I Had My First Visitor From Home!

What fun to have my good friend Cindy Kilkenny arrive for a week. She is the first to come for a visit since my arrival on St. Kitts - and she could rent and drive a car! We had such fun exploring the islands(s). This is the first time I had the chance to go all around St. Kitts. We spent the weekend on Nevis at the lovely Oualie Beach Resort as Cindy requested sun on her body and sand in her toes. It was -13 degrees in Milwaukee where she lives, so 80 and sunny was the perfect antidote for a harsh, Midwestern winter. We both loved the hammocks that hang outside of each beach cottage. We would plop with a book and let the breezes gently rock us - usually to sleep or just enough to dream. We had an unscientific test of which place on the island made the best rum punch - Golden Rock won hands down and their lunch was fabulous as well. We spent a fantastic evening with my good friends Carol and Gavin, wandered through Charlestown, and basically enjoyed doing 'nothin' much.'

We returned to St. Kitts on Sunday and Cindy got to meet and know the nice bunch of PCVs I hang out with. We toured Romney Manner and Caribelle Batik, had an absolutely marvelous time meeting and talking with Kate Spencer, our islands' resident, world-famous artist. She is featured in this month's issue of Coastal Living and you should check out her work at http://www.katedesign.com. We spent an entire morning taking pictures of churches and an old, deserted sugar plantation (we sneaked over the wall and actually into the old house!) We wandered down to Dieppe Bay and The Golden Lemon where we accidentally met the owner of one of the private villas that literally hang over the sea. Alan and his wife Heidi just refurbished the entire place and it's for rent - at a great rate and you actually step into the pool right from your living room! Check out http://thekingsretreat.freesitespace.net/index.html - It's fabulous.

Cindy was my 'mule' and it was so nice, like Christmas, to have new undies, a printers, some new t-shirts and even shoes! We spent a lot of time discussing what being a Peace Corps volunteer really means - things you aren't allowed to write on a public forum such as this blog - and she allowed me to bounce a lot off her and I certainly appreciated an intelligent, outsider's viewpoint.

One of the biggest events that occurred while she was here was that I finally saw my first monkey! Cindy almost drove off the road when I screamed and she managed to stop long enough for me to take pictures. These little monsters outnumber the island residents (about 60,000 monkeys to 40,000 people). They absolutely destroy any crops that are planted on the island - eat or pull out anything - and are one of the major reasons that farming is not a viable industry here.

It was sad to put her on the plane on Wednesday, and she sure wasn't looking forward to returning to piles of snow and ice and frigid temperatures. But it was a fantastic visit and I miss her already!