The Final Countdown

It's down to the last hour in my apartment. I'm scheduled to turn in my keys and sign over the lease at 2:30. The vast majority of our things are already out of here and being stored in Kelly's garage. I moved them on Monday (what a hassle!). All that's left is what I can carry on my bike: a sleeping bag, a sleeping pad, my computer, a few odds and ends, and my hockey equipment (I just had to play one last time last night - there's not going to be any ice where I'm headed).


I had lots of errands to do this morning, including returning Dave's vacuum. I could have returned it last night when I saw him for pizza, but I held on to it saying that I needed to vacuum one last time before I checked out today. Secretly, it was just an excuse to go over to his place to say goodbye to Kasi (his dog). I took her for a little walk and sat with her in the sun in the backyard. It's so sad to leave her! (...oh yeah, and Dave too). She could have been ours if we weren't going to TCI (Dave can't take her to Germany). We even researched the laws on importing pets, but in the end we decided it probably wouldn't be good for her. There are diseased strays she could mixed up with and it's doubtful SFS would have allowed us to keep a dog there anyway.


Lazy Dog
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMUgNWPuWAk)

I also had to give up Ralph, my sickly Jade plant (yes, my plant has a name). Maggy is going to look after him, and hopefully nurse him back into better condition than I was able to keep him. Thanks Maggy!


This evening I have a bunch of chores to do (organize my things in Kelly's garage, pack for Gray Wolf, pack for the island). I'll stay at Kelly's tonight before heading to Port Townsend for work, my last trek with Gray Wolf (10 days of kayaking and backpacking on Ross Lake in the North Cascades National Park). We've both been really busy these past few days, but we're making it through okay. We've even found time to talk a few times using Skype. Skype doesn't always work smoothly, but it's free international calling. Look us up using our email addresses if you want to contact us.

Moving Is A Lot of Work

My boss recently used to the term "logistical quagmire" to describe the trouble he had in coordinating the exit from the field of three kayaking groups unable to make it to the rendezvous point due to bad weather. It might be a bit dramatic to describe our move with that same term, but it certainly is not an enjoyable process.

Anybody in the market for a couch, chairs, coffee table, dining room set, desk, bookshelf, cupboard, or futon mattress? Or, perhaps, a great downtown loft apartment in Bellingham, WA? Actually, the apartment is in pretty high demand, so we aren't having much trouble getting our lease taken over. But it's been a full time job just responding to the craigslist ads we've posted.

On top of that, packing is just a miserable process. We're not sure we're coming back to Bellingham (though it's probably at the top of my list of favorite places to live) or how many years down the road that would be, so there's the added complication of what to get rid of and what to keep. Fortunately, my brother-in-law is letting us use his garage for storage. Now I just need to figure out how to pack for four things at the same time: things that are being shipped to South Caicos, things I will need in the mean time, things for storage, and things that I will need for my last hiking/kayaking outing with work. The overlap between those categories is what makes it really complicated - not to mention that fact that we don't have a car anymore so, besides what we put in the Uhual, needs to fit in my bike trailer!

Even with all the moving work, it's not hard to stay excited about why we're doing it.

Moving to the West Indies

There's a certain amount of egocentrism associated with blogging about one's own daily life. Am I so vain as to believe complete strangers will be interested in reading what will be posted here? I should hope not. Rather, the reason I decided to start this blog is more personal than public. As I have in the past when exciting events are happening in my life, I've decided to keep a journal that I will be able to look back on years down the road to recall these times. Since blogging is a convenient way to store journal records and share them with friends and family that are interested, I thought I'd give it a try.

Yesterday, Jessee and I decided to move to the tropical island of South Caicos in the British West Indies. We had been planning to live abroad since finishing graduate school, but this option only recently surfaced on our radar. In fact, it all happened quite suddenly. I was actually out of town and out of communication for the entire duration of the process (I was kayaking in the San Juan Islands here in Washington State with my job). Jessee found the Caicos job, applied, interviewed three times, and was offered a position all before I even knew about it! Fortunately, she thought it prudent to stall the process long enough for me to return and talk it over before accepting the position. Start to finish, I only had a few days to think it over and decide to go. Jessee only had a few days more than that.

Not only did it come about fast, we have to leave much sooner than we were originally planning. Jessee will leave in less than 3 weeks! I'll be sticking around a bit longer for work, but should be arriving in Caicos in the first week of July. This means we need to move our things into storage, sell all our furniture, find somebody to take over our lease, and pack for (at least) the next year.

Jessee's job is with the School for Field Studies (SFS). I still don't know much about the program, only that it is a study abroad program for undergraduate students. The students come from all different universities to conduct research and study in one of SFS's five locations: Mexico, Costa Rica, Kenya, Australia, and Turks and Caicos. Jessee's position is the Student Affiars Administrator for the Turks and Caicos field station. She'll be responsible for the students' residence and building the community. To tell you the truth, I don't know many of the details on that either.

What I can say is that it's a pretty good deal for us. The job provides us both with room and board, and her with a salary. I'm sure the residence is small, but we do get our own bathroom. I wasn't expecting that I'd be getting my meals provided too, since I'm not actually the one being employed, so that was welcome news. Not to mention getting to live in an "island paradise" completely free! On top of that, we'll have access the program's SCUBA equipment and boats. I'm not sure how that will work yet, but they told her as long as I get dive insurance I'll be able to use it. They're going get her dive certified. I already have a diver certification (though I should probably do a refresher). I imagine (and hope) diving will be my biggest past time while we're living there - honestly, there's not much else to do.

South Caicos is only about 21 sq. KM, one of the smaller islands in the Turks and Caicos chain, and has a population of about 1500. It's located southeast of the Bahamas, east of Cuba, and north of Hispaniola. It's a Crown Colony - meaning the govenor is appointed by the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II - the head of government, however, is the Premier, who I believe is elected by the citizens. From what I know so far, the climate is not as humid as I would have expected - a huge relief. It's still hot - high 80s and 90s - but hopefully not so sticky. There's also supposed to be consistent breeze from the Trade Winds. As you would imagine is the case on small dry islands, fresh water is very scarce - we've been told we'll only be allowed one shower per week (the toilets even use salt water). Considering how much sunblock I'll need to be using, I'm afraid I'll be a bit grimy. I'll just need to get in the Ocean each day... which I suppose will leave me a bit salty.

Considering that Jessee's job will provide me food, shelter, and entertainment, I'm not much concerned that I won't have a job. Besides, I've been saving money for travel. If a job opportunity comes along, I may work, but I'm not too worried about it at this point. I'll have plenty of time to work on my PhD applications, and likely continue my research.