Pirates!

I saw Pirates of the Caribbean 2 last night. It was wonderful, but admittedly my location helped enchance the excitement.

Today is actually one of the first completely cloudy & rainy days here so far. If that is a harbinger of hurricane, then I'm happy I'll be escaping soon.

Anyway, one more day of work, then some final encounters with rum & very bright fish.
See you all soon.

Pretty Soon I Won't be Seeing this Crap Every Day

It's been nice though.

Hovensa

Here are images from what is possibly the happiest place on earth.

Birthday

I had a lot of beverages.

Arrival!

My parents are on-island as of around 2:30 yesterday.
They took me out to dinner yesterday.
I liked it.

Big Belly Sky Juice

This post's title is the name of a Reggae Artist who has been heavily advertised on a local radio station here. He's from Kingston, Jamaica.

Good Weekend

As of about noon yesterday, I am an Advanced Scuba Diver. I'm not really any better, but I'm allowed to go deeper now.
I'll keep the scuba story brief, but I saw some pretty cool stuff that I should write about.
On Saturday, there were 3 dives. The highlight was when I went down about 90 feet and swam around the wreckage of the old Fredericksted Pier which was completely destroyed during Hurricane Hugo. Also, I went along sonar submarine-tracking lines that the US installed when Cuba terrified us. There was lots of coral growing on them.

Yesterday I did my first 'wreck dive'. There were 2 boats at the site. Again, this was about 90 feet deep, and I swam around a huge cargo barge that capsized (but landed right side up) back in the mid-80s. Since I'm not specially trained, I couldn't enter any parts of the ship, but just being around it was pretty incredible. Apparently it capsized in port (w. 2 casualties) because oil was being smuggled on it (unbeknownst to the captain), so when weight was being redistributed, the oil was not taken into account for the calculations.
The other ship was smaller, but still pretty neat (and rather large). This one was donated by Hovensa (the oil refining operation here) and was carefully sunk to be used as a dive site in the 90s. A highlight there was that I was able to fiddle with some dials and handles on the 'bridge' of the ship.

Saturday evening was "Jump Up" in Christiansted. Essentially, it was a festival where people walk around town boozing while watching guys on stilts dance to music played by a steel pan orchestra. A good time & pictures are likely to be posted eventually.

New Jersey, the Happiest Place on Earth*

Don't get me wrong, I'm still loving the Caribbean, but whenever I'm away from the Garden State, I'm reminded about the little things that make it so great. Essentially, I miss 1) convenience stores and 2) gas pumped for me.

This weekend I'll be doing a slew of scuba diving on both Saturday & Sunday. Following those dives, I will be an "Advanced Open Water Diver". Neat!
I should probably get a whole set of equipment so that I can dive Newton Creek. That would be wonderful.

There's a "Jump Up" festival in town on Friday. This involves "Mocko Jumbies" (ie- people on stilts with colorful costumes that represent spirits) walking around the town of Christiansted and booze. I hope to get some photos of this.

*note: I can't really guarantee the above statement, since a recent article noted that the Republic of Vanuatu is actually the happiest place on earth. However, I "heart" NJ.

Movies on the Island

For those who knew that there was a "Pirate Party" last weekend, it turns out that it's good I didn't attend, since the movie actually won't be released here until Thursday. I did see a few 'pirates' at the Brewpub on Friday, so I guess they got tired of drinking in the parking lot of the Sunny Isle Shopping Center.

Anyway, I saw Nacho Libre yesterday. It was idiotic, but I chuckled. So overall, it was acceptable. Some funny tunes in the soundtrack--I might have to look into those.

Pirates!

20 years too late

I've finally caught up to Dave Schmitt.
Yesterday, I ate a 14" Domino's Pizza with mushrooms in approximately 10 minutes.

Then I wanted dessert.

Brewmaster

Here's a photo of me with the brewmaster at the Fort Christian Brew Pub. He said there will be a fresh pilsner on draught soon. I'm excited since selection was low latety. I think he was very happy to be thanked for his efforts.

Image

In case any of you were wondering "Who is Elan?" here's a photo of us drunk in Pueblo (a grocery store here).

See St Croix

http://www.gotostcroix.com/live/harborcam.htm

Some time I might be pumped up enough to call some of you and request that you watch me here. It will be useless. However, here's the link for doing so.

So

Pictures are worth one-thousand words.
Look at the following posts and just imagine that I was typing here for a long time.

Not in Chronological Order

Here are the long-awaited photos form the Mount Pellier Hut Domino Club, where pigs drink beer. I hope to see those swilling swine soon!!

Friends, Drinking Rum

Crucian Rum Sugar Mill

Dave had to tinkle

Louie

Happy VI Emancipation Day

On this day sometime in the 1800s, a slave named Buddhoe blew on a conch shell in Fredericksted and demanded freedom. The Danish governor granted the request and was removed for this decision. Fortunately, rum is still made here, despite that sugar is now imported. Because of those events, I'm not at work today.

Also, behold:
Mango Melee Article

Well, the returning Mango champ devoured his 8 mangos (various varities & sizes) in about 2 minutes.
I was far slower, but did get to eat 8 mangos for $5. However, I now feel for Takeru Kabayashi's complaint about foods that one doesn't eat all of. I began the competition under the impression that one had to eat the entire mango. However, the 'champ' merely pierced the skin with his teeth, engulfed some pulp (leaving the pit not entirely clean), and moved to the next while I was still chewing through the skin.
So, as I'm against whining, I'll end this complaint here, but just remember that I was the real deal & did proceed to eat ALL of my 8 mangos (sans pit), while the fradulent Mango King will wallow in his false glory.

Also, a brief anecdote: Prior to the eating, I was walking around the grounds of the festival. I overheard a troubled conversation. A very flamboyant man (holding a dog named Lucy) was continuously complaining to his very good comrade that he couldn't find the commorative brick that he had paid for. This continued for a while. So, next time those in South Jersey are walking to the Corner Bistro from the Haddonfield public lot, just say "where's my brick, Sean?". (since there are engraved bricks there). That's all I need you to do.

Some photos are now almost guaranteed to appear sometime on Wednesday.

Minor Update

Photos may be returning here on Wednesday. No guarantee though.

Otherwise, the week-long visit was pretty incredible. It was great to have friends hanging out here, but I won't elaborate too much since they all probably want to talk about the trip. Donna drove vey well on the left & didn't execute any roosters or mongooses with the sweet Suzuki Aerio that we packed into on numerous occasions.

I'll be heading out to the "Mango Melee" pretty soon. Aside from being a crazy festival in honor of that tropical fruit, I hear that there is also an eating competition. Rest assured, if I am the Mango King of St. Croix by this evening, you will all be aware of it!!