Caribbean Encounters: Happy 2010!!!!

Well, we have been settled back into the island from our whirlwind, but extremely enjoyable, trip home. We came home to an internet that is still slow and is very frustrating for Chris and knowledge of our condo being the cause of another leak- this time encroaching on not one, but two of our neighbors. But, 2010 is starting to look pretty good. I think they finally found and fixed the source of all leaks here, although we might owe an apology or two to those neighbors of ours. I’m thinking a home cooked meal, maybe, when the kitchen is done. The counters will be put in tomorrow. After that, just sink, dishwasher and tile need to go in and we are DONE! Yay! And, internet should be taken care of this week. Woo-hoo!

I have been a bit M.I.A, but we haven’t really had too much to report on. Right before we came home for Christmas, Chris and I went to Blackbeard’s Castle since I thought he would enjoy it. And we did. They have changed things a bit and we missed the place where the rum tasting was, but I think we can survive with a little less rum in our life. We had fun hamming it up for the camera, so I will post some of those pictures.

NYE was a fun time! We met up with our new friends (as Chris calls them, our tall friends) and went on to Yacht Haven Grande for the outdoor concert. We ran into some other friends there, Trish and Mark, and had a rocking good time despite the rain and the fact that the main attraction, Bunny Wailer of the famous Bob Marley Wailers, never made it to the island. His band made it. Here’s the rumor: apparently there were a couple of rocky landing attempts on his flight that were not able to be completed and they had to land in Puerto Rico. Bunny got shook up and refused to fly in the next morning. Alas, no Bunny.

This weekend we returned to one of our favorite beaches on Water Island- Honeymoon Beach. It was a lovely few hours and beautiful weather. Coincidentally, Joe Biden was (is?) staying on Water Island this week, but we did not catch a view of him.

This morning we went diving. I am still trying to have it become second nature to me, but my body is trying to make it as difficult as possible. We first went to French Cap Island, since today’s glassy, smooth ocean allowed us to go to this mostly inaccessible dive site. It was 80-90 feet and I got kind of anxious going down, but was fine once I was down there. However, coming up, I got a nose bleed. Thank goodness we were on our safety stop when it was noticed. Chris saw it before I did, so I think he was a bit more traumatized by seeing the blood in my mask then I was. But, when I saw him signaling the dive leader to go up and then pointed to me, I looked down in my mask and saw blood. However, I knew I felt fine and the surface was very close, so we got up there and I washed myself off.

After my declaring that I would sit out the second dive, I was talked into it by the crew and the husband and decided that if I let my shakiness get the best of me, it would get harder to get out there the next time. And that ain’t my style. I was glad I went. We did a dive site called Cow and Calf at Cow Rock, which I guess has been mentioned in dive magazines. We saw a barracuda, a sea turtle, an octopus (and saw him change color many times!), as well as swam through a few rock formations. Don’t worry, mom, I could see light on both ends of the tunnels.

So, that’s it for now! Check out the pictures and we’ll talk to you soon enough.