Sint Maarten: Day 15

My father and I, due to the impending arrival of another visiting faculty member who is to occupy our apartment for the next couple of weeks, had to share bedroom facilities last night. Fortunately, the room and bed are both quite large.

At about 4:00 AM we were both awoken by a loud noise. At first neither of us could figure out what was going on and where the noise was coming from. Eventually I realized that it was coming from the window next to my side of the bed.

I lifted up the blinds to see a young guy (presumably a student) pounding on our window. Once he noticed that we were aware of his presence he demanded that we open our door. Not surprisingly neither of us were all that inclined to do this. Somehow he motioned that we should meet him at the door. Once there my father was still disinclined to let him in, even though he continued to insist that we should.

Presumably this was just an incredibly drunk student who ended up at the wrong apartment and assumed it was his own. Hopefully this escapade didn’t play out again at the correct apartment. I can’t imagine that such an event would please a roommate greatly.

We eventually woke for the day at about 8:30. Our first order of the day was breakfast. We then made our way over to Mullet Beach for some morning snorkeling. The hope was that by going in the morning the water would be clearer than it had been during our recent afternoon visits.

Almost as soon as we arrived at Mullet Beach I had the sense that the water was likely on the cloudy side (though we could see some rocks). My father suggested that I go in and head all the way out to the headland to see if things were better out there. I would then give him the signal as to whether it would be worth his while to come in.

Two things that weren’t all that surprising then occurred. Firstly, I immediately noticed that the water lacked the desired clarity. It may have actually been cloudier (or more filled with sand and particulate matter) than during any of our earlier visits. Secondly, my father did not wait for me to give him the clear sign. Instead, basically as I was floating to put on my flippers he came in. Fortunately, I was able to get him to turn back before he made it all the way out to the headland area. As we were both heading in we realized that it was actually quite a dangerous location for snorkeling and swimming because one could be dashed on rocks that were previously unseen.

Once we were nicely de-sanitized and full salinized we made our way over to the grocery store to pick up a few last minute items. I was finally able to buy a few bars of Lifebuoy soap for a friend in St. John’s, and we also were able to buy a new box of garbage bags for the apartment. We then continued our journey to try and find a car wash and car vacuum cleaner. The latter of these to items was relatively easy to find, the former was quite challenging. We eventually gave up on the search and decided to just head to a place on the French side of the island that we knew had such a service

We returned to the apartment, where we both showered and cleaned up before heading back on the road. Soon enough we were back on the road and heading towards Marigot.

As we were near Baie Rouge my father spotted and iguana like lizard and asked if I had seen it. As I hadn’t seen it he suggested that we could go back to see it. This seemed as though this likely wouldn’t be worth our while, as lizards don’t have a tendency to hang around. He then informed me that the lizard was dead, so he was pretty sure that it would be there when we went back.

Two vehicles ran over the lizard just as we were approaching it. One squished the guts out while the other crushed the animal’s head. This meant that by the time I good a good look the carcass was a fair bit flatter and less lizard like than when my father had spotted it just a minute or so before.

Once we made it to the outskirts of Marigot we immediately found the car wash. We then observed that they also had vacuum cleaners. Soon enough our car was being cleaned by the Karcher brand automatic car wash. The most amazing thing about the process, aside from the lack of a building to house the machine, was how little water was used. The entire process likely only took a few litres of water. The air drying apparatus at the end of the wash was also quite neat. Sensors allowed the blower to follow the profile of the car instead of just blowing in the direction of the car.

We next moved over to the vacuum cleaner. I removed the mats while my father went in to get a token. I then stationed myself on one side of the car while he stationed himself on the other. We then proceeded to hand the wand back and forth to maximize the use of our limited sucking time. Though we didn’t have quite as much time as we could have used, we did make pretty good progress, certainly enough that the car won’t be an embarrassment when we transfer it to the next user.

Though unplanned, I ended up driving the car back to the Dutch side of the island and then all the way over to Simpson Bay. Once in Simpson Bay we made a few more last minute grocery store purchases. I was also able to get a coffee. While ordering my coffee in the McDonald’s (one of the few places that I have seen that offers take-out coffee) I noticed that they also sold beer (Heineken and Presidente). This is almost enough to make me want to go back and get a meal and a beer. The motivation is even greater because I wasn’t able to do so while in Paris thirteen years ago.

Once back in the apartment we had lunch, which killed off a fair bit of our remaining food. After lunch my father went back to work on his test questions while I proceeded to start dealing myself games of solitaire. All in all, it wasn’t a particularly successful series of solitaire games. Much to my surprise, my hours of recent playing time don’t really seem to have improved my skill level.

At about 3:30 we left the apartment to pick up the incoming visiting professor. We hoped to be able to get a video clip of the plane as it landed. Unfortunately, just about a block away from the university we saw a plane approaching the runway. By the time we reached the runway it was pretty clear that that was the plane we were hoping to see.

Though we arrived at the airport after the plane landed we were in the arrivals area long before the person we were picking up emerged. As soon as she did emerge we were able to head out to the car and head home.

