Rain on my Parade

June 2nd, I mentioned last year, is a special day for us. As of yesterday, we've been together for 8 years! We didn't get to spend it together last year, so I had grand plans for it this year. But there was rain on my parade.

Rainy Day

There was thunder and lighting for the better part of the day. Both of us were a little bummed out because of it, but incredibly things cleared up in the evening and we still had an enjoyable time (even if I wasn't able to carry things out in their full glory). We went for my final South Caicos dive, just the two of us. And while we were down there, I gave Jessee her card.




It was a good last dive too. We got a good sampling of the regular South Caicos megafauna - a Nurse Shark, a Reef Shark, and a lone Eagle Ray. It was as if they were all coming out one last time for me. Aside from that we saw lots of Horse-eye and Black Jacks (my favorite fish) and a Sharpnose Puffer (Jessee's favorite). Just before we ascended I spotted a Golden Coney too. Coneys are quite abundant, but Golden ones are a rare color variation. I've only seen 3 or 4 others the whole time I've been here.

A bit blurry.

A bit grainy.

Nassau Grouper

Sharpnose Puffer

Golden Coney

They're somewhat shy.

That's supposed to be an 8

After we cleaned the salt off our equipment (extra thoroughly for mine since I'll be hanging it up for a while), we went out for dinner. There's not much in terms of "fine dining" on this island, so we embraced the situation and went for the bottom rung of what was available - The Chicken Shack.

Fried chicken and french fries. It made us both feel sick.

Bruno was happy, though, because he got our bones.

And one more thing, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Happy Birthday, Brett!

Today is Brett's 28th birthday! It's also the sixth year in a row that I've baked him a carrot cake for his birthday. (He pretty much decided after the first one I baked him when we were living in Olympia that it was a "tradition".)

Step 1: Combine ingredients

I didn't think making the cake here on South Caicos would be much different than making it in the other locations we've lived recently, but as it turns out, this time was quite different. For starters, finding the ingredients was a little tricky. That shouldn't have been the case, as all of the ingredients I needed are regulars on our Sysco food order. However, carrots didn't make it onto the last shipment for some reason, the cream cheese we ordered had all gone bad, and we'd completely run out of butter. So, yesterday, for the first time since I arrived here at the beginning of June, I headed into town with a shopping bag and a grocery list (albeit a short one).

I managed to find all three ingredients between the two small markets we have here, but what I also found out was that groceries on South Caicos are expensive. I mean, really expensive! The bag of carrots I bought was $16, the butter was $6, and the cream cheese was another $6. $28 total. Sheesh. It's a good thing we had flour, sugar, eggs, raisins, walnuts, and everything else we needed here at the center, or I may have had to make Brett a carrot cupcake for his birthday.

Step 2: Bake

Step 3: Layer on the icing and add a little decoration

We're also planning to celebrate Brett's birthday with a trip to the Chicken Bar, a.k.a. the Chicken Shack, at some point. We walk past it regularly and I've been there with other staffers a few times, and it's also one of the students' favorite places to hang out and play dominoes with the locals, but Brett still hasn't been inside. The Chicken Bar isn't really our "scene", mostly because it inevitably involves bad service, greasy food, and sleezy come-ons by extremely inebriated men, but it truly is one of the key components of life and culture here on South. Having lived here and never experienced the Chicken Bar would be unfortunate. Plus, after eating Izzy and Antonia's food for several months now, Brett has acquired a taste for fried chicken and wants to see if the place lives up to its reputation!

Step 4: Make a wish

Step 5: Enjoy!