Every Day

Saturday night Ty, Amber and I decided to go out in Red Hook. There was a DJ from the States that was playing at a local bar but she started super late, like midnight… So in order for us to be able to stay awake that late, we all took a nap before going out. Getting up from the nap was hard but it was worth it! Ty and I had a few drinks before meeting up with Amber and then made our way over to where the DJ would be. It was a 15 dollar cover and drinks were not cheap either, but it was all so I would be able to dance! The DJ was a young woman who also sang. She was alright. Ty had to leave early cause he had to work in the A.M. but Amber and I stuck around till the early morning. All I have to say is after a night out, it sucked having to go sleep on a boat… I slept in pretty late the next morning on my day off. I usually get up no later then 8:30 but I was still in bed at 10:30! Then, Amber invited me on one of her adventures. Being extremely tired and maybe a little hungover...

My roommate Scott and I found an apartment!! Woohoo! We are pretty sure we are going to sign in the next few days. Its walking distance to everything. Its perfect! The only thing that it does not have is washer and dryer… But thats ok, Im excited to just move off the boat, be able to walk anywhere I want, whenever I want to.  My roommate Scott is a cool guy. He is from southern California and lived in Las Vegas for seven years. He is an accountant who works a lot and has two cats. We got a long very well and he enjoyed hanging out with Ty and I for drinks after we saw the apartment again. I think it'll be a good four months at the apartment. Im going to sign the lease tomorrow for this place. I  can't  wait to do yoga on my porch and poop whenever I want! Im going to post a list of "things you dont think about until you live on a boat" in the next few blogs. Im accumulating things on the list :P

Something that never happens, we all had off on the same day. So we all went over to St John on the ferry to do some hiking and beaching!  We decided on this one trail that would challenge us. We all needed some good exercise and I was excited to get my heart pumping. I hate being inactive! We all started to sweat almost immediately because it was straight up. We decided to take a break about 10 minutes into the hike. We sat down to drink some water and identify our surroundings (when scientists hang out together…). Ty had pointed something out so I got up to check it out and when I turned around I slipped on the rocked and nailed my knee. It didm hurt too bad right away, a small gouge of skin right on my knee cap (patella!) started bleeding and so I was paying attention to that. Lucky, Ty carries a first aid kit everywhere so I was able to really clean it out. But sitting there, everything started to swell… I noticed some more scrapes on my thigh and my knee started to be...

I learned how to drive the dingy Friday. It was really intimidating but it gave me so much freedom to dingy around on my day off. I cleaned the boat like a crazy person cause I was able to spend some time there during the day. My suitcase is off the floor now! Woohoo! Trying to make it a little more homey since I may be there a little bit longer... Finding an apartment has proven very difficult. Finding honest people on this island is rough. I may have a lead on a two bedroom buuuuut now I need a roommate. Im talking to everyone. Its frustrating. So, I went on a little adventure with Amber this morning. We took the safari which is this bus type service that takes you around the island. Now, I want to explain this safari thing for those of you who dont have a visual so you will understand the island and my adventure a bit better... Its a great service, its only a dollar or two depending on where you're going but its a bunch of benches essentially on the back of a truck with an a...

Its been almost a week since my last update. My lip is almost completely healed. Theres just some scar tissue that makes a small bump on my lip that only I notice and hopefully goes away in the next few days. I did my orientation for The Ritz this week. I learned all about how to be refined and give the guests everything they want and more. Its kinda crazy; Im not really that type of person so we will see how this all goes. But I did meet some cool people in my orientation. A few I thought of rooming with but it didn't work out. Heres the story: My coworker, lets call her Ray, is also looking for a place with her sister. She mentioned that if everything worked out, we could get a two bedroom so her and her sister could share a room and I could have the other. It would cut costs for all of us, it'd be great. After talking to Ray for the first two days of orientation, I really liked her and hoped that her sister would be equally as cool. She was relaxed, quiet, menti...

