Michigan +7

As planned, our trip to Michigan keeps on chugging along.

Shortly after my last post we made our way to the west side of the state. One of our first goals was to meet Neil at the Grand Rapids airport. Though we were about 20 minutes late, we eventually managed to pick him up without too many problems.

With Neil in tow we made our way to my Aunt's house. Soon after arriving we learned about a concert for which she had purchased tickets. Apparently the Grand Rapids Symphony Picnic Pops (Beatles version) was taking place that evening. The plan was that we would meet some of my aunt's friends and eat a packed picnic dinner. While we were a little to tired to do much socializing, we all enjoyed the show. The one thing that I will say about the show is that the arrangements that were used didn't really seem to allow the symphony to shine. In many instances it was almost hard to tell that the cover band was even playing with a symphony.



One of things that was most amazing about the concert, which took place at a ski hill, was that it was attended by between 10 000 and 15 000 people. This was all the more amazing when you realize that they were going to play the same show again the next night for a similar crowd. The other neat thing about the concert was that they allowed patrons to bring food and beverages, including alcoholic beverages, without a bag search or hassle. If all outdoors concerts were this relaxed I might actually like outdoors concerts.

In the subsequent days we managed to visit one of the local beaches and visit quite a number of relatives.



As usual, I really enjoyed my time at the beach (and with my relatives).

Yesterday we made our way from the west side of the state to the Thumb Region, which is where my father grew up. On our way to this part of the state we stopped to visit a few of my parents' friends. The first visit was to the house of one of my father's grad school lab mates. One particularly enjoyable aspect of this visit was hearing about the husband's surgical implant and implement business and the types of things that surgeons use in surgeries.

A few minutes after this visit my parents took us to another friend's house. This friend is an artist who makes his living painting portraits of professional basketball players. At this stop is was also great to hear about some of the dynamics of an industry with which I am otherwise unfamiliar.

Our final stop was in East Lansing proper, or at least the part of East Lansing that houses Michigan State University, my parents' alma mater. We stopped for lunch at one of their old haunts and then took a very quick tour of the campus and surrounding areas. Not surprisingly, even though I have been there before, I really don't recognize much of the place. One thing that always amazes me about the campus is its size. It is hard to believe that a university could possibly require so much space. Just the space and buildings used for athletic programs are larger than many whole universities in Halifax.

By evening we had safely arrived in beautiful Vassar. As we head to head out for dinner I didn't really get to see much of the place before the sun set.

This morning my mother, Neil, Kirsten, and I made our way to Birch Run to do some outlet mall shopping. As expected, we were quite successful and managed to buy a number of items.



I was particularly pleased with a few of my deals. Almost immediately I found a great light jacket for $40, which turned out to be my most expensive purchase of the day. As time passed I managed to pick up a few more items, including another jacket and a rectangular baking stone. Somehow, though it is likely not a bad thing, I managed to buy five shirts (including two nice Oxfords) for no more than $13 apiece.

Almost as soon as we returned home we threw a few steaks on the grill. Steaks were chosen so that we could test out my Uncle's cattle brand (which is registered in a county in Texas).



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As you can see, the whole process worked quite nicely. The steaks were quite tasty.

Shortly after dinner Neil, Kirsten, and I made our way to a local discount store. Our goal, which was accomplished, was to find a few types of candy that aren't readily available in Nova Scotia or Newfoundland. I presume that this means that we will have a substantial tasting session once we return to Halifax.

Though I have asked a few times, I really don't have much of a sense of what we will be doing tomorrow. Apparently there has some talk of a return trip to Birch Run, though I don't know what else we will be doing.

A Few Quick Notes 426

-Though some of the past few days have been nice, it seems that today has been largely overcast (though not yet rainy). Unfortunately, it seems that this weather is expected to stay until at least tomorrow (though this wasn't what yesterday's forecast predicted for Tuesday).

-It seems that Twitter experienced a few problems today. It seems that the first problem was that one could 'force' others to follow them followed by a second problem that made it look as though everyone had lost their followers and those that they follow. Shortly after my attention was drawn to the problem I read a BBC story that explained what was going on. By the time I went back to get a closer look at the situation it appeared to have been resolved. Of course what has not yet been satisfactorily resolved is why I might want a Twitter account (aside from it being of use when I want to feel like a cool kid).

-Actually, I probably shouldn't crap on Twitter so much. Just this afternoon, because I follow the Nova Scotia House of Assembly's Twitter feed, I was reminded that the legislature is in session and that the public is free to attend. So if all goes well I will try to make it to at least some of today's sitting, though I don't imagine that I will really need to spend all that much time there to get a general sense of how things work (though based on a quick assessment of the Order Paper I do get a sense that it works slightly differently than the Newfoundland House of Assembly).

-While it seems that the Brits have not quite figured out who the next prime minister will be it is clear that it won't be Gordon Brown as he made it clear this afternoon that he will be resigning.

-A few days ago I purchased a few bamboo steamers.



I am looking forward to breaking them in with some shark steaks and vegetables tonight.

-On Friday night Neil, Rebecca, Jeannette, and I took a trip to my favourite rock throwing beach.



After a relatively passionate rock throwing session we made our way back to downtown Halifax before sunset (though it may not look like it in the picture included above).

-It seems that my relatively passionate and long rock throwing session on Friday evening did have some consequences, other than reducing the number of beach stones available to future rock throwers. It seems that I must have over-exerted my right elbow and shoulder so much that when I tried to play squash on Sunday I was able to handle only a very short session (during which I was worse than normal). Hopefully everything will be back in shape by Wednesday, as that is when I am scheduled to play next.

