Regina's urban beavers

Tonight, in honour of the year's highest temperatures to date, Jeannette and I went on an evening stroll along the banks of the Wascana Creek.  Just as we were passing a dog walking pair with three dogs and four leashes I noticed a mammal swimming in the creek.  Because of the dog walkers' extra leash I initially assumed that the animal swimming in the creek was a fourth dog - though the swimming appeared awfully smooth for a dog.

As this pair and their three dogs kept walking along the creek without the mystery animal I soon began to suspect that we were looking at some sort of wild animal.  As the head appeared to be about dog size I was relatively certain we weren't looking at a water-based rat.

When the animal climbed onto the shore from the creek and I got a look at its rotund body I began to feel relatively certain that it was a beaver.  Of course, in the mean time Jeannette had spotted a second beaver on some ice and could clearly see the second animal's tail want was able to positively identify it as a beaver.

Anyway, much to Jeannette's chagrin we stood by the banks of the soon to be flood engorged banks of the Wascana creek and watched a pair of beavers gnaw on a branch.

Definitely pretty cool.  Or at least I thought so.

Before Jeannette pulled me away from the raw display of beavericity I did manage to snag about 30 seconds of video of the two majestic beasts.


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I can't wait to go back tomorrow night.

And how did I not know about this already?

Friendly neighbourhood spider

A few weeks ago Rebecca and Neil noticed that a spider had taken up residence in our balcony area. Since its arrival the spider has had to build a number of webs, such as the one shown in this picture. What is particularly impressive is how quickly the spider is able to reproduce a web once the previous web is destroyed, and that the spider somehow manages to survive the various forms of web-destruction that beset it and have the will/energy to continue re-building.

I think that all of us are curious to see how long the spider will be in this location and what happens when the colder temperatures start to set in. Also, I can't imagine that the blowing leaves of fall will be particularly beneficial to the web, and seeing as it is in a debris friendly area I imagine that this will be a problem that the spider will have to encounter sooner rather than later.

Newfoundland Caribou

A few days ago my I took a trip with parents to Mistaken Point. Along the way to our final destination we happened to spot a few caribou along the side of the road. When we first spotted them they were quite close to the side of the road. Eventually, as can be seen in this short clip, they eventually moved a little further away.




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Whales and Worms

Almost as soon as I returned home from work I learned that my mother had been planning on the three of us having dinner at Cape Spear. She hoped that we would be able to see some of the whales that CBC reported were there the day before.

After a few preparations (I had to make my sandwich among other things) we were ready to head out, that is after we picked up my father.

Soon enough we were making our way through Shea Heights and then along the final stretch to Cape Spear. Almost as soon as we pulled into the driveway we noticed that there was a CBC satellite truck and a fairly large number of cars.

As we made our way from the parking lot to the shore we noticed a fairly large number of groups eating picnic dinners, and many more just looking for whales. On our walk down we heard from a number of people that there were whales, but that they were around the headland.

Just about as soon as we moved to the far side of Cape Spear the temperature dropped and the wind became much colder. We eventually found a rock with a good view to sit on and eat our dinner.

Soon after we started eating my parents noticed a blow in the distance. Within a few minutes we started to see animals breaching in water a little nearer to shore. Eventually, typically after a few breaches, we saw what looked like mouths coming out of the water open. Presumably, the whales were eating capelin, or some other fish, that they had herded or stunned with their breaching.

Soon after we finished our meal we started to make our way back across Cape Spear. Soon after we entered the warmer part of the outcropping my parents ran into a couple that they recognized. As we were standing talking to the couple a number of whales became visible. These whales, which happened to be humpbacks, eventually came quite close to the shore, so close that we were able to see the white sections of their fins.

The couple also clued us into why CBC had been at Cape Spear. Instead of reporting on the presence of whales and sight-seers, it seems that they were there to report on a rescue that had just taken place. The story, as we heard it from this couple, was that a guy from Ontario (I think that was the province that they suggested), who claimed to be an experienced mountaineer, decided to climb down the a cliff but then realized that he couldn't get back up. A friend called for a rescue on his cell phone. The rescue crew then had to rappel down the side of the cliff to rescue the stranded expert. Apparently the entire process took about an hour and a half, all remnants of which were gone by the time we arrived. (CBC presents things a little differently in their version of the story).

Though several of the whales were still being quite active we had to make our way back to St. John's to get to the second exciting activity of the night: spraying for elm span worms.

Almost as soon as we returned home my father and I changed into spraying clothes (otherwise known as work clothes) and prepared our equipment. The main complication is that the spray has to be mixed in a buck and then syphoned to the power washer. If one is not careful the hose can fall out of the bucket or the bucket can run dry, both of which would cause the syphon to become non-functional.

