Heading into the Home Stretch of Island Life

Hey everyone,

I know it has been awhile, but we are still living the island dream. My last post was back in April, and I basically finished out the school year and then headed home for the summer while Kyle finished up Med 3. Well he passed! He has begun Med 4 and we can finally see the light. 8 more months of island living. 

Even though we have a short amount of time left, we are going to be super busy. Before I left for the summer, I started yet another island project. I met a French Canadian gal, who is an awesome athlete! We had the opportunity to become certified swim instructors through FINA. We started up our own swim club called the Nevis Barracudas. Our goal is to teach a lot of the local kids how to swim, and we have even taken on teaching some of the Special Olympic Athletes. The program ran through the summer while I was away and the team made some great progress!! We will be continuing the program in the coming months, and I am excited to help make a difference for some of these kids. 

As well, my colleague and best friend on the island have made huge strides in the education world on Nevis. This last week was back to school, which was full of workshops and learning opportunities for the teachers on the island. My friend and I presented a workshop to the preschool and kindergarten teachers. We created a checklist to help bridge the gap for children transitioning to kindergarten. Lets just say presenting two, three-hour long workshops was both nerve wracking and exhausting! I have never done anything like that before, especially to a group of women from a completely different culture than what I am used to. #culturemapping For those at the Global Leadership Summit you will appreciate that! ;) Anyway, it was a successful day with some great feedback that ended with my friend and I getting our own office space at the Ministry of Education. It has the best view, and we have a computer! Amazing! I am so excited for this school year. Last year was so tough breaking through so many barriers and obstacles, but this year I will finally be able to use my skills in a beneficial way to help this island. 

#officeview

Kyle is starting Med 4, so far he likes his new schedule, most days he is done at 3pm, and there is a lot more hands on experience this semester. He will even be spending some time at the local hospital. A blog update will definitely be needed after that! 

So we have only been back for a week, and the hardest part so far has been getting used to the heat. It has been crazy hot here, I know back home it was a great summer but the heat here is something else. A lot of humidity, and no AC is tough to get used too. Also, I'm pretty sure our lovely car's AC just broke. We are at the point where I am just praying it makes it through these last 8 months. 

I spent a few days at the beach here, and chatted with my friend about the fact that we know we aren't going to be here forever and so with the time we have left we really need to make the most of it and enjoy it as much as possible. This island may not have lots to offer but it is beautiful and I will never get bored of that. 

Beach selfie with my work wife

























So as Kyle gets back into studying, I get back into working and studying (I only have 2 more courses left for my program so I will be done in December), we are both back to our routine island living. Full of iced coffees, tank tops and flip flops, donkeys and goats and just taking it day by day. 

Thank you everyone for your continued support. It was great to visit a lot of people over the summer and we are amazed at all the love from friends and family. It was a tough summer for us personally, and in those moments it is very hard being so far away and feeling helpless. Just know that we are always thinking of our family and praying for everyone even in the middle of the Caribbean. We love you guys! I will be back in October for my best friend's wedding, otherwise we will see you in December! 

Before we left, my mother-in-law made an amazing turkey dinner! We celebrated an early Thanksgiving and it was delicious!! 

Here are some of my favourite moments from being home this summer:

Ashley's Bachelorette Party 

Hanging out with my nephew!

Michigan Wedding

Jays game!

Cottage time with some great friends!

Gabi and Murphy! BFF

I spent a lot of time with my sister. She was thrilled for every moment! ;) 

Special Olympics St. Kitts-Nevis National Games 2016

Hey Friends,

It's crazy to think I started on this island as your "Nevis Housewife", however things have drastically changed, and to make life a little more interesting last week I attended my first ever Special Olympics National Games for St.Kitts-Nevis. What an experience!

A bit of background info: I started on the committee in September of 2015 as secretary, however due to the business it entailed, and the fact that I had 0 experience in this area, and that there were so many unknowns as to planning for events, who the athletes are, who all these people are I was working with, I had no relationships with anyone, and working a full time job plus completing a masters degree, I stepped down as secretary and decided to focus my attention on the athletes themselves, specifically with swimming. 

Being on an island surrounded by water, one would think that everyone here can swim. Not true! Most of the locals are actually afraid of water due to fear of sharks. A reasonable doubt I suppose if this is all you have known. However I managed to find 3 swimmers for the Nevis side, and was assisting in training them for competition. 