Sint Maarten: Day 13

Again I woke up much earlier than I would have expected considering that I did not set an alarm or have any particularly important plans. Soon after I awoke, and just after I had managed to log a little time online my father returned from work. We were then able to have breakfast together before he went back to work to quickly refresh his thoughts on his upcoming lecture.

As my father was preparing to leave, and for some time thereafter, I continued with the various computer based tasks I had been working on before his arrival. Not surprisingly, yesterday’s post was one of these activities.

Soon after I finished eating lunch (and logging a few more solitaire games) my father called to try and figure out what we were going to do in the afternoon. It seemed that the two best options would be to either rent vespas and drive around the island or to take advantage of the big waves at Mullet Beach and go body surfing (or dinking around in the surf).

Though I was willing to go either way, my moderate preference was the wave action. Eventually we settled in trying to rent the scooters first and then possibly hit the beach (as we would have 24 hours on the scooters). As it turned out, the rental location didn’t have what we wanted and didn’t seem all that interested in reserving machines for us for the next day.

My father, for reasons unbeknownst to me, then decided to head to Philipsburg. Why he wanted to do this is beyond me. Not only do we know that there is next to no parking there, we had previously decided to go there by bus to avoid this problem. Not surprisingly, once we arrived we were unable to find a suitable parking spot so we turned around and made our way back to our apartment. In some ways it is unfortunate that we weren’t successful because it now means that we will have to head back by bus.

After a little bit of time in the apartment we finally gather our things and headed to be the beach. By the time we got to Mullet Beach it was clear that there had been some very substantial wave action earlier in the day. The entirety of the sand in some areas had clearly been covered in water. This is 20 or 30 feet further than the waves normally reach.

Though we clearly weren’t there for the peak wave activity, there were still some substantial waves. In some cases the waves were about as tall as I am, though most were a little shorter. In some cases, though not all, some of these were pretty powerful.

On seeing the size of the waves my father thought that he was a little tired to go in so he decided to just stay on the beach. In some ways this was good for me as he could scout locations and direct me towards bigger waves.

After were had been there a short while an older couple approached the same section of the beach. Once they had conducted a thorough examination they settled on a location for their items and settled in. Much to my surprise I saw the old guy just a few feet down from me soon after they had arranged their things. At first I thought that he might swim past the waves and just go for a swim. It turned out that he was going to do the same thing that I was.

After the first wave or two I think he realized that it was a bit more trying that he expected. After a short break he came back to continue to be pounded by waves. According to my father, who had a better view, the guy was having a great time.

Once the salt started to burn my eyes I decided to get out of the water. My father and I then headed down the beach towards the two beach bars. As we were heading down we saw that at the very end of the beach there were a few surfers catching waves. As this was a slight change of scenery, we decided to take a seat at an empty picnic table and watch some of the action. The only problem with this was that unlike on TV and in the movies, these guys were not able to catch each wave. Instead, they were only able to catch the largest of the waves (which were very infrequent).

Shortly after we returned home we decided to go out for dinner rather than cook the pork chops that we had previously purchased. Not surprisingly the only place we even discussed going was Cheri’s Café.

Before heading to the restaurant we decided to film me driving on a roundabout. We had previously scouted a relatively sparsely visited roundabout near our apartment that would be good for our purposes. Of course as I prepared to enter the roundabout all kinds of traffic appeared from all conceivable directions. The situation was further worsened by the presence of a dog that seemed to be right in my way but not hampering the progress of other drivers.

Eventually things cleared out and we were able to get a good shot of my entering the intersection and then getting ‘stuck’ and doing a few circles of the center before finally managing to exit the intersection (of course in the same direction from which I entered the intersection). As I was in the driver’s seat I ended up driving all the way to Maho and then over to the parking area by the Sunset Beach Bar.

Upon approaching the restaurant it became clear that the bartender was working quite aggressively to get people to eat and drink at the bar. For some reason that we were unable to understand, the bartender was also really pushing the shrimp and steak and lobster and steak options. Instead of sitting at the bar, where conversation would be more difficult, we opted for a two person table near the bar.

Once we were seated we quickly noticed that only a fraction of the number of waiters were working as had been working the last two times we dined there. Amazingly, it seemed that this reduced staffing level fit the number of customers. We still aren’t quite sure how they were able to determine, in advance, that it was to be a slow night.

As consistently as basmati rice is white so is my father’s order ‘Stir-fry shrimp’ with rice at Cheri’s Cafe. I on the other hand mixed things up a little by going with a rack of baby back ribs with no sauce and fries. Again both of us were pleased with the quality and size of our meals.

We paid and prepared to leave just as the house band was preparing for its evening show. Just as we were walking down the steps of the restaurant the first notes of the show could be heard. Clearly our timing was much better than normal.

As my father didn’t have to go back to work we were able to just hang out in the apartment for the evening. At one point we finished a game of rummy that we started a few days earlier. We also booked an airport hotel for the night that we have to spend in the vicinity of JFK. Our understanding is that our hotel is actually on the premises of the airport, which should be quite convenient (assuming it is in the same terminal from which we will be departing).

Eventually, after a few beers, we were able to head to bed. Though this wasn’t quite as early a turn in time as some of the previous nights, it was still well before midnight.