Fortunately, just as we were about to start spraying some friends showed up. While one of them talked to my mother the other was able to help my father and I with the spraying process. While the friend was there to help I climbed up on the roof of the shed and then the roof of the house to hit some of the higher sections of a few of the trees.

Eventually our friends and my mother left. They were going to see the house that had recently been purchased and as of today come into the possession of our friends. This meant that we went from a three person operation to a two person operation, causing a noticeable effect on our efficiency.

Eventually we worked our way through our yard and the neighbours' yards, climbing to roofs when needed or just spraying from the ground when there wasn't a roof that would allow us to get a better angle.

At one point, while I was standing on the front porch roof, a woman stopped to ask if we could be hired. While my father indicated that we were just doing our own place he did suggest that if her husband was interested that we could help him do his own spraying. So I guess we should be hearing from him in a day or so and will possibly have to suit up sometime soon afterwards.

Just as the sun was starting to set we ran out of our bacterial soup, thus halting our spraying program for the evening. Actually, I think that we basically achieved all that we could have hoped. What was particularly impressive about the entire operation was that almost as soon as we started spraying a given tree the worms began to vacate the trees. In some cases several hundred worms began to dangle from certain trees, many times in places were leaf damage wasn't even particularly visible (yet). Presumably, if we had left the spraying much longer many of the trees would be well on their way to having serious leaf damage, something that can't be good for long term tree health.

A Few Quick Notes 193

-Aside from a few rain drops, today has been a rather nice day. Possibly even more important than the quality of the weather today is that fine weather has been predicted for the next few days (a prediction that I hope comes true).

-Today when searching by ISBN in Amicus I had 5 records returned for a single ISBN. While it is likely that this is not the record in this category, it is a much larger number than I would have expected. One would hope that only a single record would be returned for most ISBNs.

-It is possible that I have secured a house-sitting gig for the latter part of July. If this works out it would tie in nicely with my early August house-sitting obligation.

-I really dislike serials that under-go name changes. Not only have such changes caused me to have nightmares but they are also a bit of a pain to catalogue and I can't imagine that many people are able to follow the changes.

-We had a frisbee game. We all seemed to play much better this time around. In the end we managed to hang on to the lead long enough to secure the win.

-A few of us went to Bitters for trivia. Unfortunately, we didn't do all that well, but better than at least two teams. We were particularly hammered by a comic book category on which we scored zero.

-This year I have seen a number of very large ants. I don't recall seeing such creatures in past year. I wonder if Newfoundland has a new invasive species.

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: Day 10

For some reason, presumably his early departure, my father decided not to wake me before he left. It turned out that this wasn’t really all that problematic as I ended up waking up at about 8:00 AM on my own.

I spent much of the morning on computer related tasks, but was also able to throw in some eating and relaxing. While it was a less productive morning that I might have hoped, it certainly wasn’t unpleasant.

Shortly after I finished lunch I received a call from my father. We decided that it would be best to try and take a snorkeling tour that afternoon, rather than try to fit in later in our rapidly filling week. The advantage of this snorkeling tour is that those taking the tour get to pilot their own dinghies to the snorkeling site, which is an underwater wildlife reserve.

Upon learning that there were a few slots let we gather our snorkeling equipment and bathing costumes and set off for Simpson Bay. Fortunately, on our way there we didn’t encounter serious traffic and we were able to cross the drawbridge with no delays.

Once on-site we stashed our belongings, but on sun screen and sat to wait for instructions. Shortly, someone that could have been the owner came out and gave the basic safety run down and described hand signals that would be used during the trip.

Oliver (from France) and Ryan (from Guyana), our guides, then took over the presentation and explained where we would be going and what we would be seeing. Their presentation was peppered with a number of prepared jokes and humorous moments (the sort of which my father is particularly fond).

After the presentation we were able to board our boats, which while dinghies are configured more like jet skies. This means that directly behind the steering wheel is the only seat, which is shared by both individuals as if they were on a motorcycle. While this is likely part of the attraction for couples that take the tour, I would have preferred to have a seat back.

Soon enough we were off, but not before the company photographed us. We made our way through the lagoon and then under the drawbridge on the French side. Once we were in the Caribbean Sea we were able to go full speed while following one of the tour guides. At various places along the journey out we stopped and were shown things such as nude beaches and communities of interest (it also served as a way of letting stragglers catch up).

We reached our final destination after only about 35 minutes on the water, which is pretty remarkable as it was almost at the most northerly tip of the French side of the island (and we started in the south of the Dutch side). While traveling we were able to spot several flying fish as they bounced across the water.

