Christmas in Statia!

Greetings everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and is getting all prepared for the big New Year's Eve festivities! Like Thanksgiving, Christmas was quite a different experience here. No snow and warm sunny weather are two things I'm usually not accustomed to during Christmas in Minnesota. But we all had a wonderful time over the weekend. I'll have to say though, not being able to sit down and eat obscene amounts of lutefisk was quite a disappointment. I mean, how do people celebrate Christmas meals without the joy of the amazing lutefisk? I mean the smell alone is reason enough to be merry. But anyways....I managed to cope without it this year. I'm sure my share was picked up by either Wayne, Jerome or Mark. No question there. Our Statia Christmas began Friday when we all decided to treat ourselves to a great island meal at The Blue Bead Restaurant, arguably Statia's finest in dining. I'm convinced Zagat's would give it top rating. While Ella, Kyle, and Ana all decided on burgers, I went with the pepperoni pizza option. Delicious thin crust style, hand made pizza that could possibly be one of the best pizzas I've ever had. We had a very nice evening and made our way home to the Garden. I had decided earlier that day to purchase some cell phone minutes and was able to call back "home" and talk to the relatives that evening. Sounded like they as well were having a great Christmas Eve. And finally Sunday came, and with that, the highly anticipated Christmas lasagna! This is a family tradion for Ana and her family and we all were excited to partake. And partake we did! It was delicious and we spent the early evening eating vegetarian and meat lasagna, garlic bread, and salad. All topped off with a bottle of wine. A perfect way to end our first, and more than likely, our last Christmas on Statia! Our Christmas vacation did not end there though. We had Sunday and Monday off as well. I'm not sure if I mentioned it earlier or not, but we welcomed in a new intern to the STENAPA team last week. Kyle....from Philly. Big sports fan and obviously has a vested interest in the Eagles this season. And wouldn't ya know....Eagles vs. Vikings on Sunday night football! There are few tvs in Statia but there happens to be one at our favorite Chinese restaurant and Kyle, Ana, and I made our way out on the town Sunday night to watch a little NFL. And....what the heck?! Postponed?! You've got to be kidding me!! Those wimps in Philly. Well our night was cut short Sunday and two days later we found ourselves right back in front of the tv at Largo Heights (the Chinese restaurant). And to both Kyle and my surprise....Vikes win! Great game and with the help of a few fried chicken wontons, we had a great evening. Wednesday was the most miserable day we've had on the island since I've been here. It rained off on on all day and was windy and cool. Ya, ya....I'm sure you all feel sorry for us! I'm sure hoping this doesn't last! Well....better get going. Big New Year's holiday weekend coming up! We'll have to see what Statia has in store for us! Hope you all have a wonderful time and until next time America.....

2 months down....and not quite done yet!

Yes America....you read that correct. For all those anticipating my return today (and I'm sure there are quite a few of you), you are all going to have to postpone that anticipation for a couple more months. Due to the incessant pleading of the STENAPA crew and quite frankly most everyone here, I have given in and decided to remain on the island of St. Eustatius until March 5th. Ok....I might have embellished the incessant pleading part, but nonetheless, my time here is not quite over. I'm sure this comes as devastating news to most of you and I have, quite probably, ruined everyone's Christmas and New Years. But....keep it together and just remember.....it's only a couple more months. And if you're still having difficulties with this, anyone is welcome to come visit!!!!! Really, just hop on a plane and come on down! Having also contributed to this decision was the outstanding weather reports I have been receiving from good ol' Minnesota. I mean really....the Metrodome collapsed?? That's reason enough to stay through winter! I'll have to say though, Christmas just won't be the same. Who's going to eat my share of lutefisk?! And I really will miss showcasing my dancing prowress at George's wedding. And I'm sure those in attendance will miss it too. But having thought it all over....once the holidays are through I'd be left with below zero temperatures and possibly way too much snow. I'm sure Baune will miss my shoveling skills but I'm quite convinced he'll do just fine without me! So......that being said, I will miss you all over the holidays and look forward to seeing everyone in March 2011! Maybe Fatty will even don his leprecaun outfit for St. Patty's Day! Until next time America.... 

