As I got to the patio door, however, I found myself yet again struggling. I was pretty sure I was just locking the door even more, if that was possible.
Fifteen minutes of battling with the padlock in a frenzy, and the rain started again. Another fifteen minutes passed, as I was determined to get the door open, but no avail. As I reached the forty-five minute mark, I waved an imaginary white flag in anger at the lock, and decided to call the owner.
Imagine having to call the owner of a residence you are renting to explain you have been locked IN the apartment. I imagine this does not happen often. The owner, Marc, was very understanding (after the expected chuckle, of course) and sent Bill the maintenance man right over to fix the lock.
Now, I am usually get into predicaments that are not much of a predicament at all. Like that time the steering wheel in my car locked, and I thought I was completely out of gas and had my dad drive to come get me (even after he said, “Check to see if your steering wheel is locked.” I feared that this was the case, and that Bill would be making the trip in the rain to rescue me from the condo with one fell swoop.
Not so. I was lucky in that sense. It happened to be a legitimate problem that required a crowbar, a hammer and some other tools. Apparently, whoever installed the lock did it quite improperly, and it was crooked inside. I was able to get some pizza delivery (still no food – I did my food shopping on Tuesday), and Bill replaced the lock correctly and promptly.
Jumping ahead to Tuesday night, since I already covered Monday…
Tuesday night started with a fabulous homemade dinner by Kate (her mac ‘n cheese is to die for!). Near the very end of dinner, the power shut off – for the third time since my arrival on island. What does that mean? Look through the window to see the lights are on in Red Hook - It’s time to go to the bar!
After we got to the bar, the power eventually returned; the illumination of the lights was followed by the cheering of bar patrons. An hour or two passed, when all of a sudden, Chris, Kate, Capitol Doug, Dave, and Brian decided this was the perfect opportunity to brush up on our Four Square skills. Yep, Four Square. The game we used to play at recess in fifth grade, we were now playing it with a beer (or cocktail) in hand in the middle of an outdoor bar. I don’t remember being that good at Four Square, but I thought I was pretty good that night. I also don’t remember being hung over the day after playing Four Square during recess. Interesting…
While Wednesday was pretty uneventful, I spent today exploring and decided to go into town and do some historical stuff. I took the $2 open-air safari taxi, which is a ride in itself. I stumbled upon Camille Pissarro’s house, which is open to the public as an art gallery that does not display any of his works. Apparently you have to go to a different art gallery to see Pissarro’s actual works. That’s the islands for you.
I also came across the Emancipation Gardens, which commemorates the 1848 emancipation of slaves. As I crossed the street, I noticed what seemed to be the Liberty Bell statue. “This can’t be right,” I thought to myself. The replica is much smaller than the real thing; I guess it’s a bit like Lady Liberty in Paris and the Statue of Liberty in the States. I did some more exploring and ended up taking the safari taxi back.
Anyways, I’m back here now and about to go make some dinner. I’ll be uploading some pictures of my travels later. Ugly Betty/Grey’s Anatomy tonight!
Until next time,
XOXO
Island Girl
Sunday night ended with me struggling with one of the four locks outside for approximately 20 minutes. (This, my friends, is evidence that foreshadowing happens in real life, not just in carefully scripted movies and novels.) Monday morning, I awoke to the rain on the roof yet again. I figured it would be the perfect opportunity to organize and put away the rest of my things, as well as make my apartment a little homier. This not only took a few hours, but ended up consuming my day. You don’t realize how much 100 pounds of stuff is until you have to find a place for it.
So after putting some new sheets on the bed, attempting to put on a king-sized duvet cover, finding a place for the remainder of my clothes that could not be hung (since I have no drawers, oddly enough), and other oddities, I noticed the rain had briefly subsided. This was my opportunity to step out and breathe some fresh air! I stepped out onto the patio, and sighed of weather-related relief. As I got to the patio door, however, I found myself yet again struggling. I was pretty sure I was just locking the door even more, if that was possible.
Fifteen minutes of battling with the padlock in a frenzy, and the rain started again. Another fifteen minutes passed, as I was determined to get the door open, but no avail. As I reached the forty-five minute mark, I waved an imaginary white flag in anger at the lock, and decided to call the owner.