Sint Maarten: Day 12

Just before he left for the morning, my father made sure that I was up. This meant that I awoke about a half hour earlier than has been typical these days. The reason for the early rising was that I was to meet the university librarian and we were then going to go to Philipsburg to see the local public library. Not surprisingly, rising at this early hour allowed me plenty of preparation time, much more than I actually needed. So after completing all of the essential tasks, such as eating and cleaning, I was able to deal myself a few games of solitaire to kill the time.

Soon after I entered the university building and happened to see my father in the main office. I popped in to say ‘hello.’ As he was on his way out we were able talk while we walked the short distance to the library. During this time he was able to tell me about a book that he found that was really helping him make some progress on some of his remaining lectures.

Upon entering the library I was greeted by the librarian, Wendy, and her husband, Bobby-Ray. Bobby-Ray gave us a lift to Maho so that we would have to spend less time waiting for a bus. Soon after we were dropped off a bus picked us up and we were on our way. I should explain that when I say bus in this context I really mean ‘full-sized van driven by its owner that is operating kind of like a bus, but with routes that are much more flexible.’

The bus dropped us off just a short walk from the library, which we completed successfully. As we approached the library I was a little confused about what exactly it was we were approaching. The section of my building to my right was quite clearly part of the library, but the part of the building on my left appeared to be some kind of garage for large trucks, or something that would require huge garage doors.

As I approached the building things became much clearer. Instead of walls, much of the library was bounded by garage doors, which would be raised and lowered as desired. During our visit I saw that they opened many of these doors to allow a breeze and general air circulation rather than using a formal air conditioning system. One consequential result is that a huge amount of dust is let in, permeating most of the books.

We started our examination of the library in the room that housed the reference collection. It immediately became apparent that not only did they shelve the Dutch and English book together, but that they some pretty specialized reference sources, which was surprising for a public library in such an out of the way place. Upon closer examination I am now of the impression that some of the more specialized sources must have been acquired through donations or other low cost sources. In many cases only very spotty runs of annual publications were held, frequently with the most recent year or two not available. One might generally describe the reference collection as broad, but well aged.

It should be noted that there was a fairly large Caribbean-specific reference collection. While many of the materials were on the old side, I wouldn’t be surprised if many of them had not been since their original publication. This could definitely be useful if you were in Sint Maarten and conducting research on the surrounding islands and peoples.

In the reference room there were also several public access internet terminals. When talking to the library staff person we learned that one or two were out of order. We also learned that the person with whom we had been hoping to meet was also not present and wouldn’t be until the afternoon, and it definitely wasn’t yet the afternoon.

We proceeded to examine (in a friendly, inquisitive way) the rest of the library. The rest of the collections were quite similar to the reference collection, broad, but a little out of date. One might have also questioned the relevance of some of the materials to members of the general public. I suspect that many of these more questionable materials (only from a cost sense) were likely donated. Unfortunately, many of these donated items are now well out of date and could likely be weeded without much harm to the collection. Wendy’s thought was that such an action would then leave the shelves looking rather bare.

On the subject of bare shelves, this library had more free shelf space than just about any other library I have seen. Most shelves had some space at the end so that nothing was too tight. If I recall correctly, most of the bottom shelves may have been empty (but this may have been to protect the books because of regular flooding during hurricane season).

After our examination of the library we went for lunch. On our way to the restaurant Wendy showed me a few places that one might be gifts. One store, also the largest bookstore, sold things from the Netherlands (as we are in the Netherlands Antilles) as well as the typical tourist junk. This store also sold Heinekens from a cooler for $1. We were also able visit a tablecloth/linen store. While they had quite a large selection, it is likely that none of it was made in Sint Maarten, or anywhere near the island.

As we continued on our way to the restaurant we spotted a cruise ship at the terminal. Wendy explained why the Dutch side of the island is such a popular cruise ship destination. It seems that when originally trying to attract cruise ships to the island the government offered free waste disposal services to any cruise ship that called at Sint Maarten. The result is that not many, if not most, Caribbean cruise ships stop here to take advantage of the deal (rather than because it is such a great place for tourists).

We then reached the restaurant, which was relatively empty because it was still on the early side for lunch. Upon arriving we made our way to the bar to order. As the employee (likely the owner) was taking the order of the group in front of us I noticed that they sold a single Canadian beer. I then commented to Wendy that it was one of the worst Canadian beers, but that it seems to be the only one that I see overseas. As I was finishing up my explanation I heard the preceding group ask the woman where she was from. Not surprisingly, she answered ‘Ontario,’ thus explaining the presence of a Canadian beer. Of course I then felt like a bit of an ass as I they had probably brought this beer in to remind themselves of home (or capture the ex-pat crowd), but I still stand by my belief that it isn’t the greatest of beers, and not even close to the best beer made by that brewery.

Soon after embarrassing myself it was our turn to order. We both ordered burgers and Caribs. I didn’t bring attention to the fact that I too was from Canada, or more specifically, Newfoundland. I have found in the past that such conversations become very awkward very quickly, particularly when, after about 12 seconds, it becomes clear that you have nothing in common beyond the same citizenship (and a propensity to say ‘thank you’ and ‘sorry’ more than is necessary).

Due to our early arrival our food took a while to arrive (this likelihood had been explained to us before we ordered). We were able to sit and chat about a variety of matters while waiting for our food. The conversation was quite pleasant.

Eventually our food arrived and we started to eat. I ended up eventually ordering some fries to go with my burger (as well as another Carib). Each time I had any interactions with the staff they all seemed stereotypically Canadian, much politer than one would expect at what was basically a beach bar.