After we spent a few minutes catching up (with particular emphasis on what my father had already taught the class) we, along with another visiting professor, made our way over to a restaurant for dinner. We had been invited to dinner by the chair of the physiology department.

The restaurant was built or floating on the lagoon. We were seated in a section of the restaurant that was quite far out into the lagoon.

Though the restaurant seemed to try to push the lobster, 60% of us went for the mahi-mahi. The newly arrived professor went for shrimp and the department chair went for filet mignon. In retrospect if I had known how large the filet mignon would be I would have chosen that instead of the fish (not to suggest that I wasn’t pleased with my selection).

Soon after we stopped eating we noticed that some fish were swimming around in water just behind where we were seated. Very quickly a very large (about four feet long) fish was spotted. This encouraged a little more attention to be paid to the section of water that was illuminated by the restaurant’s lighting system. For the most part we saw only minnow sized fish.

In the next few minutes a few more sightings of the same fish, or others of comparable size were made. Eventually, just as we were about to leave, my father spotted a large fish. He is quite sure that it was a shark, and though I didn’t get as clear a view, I do think that this is conceivable.

On our way back to the university we stopped at the grocery store so that the two visiting professors with whom we were traveling could pick up some groceries. While in the store I broke down and purchased a pouch of Red Man. For years, maybe since my first viewing of The Sandlot, I have wanted to try this stuff, though have never been inclined to pay full Newfoundland prices ($13.00) as I can’t imagine that it will do any thing for me except make me sick (and maybe a little light headed).

Once the shopping had been paid for and bagged my father retrieved the car from the underground parking lot behind the store. We then folded down the back seat of the car and loaded the groceries into the trunk. Unfortunately, about two bags didn’t quite fit, so they were then left in the back seat with our two passengers.

After we returned to the apartment my father and I started to pack while the new inhabitant started to put away her groceries and arrange the kitchen to her liking. Soon enough my father and I finished packing. Not surprisingly, he went back to question writing while I did some reading.

Eventually all three of us (meaning those staying in the apartment) headed off to bed. I know that I was asleep before my father, but I have no idea by what margin.

Sint Maarten: Afternoon and Night 5

My father returned to the apartment at a much later hour than I expected. It seems he was caught up in several additional academic matters and also involved in losing a file containing one of his lectures. We each prepared a lunch for ourselves. My father had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while I had a fried seasoned chicken breast on some celery and rice.

Once he had completed the preparation and consumption of his meal, my father started collecting a number of items in the apartment that belong to a visiting faculty member. It seems that this professor, who will be arriving in a few days, will be staying for 10 weeks, explaining the significant number of items they left. In short order we, though most of the effort was my father’s, able to locate and collect all of the items, with the exception of a garlic press and a cheese cutter. It seems likely that these are not actually in this apartment as we both conducted fairly extensive searches of the apartment (with particularly emphasis on the kitchen area) and were unable to turn them up.

One additional apartment based afternoon activity that took place was the trashing of the bottles and cans that we have acquired during our stay. As we are used to North American standards, we hoped to be able to recycle or return these items. While at work my father learned that, at least on the Dutch side, there is no recycling program or option. Thus we were forced to toss all of these items, filling a trash bag. The short- term benefit of this action is that our kitchen area is significantly less cluttered.

As we were heading out for the afternoon and taking our bag of garbage to the disposal site, we ran into the cleaner. Through the use of a combination of languages and hand signs were able to indicate that we wanted to throw the bag away. The woman was quite willing to take care of our bag for us, which was appreciated, but we also wanted to know where the disposal site was so that in the future we could deal with the matter by ourselves.

As we were riding down on the elevator she asked if I was my father’s son (boy-toy was likely the other option). She also asked if I had any siblings. When my father asked if she had any children she indicated that she had six, but they had all died. To accentuate the point she drew her finger across her throat and indicated the number with her fingers. This is a rate of loss much greater than would typically be experienced in most North American locales. It is quite obvious that the locals don’t receive the same treatment and life the same quality of life as the tourists, though this tends to be well covered so that none of us get scared or start to feel bad.

After dropping off the garbage we hopped in the car to go to Marigot, the French capital. Unfortunately, as we are more used to going to the Dutch side of the island we started traveling in the wrong direction for some time before we noticed our error.

Shortly after correcting our error we were heading back through Maho and next to the golf course. At this point my father and I noticed a hitchhiker. Thinking that this could be a good information source my father stopped and picked the woman up.

It soon became clear that instead of being a local the woman was actually an (likely illegal) immigrant from the Dominican Republic and had only been in the country a relatively short period of time. So while she didn’t turn out to be a great source of local knowledge she was pleasant and a safe hitchhiking experience.

After dropping off the hitchhiker in Sandy Ground we continued on our trip and made to Marigot, which we passed while we continued to Pic Paradis the highest point on the island. Fortunately, as it is not common, the signage and map were relatively good useful in finding our desired location. Of a lower quality was the road itself. For much of the ascent the road was a poorly paved overgrown single lane with the occasional sharp turn and guardrail free drop-off.