My lip is healing slowly but surely! I don’t like to talk much cause every time I move my mouth it hurts and I feel like Im ripping off the scap. It also looks nasty when I open my mouth :P In other island news, last night I got off of work early and Ty, Amber and I met up with some of Ty’s friends to head to the north side of the island (We live on the east end). It was an adventure on steep windy roads to get to Hull bay. We listened to music, drank cheap beer and Ty and I also were able to take a walk along the beach. The music was pretty good actually. Sax, piano and some clarinet to dance to. I love how the locals here love to just have a good time listening to music and drinking. Its entertaining.  Today was my first day off since last weekend! So I woke up this morning, Amber and I went into Red Hook to take care of some things (poop…) and then I got dropped off at the national park dock so I could do some yoga while looking out at the bay. It was a beautiful m...

Boat life has been interesting. A few days ago, Ty and I were in the dingy headed for the boat. I was pumping up the dingy, it tends to deflate all the time… At least its a workout! So, Im pumping up the dingy and Ty starts the motor, pulls back and then all I see is white light. Then, blood. I spit over the side of the dingy and then run my tongue over my teeth. All of them are still there! Thank goodness. But theres a lot of blood. Ty pulls out his phone to look at it and as soon as he looks at it, he says, “oh shit” along with a horrified face. Then Im freaking out but say “Its not that bad!”  We finish our ride to the boat with a bandana over my bottom lip and Ty doesn't stop saying sorry. “Shit happens” I say. At the boat, I look in the mirror and realize that it does look pretty bad. Its a gash in my lip and its bleeding. We clean it out (it stings) and I take a piece of tape to close the gap. The thing that im worried about is heading to work the next day and ...

So, my first day at work. I started at 10 am with HR filling out paperwork that was probably an inch thick. After an hour of paperwork, I got a quick spiel about how to behave and present myself. After feeling like a complete irresponsible, unrefined employee, I joined my fellow environmentalists and finally felt like I fit in. We had two programs my first day. An afternoon snorkel and night snorkel! Amber taught me a lot about how their programs worked and where things were. I felt like I fit in right away. For the afternoon snorkel, Amber and I went to get the kayaks ready for the guests with the wind blowing. The waves were rolling in! We had four double kayaks with guests and us. Amber and I were in one together, two teenage girls, two adults, Ty and a guest. Amber and I were pulling up the rear when we noticed the teenage girls' kayak filling up with water. Before we could get there and help them out, they toppled over! Two girls in the ocean with a tipped over kayak. We...

So, after a day of nothing yesterday, I was ready for bed again. Except I had to sleep on the boat, round two. It was/is still super windy, so the waves are crazy.  I decided that earplugs would be beneficial to dull the sounds of the waves and the boat. It worked a bit. I only woke up like three times instead of the 18 times I woke up on the night before! Much more restful. Earplugs are awesome. I still however feel like Im on a boat. Im sitting at a bar in town getting the inter webs and Im softly rocking back and forth on my chair. Is this whole island floating?! haha This morning Amber and I did yoga on a dock near the water. It was wonderful. In other good news, I have a lead on an Apartment near town! Keep your fingers crossed for me! Tomorrow I start my job. Im nervous! Its been over a year that Ive started a new job so Im a little rusty at starting fresh! haha. So much to learn about everything down here. Completely different then my Milwaukee life :) Miss you MKE!!...

I slept on a boat last night. It was really windy and that means waves. Every time a big wave came through, i would get jolted awake. So, Im exhausted today... But on the plus side, the air does not hurt my face. The weather is fantastic. I still cant believe this is my life. It feels like a dream! Then Ill go to work on Monday... haha

This year for NYE, I brought glitter. It was the best idea ever. There was glitter all over the boys apartment. I mean everywhere. And it made me SO happy. Now Im exhausted and need to finish packing for my trip to the Virgin Islands tomorrow! Its going to be a loooong day. I leave the house at like 6am and probably won't be leaving the airport in the VI until like 10/11. Yay... Happy 2015!