Puppy Patrol

Greetings everyone. Have a bit of time after my relaxing swim.....I'm sure everyone loves to hear that. Well...it's been six days now that a litter of 9 puppies was found and brought to the STENAPA office. Heather, Ella, and I were on trash duty last Friday and part of that wonderful chore is taking the garbage to the dump. The dump is located just off of Zoolandia Beach.....ya, nice spot they picked for it. Anyways....while visiting the dump and delivering our goods we heard a bunch of yipping/yelping/crying coming from just a little ways a way. This spurred our curiosity and we went looking around to find where the sounds were coming from. And to our utter shock, we found them coming from a small cardboard box just 20-30 feet away from us. It was at this moment we knew what we had stumbled upon. A litter of abandoned puppies...9 of them.....left at the dump to die. We had heard this type of horrible thing happens every so often on the island but we never thought we would witness it ourselves. But thank goodness we did. We brought the 9 pit bull-mix pups back to the office and soon after found some food for them. They were around 2 weeks old at the time and hadn't yet even opened their eyes. By the end of the day we had found temporary homes for about 7 of them. 2 of them came home to the Garden with us and the girls have been taking very good care of them this past week. So a big thanks to them! It looks as if we'll be able to find a home(s) for the last 2 also. So it has been a very eventful week! Other than that things are still going great here and the weather has been great. Will write again soon. Until next time America.....

And here comes December....

Brrr.....getting a little chilly here at night! I'm sure you Minnesotans will agree! Well I hope the past week has been good for all of you and everyone was well fed. Things here returned to normal the past couple weeks after our big Thanksgiving Sunday. Unfortunately we had to say good-bye to Sarah and Zach and are now down to 3 volunteers and 3 interns. I think we've all now gotten accustomed to the climate and daily routines and I've actually noticed a few of my fellow cohorts complain of the "cool" evenings. Yes....I'm sure you all are quite sorry for us! I don't think the weather can get any better than what it is right now. Relatively cool mornings for work......hot afternoons for a swim.....and nice cool evenings to sleep. A lot of progress is being made in both the Botanical Garden as well as the Boven & Quill Parks. A new intern, Kyle, from the States will be joining the team in a couple weeks. He will be working with Claire and Ana in the Garden. Tuesday evening we ventured out for a night hike. Every so often, Hannah and Joe will lead a hike in the evenings in search of scorpions. Yes, that is correct.....we actually drive to mountains, get out of the truck, and hike up the trails when the sun is not out. Sounds a tad bit crazy huh?! But it was a blast! Heather, Ella, Ana, Joe, Hannah and myself all set out around sundown and hiked around the Northern Hills for a couple hours. We were able to capture 4 scorpions on the hike. A scientist from Cuba is doing a research project on scorpions and have enlisted the help of STENAPA to aid him in documenting different species of scorpions. We also spent those evening hours looking for spiders as well. Good times! Other than that, business as usual. A group dive is planned this weekend so I will report back then! If the sharks don't get me before.......until next time America!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ok....that was a little early, but not for us in Statia! We had our big Thanksgiving feast last night. Sarah & Zach will be leaving us on Wednesday so we wanted everyone to enjoy a good ol' American holiday. It was the first Thanksgiving for a few of the non-Americans here. We were fortunate enough to be able to all get together at Gaye and Henk's house. They are currently on vacation in the states. They live in a beautiful house overlooking Statia and the ocean with the Quill in their backyard. We had 17 people in attendance. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes.....the whole works. It was awesome food and we all had a great time. Needless to say I cannot take any credit for the feast as my presence in the kitchen was both not needed and certainly not a good idea. I secured clean-up duty and did that quite well. We left later on in the evening after we were all sufficiently stuffed. The meal ended up being at around 8:00 PM as it was delayed a while due to the hike Joe, Ella, Jean, Zach and I took during the day. We decided to take the Mazinga Trail halfway around the crater rim and then blaze our own trail the other half. We left the Garden around 9:00 AM and 6 hours later we returned! We now understand why there isn't a trail on the other half! My fear of heights was definitely tested a few times. Not an easy hike. Later on in the evening I found out that the worthless Vikings lost again.....doesn't sound good for the ol' Vikes but was delighted to see my Lakers are off to a 12-2 start. Thank god for the Lakers. Well.....not too much more to tell and we are headed off back to the Garden. Until next time America...