After lunch we made our way back to Back Street, where we caught a bus back to the university. The driver was kind enough to go a little out of his way and drop us off at the university’s driveway rather than at the normal stop about a block further away.

Once I returned to the apartment I found my father eating lunch. We then discussed what we might do in the afternoon. Eventually snorkeling was settled upon as the desired activity. We decided to try an area with three beaches and move from one to the next until we found a place with clear water.

Unfortunately, when we reached the first beach, Long Bay, we realized that we had forgotten to buy sunscreen along the way. Once we reached the water we realized that with the wind and waves as they were the water was likely a little riled up and probably not a good location for snorkeling. We then moved onto Plum Bay, which looked a fair bit better. Fortunately, just as we were leaving, we ran into a couple that had just been snorkeling and had found the water to be a bit murkier than they would have liked. We again set on our way, this time to Red Bay (or Baie Rouge).

As we entered the parking area at Baie Rouge a teenage boy directed us to a parking spot. As we exited the same boy asked us if we were interested in chairs and umbrellas. He also tried to encourage us to use a staircase different than the one we had intended to use. While following us to the beach he again asked us if we wanted chairs. Only after a third or fourth rejection did he seem to appreciate that we would not be renting chairs from Chez Raymond that afternoon.

The water at Baie Rouge was also a fair bit more riled than we were hoping. The waves were also much larger than any that we have seen elsewhere on the island. Since the last time we were there much of the beach had been sucked into the sea, leaving a sharp drop from the much smaller area with chairs to the area that was intermittently covered with surf and water. While this place look like a great deal of fun, it wasn’t quite appropriate for snorkeling so we moved on.

Our next stop, instead of a beach, was actually at a store. We hoped to buy some sunscreen. The prices at this particular store were on the outrageous side so we decided to head back to Maho and make our purchase at a store we knew wasn’t likely to rip us off.

After making our purchase we decided to give Mullet Beach a try, particularly as we were now on the Dutch side of the island. Not surprisingly this beach wasn’t all that different than the others, but in this case we actually had to go in the water to find out. After just a few minutes of unsuccessful snorkeling we decided to head in and re-group.

While on the shore we decided that since we were already wet we might as well try Maho beach, which is the beach located at the end of the runway. While this place doesn’t seem as though it would be that good, a student of my father’s said that she once saw both a sea turtle and a barracuda while snorkeling there.

As soon as we arrived it was clear that as at all of the other beaches, the waves were larger than usual. As the snorkeling is a fair ways out at this beach, we decided that I would be sent out to check thing and that my father would wait for my return. Once I was in the water I had the sense that things would be the same. Nonetheless, I did swim all the way out just in case there was some magical clear spot near the rocks. Not surprisingly as I approached the final location it was clear that the water was just as cloudy as it had been elsewhere.

I then started to swim back. As I was swimming back I intentionally decided not to wave or attempt to signal in anyway as I was pretty sure it could cause confusion. I was most worried about falsely signaling that I was in distress when I actually meant to signal to stay on shore. Somehow, even with my decision not to signal, my father pick up something that he thought was a signal indicating that he should come out. The frustrating thing was that I could see this happening but still was not in a position to effectively signal, especially once he had exchanged his glasses for the mask.

I was able to meet him relatively near the shore. We again returned to the shore and packed up our equipment. Instead of heading home, we decided to head to the Sunset Beach Bar on the other side of the beach.

Just as we were approaching the end of the beach we noticed that there was a photo being taken of a guy surrounded by about five well-endowed topless women. Many of the women then went back to the water to play in the surf while the forty-year-old guy in stripped Speedo-styled swimming attire stayed on the beach. It was a scene that didn’t, and still doesn’t, make that much sense to me.

Once we reached the bar and took a seat we again encountered the quality service for with the establishment is known. Eventually my father just went to the bar and ordered. After a relatively lengthy stay at the bar he returned with his iced tea and a rum punch for me.

I should explain that while I don’t normally drink rum, or any of the other hard liquors, I did feel it was appropriate to try one such drink while here, as rum is clearly the choice of the local population. I should say that I was pleasantly surprised. The rum punch was much more than just drinkable; I might even go so far as to say satisfying and tasty. The aspects of rum’s flavour that I normally dislike seem to have been masked by a range of juices and other flavours.

As we were sitting at the bar working on our drinks a family entered the establishment. At first only three members, the father, mother, and daughter, came in, they were soon joined by the youngest member of the family, a somewhat out of sorts son (of about twelve years of age). While the father and daughter were at the bar ordering drinks the sullen son was left sitting at the table with his prudish mother. As the kid was busy staring at his picnic table three of the topless women from the beach came in to order drinks. As this bar has a policy of free drinks for topless women they were drinking for free. While ordering they became engaged in a friendly conversation with a couple seated at the bar, thus significantly extending the duration of their stay in the bar area.

If this kid hadn’t been so intently staring at the table he would have seen these three topless women, which would have been a pretty cool sight for a twelve year-old. He would have had a great story when he returned to his friends in a few days time. His only other problem, which may actually have been part of the reason for great focus on the table, was that he was seated with his mother, who likely wouldn’t have been all that impressed with her young son checking out three topless women at the bar.

Soon after we finished our respective drinks we again returned the grocery store to pick up meat for dinner. I purchased two chicken breasts as they didn’t have reasonably priced steak and their pork chops were being sold only in packages of three.