Imagine having to call the owner of a residence you are renting to explain you have been locked IN the apartment. I imagine this does not happen often. The owner, Marc, was very understanding (after the expected chuckle, of course) and sent Bill the maintenance man right over to fix the lock.
Now, I am usually get into predicaments that are not much of a predicament at all. Like that time the steering wheel in my car locked, and I thought I was completely out of gas and had my dad drive to come get me (even after he said, “Check to see if your steering wheel is locked.” I feared that this was the case, and that Bill would be making the trip in the rain to rescue me from the condo with one fell swoop.
Not so. I was lucky in that sense. It happened to be a legitimate problem that required a crowbar, a hammer and some other tools. Apparently, whoever installed the lock did it quite improperly, and it was crooked inside. I was able to get some pizza delivery (still no food – I did my food shopping on Tuesday), and Bill replaced the lock correctly and promptly.
Jumping ahead to Tuesday night, since I already covered Monday…
Tuesday night started with a fabulous homemade dinner by Kate (her mac ‘n cheese is to die for!). Near the very end of dinner, the power shut off – for the third time since my arrival on island. What does that mean? Look through the window to see the lights are on in Red Hook - It’s time to go to the bar!
After we got to the bar, the power eventually returned; the illumination of the lights was followed by the cheering of bar patrons. An hour or two passed, when all of a sudden, Chris, Kate, Capitol Doug, Dave, and Brian decided this was the perfect opportunity to brush up on our Four Square skills. Yep, Four Square. The game we used to play at recess in fifth grade, we were now playing it with a beer (or cocktail) in hand in the middle of an outdoor bar. I don’t remember being that good at Four Square, but I thought I was pretty good that night. I also don’t remember being hung over the day after playing Four Square during recess. Interesting…
While Wednesday was pretty uneventful, I spent today exploring and decided to go into town and do some historical stuff. I took the $2 open-air safari taxi, which is a ride in itself. I stumbled upon Camille Pissarro’s house, which is open to the public as an art gallery that does not display any of his works. Apparently you have to go to a different art gallery to see Pissarro’s actual works. That’s the islands for you.
I also came across the Emancipation Gardens, which commemorates the 1848 emancipation of slaves. As I crossed the street, I noticed what seemed to be the Liberty Bell statue. “This can’t be right,” I thought to myself. The replica is much smaller than the real thing; I guess it’s a bit like Lady Liberty in Paris and the Statue of Liberty in the States. I did some more exploring and ended up taking the safari taxi back.
Anyways, I’m back here now and about to go make some dinner. I’ll be uploading some pictures of my travels later. Ugly Betty/Grey’s Anatomy tonight!
Until next time,
XOXO
Island Girl
23 September, 2008
Changes in Lattitudes; Changes in Attitudes
The sun came out around noon today! I went to Red Hook for a bit to sign up for a mailbox, which went much quicker than I expected.
New mailing address:
Candice R. Schwartz
6501 Red Hook Plaza
Suite 201 PMB
St. Thomas, VI 00802-1306
It's US Postal Service, so regular US postage will suffice!
I also went to lunch and had an amazing three-cheese grilled cheese baguette (brie, mozzarella and gouda) with tomato and bacon. Yum yum!
Then I went food shopping. That was quite an experience - not the finding the food part, but having to lug around everything I needed in a small basket and then paying $80 for it all. Everything is so expensive! I guess it's pretty much all imported, so that's where paying $3.00 for a Hershey's bar comes in. Luckily, fruits and veggies are pretty reasonable.
OK, I don't know how long this sun will last, so I'm going to go out and explore. I'll have to explain the whole locking-myself-into-my-own-apartment yesterday thing happened later.
Until then...
You know you love me.
XOXO
- Island Girl
New mailing address:
Candice R. Schwartz
6501 Red Hook Plaza
Suite 201 PMB
St. Thomas, VI 00802-1306
It's US Postal Service, so regular US postage will suffice!
I also went to lunch and had an amazing three-cheese grilled cheese baguette (brie, mozzarella and gouda) with tomato and bacon. Yum yum!
Then I went food shopping. That was quite an experience - not the finding the food part, but having to lug around everything I needed in a small basket and then paying $80 for it all. Everything is so expensive! I guess it's pretty much all imported, so that's where paying $3.00 for a Hershey's bar comes in. Luckily, fruits and veggies are pretty reasonable.