The intern house

Me on top of the world! After a LONG HARD hike up Panorama Trail.

Picture taken from Mazinga Trail of the inside of the Quill Volcano.

Below is a picture taken from the pier near the office where we go swimming most every day.

A Day in the Life of.....

Just so you don't think all we do is fun and games......I thought I would take you through a typical "work day" in the Botanical Garden.....5:45 AM the alarm clock goes off. Actually I have not had to use one yet as my internal alarm clock has worked just fine. I am quite sure that most of you are astonished by that bit of information but apparently even I am capable of such feats! I usually am one of the first ones to arise....Ella though is usually already up when I stroll down to the intern house. Time for breakfast, which if you know me, was usually a breafast burrito and chips with a diet rockstar to wash it down. But not in Statia! I've had to settle for a bagel & cream cheese with a diet pepsi. I haven't even been able to locate any diet dew!!! But I've survived.....work then begins at 7:00 am. With the day's schedule from Claire we set off to work. There is so much to maintain that sometimes I think everyone seems a little overwhelmed. But we have a great bunch of workers here and do our best. A lot of my time is spent weed whipping. Between that and weeding a typical Garden morning seems to fly by. We have a short break around 9:30 and then the rest of the morning is spent doing personal projects. The girls have taken over the vegetable garden and have spent a lot of time there. Myself.....well I usually just continue to weed whip! That or wherever else I may be needed. And then it's noon and our work day is over! So there you have it.....a typical work day in the Botanical Garden. Until next time America.....

P.S. Statia Days is finally over! It concluded last night with some more music and a fireworks display. I was able to meet up with Elvis again on Monday night. Was surprised to learn he works in the funeral business as a mortician! Just when you think you've heard it all!!!

Statia Days!

Monday.....day 6 of Statia Days. A great weekend was had by all! With a relatively low key birthday night for me we made use of the great weather and decided to attend the Friday night festivities in town. We had a plan to meet up with Clair and celebrate our birthdays together. The interns decided to head to town a bit earlier to eat and the volunteers stayed back, cooked some grub, and played some cards at the Garden. I would have to say the hobby of playing cards does not translate around the world! Although Heather is quite the competitor when it comes to games! Joe & Jean both play cribbage and I have no successfully taught the game to Ella. We have a notebook page posted in the pavillion that we use to keep track of all the games of cribbage we play! Anywho.....back to Friday. Me and my fellow volunteers headed into town and met up with the interns at Frankie's. First time at Frankie's. Great little bar with apparently some of the best food on the island. I cannot accurately critique his food as I only had a plate of fries....good fries, but I'll have to head back another time to test out the rest of the menu. This is where I met Elvis. Yes, that is correct....I said Elvis. Jim Bishop, an Elvis impersonator from Canada, was there to perform! You can't make this stuff up! I had about a half hour conversation with him. But more on The King later. We all settled up our bill and headed down to center stage. There is a performance type stage in the center of town where all kinds of performances/activites take place. Tonight it just so happened to be a group of singers from Statia.....doing 80's music! It was quite surreal I'll tell ya that! But what a fun time. The Statian people LOVE to dance....especially the kids! It was a lot of fun to watch everyone. Notice I say watch.....The Murph did not take the dance floor. Definitely a good decision on my part. We met quite a few interesting people and made our way back home when the night ended. Saturday was beach and blue bead searching day. If you have not read up on blue beads I suggest you do. Quite fascinating and it is quite the find for one to locate one here! We successfully killed most of the day and some got their fair share of sun! Now it was time...........for Elvis! We an early trip down to The Fruit Tree bar and restaurant, we were now ready for the show. And about 23 minutes later is was over. haha Apparently he was not the main attraction Saturday night! But it was a blast to see Elvis in, of all places, Statia! The rest of the night was followed with short skits, dance performances, and many, many laughs. A small section of road (much like what happens at local street dances back home) was set aside for the night. I bet there were 10 food stands! A great way to spend a Saturday night! Sunday seemed to fly by and along came Monday. Maintenance on the Garden in the morning and typing to you guys in the afternoon. Tonight Statia Days continue with a couple bands at Smoke Alley. We all have an appointment with Elvis tonight. He made a stop out to the Garden yesterday and we said we would treat him to a fine Statian meal if he met us out tonight. Should be fun! If you haven't noticed.....Statia Days is quite entertaining! Until next time America....