Soon after we returned home my father took to the couch, where he soon drifted off. While he was in and out of sleep I worked on dinner. Again we had two vegetables, a starch component, and broiled meat. Again we had a colourful meal. This, like the previous meals we have cooked in the apartment was entirely consumed, allowing us to remain members of the Clean Plate Club, a group we have been members of since arriving.

Shortly after dinner, but after an attempted Skype call to my mother and sister, my father went back to work for a few hours. I stayed in the apartment to read. As the hour approached 8:30 I decided to hit the rack. As far as I know, I was asleep well before 9:00 and possibly even before 8:30.

Sint Maarten: Day 8

We arose early this morning with hopes of renting scooters on which we would travel around the edge of the island. Once we were finally able to find such a business that was actually open we learned that they would be closing early as it was a Saturday and would not be open on Sunday, making rental impractical at the current juncture.

As we had gone deep into the French section of the island to find the business we decided to just carry on around the island in the car. Though we generally took a pretty direct route, we did stop in places such as Columbier and Cul-de-sac. Once we reached Orient beach we parked the car and made our way down the beach on foot. It soon became clear that this was really the popular beach, with lounge chairs and water related activities all over the place.

Eventually, after walking for some time we happened to spot a Newfoundland flag on one of the beach bars. Though we approached the bar, we decided that we would stop by on our way back and try to figure out what the story was.

Shortly after leaving the bar with the flag we came to a gap in the beach. After the gap was where the nude section of the beach started. As both of us were fully clothed with shoes on we didn’t think that our presence would be appreciated, so we turned around and made our way back down the beach.

When we reached the bar with the Newfoundland flag we walked up the stairs and saw the guy that seemed to be in charge. My father asked if he had been stationed in Newfoundland. It seems that not only had he been stationed there in the 1950s but that he also had a daughter there. Upon finding out that we were from Newfoundland he invited us to sit with him and provided some (real) iced tea on the house.

After speaking with him for a while it became clear that when he left almost fifty years ago he had no idea that he had a daughter. Only about 7 years ago the daughter managed to find him and establish contact. It seems that since then she has been down here to visit him several times.

It is likely that when we next go back to Orient Beach we will try to stop at this bar/restaurant for lunch.

We then made our way to Oyster Pond, which is a marina area just down from Orient Beach. Unfortunately, new developments have made it very difficult for non-timesharers/resort types to access the water. The adjacent beach has been completely surrounded by a new resort development, though is apparently accessible if you are willing to walk through the hotel lobby to the beach.

Upon returning to the Dutch side we decided to try to stop at the post office to mail a few postcards. Unfortunately, the facility was closed and did not have a sign indicating when it would again be open.

We decided to stop for lunch at the Sunset Beach Bar, the bar at the end of the runway. The idea was that we could do a little plane watching while we ate. Once there we found that all of the tables in the shade had been taken, so my father asked if we could share a large picnic table with the woman that was sitting there.

Within a few minutes of our arrival the woman at the table and her husband, who was sitting at an adjacent counter, were joined by another couple. It soon became clear that the newly arrived couple were just stopping by for lunch before their impending departure.

Eventually, though not without some effort and delay, my father and I and the newly arrived couple were able to order both drinks and food. Unfortunately, due to various timing issues we ended up ordering well after the couple.

When the man’s food arrived most of us were a little surprised to see a can sitting next to his steak sandwich. When asked, he explained that instead of fries, he had gone with the baked bean option. The man then removed the lid from the can of beans and began eating.

My father was so taken with the can of beans that he asked if we could take a picture. This comment brought us into the conversation with the two couples, one of which was from North Carolina and the other of which was from Bristol. As both couples were frequent visitors to Sint Marteen this was a useful experience. Both couples were quite familiar with Cheri’s Café, the couple from North Carolina even knew who the owner’s son and husband were.

We also learned that both couples had been coming to Sint Maarten for some number of years. It seems that the couples now either coordinate visits or make attempts to see each other when they are both on the island at the same time. In some ways this reminded me of stories of Israelis and Palestinians (or Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland) who are friends in a distant land, but under normal circumstances would never see each other or attempt to understand the other group.

Shortly after finishing their meals the couple from North Carolina left return their car and catch their plane. We continued chatting with the couple from Bristol for some period of time. Just as we were leaving they told us that the bar has a web cam that can be remotely controlled by web users. One could plan to be in a particular location at a particular time and be visible on the web cam, if one was into that kind of thing.

All throughout our time at the bar planes of all sizes smaller than 747s were landing and taking off. Some seemed to pass just feet above the fence at the end of the runway, while others cleared it with plenty of room. Shortly after arriving we saw the United Airlines flight on which we had arrived a week earlier.

Almost as soon as we returned to the apartment I went to bed to take a nap. I was hoping that a nap would cure me of a headache (a possible explanation for the brevity of this post) that I had had all morning and afternoon. While I was sleeping my father went to the university to continue preparing lectures.

At about 6:30 PM my father called to tell me that he would be retuning home shortly. He asked if I would start preparing our evening meal while he clued up.

I was able to get our pork chops, rice, carrots, and brocoflower going very quickly. Within a few minutes of my father’s return the components of the meal had been cooked and we were ready to eat. While the meal wasn’t the world’s most flavourful meal, it was satisfying and relatively healthy. According to my father, my paternal grandmother would have been very pleased to see such a wide range of colours on a plate, as it likely indicates a full range of essential vitamins and nutrients.

