Just a note - I'm starting this blog with an entry from my 7th day actually on the island. I will attempt to go back and add a few entries about the intial days and the hurricane days sometime later.
Today was a gorgeous day - temps in the mid 80's and scattered clouds following a few brief rainstorms this morning. I haven't really used my air conditioning and today was no exeption until just recently when I ran the dryer for a bit.
This morning I made some coffee from the hazelnut beans that I brought from home. It seemed sort of silly to bring coffee from the states, but I found it very comforting to have a little piece of home to start my day. I didn't have the Argus Leader - but didn't really miss that. They actually deliver a weekend paper here on Saturday called the Observer which I find much more interesting than any Argus issue that I've read on Sundays.
I felt pretty confident about my route to church this morning as I'd inadvertently passed it twice trying to find my way to work the first day - more about that in a future entry. They have mass on Friday night, twice on Sat., and three times on Sunday so I don't think opportunity will be an excuse. The church of St. Ignasius is a beautiful little building with lots of windows and landscaping. It's very simple but very cool on the inside. Of course I only saw the inside after having purchased a raffle ticket from the youth pastor that I met standing guard at the entrance. I wasn't quite ready to take on the selling of tickets like he suggested, but I did contribute. I thought it was very ironic that the sermon was about the "moneychangers" being vanquished by Jesus from the temple and I took some delight in informing Jeremy afterwards that he corrupted me by selling me the ticket in the first place. He laughed and said he cringes when that sermon comes up each year.
Today was a gorgeous day - temps in the mid 80's and scattered clouds following a few brief rainstorms this morning. I haven't really used my air conditioning and today was no exeption until just recently when I ran the dryer for a bit.
This morning I made some coffee from the hazelnut beans that I brought from home. It seemed sort of silly to bring coffee from the states, but I found it very comforting to have a little piece of home to start my day. I didn't have the Argus Leader - but didn't really miss that. They actually deliver a weekend paper here on Saturday called the Observer which I find much more interesting than any Argus issue that I've read on Sundays.
I felt pretty confident about my route to church this morning as I'd inadvertently passed it twice trying to find my way to work the first day - more about that in a future entry. They have mass on Friday night, twice on Sat., and three times on Sunday so I don't think opportunity will be an excuse. The church of St. Ignasius is a beautiful little building with lots of windows and landscaping. It's very simple but very cool on the inside. Of course I only saw the inside after having purchased a raffle ticket from the youth pastor that I met standing guard at the entrance. I wasn't quite ready to take on the selling of tickets like he suggested, but I did contribute. I thought it was very ironic that the sermon was about the "moneychangers" being vanquished by Jesus from the temple and I took some delight in informing Jeremy afterwards that he corrupted me by selling me the ticket in the first place. He laughed and said he cringes when that sermon comes up each year.
After church, I hurried home to find out what NFL games would be on the local - BASIC - cable package that I have. The answer ..... NONE. There were no "early" games on, so I immediately changed and headed to the bar down the road with much anxiety about whether I'd be able to see the Vikes. Upon entering, I was VERY glad to see the familiar purple and gold crossing the goal line for an early lead. I spent the next three hours eating and watching the game. Met a guy that's been here for 30 years that lives somewhat close to me. He shared some information on some of the local places, cycling on the island, and some of the beaches he likes - and he shared a little too much on some aspects of his personal life - including a first marriage and a long term girlfriend that had to leave the island recently because they only allow you work for so long before they make you leave. (My expected "term" is 10 years although the work permit is only good for one year at a time). At any rate, it was nice to have someone to talk to during the extended time there. By the way, the buffalo chicken wrap is not worth the trip from the states!! Bar food is bar food - no matter how much you drink.
It was fun to see everyone show up their favorite jerseys and the cheering done by the various people in the bar was very enthusiastic - although limited in number for each team. I think I'm the only Vikings fan that was there although they have a pick em pool that got people excited when the Vikes won at the buzzer.
After the game, I went back home and continued to try and organize things. With the hurricane and flurry of work this first week - it's nice to have some time to just get clothes put away, get papers piled, and do some laundry. Nothing too exciting - Sunday's are supposed to be relaxing and that was achieved today. It's taken seriously around here too as no stores are open on Sundays - including grocery stores. I do think a few gas stations are open but I'm not really sure about that either.
I had my first official visitor this evening (other than the maintenance man that is). Three kids showed up ..... selling raffle tickets. Apparently I'm now a marked man or something. Of course, I felt obligated to buy another one. They were very convincing.
That's about it for the first Sunday. Tomorrow is a holiday here so a little more of the same, but I do have quite a bit of prep work to do for my first board meeting next week. That should be interesting - not quite sure if I'm ready to actually present at that meeting or leave it to my predecessor for one last time. We'll see ....
For now, I'm just going to set the coffee pot for tomorrow.
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