OK, I don't know how long this sun will last, so I'm going to go out and explore. I'll have to explain the whole locking-myself-into-my-own-apartment yesterday thing happened later.
Until then...
You know you love me.
XOXO
- Island Girl
22 September, 2008
We pray that it's raining on Sunday, storming like crazy...
September 21st, 2008
Rain, rain. Go away. Come back another day!
I woke up to the sound of the rain at 10:30 and decided it was probably a good idea to get up and out of bed. I continued settling in, and decided to order lunch for delivery (I have no car, it was pouring out and I had nothing in my fridge as of yet). Then, all of a sudden, the power went off. I realized I was experiencing my second blackout (there was one at the bar the night before) in two days. Awesome! The day before, Bill told me that it happens fairly often, and if the power didn’t come back on in about 15-20 minutes, to call the owner. I waited a half an hour, and then decided to call the owner. He told me to wait another hour, and it should come back on. I decided to add a bunch of contacts to my coconut phone to pass the time. A half hour later, the power finally came back on. The pizza delivery guy greeted me simultaneously, and welcomed me to the island.
At about four, Doug, Chris and Kate picked me up and we headed to the Caribbean Saloon for the Eagles game. Luckily, Doug had an extra McNabb jersey for me to wear. (I only brought my Burrell t-shirt.) As we found our spot at the bar, I saw a sea of midnight green. There must have been more dedicated Eagles fans at this bar than any other bar in South Jersey during an Eagles game. I kid you not! I met more islanders, and of course, more bartenders. We sat around and watch the Green Bay/Cowboys game. And then the Jaeger-bombs began.
Got home around 12:30. I found myself struggling with one of the four locks I needed to unlock to get into my apartment (there are two doors, two locks each). It took me approximately 20 minutes to lock the padlock from the inside because I couldn’t pull the key out. Finally, I pull it out, and make my way inside, soaking wet from the rain.
Ahhh, sleep.
You know you love me.
XOXO
- Island Girl
Rain, rain. Go away. Come back another day!
I woke up to the sound of the rain at 10:30 and decided it was probably a good idea to get up and out of bed. I continued settling in, and decided to order lunch for delivery (I have no car, it was pouring out and I had nothing in my fridge as of yet). Then, all of a sudden, the power went off. I realized I was experiencing my second blackout (there was one at the bar the night before) in two days. Awesome! The day before, Bill told me that it happens fairly often, and if the power didn’t come back on in about 15-20 minutes, to call the owner. I waited a half an hour, and then decided to call the owner. He told me to wait another hour, and it should come back on. I decided to add a bunch of contacts to my coconut phone to pass the time. A half hour later, the power finally came back on. The pizza delivery guy greeted me simultaneously, and welcomed me to the island.
At about four, Doug, Chris and Kate picked me up and we headed to the Caribbean Saloon for the Eagles game. Luckily, Doug had an extra McNabb jersey for me to wear. (I only brought my Burrell t-shirt.) As we found our spot at the bar, I saw a sea of midnight green. There must have been more dedicated Eagles fans at this bar than any other bar in South Jersey during an Eagles game. I kid you not! I met more islanders, and of course, more bartenders. We sat around and watch the Green Bay/Cowboys game. And then the Jaeger-bombs began.
Got home around 12:30. I found myself struggling with one of the four locks I needed to unlock to get into my apartment (there are two doors, two locks each). It took me approximately 20 minutes to lock the padlock from the inside because I couldn’t pull the key out. Finally, I pull it out, and make my way inside, soaking wet from the rain.
Ahhh, sleep.
You know you love me.
XOXO
- Island Girl
Now that it's raining more than ever, you can stand under my umberella
Ok, I'm pretty settled. Still finding places for a few things, but I figured I'd update everyone with how my first weekend here went! My future posts won't be so long or detailed, but it's been pouring the past three days, so I've had a little time today to sit and type!