Sint Maarten: Day 7

It seems that at some point I started to misspell Sint Maarten and have since had trouble keeping straight which vowel it is that I am to double. Amazingly, no one mentioned my very noticeable misspelling of the name in the titles of these posts (as nice as that would have been). Hopefully now that I am aware of the problem I will be more vigilant and eliminate any such problems before I post them.

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Not surprisingly, several things about Sint Maarten are a little different than they are in North America. One of the most noticeable changes is that while doors do have door knobs most function only as handles as there is no catch for them to pull in. The problem with this design, at least as far as I can see, is that it means that doors always have to be locked or they will be pushed open by moving air (such as wind or a draft). Fortunately, some bathroom and bedroom doors are equipped with more traditional mechanisms.

Toilets also tend to have less powerful flushes. This is likely to conserve water. As much of the drinking water is produced through various desalinization processes this makes sense. As water is expensive and difficult and expensive to produce its use should be minimized. Strangely, this seems to be just about the only gesture towards reduced consumption and environmental abuse that I have yet seen.

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Unlike the previous days this week my father had to be on campus before 7:30. This change in schedule meant that he did not wake me up for breakfast before he left for the morning, allowing me to get another hour and a half of sleep.

Upon waking I again proceeded to blow a substantial portion of the morning with various internet based activities (a few of which were actually useful and related trip). Eventually, I did manage to get ready for the day and make it outside.

I walked to Mullet Beach and made my way out on the rocky outcropping above the snorkeling grounds. While sitting alone on the rocks I was able to watch the rocks and the waves. One impression I had was that the water seemed particularly clear. Many of the rocks were clearly visible from high above the water.

Soon enough I received a call from my father indicating that he would be heading home for lunch. I climbed back down to the beach and then walked across the golf course and home. We ended up having sandwiches and odds and ends for lunch,

After lunch we made our way back to the university building. The main justification for the trip was so that I could stop by the library and get a tour. As I had previously met the librarian and suggested this, it wasn’t too much of a problem to arrange this once we arrived.

Wendy showed me the physical components of the library and also discussed many of the administrative decisions that she had made since arriving. As my library experience hasn’t been all that varied, this was a nice experience. I was particularly glad that she showed me her catalogue and associated system as it differed from the system with which I am most familiar but seemed quite functional and affordable.

While sitting in her office talking to me, Wendy received a call from her husband. It seemed that someone had chained a dinghy to their dinghy instead of the piece of cement, forcing Bob to tow it to their boat. When the person returned to the site they would find that their dinghy was missing. Unfortunately, they didn’t seem to have any means of identifying the dinghy to let the owners know what had happened. Presumably they were able to work this matter out within the next few hours.

After departing from the library, and then the university, we returned to the apartment where, based my assessment of the conditions earlier in the day, we decided to go snorkeling at Mullet Beach. Almost as soon as we arrived we saw that the water wasn’t as clear as our previous visit. The water was so cloudy that we were prevented from seeing most of the fish in the area. I also wonder if the slightly altered conditions either changed the behaviour patterns of the fish, or caused them to relocated as I know that I should have been able to make out many of the bigger fish, had they been there.

Though we were not satisfied with the conditions we did stick it out for a while. Eventually, when it became clear that things weren’t about to improve and when it also became clear that we were both fogging up more than normal we decided to head in. As we were making our way back to the beach I looked down and saw a stingray type fish. While the animal was partly obscured by sand it was quite easy to make see the outline of the fish, including the stinging tail. When I came up to tell my father about my sighting he had to re-adjust his equipment before he was able to go back down. By the time that he was able to make it back in the water the stingray type thing had vanished, though not without alerting me to the dangers of the seemingly tame sandy beaches of Sint Maarten.

We both decided to spend a little more time on the beach after our snorkeling adventure. For the most part this meant sitting near the shore and allowing the waves to push or pull us. The result was that, once again, I ended up with sand all over my body, including my ears and my hair.

After cleaning up we made our way to Simpson Bay to look for the local post office and scooter rental locations. While we were able to find both, neither were open and neither included hours or operations or any indications of when they would be open again.

As we made our way back to the Cupecoy/university area we started to look for restaurants. After an unsuccessful scanning we decided to head to the Thai place in the casino. Once in the restaurant one of the first things we noticed was that many of the dishes weren’t really all that Thai, but just generally from Asia. While both of our meals were tolerable, neither of us was particularly impressed with our dining experience. The general consensus was that Cheri’s Café was a much better experience in terms of both food and service.

The casino itself was the next item on the evening’s agenda. While we didn’t have any plans to play, I had wanted to see what the inside of a Sint Maarten casino looked like. Not surprisingly, slot machines and various video terminals predominated. The 1 cent play machines were particularly popular with the patrons that were there while we were. Sadly, the various table games were not in operation during our exploration. From the tables that were present it was clear that this was a much smaller part of their business than the slots and related machines. Another surprise was the number of poker tables that they had. If I recall correctly they seemed to have at least six of these tables, which seemed large considering they only had about 10 other tables.

We then returned home and spoke to my mother and sister via Skype. After the call we started another game of rummy. Part way through the game we decided to have the previously purchased coconut as a snack.

We went on the balcony to smash it open. I was filming while my father was in charge of smashing. When my father first threw it down, the coconut bounced so high it almost went over the rail and off of the balcony. A second throw had similar results.

It then became clear that we should probably remove the outer husk of the fruit before we tried to smash it. With a large kitchen knife my father was able to cut into the husk to create openings that allowed him to tear it open, and eventually remove the soft protective elements.