After weeks of planning, countless meetings, headaches, and emails the competition finally arrived. Now seeing as this was my first go round, I had no clue what to expect. Even the people who have been a part of this for several years had no clue what to expect! I can't imagine though, in North America Special Olympic teams have to worry about ferry times and organizing rides to and from port. That was very chaotic. However our athletes made it to St.Kitts safely for the track and field day. There was even a performance by a local Soca artist Nicha B! I was so proud of myself for knowing who he was and knowing the song he sang. Some of the locals were shocked at my knowledge! ;) 
The track day went well all things considered! It was a long hot day, and we cut it close to getting the boat back to Nevis but I think the athletes had a great time. There was a team from Connecticut who attends our meet every year, and I over heard one of the coaches say they thought things were nice and organized (even though we got the schedule of events on arrival). Medals were won, smiles were had, and only a minor sprained ankle occurred! 

This was the opening ceremonies

Athletes from the Connecticut Team

Super Star Runners

The next day we had a Bocce Ball tournament on Nevis. Team Connecticut came over for an island tour, so obviously it makes sense to have the white newbie girl show them around...I learned a lot about Nevis, so I guess it worked out. 
Again something I didn't expect to be part of the job when working with Special Olympics. 

The team made it to Nevis! 

This was my tour bus! (Don't worry I didn't drive, the taxi driver was our great tour guide!)

New Friends

Bocce Ball!

The last day was the aquatics day. This time I was at the forefront. Managing my athletes and coaches and parents and coordinating the ferry and payment for the ferry was stressful! Not to mention I was very sea sick on the way over to St.Kitts! To much reading. 
St. Maarten was joining us for the day, but their plane was delayed, the schedule of events had to be changed, and the organizer of the aquatics who quit two weeks before the event decided to show up and not tell anyone and helped run the show. What a whirlwind! However, once things calmed down, and the breeze showed up, I was able to enjoy watching my athletes swim their hearts out and earn some medals. One of my favourite moments was seeing one of my swimmers who complained all training about being afraid of water and not wanting to swim, and how she thought she couldn't swim well, absolutely owned at front crawl and came first! Seeing her face light up at the finish line, and receiving a medal made the whole experience and months of planning totally worth it. Take a look at some highlights from the event!

Butterfly swim! 

These 2 girls, I have been working with for the past 3 months! They have worked so hard!

A small pool, and our own make shift lanes, but it worked! Pool Noodles are very useful! 

Medal Ceremony!

This has been an incredible opportunity on this island, and it has allowed me to break through my comfort zone and truly start to feel like I am part of this community. I met some amazing people, was able to work with some fantastic athletes, and I really hope to continue to make a difference in these kid's lives. They deserve opportunities like every other child, and I hope to spread the word around the island and show some awareness about Special Olympics. I may be new to the game, but somehow it landed me an interview on local TV, and I developed the swim program which I hope to grow in the time I have left here. 



It was definitely a week to remember!! 

A little fun dining experience after the games. This guy stole my french fry right out of my hand! Ketchup and everything!! 

Unintentionally Falling Off The Map

Hey everyone! 

First off I must apologize for temporarily falling off the map. It was not on purpose, trust me. I have been all over Nevis since stepping off the plane in January. This has been Kyle's busiest semester yet and I have just begun to master the juggling act of volunteering, working and studying. We have barely had time for ourselves and my toes haven't seen sand in weeks! I'm currently on Easter break from work for two weeks! So I have taken today to soak up some rays and blog. 

These days I have just been working and helping out with some events for Special Olympics. We had a fun run/walk back in February and last week there was the cross channel swim where we had a presence.  

At the start of the Fun Run/ Walk!

Here is the video from the event in February!

Apparently I was on the local news for an interview from the cross channel swim, but I don't have a video of that one. 

This is of all the swimmers getting ready for the start!

In April we have National Games, and I started a swim program here so we will be able to have some athletes compete in aquatics. Very exciting! 

This is a picture of some of the athletes who will be competing in the National Games. 

At the school, there has been non stop drama since January. I can't really get into all the details but let's just say close quarters with a lot of vocal women does not mix. I have tried my best to stay out of it however it somehow always finds me. One good thing is in recent weeks I have been able to spend time going to different preschools to see some kids instead of just staying on one site. So that opportunity has been awesome. People are starting to understand ABA and what my skills are. I'm looking forward to term 3, to be able to help these kids out. 

I'm working on my 6th course for my masters program and its a tough one. It has been hard to balance it but I'm trying. 

It is kind of crazy to think of where I was a year ago, and how when I'm out running errands or doing my daily routine it just seems so normal to me now. The average person may think it's weird to see goats on the road, or monkeys in trees, but now that is all just normal. Or having the grocery stores empty because it's a holiday or gas run out on the island. Nothing seems to phase me anymore. If I'm out exercising and catch a glimpse of the sunset, those are the moments where I stop and soak it in. Seeing daily rainbows and being able to look up into the night sky and see millions of stars, that is what I love most about being here. All that drama and annoyances about island living seem to slip way when you are surrounded by beauty. I was just talking to a friend of mine, and all though we miss home, it's all about making memories and just getting into the culture. 