Turning 33 on a small island in the Caribbean

Greeetings and thanks to all for the wonderful birthday wishes! I'll have to admit....it was a little different celebrating a birthday on a tropical island! But it was a good evening....didn't do much.....went for a swim after work and then headed back to the Garden for supper. The real celebration occurs tonight where we will get together with Clair (Garden ranger remember) and a few others for supper downtown and fellowship to follow! It is Clair's birthday on Saturday. It is Statia Days down here at the moment and the whole island spends a week celebrating Statia's indepedence by festivals/parties/activities for a whole week leading up to November 16th....Statia Day. Apparently it is a blast....filled with great music and awesome food. Should be fun. Will post back with a recap!

Guy Fawkes and Little Turtles

Hello again America! Wednesday, November 10th, 2010....not a bad day, but real close to a very important date on the calendar. Guy Fawkes Day was held and observed last Friday, Nov. 5th. If you're like me you'd never heard of it. But to the Brits in our group it's quite the holiday! You'll have to look up the story on Mr. Fawkes but to make a long story short, the English like to have bonfires, eat, set off fireworks, and of course....throw into the bonfire and burn a stuffed "Guy Fawkes" man.....kind of like a scarecrow. Any reason for a party for the English I guess! We had our own Guy Fawkes celebration at the Garden where we had a mini bonfire and Ella cooked up a feast. Some curried food I was told. Not too shabby. A few of our new island friends showed up along with a couple STENAPA staff. Saturday Joe, Ella, Foxy, and myself hiked up the Northern Hills in the morning. Yes I said Foxy....if I haven't mentioned him before it's because he's a dog....a mutt who was found at the island dump and taken in by the Garden residents at the time. We also have a Garden cat....Nutz. There are another set of trails on the island besides those at the Quill and they are located on the other side of the island. Different terrain and tough hiking. Spent most of Sunday relaxing....wondering if the Vikings were going to lose again. Then came the "big release"! 140 little turtles were released into the Atlantic Ocean. This is a very rare occurrence as most of the turtle nests found are occupied by all dead turtles. Quite an ordeal on the island and many people were present to witness it. You would have loved it Danielle! I took lots of photos and even some video for you! It was back to work on Monday. Same old same old.......and we welcomed in a new volunteer today. Zachary from New York. He's actually only here for 2 weeks. But things are still going well and experiencing new things every day. Until next time America.....

Scuba Murph!

