More Zoo Pictures...

I love going to the zoo. For those of you who do not know the deal, here it is. The zoo is not a zoo, but instead, more like a private collection of animals owned by a very eccentric individual. When the first Ross student went in there all of the animals were being fed the same thing, rice and beans, and they were all dehydrated, malnutritioned, and overall in poor shape. A group of Ross students has volunteered their time and money ever since then to make sure that the animals were fed every day and since then their conditions have improved, some of them are even a bit FAT! So I am one of those volunteers and I buy the food and feed the animals once a week and once or twice a semester try to go in and clean cages, rebuild cages and basically do "housework". Although it can be a pain sometimes, I always feel happier when I leave the zoo then when I arrive... This is one of the male monkeys that are there (there are three)! He is actually the alpha male monkey, so I thought it fitting to start the post with his picture.
This is another male monkey eating a corn cob (they LOVE them). I try to feed them a variety of different fruits so that they are always having something new. Besides corn, they love bananas, peanuts, starfruits, and avocados.Here is the same male monkey enjoying his corn cob.And this is Baby, the female monkey. She is very sweet and we have helped make her standard of living much better. When I first started coming to the zoo she was in a small cage on the ground with barely enough room to move around, by the end of my first semester, a group of students had built her a new cage and now she has lots of room to climb and hide and move around. She is very sweet and tiny too. I enjoy feeding her because she likes to take things right out of my hands.
This is the pea hen (a female version of a peacock). Dont let that shy exterior confuse you, she is a conning little thing. While I am cutting up vegggies to make salads for everyone she will come and steal bits of lettuce and veggies when I start delivering the food to the cages...
This is Percy the goose. Notice the bars between us, that is the way that I like it. He is probably the meanest goose in the world. Look at this bathtub that we made for him (it is a bit drty right now!) and he still has no respect!
My tortoises are the cutest little things. They are very sweet little guys and enjoy having their backs rubbed. When I put down the two bowls they come running, literally and they are too cute when they eat! They LOVE bananas and will literally fight over them.

Here is a closeup of one of the tortoises...

An this is the black iguana, he is pretty cool. We have redone his cage as well recently and given him a bit more room to do his iguana thing. He will eat out of my hands (iguanas are strict vegetarians) but he is super fast and when he is hungry, watch out.... My fingers got in the way once.

Well that is the zoo. I spend about 2-3 hours a week there, so I figure that it is fitting to post some pictures about it. And for all my family and friends, if you come down and visit, Ill definetely bring you to the zoo!

Second Set of Diving Photos (Animals)

This is a monstrous crab that we saw on one of the dives. (Kind of reminds me of my neighbors crab) They are often tucked under cracks and crevices and are pretty reluctant to come out for a photoshoot, so you kind of have to stick your hand in there and hope for a decent picture.Here is another crab that we found hanging around. The brave sole that is holding him is our dive instructor, Vajai.
There are lots of lobsters, although they are not like the Maine Lobsters that everyone is used to. They are Spiny Caribbean Lobsters and they have no claws. This was a mating pair that we found.And here is another shot of a Caribbean lobster and you can tell that there are definetely no claws. This one was in a big hollow pipe in one of the wrecks.

This is by far the best picture that was taken in the 3 days of diving. This is a Queen Moray Eel and I am proud to say that I was the one that found her. We were all swimming along and I saw a tail and I just knew. We saw another one on the next day of diving, but it was not such a great picture as this one was.
SEA TURTLE!! St Kitts is lucky enough to be an egg laying island for many endangered sea turtle species and many students get involved in data collection to protect these animals. I have only seen one on the top of the water, but this day we got to see one underwater, and although they are joked as being slow and strange creatures, they are very graceful underwater.
Sea urchins, there are lots of them here, but most of them are the above variety; Spiny. They look pretty cool, in the water their long spines sway, but they would not feel too good if you got one of those spines in your heel.These are the sea urchins that we are used to seeing in the Northeast. And although they have spines, they are not quite as deadly looking as its cousin's are. And the neat thing about them is that if you put them on your hand and wait a minute...
You can flip your hand over and it is suctioned on like a starfish.. Prettty cool, huh?
This is a neat little creature that seems to be some sort of crab, but I seriously have NO idea!