Day 1: September 20th, 2008
I woke up at 4 AM, and I decided to pay any overweight charges so I could transfer 14 pounds of books from my carryon to checked baggage. Mom, Dad and I drove to the Atlantic City airport. We waited in a ridiculously long line to check in. Finally, I reached the counter, and the kind man working for Spirit Airlines decided to not make me pay overweight charges; he let this be known. With 15 minutes to go before take-off, I said a tearful goodbye to my parents, followed by rushing through security. Shoes off, sweatshirt off, liquids out, laptop out, walked through metal detector with flying colors, scrambled to put sneakers on (I had to tie them because they aren’t quite broken in enough yet), tried to fit everything else back into carry-on, and had to forego closing the zipper. I was the second to last person to board the plane.
I fell asleep immediately on the plane. Spirit has these wonderful headrests that lock in place so you don’t have to sleep like a bobble head. Shortly after I woke up, the plane landed. I walked around Ft. Lauderdale airport for a bit, then overpaid $9 for a Nathan’s lunch at 10AM, since my internal clock was completely off. After lunch (or brunch), I watched 2 episodes of Gossip Girl on my new iTouch. I then boarded the second plane. I sat next to a woman whose husband works in STT, and she travels there one week each month; she was very nice, but man, did she talk my ear off before the plane even took off. She warned, “You have to be a very simple person to live there.” I thanked her for the uplifting words of encouragement. Finally (or a half hour after this conversation began) I pulled out my book and pretended to read, even though I was too deliriously tired to comprehend the words on the page. I then paid $5 for a muffin and a small bottle of water on plane. I put on John Mayer on the iTouch and fell asleep. I woke up forty-five minutes before the end of the flight. I read People Magazine’s Best/Worst Dressed issue, and decided that People Magazine needs to fire whoever decided that Fergie was best dressed in 2008. The plane landed successfully (clearly, if I am writing this now).
Walking down from the plane, I noticed it was cloudy and rainy in STT, but still warm. I paid a 16-year old porter $5 to take my 100+ pounds of luggage to nearest taxi (which happened to be just 20 feet away). My taxi driver, Franklin, proclaimed he did not know where Pineapple Village was, and asked if I have a map. I did not. He then declared he would figure it out. He took us (about 10 people all going to similar places on the island) on the “scenic route,” which was actually rather short of a drive. I arrived at Pineapple Village, and he dropped me off after not being able to find #3905. A security guard offered to help me find the apartment. He looked as though I handed him a bag full of concrete slabs when he offered to carry my luggage, but he toughed it up anyway – for about 30 feet. We could not find 3905, so the officer suggested leaving my luggage sitting at the pool. Against my better judgment, I do so because of the weight. We eventually found 3905 about ten minutes later. It had stopped raining at this point, but seemingly invisible bugs began attacking me as I tried to find the phone number of apartment owner, since there was no one there to meet me with keys. After rifling through luggage, I call the owner, who said “Bill should be on his way in about 15 minutes”. I said thank you, even though I feared that within 15 minutes I would be covered in bug bites. Bill showed up with the keys as I hung up the phone. Salvation!
Bill struggled to unlock the door at first. This was not very assuring. Bugs continued to feast on me, and I began to drip sweat. Finally, the door unlocked. Then we came to another door to unlock, which fortunately was much easier. My initial impression of the apartment was buggy, a little dirty, a bit disappointing. There are odd islander hats hanging on the walls, which probably added to the disappointment. Bill showed me how to turn the air conditioning on, and then gave me the “grand tour”. He introduced me to my “open air bathroom,” which seems to be one of those odd island things. Bill eventually left.
I cleaned up a little and started unpacking. I took a shower, and then began to feel much better after the crazy past few days I had had.
Doug called and invited me out to watch the Phillies. I was greeted with a bottle of rum (a housewarming gift) and a beer in a coozie. Awesome. I met so many people, and unfortunately forget most of their names. One of the bartenders gave me a warm welcome, and then decided to call me “New Philly Girl.” I expected a semi-early night, since I was exhausted; however, we all know how that story goes. Phillies won! Got home around 1:45 and fell right asleep.
I'll update you some more on yesterday later today, after some more unpacking. Until then...
You know you love me.
XOXO
Island Girl
(Yeah, I watch too much Gossip Girl. Get used to it.)