That's right folks...."usually-found-on-dry-land-Murph" is now a board certified scuba diver! I just completed my open water certification today. Minnesota's own Jacques Cousteau. It's really quite amazing and would recommend it to all! The past 2 weeks I've seen a nurse shark, reef shark, two barracudas, huge stingrays, and a ginormous turtle! I mean ginormous! Not to mention the thousands of exotic fish. Mike from Scubaqua was my instructor. A native of Denmark and a big baseball fan. Now....what else has been going on? Last week we had our second lobster feast. Matt, from Golden Rock....a native of North Carolina.....invited us over for some more Caribbean caught lobster. He had a bunch of buddies down from his home state and we all gathered at Matt's abode. It was interesting meeting some folks from back home who were just down for a vacation....and diving of course. One of the guys had his underwater camera along and took some amazing photos. I'm working on getting my hands on those and will post them when I do. As for photos in general....hopefully I can get them up here shortly. Ella, Heather and I are going to share photos and they both have some great shots. I've taken a few but as I've stated before....I'm no photographer. Other than that things have been going great. The weeks have flown by and we've all gotten into our routine now. Mondays are spent at the Garden doing maintenance work....or weed whipping for myself. Every other day after is spent either at the Quill & Northern Hills or at the Botanical Garden. Joe, our mountaineer intern broke his hand last week in the Quill and will be sidelined for a while. That means I'll be spending a little more time up there. Which is fine....it's quite amazing. Yesterday we did some trail work down in the crater. It's quite surreal walking along the bottom of a volcano! Apparently there aren't too many volcanos in the world where you can hike along inside. This week we welcomed in our 2nd Garden intern...Analisa from Virginia. We treated her to a Statia Welcome by eating out at the Ocean View Terrace. Spicy grouper for myself. Not too shabby. We also ate at Sonny's last weekend as well. Chinese bar & restaurant. There isn't necessarily a "Statian cuisine" here, but they have a little of everything....and it's good! Well....time has run out for today. I might actually have some time tomorrow to post as well. The internet has been down the past week due to Hurricane Thomas that just passed south of us. We had our contingency plan all set even! Heavy winds and sideways rain is all that we got. But the tent held up! Until next time America....

P.S. Haven't read or heard much, but doesn't sound good in Viking Land?!! Oh well.....the Lakers start up here shortly!!!! Feel free to ask any questions if you're interested in something! I'll do my best to respond in a timely manner!

Week 1 in the Sun!

Well folks....it's almost Tuesday again which will mean I have made it a week! And it flew right by! Last Tuesday we were introduced to the botanical garden as I had mentioned and Wednesday came the hike up the Quill.....and what a hike it was! I'm not sure if you all are familiar with the current physical condition Murph is in, but walking around the town of Becker and occasionally playing catcher for men's slow pitch softball doesn't exactly prepare one for a hike up a mountain. But I tell you what.....it was definitely worth it! The trail we took was called Panorama Trail. Which was aptly named as it provided us with a view of the entire island as well as a few neighboring islands and miles and miles of endless sea. I took pictures and a short video but as with most experiences here, it will be hard to capture that one! Thursday came and found us pulling Coralita at the garden. Coralita is an invasive plant found on the island which pretty much is the most annoying living thing I've ever experienced. Even worse than you Fatty...haha...IALTO (for all you Common Man listeners!) Friday, we helped Jean, the Marine Park intern, celebrate her birthday. We all ( that would be the 6 of us) went out for supper at the Fruit Tree.....a neat little bar/restaurant on the island. Saturday Jean and I took another hike up the Quill, went for a swim, had an ice cold Heineken at Gallow's Bay on the beach and then headed back home. Speaking of swimming.....this usually is a daily occurrence for us 3 volunteers as we are done working each day at noon and usually head straight to the pier! Sunday found us at Clair's house for a barbecue. It was her husband's birthday and she invited all STENAPA people over. Her husband made the best fresh lobster.....that and the rum cake for dessert could have been 2 of the best foods I've had in a very long time! Well.....the girls are back from shopping and we're heading back to camp! Oh by the way.....what the hell happened last night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!???????????????? Until next time America......

P.S. Still working on pictures....be patient as it's not as easy to get them up on the computer as I thought.