We did have one interesting event happen recently,  somehow almost $9000 EC dollars was withdrawn from my bank account without my knowledge. First of all, I don't even have $9000!! But I must admit, I had a panic attack when I saw all the red numbers and thought we had been hacked, but Kyle remained very calm and we went to the bank and they sorted it out for us no problem. It seemed as though this kinda thing happens all the time because they didn't really question it, and the money was returned by the end of the day! Which totally surpassed the stereotypical island time! 

We did manage to get over to St. Kitts for the day a few weeks ago and see a movie. We also visited a site called Brimstone. For those history buffs like my husband, you would love it! It had quite an amazing view. 

Kyle only has about 2 more weeks for the semester and then he gets a break! We are actually going to go on a cruise. The irony of the whole thing is that one of the stops is St. Kitts! Ha! We were trying to avoid it, however it was out of our control. It will be nice to just lounge around, and I won't have to worry about cooking or cleaning for a week. Kyle will get to sleep and we can just relax. 

Other than that, life goes on. New students will be arriving next month, and one of them actually found my blog and has been asking me a bunch of questions about moving here. I'm glad I have been able to help her out! 

I don't feel as home sick as I thought I would this time around. September was worse I think. I feel bad for Kyle, he is going a little stir crazy with his classes and professors. It's hard because I can't do anything to make it easier for him. He still has to get up and get to class from 8-5 then come home and study. I'm not even home that much, and it sucks that he can't get out of the house more. But it is what it is, this is what he wants to do and I'm so proud of what he has accomplished. I know he can't see the finish line yet but it's there, just miles across the ocean ;) 

Anyway, that's all I have for now! We are still surviving on this rock! Thank you everyone for your continued support and prayers. Our families have been good at keeping us updated from people back home, we really appreciate it! 

Enjoy some more pictures below :) 

 These are all from Brimstone Hill on St.Kitts

I'm not too sure what this creature is, but I am definitely glad I did not step on it! 

Welcome Back to Nevis!

Well everyone, vacation is over! Back to reality we go. Except reality for me is hopping on a plane at 6 am and flying to a small island somewhere in the Caribbean. 
We made it back to the island safely. Although, we had one of the toughest trips ever travelling back. Now Kyle is much more experienced in traveling than I, but even he said it was some of the worst turbulence he has ever felt. I felt so nauseous, and even Kyle threw up a little bit. But that was more due to the fact the guy beside us was going to toss his cookies, and had some nasty smelling bagel in his seat, and Kyle was suffering from a terrible migraine. Plus there was a set of screaming 15 month old twins in front of us. It just was not a good time. We were delayed leaving, which would have been okay except we had to wait on the tarmac for an extra hour. 
Once we landed, things were a little confusing with our taxi because unlike us, some people were not prepared and did not book a taxi. They just assumed they could hop in our ride. So that lead to more waiting around. We finally made it across by water taxi, and got to our apartment. Now we are supposed to be moving upstairs, and we told our landlord when we were coming back, and that we would pack up all of our stuff and move it ourselves. We had already helped the new tenant who was moving into our old place mover her stuff. We show up and there was no key left for our new place. We called the landlord and it turns out she is in our old place cleaning. It was such a mess of things. She was taking our stuff out of cupboards and throwing it in bags, and our new place hadn't even been cleaned yet. It was so dusty!! So many ants! All around filthy! So we couldn't exactly move in, and we couldn't exactly hang out in our old place. Kyle and I did our best to remain calm and be patient. The landlord was very apologetic and started cleaning our new place right away. It took a few hours and we were behind schedule of how we wanted to unpack. However, we managed to make it through. We were hoping to have settled in the day we flew in but it didn't happen. So most of our unpacking had to happen the next day, and then I was back at work. Except, we had no car. It was still being fixed. Although it sounded more like the car just sat at our mechanics house until Kyle called to ask if it was ready. So all this week I have been busing it to work. We just got the car back on Friday, and at least we can steer it better and the breaks don't squeak. So we are settled back in. Kyle got right into classes, he has a busy schedule this semester. In class from 8-5. It's a long day for him this time. Our apartment is much better though! We set up new lights so I can see the dishes now. We got rid of the ants, and we have more space. It is also much cooler up here because there are windows on all sides of the house. The best part...we can't hear the annoying frogs as much!!! 
I am pretty sure if the first couple days back were like this a year ago I would have had a way tougher time adjusting to this island life. However, we were able to just go with the flow here and on Monday our landlord stopped by unexpectedly and gave us a really nice fruit basket to say thank you for being so patient. Kyle and I were so overwhelmed, that was really nice of her. She apologized again, and said that she loves having us as tenants. So that was nice. 