And we were lucky enough to see a sting ray, they like to hand out in the sandy areas.

And here it is swimming off... Beautiful creatures, really!

The Pug is Down for the Count

When the pug falls asleep, he is like a grumpy old man; he snores and he does NOT want to be woken up. Look at just how adorable this pug is!!

Miss My Girlfriends (and the Snow!!)

Recently, a bunch of my friends took a trip to Canada to go skiing. Here are Selina and Kelly enjoying the view on their trip up. Man am I jealous, a weekend without studying and away from St Kitts would be pretty nice right before finals (Nice for my mental state, not for my grades that is.)
And lets get this clear, I am by no means a great snowboarder (I had the bumps, bruises, and tears to prove it) but look how cute everyone looks all geared up!! Did I mention that I have a brand new pink snow bunny outfit for the mountain? Everyone looks adorable with a big knitted hat and gloves, scarf, and winter jackets... Im so jealous...
And then there is the view. Man, some people would think that I am strange, but I do miss the snow and the change of seasons... Hopefully next season I can make it with you guys!

My Handsome Pug in Pink

It is official, I have the CUTEST pug in the world... Look at that face!

A Nice Mid Day Study Session at School

Beautiful view, huh? This is the view from a nice Gazebo at school which I relaxed at a bit the other day for a nice mid day study session.
And here is the little bird that was squawking at me the entire time... He was really friendly (or brazen)!
And here are the purple alamanda flowers that are all over the gazebo, it really is beautiful..
And me and my study gear. Great way to wind down and still get some work done!

Holy Crabs!

So strange, my neighbor Brian comes home and finds this large crab in his garage under the water heater... Not sure if it is a practical joke or some random crab migration through our development.Look how tremendous this guy is! This is him in the bucket that they caught him in .... Dont worry they dropped him off at the beach by a nice natural jetty afterwards!

I have said it before and Ill say it again, "ONLY IN ST KITTS"

DISCLAIMER: No crabs were hurt in the making of this film.

A Trip to Nevis with Dad

Nevis is St Kitts sister island and although they are the same country, Nevis is just a bit different. So when my Dad was here, I wanted to bring him over to relax and enjoy the cleanliness of the island. Here is the view from port, it is very clean and colorful and inviting...
We found our way to Oaulie Beach Resort, a small resort on a small beach away from the crowds that can be around the beach near the FourSeasons and all. This was our view of the beach as we enjoyed a nice lunch.

And then it was time for some relaxation in the sun. Here is my view from the lounge chair. And Below is the view that my dad had from his chair. He joked that all he needed was a corona and a parrot to open it to be in a commercial.

And then there was a bit of a surprise, cows grazing on the beach resort lawn. Very strange indeed. I guess no matter how long I live here, I'll never get used to things like this...

Puggy Face Closeup...

Sometimes I just cant bear how CUTE he is with his silly little tongue and his big eyes... And so well behaved. As finals are getting closer and closer, I have started my finals study schedule and it will be pretty brutal as I am setting my goals high. As I study, he just lays there and looks at me... How lucky am I to have such a handsome and well behaved pug?

Second Semester Party (It was so long ago, I am sorry)

Here are me and Sami Jo and the 2nd semester party last month. I have taken forever to post these because I have been sososoososososos busy.

And here I am with Katie and Kim and the Assistant Director of Safety at Ross. Dont tell anyone, but Katie and Kim are in LOVE!!! Funny...

More Drunk Monkeys at Turtle Beach

So I have posted other films about the drunk monkeys at Turtle Beach (Click here)But this is a film that was taped by my friends Julia and Cory (Click here for their blog)at the same beach of the monkeys living up to their drunkard names and even getting the hiccups. Its really cute. Enjoy!

The Beginning of the Scuba Underwater Pictures (WRECKS)

Wrecks are pretty amazing when you see them. It is like a whole new way of looking at this big ugly thing. While diving in St kitts I have seen two wrecks and a van underwater and for some reason they just look really cool, like it was caught in time and taken over by nature. I hope that you like some of these pictures (and those to come).

Above are some fishes hiding underneath the ledge of a wreck. In the funniest places you will find creatures hiding, it is almost a challenge to find them and see them.