Once the protective coating had been removed the coconut cracked on the first attempt. Both of us then tried some of the meat. I was somewhat disappointed in the eating experience. The meat was not particularly tasty, nor was it even easy to remove from the hard shell. This caused me to wonder if coconuts that they serve as beverages are slightly different in terms of maturity than those they serve as fruit, but I haven’t really been able to answer that question.

Eventually, we were able to get back to our rummy game. After only a hand or two we noticed that we had a call on Skype. It was my mother and sister. Though I have no idea what they were calling about, we did manage to talk about names of places on the island.

After the call we were able to return to the rummy game, this time to see it to its end. Unfortunately, I gave my father the victory in the dying moments of the final hand.

We then called it a night and went to bed, in an attempt to keep to our daily schedule (which resembles Newfoundland time).

Sint Maarten: Day 5

It seems that in much of the Caribbean the sun sets at around 6:00 PM all year long. This means that all outdoor activities that require daylight must be wrapped up on the early side of things, certainly much earlier than would be required in most mainland North American locations. One way of combating this limited access to daylight is to start waking up earlier in the morning and focusing one’s waking hours on the period of time with sunlight. This is basically what we have been trying to do, and our success rate surprises me.

For the most part my father had been getting up at some point and then waking me between 7:30 and 8:00. After a quick breakfast he heads into work to prepare for upcoming lectures as well as to lecture and then hold an office hour. The early arrival time means that less time needs to be spent preparing lectures in the evening, a very positive development.

Though I don’t have any lectures, I am able to take advantage of this time to read, drink coffee, and write these. Occasionally, I have also taken walks in the surrounding areas.

Actually, today, just as I was heading to walk into Maho a local bus (that looks kind of like a van) stopped because it sensed that I was heading towards town. Upon confirming that he was headed where I wanted to go I hopped in. Once inside and seated I found that it cost only $1, which was about 50 cents less than I was expecting.

As we reached town I was wondering how one signaled a desire to stop. Quickly town was passing me by and we were quite close to the airport. Fortunately, just as we were about to take the road along the runway, the bus stopped to pick someone else up. As we were idling I hopped, thus preventing a full trip to Philipsburg. Before heading into Maho proper I decided to walk along the road between the beach and the runway. As I part way across I noticed that a small plane was coming in to land. With only a moment or so to spare I was able to pull out and start my camera. Though the resulting footage isn’t great (I blame the hand-held nature of the shot) it was impressive to have a plane fly overhead and then land just feet away.

The only problem with my trip to Maho, other than my not knowing how to signal a bus stop, was that basically none of the shops or restaurants were open when I arrived at 10:30. While I had expected things to be on the quiet side, this was certainly much quieter than I would have guessed. Basically none of the tourist shops were open, and only about one restaurant. On the other hand, while I wasn’t able to go in any of the shops, by window-shopping I was able to ascertain that most sold only overpriced touristy crap. Even the pharmacy didn’t seem to have a very good selection of run-of-the-mill pharmacy goods, but rather higher end products that didn’t really interest me.

After my reconnaissance mission to Maho I walked around a few of the streets on the edge of town before I started to make my way back. As I was walking along the golf course I decided that I would try to walk the length of Mullet Beach, starting with the end with beach bars and food sources. As I entered the beach I saw the standard beach bar set up with lounge chairs and umbrellas.

Not surprisingly, the beach wasn’t all that crowded before 11:00 AM on a Wednesday morning. This meant that I was able to make my way along and take photos without really disturbing anyone, or even really seeing all that many people.

When I made it to the other end of the beach, where we had gone snorkeling the previous day, I decided to sit one the rocky outcropping and watch the waves crash for a while. The waves, though relatively small, were more exciting and active than the previous day. The experience was particularly pleasurable because of the presence of a rock that caused the larger waves to spray water up wards as they came ashore. In some cases even relatively small waves were really able to send the seawater flying.

Sint Maarten: Day 4

While my father was at school to give his second lecture, I was busy doing our laundry.

I quickly learned why they charged $4.00 a load for laundry, which is because they only have commercial washers, each of which is able to hold two or more normal loads. These washers seem to be able to take about twice the load that a typical washer is capable of handling. Fortunately, the driers are also commercial size and therefore able to handle in a single load the same quantity of laundry that can be washed by the washers.

One thing that I noticed while I was transferring the laundry from the washer to the drier was that I managed to forget a number of my own clothing items. Most notably, I forgot to wash my swimming costume and the shirt that I have been wearing to the beach (likely the two dirtiest items of clothing in my possession). I was able to remember all of the other key pieces of laundry.

The only problem, that I have noticed so far, is that one pair of my fathers pants came out completely covered in lint. Though I tried to shake them off I wasn’t really able to make much progress and they are still pretty bad looking. Hopefully he knows how the stuff without an additional washing, or he doesn’t need them until they can be washed again.

After my father’s school related activities, and then a quick lunch, we went on the hunt for diving fins. After checking at a diving shop we ended up making a purchase at the same place where we had previously purchased a mask and snorkel. The main deciding factor was that the fins at the latter shop were adjustable, making them usable by a wider number of people.

With fins in hand we went back to Baie Rouge, the location we scouted the previous day. The waves, which had been sizeable yesterday, were quite reasonable today. Without much trouble we made our way around the rocky out cropping and towards the intended destination. The only problem that we had was that we couldn’t really tell when we were at the spot as the water was loaded with so much sand that visibility was significantly reduced. After a fair test and a bit of drift and watching we returned to the beach having seen a few fish, though many less than we expected.