Yesterday we spent some time at the beach with some friends, and today I went for a walk with a girl from work. I am actually glad to be back here. This past year has been crazy! I feel like this next year will go by quick also. I am still figuring out my job. Things are hopefully going to be different this term. However, there is still a lot of tension among the staff. So I am trying to feel that out. It's been a busy week already, and I can't believe we have already been back for a week! 

My online classes start up again tomorrow, so I will do my best to keep everyone updated as much as possible. 
I hope everyone is enjoying the new year so far and sticking with your resolutions!! ;) 

Part of the Golf Course at the Four Seasons

1 Year Living the Island Dream

Sitting in the airport catching the last glimpse of the mountains and ocean before our journey home I have a few moments to reflect on the past year. What a year it has been!!! Celebrating with a mimosa because the students here just checked their grades and everyone passed! Kyle did amazing and I am so proud of him! I was reading through some of my first blog posts and it amazes me how much we have accomplished in a year on Nevis. 

Some fun little stats for you:
 Kyle wrote 58 exams.
 I finished 4 courses.
 I got 1 job. 
Visited over 8 different beaches.
 I have seen 10 shooting stars. 
Driven around the island over 150 times. 
We have had over 500 monkey sightings. 
300 Donkey sightings. 
800 goat sightings.
 3 fabulous rainbows. 
Countless of breathtaking sunsets. 
We haves survived 100 power outages.
Over 200 Mosquito bites between the 2 of us.
 30 days of 40 plus degrees
 1 amazing story to tell. 

This was Kyle's yay I am done exams face!

I think he was just tired...and ready to come home :) 

We have over come so much. Met some amazing people and it's unbelievable that we still have over a year left on this island. 

This week I met a travel blogger who has had some amazing experiences herself. She house sits her way through the world and has ended up on Nevis for a few months. She invited me to the house she was staying at and the view was absolutely breathtaking. Maybe Kyle and I will try it out next year :) 
If you have some time, check out her blog here: https://wanderlusters.com/

The blogger said that Nevis has been one of her favourite places so far. If we were staying at a place like this, I would never leave Nevis!!

I also attended a couple of Christmas presentations for some schools. The one school I support, went to a church downtown and had like a 3 hour long presentation. The kids were so adorable though. Dressed in their best, singing and saying poems. These kiddos were younger so sometimes their parents had to come on stage and help out haha. However I am glad I went to support them. The school I work out, also had some fun events. They did a walk-a-thon, to try and raise money for the school. The kids walked around Nevis for over 5k! It was impressive. I ended up having to do it twice because I first had to mark the trail. I also learned that the way to fund raise is to flag people down in their cars and ask them for money. Their Christmas party was interesting. It was pretty unorganized, and it made me sad that not many parents came out to support their kids. They did have some good moments though. Most of the kids had a good time I think. It has certainly been a busy couple of weeks wrapping up with school for the semester. I had a 6 hour long staff meeting on my last day working there. That was interesting. However, hopefully it was all for good and there will be some big changes in the new year.  

I feel so blessed to have this experience and even though we have dealt with broken down cars, hurricanes and extreme heat, I really don't think I would change any of the experiences I have had thus far. Yes my job has been very stressful and overwhelming and I considered quitting this month, however I managed to take control and it looks like things will be changing in the New Year. I have learned a new form of patience and even learned a new language in a way. I hope that next year we will have even more experiences to share with everyone. 

While travelling back home, we had some time in St. Kitts and went to a knock off Starbucks called Rituals Coffee. I couldn't really tell the difference myself. My drink was delicious! Maybe because I haven't had Starbucks in so long lol. 

Some things to look forward to in the new year: we will be moving to an upstairs apartment. It is slightly bigger and hopefully less bugs. I will be travelling more to St. Kitts for my job to help with a child, and I will be spending more time working on the Special Olympics Committee. Kyle will be taking on the role of co- president of the MUA Chapter American Medical Student Association. He will be beginning Med 2 and I will be starting my 5th masters course. 

So we have a busy year ahead but we are excited. I know it will be hard to come back to the island in January, because we have both been looking forward to spending some time at home with friends and family. We do have a nice 3 week break and Kyle is excited for snow. I am not so sure. 

So as I watch our plane pull in, I raise my glass to all of you who have been supporting us throughout our journey and will continue to believe in us. Cheers to 2016!! See you on the other side!