This is a view of the River Taw that looks great in Photography but even more amazing in real life. You can kind of get a picture of how many fish are there in the picture. At this particular site they are swimming all around you, schooling with you and it is a pretty cool feeling, once you stop being afraid that they will bite your fingers off!

And here I am with my scuba debut! Acting like a total cornball under the ocean! But this is right on top of the area in the previous photograph.

Another peice of some machinery that was near one of the wrecks. Pretty cool stuff.

And yet another cool view that my Dad took underwater. Hope that you enjoyed. Next chapter will be some of the fish that we photographed...

Rockstar the Pug Still Enjoys a Nice Cigar Before Bed

Dont remember how the pug got his cigar? Check it out HERE

Shhhhh... Dont Tell Rockstar that I was Playing with the Kitties

There are a ton of stray cats in St Kitts and some of them live at the Marriott, literally living off the sweetness of the tourists. They are quite the little beggars indeed. They persuaded me to give them my left over pizza that was going to my lunch. But seriously, no need to tell Rockstar that I was playing with some kitties; he would definitely be jealous.

My Scuba Certification Open Water Dive

"Im almost a Scuba diver, Im almost a Scuba diver." This is what I was mumbling as I tried to not think about how sea sick I was on the way over. And the hair... It is always in your face and getting stuck in your mask, so Alyssa is braiding it back.And here I am all suited up and ready to go with my buddy Sara. I'm feeling like Scuba Steve and ready to get in that water...
Here I go, ready to get in the water. That is Yellow Man there with me helping me into the water.
And there I am in the water getting ready for a cool underwater adventure (that sounds so corny!)
And here we are on the surface after our dive with Vajai, our trusty dive instructor. What happened underwater? Well no one had an underwater camera but there are lots of cool ocean wildlife in St Kitts. We saw Angel fish, barracudas (one in particular scared me pretty good), yellow snappers, anenomes, octopus, crabs and lobsters and lots more. These pictures are from two weeks ago now and in the next couple of posts I will be posting a bunch of underwater pictures AND videos that my father and I have taken in this last crazy dinving weekend (my dad went 7 times and I went 5 times !!!)

So more pictures to come, I promise....

Jealous? Come and Visit... I dont have any visitors lined up for next semester (Dont make me be lonely all semester!)

My Dad is Finally Here...

The great thing about midsemester break (that is right, its more than halfway through the semester!) is that it is the perfect time for people to come and visit. This break my Dad planned a nice diving visit here in St Kitts just in time for me just getting SCUBA certified ( I still have to post those pictures!) He has already done 3 dives and me 1 and he has only just been here two days. We have 4 more scheduled, so check back in for fun photos and videos of our underwater adventures.
Here is the view as we enjoyed it tonight at Spratnets. It is a quaint little restaurant on the other side of the island with a KILLER view. This is what we looked out on as we enjoyed dinner, awesome right?? More pictures to come, check back in soon...

Henri the Baby Goat

Watch out Mondo, I have a new pet idea... Lets hope that Mondo's new house has lots of yard space and shrubs for a hungry goat because I now LOVE goats. Here in St Kitts, there are lots of goats roaming around the hills. A neighbor of mine was lucky enough to see a little helpless goat in the middle of the road (very unusual because when they are healthy they hide and wait for their mums). They grabbed the poor thing that was thought to be 4 days old took it home, gave it a bath and started giving it a bottle. I, of course, found out about little Henri the goat and came pounding on the door demanding to be considered for a babysitting position... How CUTE is he?Here I am trying to give him a bottle. He was pretty tired when I saw him and his adopted mom, Molly (my neighbor's very sweet dog!) was very anxious to see me around her new little orphan.
Finally he takes the bottle and we get the perfect picture (well in the perfect picture I would NOT be in my pajamas, but...)
And then, Henri the goat went to sleep, regardless of what we were all doing. He had a little bed next to my neighbor's bed and he just went to bed...

And happy goat news. Henri was given to a local that raises goats and he will be hand raised with two other baby goats who also had difficult beginnings to this crazy life... I wish he could have come home with me to play with the pug, but I know that this is much better for him. Good luck, Henri... See you around.