As road conditions were poor speeds had to be kept to a minimum, just faster than a crawl. Even with these constraints, driving was certainly much faster and easier than walking would have been (and anyways, who walks these days?). Once we reached the top we took the path between the French telecommunications station and private compound to the lookout.

Below we were able several towns, other mountains, and one of the more famous (nude) beaches. The only problem with the view was that the high level of precipitation drastically reduced visibility, making the view much less impressive than it otherwise would have been.

One of the nice parts of the walk to and from the lookout was the presence of interesting plants and a few lizards. On the way to the lookout I saw some aloe-esque plants that seemed to be growing on the branches of trees. My father immediately knew the name of the plant, though I have since forgotten what he called them. Once at the lookout we saw a lizard, of the smallish sort, on the rock that one would stand on to get a good photo or view. Unlike many of the other lizards that I have seen this one seemed to stay still for a longer period of time.

While making our way back from the lookout I found some plants that were similar to those described previously, but that instead were growing on rocks and were only the size of one’s thumb. In many ways, I much preferred these to their larger cousins, if only because I was able to examine their means of attachment in greater detail.

Almost immediately after seeing the small rock-attached plants we came across a lizard sitting on a rock wall. Assuming it would be like most of the lizards that we have seen I decided to try and film it to capture the remarkable speed with which they are capable of moving in the presence of humans (or potential threats). As I started to film the lizard I started to notice that it wasn’t really moving that much, something that was particularly strange as I was not in any hiding or disguising my presence. Upon noting my shock and desire for the animal to move my father suggested that he might be able to assist. With a stick he rubbed the animals tail. This action only caused the animal to take a step or two forward and raised its tail. This behaviour pattern might suggest that this lizard doesn’t have the same self-preservation instincts that are so commonly displayed by the others of its species.

From Pic Paradis we made our way back to Marigot, this time taking a slightly different route than we had used to arrive at our previous destination. We soon noticed the “Howell Center” and the grocery store within its confines. As we are both interested in food and price comparisons we decided to check it out (and we wanted to buy a garbage can for our kitchen). Once inside the store it was quite clear that this was a far superior store those that we had seen on the Dutch side in Maho and surrounding areas. Not only did they have a much greater range of fruits and vegetables, but they also had all kinds of cheeses and meats that one might associate with France. Also, their alcohol section was quite large and reasonably priced. Most impressive was their range of high end Scotches for $30.

Eventually, we ended up buying a few postcards as well as a bottle of aloe drink and a bottle of crème de cassis (a black current liqueur). As all of these items were on the cheap side we didn’t have the sufficient bill to allow us to pay by credit card, making it quite fortunate that they accepted dollars as well as Euros. The funny thing was that our change was comprised of a dollar bill and some Euro cents.

We then finally made our way to the town centre and the touristy shopping district. Nor surprisingly, neither of us were really all that into looking at women’s fashions or kitsch. So, after a while of just walking around and not really looking at much in any detail we decided to think about getting dinner. As none of the restaurants that we saw really appealed to us we decided to head back to the Dutch side for dinner.

As we were making our way back to our car we happened to see a stand that sold fresh coconuts and freshly pressed sugar cane drink. As I had had neither of these before, and as my father had not had the sugar cane drink we decided to order one of each. Both drinks were very nice, though the sugar cane was a more positive surprise than the coconut. The other benefit of the coconut was that the fruit could also be taken and then consumed, something that should happen when we get the chance to find a good smashing location.

Cheri’s Café, a restaurant that was reviewed highly by at least two people with whom we have spoken, was our dinner destination. As we were able to beat the rush we had our pick of seats, and chose to sit in an area well away form the heart of the restaurant.

Shortly after arriving, our waiter, who was likely new to the staff, took our drink orders. We each ordered Amstel products, mainly because we both want to try all of the beers that seem to be popular with the tourists. Though he didn’t say it explicitly, our waiter clearly felt that our selections were quite clearly not the manliest drinks around. When we explained our reasons for ordering them he seemed a little more understanding, but still somewhat confused.

When my father received the calamari appetizer that he ordered we were both shocked by the portion size. Instead of receiving just a few pieces of squid, the plate was quite full and more reminiscent of a main course than an appetizer. The portions we received for our main courses were also relatively large, certainly much larger than I am used to receiving at restaurants. I was also quite pleased with the quality my dish, which was Mahi-mahi, and the fact that they included some vegetables with the meal.

Soon after we finished eating, and while I was working on my coffee, Kirsten called. While the call was expected, we were pretty sure that she would call just as the restaurant’s band started playing. It turned out that the Sweet Chocolate Band started about a minute after she called. After the phone call we hung around for one or two of the numbers by the band before splitting.

Once we returned home we spent our time relaxing, which included two games of rummy, before we went to bed. Fortunately we were able to get to sleep at a reasonable time, as has been the tradition since our arrival.