Once everyone had been tied together and provided with beverages (of the non-alcoholic variety) we were encouraged to hit the snorkeling grounds. The only warnings and instructions were not to go aground, not to stand-up (or touch the corral), and to watch out for the sea urchins.

Once in the water it became apparent that the water was clearer than anywhere else we had yet been snorkeling. As we swam from the boats towards the shore it also became apparent that the density of fish was much greater here than anywhere else we had yet been snorkeling. Seemingly dozens of fish came into view almost simultaneously.

Not surprisingly, most of the fish, and other forms of wildlife, were to be seen while floating over the rocks by the shore. While many of the same types of fish that we had seen in other locations were common, there were also many new types of fish that we had not seen in either of the two other locations were we have gone snorkeling. Unfortunately, I am not familiar enough with the identification of tropical fish to list them all here. The few things that I was able to identify, and that I am glad that I saw, included a cuttlefish, something that resembled a juvenile swordfish, a brightly coloured eel, a conch, sea urchins with large spikes, corral, and a few sea anemones.

At one point there appeared to be a sedated feeding frenzy near the top of the water. Somehow I found myself in the middle of these fish and their food (I am not sure that I want to know what the ‘food’ was). It was really remarkable to have all of these fish swimming around me, acting as though I didn’t really exist.

At least I thought they didn’t think I existed. I am confident that a few minutes into this experience that one of them took a bite of my leg, or the leg hair attached to my leg. This freaked me out and caused me to decided to leave the center of the action.

After about 45 minutes of snorkeling we returned to our boats and prepared to head back. Within a few minutes we managed to change from our snorkeling gear back into our life jackets and sunglasses. And unlike most of the couples on the trip, my father and I switched positions on the seat, meaning that I would be in control of the boat on the way back. Actually, this has been a very noticeable trend when it comes to couples and transportation. In basically all two-person forms of transportation that we have seen, the male will be driving and the female will be in the back (or in the passenger seat).

Just before returning to the drawbridge, and as we were about to enter the no wake zone, one (progressive?) couple actually did switch positions (but presumably only when the male knew that the better part of the trip was over).

As the boats arrived they were tied to the dock and the tour members made their way to the waiting area next to the dock. Once we had all been gathered, the boss (the same guy that started the presentation before the tour began) explained that the pictures of us had been taken and could be purchased along with a ‘certificate of achievement.’ While the photo was pretty good neither of us was inclined to spend $15 to acquire it (though the certificate was tempting).

While some of the individuals on the tour stuck around for a beer afterwards, we started to make our way home. But before returning home we stopped at the grocery store to try and acquire the ingredients that we needed to attempt to re-create our meal of the night before.

Almost as soon as we returned home my father started preparing our meal. I, on the other hand, took a shower to remove any remaining traces of saltwater. Within a few minutes I too was working on the remaining elements of the meal (mainly the cutting of the green beans). Once fully cooked, the meal was basically as good as that of the previous night. The major improvement was the cutting of the cassava (yucca) into more uniform pieces so that they would cook more evenly.

Shortly after we finished eating my father went back to work to continue preparing lectures and writing test questions. I stayed in the apartment and did the dishes. Soon after I had finished the dishes I spent some time online before finally finishing the evening out by reading anecdotes about former SNL cast member Chris Farley.

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 3

After a breakfast of some scrambled eggs and toast my father went to the main building to give his first lecture. While my father was working I stayed at home and read, an activity I find quite pleasant.

While out walking this morning I spotted several lizards along the side of the road. The first that saw was so small that I first thought it might have been a grasshopper (or some local equivalent). Only on closer inspection was I able to confirm that it was actually an inch and a half long lizard. Shortly thereafter I saw several other brown lizards, all about six to eight inches long. For the most part, these lizards, in attempting to flee from me, drew attention to themselves. One of them, fortunately, stayed still long enough for me to get a picture.

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Since our arrival we had been hoping to make operative our apartment’s internet connection. As we arrived on a holiday weekend we were aware that there would likely be a delay of several days, but we both imagined that by some point on Monday would be would able email and Skype from the comfort of our fourth floor apartment.

It seems that at some point this weekend the resident IT specialist at the university decided to quit, and subsequently left the island. Not only does this mean that we likely won’t be online in the coming days, but that all but two computers at the school are offline. Surprisingly, though it may have been a catalyst for the staff member’s untimely departure, there is an external IT consultant on campus for the coming weeks. Hopefully her presence will help get things back on track in the very near future.

Until then it is likely that we will have to take advantage of a casino based internet connection that we spotted last night while dining.