Day 1: September 20th, 2008
I woke up at 4 AM, and I decided to pay any overweight charges so I could transfer 14 pounds of books from my carryon to checked baggage. Mom, Dad and I drove to the Atlantic City airport. We waited in a ridiculously long line to check in. Finally, I reached the counter, and the kind man working for Spirit Airlines decided to not make me pay overweight charges; he let this be known. With 15 minutes to go before take-off, I said a tearful goodbye to my parents, followed by rushing through security. Shoes off, sweatshirt off, liquids out, laptop out, walked through metal detector with flying colors, scrambled to put sneakers on (I had to tie them because they aren’t quite broken in enough yet), tried to fit everything else back into carry-on, and had to forego closing the zipper. I was the second to last person to board the plane.
I fell asleep immediately on the plane. Spirit has these wonderful headrests that lock in place so you don’t have to sleep like a bobble head. Shortly after I woke up, the plane landed. I walked around Ft. Lauderdale airport for a bit, then overpaid $9 for a Nathan’s lunch at 10AM, since my internal clock was completely off. After lunch (or brunch), I watched 2 episodes of Gossip Girl on my new iTouch. I then boarded the second plane. I sat next to a woman whose husband works in STT, and she travels there one week each month; she was very nice, but man, did she talk my ear off before the plane even took off. She warned, “You have to be a very simple person to live there.” I thanked her for the uplifting words of encouragement. Finally (or a half hour after this conversation began) I pulled out my book and pretended to read, even though I was too deliriously tired to comprehend the words on the page. I then paid $5 for a muffin and a small bottle of water on plane. I put on John Mayer on the iTouch and fell asleep. I woke up forty-five minutes before the end of the flight. I read People Magazine’s Best/Worst Dressed issue, and decided that People Magazine needs to fire whoever decided that Fergie was best dressed in 2008. The plane landed successfully (clearly, if I am writing this now).
Walking down from the plane, I noticed it was cloudy and rainy in STT, but still warm. I paid a 16-year old porter $5 to take my 100+ pounds of luggage to nearest taxi (which happened to be just 20 feet away). My taxi driver, Franklin, proclaimed he did not know where Pineapple Village was, and asked if I have a map. I did not. He then declared he would figure it out. He took us (about 10 people all going to similar places on the island) on the “scenic route,” which was actually rather short of a drive. I arrived at Pineapple Village, and he dropped me off after not being able to find #3905. A security guard offered to help me find the apartment. He looked as though I handed him a bag full of concrete slabs when he offered to carry my luggage, but he toughed it up anyway – for about 30 feet. We could not find 3905, so the officer suggested leaving my luggage sitting at the pool. Against my better judgment, I do so because of the weight. We eventually found 3905 about ten minutes later. It had stopped raining at this point, but seemingly invisible bugs began attacking me as I tried to find the phone number of apartment owner, since there was no one there to meet me with keys. After rifling through luggage, I call the owner, who said “Bill should be on his way in about 15 minutes”. I said thank you, even though I feared that within 15 minutes I would be covered in bug bites. Bill showed up with the keys as I hung up the phone. Salvation!
Bill struggled to unlock the door at first. This was not very assuring. Bugs continued to feast on me, and I began to drip sweat. Finally, the door unlocked. Then we came to another door to unlock, which fortunately was much easier. My initial impression of the apartment was buggy, a little dirty, a bit disappointing. There are odd islander hats hanging on the walls, which probably added to the disappointment. Bill showed me how to turn the air conditioning on, and then gave me the “grand tour”. He introduced me to my “open air bathroom,” which seems to be one of those odd island things. Bill eventually left.
I cleaned up a little and started unpacking. I took a shower, and then began to feel much better after the crazy past few days I had had.
Doug called and invited me out to watch the Phillies. I was greeted with a bottle of rum (a housewarming gift) and a beer in a coozie. Awesome. I met so many people, and unfortunately forget most of their names. One of the bartenders gave me a warm welcome, and then decided to call me “New Philly Girl.” I expected a semi-early night, since I was exhausted; however, we all know how that story goes. Phillies won! Got home around 1:45 and fell right asleep.
I'll update you some more on yesterday later today, after some more unpacking. Until then...
You know you love me.
XOXO
Island Girl
(Yeah, I watch too much Gossip Girl. Get used to it.)
21 September, 2008
E-A-G-L-E-S!
I have arrived! Heading out to watch the Eagles game now; I will be sure to post something in the next day or so.
It is POURING rain here, by the way. :-P
It is POURING rain here, by the way. :-P
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