After another Carib from Gus’s Beach Bar we made our way back to Mullet Beach where we again strapped on our flipped and masks and entered the water. Immediately we noticed an appreciable difference between the visibilities at the two sites, with the latter being much better. We soon were both able to see all kinds of fish, both larger and more colourful than during previous outings. Furthermore, the water was of a more uniform temperature, meaning fewer cold spots to contend with while drifting along.

As Mullet Beach is within walking distance, and as it is pretty good snorkeling, it is likely that we will be back here at least a few more times before we head off.

The major problem posed by visits to the beaches seem to be the resulting sand problem. Unlike when visiting sandy beaches at lakes, this sand seems to go everywhere and then want to stay. Even after a shower and a shampooing of my hair my head is still quite covered in sand. The most effective removal method I have yet come across is to brush my hair with the narrowly spaced tines of my comb. With each stroke I am able to remove some number of grains of sand, though never all of them.

Another problem, though much less troublesome, is that while swimming in the ocean one tends to have salt water in their mouth. While this is not the end of the world it is certainly less than pleasant. Fortunately, this problem can be easily rectified by the drinking of a beer or two.

******

While I am able to get some internet access each day it seems that we might still be some time away from having full internet access at our apartment.

The sudden departure of the IT guy and the appearance of a new class have likely slowed down movement on this front. The only good news, from our perspective, is that just when we arrived a few days ago so too did an IT consultant. Hopefully her presence will mean the smooth transition from one regime to another.

******

We were both quite hungry by the time we made it back to our apartment after our trip to two beaches and a number of commercial outlets. Fortunately, we were able to relatively quickly prepare a meal from groceries that we purchased a day or so ago.

While the meal that we did end up preparing was nothing fancy, it was satisfying. Each of us had a pork chop along with white rice, boiled and buttered carrots, and brocoflower (some kind of broccoli/cauliflower vegetable). For desert my father had a tangerine while had another helping of rice along with two brocoflower sprigs.

It is likely that we will kill off most of our remaining vegetables tomorrow, necessitating another trip to the grocery store. The positive aspect of this is that we will have a very satisfactory lunch and the chance to select a new range of groceries from the store (and maybe even visit a new grocery store).

******

As we just finished a relatively satisfactory meal and are now completing various computorological errands it is likely that we will keep things quiet for the rest of the evening. Ideally, this might mean that we play a game or two of rummy and sit on the balcony drinking Caribs straight from the bottle.

Sint Maarten: Afternoon and Night 3

Yesterday my father had to give his first lecture. Aside from going over the time limit at the end things seem to have gone well (which seems to be assessment of both the students I spoke with and my father). He has suggested that his preparations for upcoming lectures is also going well, meaning that he should be able to free up some time for more touristy activities in the second week.

After my jet blasting experience of day 2 we decided that we would try to make it back to film the late afternoon Air France departure. This time we decided to make a point of being on the other side of the beach and runway so that we would have a better shot of those being blasted. We both set up with our cameras in different locations to acquire two shots of the take-off and blasting. Both of us were able to catch the blasting effect, though as my father was closer his shot was somewhat better. It is likely that in the coming days we may try to head back to get a few more shots of take-offs and landings (which we still haven’t had a chance to film).

We had also hoped to take this opportunity to stop by the Sunset Beach Bar for a drink. As they didn’t seem interested in serving us during our stay we decided to just head out to Baie Rouge and pick up a beer there.

Once at Baie Rouge we realized that it was likely a little too rough to go snorkeling with out fins. As one might expect, the wave size did not prevent us from getting a beer and sitting at one of the umbrella covered tables.

After consuming a 250 ml (baby size) Heineken I decided that if I couldn’t go snorkeling I might as well try to play around in the water for a while, seeing as I was at a beach and all. My father was agreeable to this plan but thought that we should examine the snorkeling area and take some beach photos before I went in. We stashed our belongings with the bar working and made for the rocky out-cropping where we had been told we would find the good snorkeling grounds. While making our way around the point we noticed all kinds of crabs on the rocks. Unlike crabs in Newfoundland, these crabs clearly spend much of their time out of the water (on a voluntary basis) and are brown or black rather than red.

Once we returned and after the obligatory standing in surf shots I was given the OK to go for the water. As the surf first washed over my feet I again noticed that the water was a little cooler than I might have expected but that it took only a second or two to become comfortable.

As the wave action was greater at this beach much of my activity was related to being sucked in and out by waves. In some cases one could be taken 30-40 feet in with the wave a matter of a few seconds, and then sucked back out as the water returned to the sea. If executed correctly, this maneuver could lead to a close to unending cycle of being pushed in and washed out with each wave.

After some number of minutes my father, who had been watching from our table, directed me to a part of the beach where the waves were even larger. As soon as I arrived at the new location I was battered by a six-foot wave. Once engulfed by the wave I was tossed and turned and eventually slammed into the beach, but not before I was forced to take a mouthful of sea water. Though none of the other waves were quite that abusive to me, many were large and powerful (maybe it was just that I then knew what to plan for) and did manage to toss me around rather effectively.

After returning home from the beach I cleaned up as best I could, though still managed to leave a fair bit of sand in my hair. We then went to an orientation mixer at a nearby restaurant. Though we didn’t mix as much as we might have, we did speak to several students and enjoy the free (local?) food. I was particularly taken with something that I presume was a vegetable somewhat reminiscent of potato.