1. Honking has several meanings ...hi, good morning, good evening, i know you, how are you, bonjour, go ahead and cross, why did you just cross, i will let you cut in front of me, why did you just cut me off, F*** you, and have a great day. There are also double and triple honks....still working on those translations
2. Beer is cheaper than bottled water.
3. Beer is cheaper than soda.
4. EVERYTHING takes a long time- cable hook up 2 weeks, restaurant service, Internet- 2 weeks, packages -6 weeks, getting your car towed at the airport 90 seconds. cost to pick it up- $75
5. You should plan for rain for a few minutes each day. It usually happens when you walk outside and stops the second you go back in. Just enough to have to change your clothes.
6. Tips are considered offensive on the French side but expected and not deserved on the Dutch side
7. Radio stations do not stick to a specific genre. 15 minutes may go like this- Bob Marley, Tina Turner, Michael Bolton and Dr Dre
8. The power will go out in the middle of a storm free day for any amount of time. Worst so far was 4 hours in the middle of the night. I could hear food in the freezer thawing out
9. Water will go out here and there. Just because
10. Yachts here are ridiculous. Biggest one in the world is docked here now and called the Eclipse.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/16/roman-abramovichs-eclipse_n_540947.html He also has a private jet which is parked at the airport here
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/pages/showbiz41.17889.html scroll down on the link to see pictures. The owner is the 15th richest man in the world. There are other yachts here that are comparable but not quite as big. It sounds like most of them are here now for tourist season then they travel back "home" during summer/rainy/hurricane season.
11. Volunteering for the Heineken Regatta means you want to drive a water taxi and take people to their sailboats?! I haven't ever driven a boat?! what the heck have I gotten myself into!!
12. Pulling over for an ambulance or police officer with their sirens on is RUDE to those behind you. They obviously have more important places to be.....we got the hint after all 8 cars honked at us!
13. Anguilla is apparently a hot celebrity spot!!! Several of the students in the class I sub for live there and come here during the week for school. The students have pictures with lots of celebrities on the binders and on their FB pages. One of the kids parents own a famous restaurant on the island of Anguilla and since last summer they have seen; Ashton & Demi, Derek Jeter, Chuck Norris (random), Paris Hilton, Sandra Bullock with baby Louis, Michael Jordan, Beyonce & Jay Z, Jennifer Aniston and Will Smith with the fam!! Charlie Sheen may be there soon too ;)
We just passed our second month here! It continues to go very fast. Mark did great on his 2nd exams and has his third ones a week from Monday. Monday March 7th is considered a "local holiday" we havent really found out why yet but Mark is off school so he will get a little break. This weekend is the regatta. There are tons of tourists here and 300+ sailboats and their crews. There are several concerts and events scheduled throughout the weekend. The big concert is Sunday and I believe it is Wyclef.
Sunday is our sailing adventure. Several students, couples and families are going on sailboat rides to eat, drink and watch the Regatta from the water. We will spend most of the day Sunday doing that. It will be nice for Mark to enjoy a day off and not stress about studying since he has all day Monday off :)
Last night we went to Grand Case for dinner and to check out the Tuesdays in Feb/March festival. There were bands, a parade, food and lots of vendors. It was a lot of fun but very crowded. The parade was pretty funny. There were 5 women dressed up and about 10 guys playing instruments. They cleared the road and blocked traffic and it lasted all of 2 minutes. I over heard a tourist say...."not like the macys parade" hahaha!
I have continued to stay busy with the spouses group. This past week we had cooking club and the Canadian wives showed us how to make "poutine" . There are restaurants in Canada that sell this in many varieties. They showed us how to make it with deep fried french fries, gravy and cheese. - yes it is fat free..... :) It was AMAZING! We also tried Ceasers which is the Canadian version of a bloody mary. Its was also very good.
We have been doing walk/run club, book club and beach a week as well. Although we stay fairly busy, this is the first time that I have started to feel bored. I have really been looking for work or volunteer opportunities. I recently started working with a little boy who is the son to an AUC faculty member doing some basics with letters and numbers.He is starting pre K in the fall so I work with him for a few hours each week. Its something to do....BUT i will be ready next semester when I can start getting more hours at AUC. I love the beach but there is only so much sun you can get. I want to look like I am 30 when I go home, not 60 :)
We are still looking forward to visitors! Hopefully the stuff in Egypt gets situated soon so gas/airline tickets go down
Hope everyone back home is doing great! I will post some new pictures after our sailing adventures this weekend
Love to you all
xxoo
Jackie & Mark
(AKA Marky & Jack)
