Week 1

I've now made it through my first week down here in South Caicos! I think I'm really going to like it here. I’m still adjusting to the new climate, as well as the new diet, and the new daily routine, the new time zone, the new environment, the new sleeping schedule, new people, new English accents and various other dialects, social etiquette (I keep getting offered a left hand -palm down- during introductions, and not knowing exactly what to do with it), the new music, new wildlife, new allergies, new politics, concepts of time, gender roles, skin irritations, pastimes, attire, and all the new professional responsibilities. I also switched to a new brand of toothpaste, although that worked itself out fairly early on. I would say that the trickiest things to get used to here have been the fact that my skin is perpetually itchy and sticky from the salt water and heat, and also the fact that I share every last corner of my living quarters with an array of other creatures (e.g. crabs in my shower, mice droppings across my desk, cockroaches in the kitchen, geckos crawling up my walls, mosquitos in my ears, spiders in my bed, jellies in my swimsuit…), but all in all, I’m settling in and having a great time.

I’ll never be able to remember all of the beautiful animal sightings of the past week, but a few highlights since the last time I wrote include two huge spotted eagle rays, a flying squid, a nurse shark, a group of chubby little translucent fish with fins that turn like windmills to propel them through the water (not the scientific term), and probably 50 different types of coral. Also, the students have seen several barracudas, an octopus, green sea turtles, sea horses, and a portugese man-of-war. I missed the last few sightings because I was either in my office back at the center or in the boat on first aid duty, but I’m sure I’ll see them for myself before long. There’s always something exciting going on here in the way of wildlife. In fact, not long ago the bird pictured here (some type of night heron) crunched on a hermit crab and then swallowed the whole thing just a few feet away from me.

Aside from the animals, I’ve been slowly getting to know the town better too. Friday night I went with some of the other staffers to “Chicken Bar” where they sell a variety of beverages and, you guessed it, chicken. Fried chicken, to be exact. Supposedly it’s the most low-key of the very few hang out spots on the island. I got introduced to a few of the regulars there, including a guy who goes by the name “James Bond” and has marked the front door of his home with the digits 0-0-7. Almost everyone here has a nickname.

Yesterday afternoon, as every Saturday afternoon, SFS sponsored several different community outreach activites. Several of our students taught swimming lessons to some of the local kids. (In the photo above I’m enjoying a few moments of peace by our saltwater pool before they all arrive.) We also set up a table for arts and crafts, invited some of the older kids into the center to play ping pong and cards (the rest of the week we have a fairly strict no visitors policy), and did a few other projects around town including a beach cleanup and some invasive species removal. Here we are in action:

All in all our afternoon of reaching out to the community was a success! We celebrated yesterday evening with a cookout, and today we all have the day off! (Which means I get to play Frisbee with whomever else I can recruit to play with me!)

Next week is another big week. The students have their first exam, we’re getting sand delivered for our beach volleyball court, I have to make a trip to the clinic to do some blood work that’s required for my visa (which I’ve been warned could take several hours), and I’ve also been asked to judge a local talent competition. I’m hoping to have time to sit in on some of the classes with the students too, and to snorkel with them in the afternoons when they’re doing their species identification. Otherwise I’ll never learn the correct names for “the pretty blue fish with the eye print on its backside” and “the flaky orange stuff that stings when you touch it”. When Brett gets here with his underwater camera, we’ll be sure to post some great sealife pics!