Murph has Landed part 2

Looks like we are heading to the beach in a couple hours. So I have a bit more time. Currently we are at the STENAPA office and are getting the lowdown on the whole program. This morning we were given a walking tour of the botanical garden, which is where the intern house is and where we will be camping. Amazing garden full of the most exotic and crazy flora I've ever seen. Part of our volunteering will be the upkeep of this garden. It's looking like the weed whipper and I will become best of friends! Clair is the botanical garden guru and knows more about the local flora here than I do fantasy football.....and that's a lot! After a few hours at the beach we will be checking out the local shops and then heading back up to camp. Tomorrow Joe will be taking us on a hike up the Quill. We are actually staying right at the base of the Quill. And once I get some pictures taken and put up here and on Facebook you will see. We also have an amazing view of St. Kitts from our "home". Well.....must be on my way. Just wanted to let everyone know the trip down was a success....minus the 85 year old crazy lady I sat next to on the trip from Chicago to Charlotte. She talked almost the whole way and wants me to come visit her in Canada when I get a chance. I said "sure thing Helen!" She actually was quite the lady and made the flight all that much more enjoyable! Until next time.....

The Murph has Landed!

Destination St. Eustatius has been reached! At approximately 6:30 PM eastern time myself, Ella, and Heather all reached the quaint little island of Statia. We were met by two of the program interns and headed out to our home away from home. And what a trip that was! For all you familliar with minimum maintenance roads....well, imagine about 7 miles of the worst minimum maintenance road you can remember. Yes....it was a lovely ride! Besides us three, there are three interns currently staying with us. Joe, Jean, and Sara. They stay in the intern house, appropriately named, and are there for 6 month stints. We have pitched our tents and are just about to head to the beach! Will post more when I have time!

I'm off!

Quick post as I am about to depart! I hope to make an appearance here once a week but am not sure how much computer access we will get. They do have computers at the Park Office but we will have to pay to use them. Plus, afternoon siestas in the hammock overlooking St. Kitts, scuba diving around sunken ships, or hiking around the rim of the dormant volcano there may just monopolize most of my time! My phone will not work down there, so the only means of communication will be here or you can email or Facebook me. Of course a certified letter, singing telegram, or sky writing is always welcome. I will try to get a few pictures up here, but will make sure to put all of them on Facebook. Hopefully my fellow volunteers take good ones and I can just borrow them and claim them as mine! Well....off to finish packing and then off to the airport in a few hours! At least I will get to watch most of the Vikes at the airport! Whether that will be a good thing or not is yet to be determined.....Until next time....

Statia bound!

Hello everyone! Blog entry #1! After the suggestion from many I decided to use Google blogger as the prime means of communication with all of you back in the States. Bear with me as technology and myself are not necessarily the best of friends! It is currently Saturday evening....one day from departure. I fly out of Minneapolis tomorrow night around 6 pm en route to Chicago where I will stay overnight. I then depart from the Windy City at 6 am....yes, 6 am! It's a very good thing I am such a morning person. Next stop...Charlotte, NC. I then have approximately 35 minutes to hop aboard US Airways flight 1560 to the island of St. Maarten. If all goes well and we successfully land in St. Maarten, I will then have around 4 hours to make my presence known on this tropical paradise! If you would like to see what I mean by "if all goes well", please check out this you tube video http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DzAfQwDizpRo&h=1179a. It is in St. Maarten where I will meet up with the other two volunteers of the program, Ella Taylor and Heather Morecroft.....both from the U.K. From here the fun just keeps coming in the form of a little puddle jumper that apparently is our means of transportation to Statia. By the way, St. Eustatius is more commonly called Statia. Marathon Monday concludes with a hopefully successful landing at Roosevelt Airport in Oranjestad, St. Eustatius around 6:30 pm eastern time. Yes....Statia is on eastern standard time. More project info and other fascinating tidbits to follow! Please pass along this blog address to all those who may be interested. www.randystotesbery.blogspot.com. Thanks and until next time...