Life as a Caribbean Islander: Ben came to visit!

It has been awhile since my last post, so I feel like I have a lot to catch-up on!

First of all, we survived hurricane Irene. After all of the preparing with buying groceries/water/supplies and moving all of our patio furniture indoors, all that we got was heavy rain and strong gusts of wind. Not to complain... but I was actually a little disappointed. As far as damages, I only saw a few palm tree branches down. I guess that I didn't really know what to expect and I thought it would be more exciting. I know that it is a good thing that not much happened but oh well.

Ryan passed his finals and his classes, so he is officially a 5th semester student! Hooray! Now to the fun part of celebrating his long 2 week break…

Ryan's brother, Ben, came to visit us and to celebrate his 21st birthday, and we had tons of fun. Maybe too much fun! One of our friends here who also attends AUC medical school, Ryan Hauser, also had some visitors- his mom, 4 of her friends, his friend Scott, and his brother John… so we had a full house wherever we went!

We took Ben and Scott to this cool abandoned resort that was destroyed in a hurricane about 15 years ago. It was pretty fun at first, but then we all just got a little freaked out at all of the noises going on and that there might be some bums living there that wanted us out…. so we left. Here are some pictures of that adventure (thanks to Hauser for all of his pictures, my camera was indisposed at the moment):

Apparently, someone tried to burn this room down= Creepy

More creepiness

You could tell that this used to be a very nice resort

Burnt paper in a strange caged room.. weird

Lots of old paperwork

Old computer

Blood side… hmm maybe we should leave

Outdoor kitchen

One of the swimming pools

Ryan had to do his gang sign

Big-E.. whatever that means

So.. that sums up our abandoned resort adventure.

Next, we went to Fort Louis on the french side. Here is some background information on it:

Overlooking Marigot Bay on the leeward side of the island sits the imposing figure of Fort St. Louis, the largest historical monument in St.Martin. Named for the famous crusading king of France, it was originally built in 1767 to protect the settlement at Marigot from foreign invaders. The plans were sent over directly from Versailles at the order of the ill-fated French king, Louis XVI. Following the events of 1789, the fort was temporarily occupied by the Dutch to prevent the further spread of revolutionary democracy which had reached the island from Guadeloupe. Now, it no longer serves its former purpose, but the steep climb up to the summit provides a panoramic view of the island and the sea surrounding it, and the effort is well rewarded. The area is open 24/7 and there are signs explaining historical events.

Here are some pictures:

The guys checking everything out

A view of me from the top of the Fort

They were checking out the canons

Aaron, Ryan, and Ben from the top

Ryan sitting on top

Ryan being pensive

We also rented a boat for a day, and we went to just about every beach surrounding St. Maarten. We swam, snorkeled, ate, swam, snorkeled, floated, etc… you get the picture. I don't have any pictures from that day (sadly), but I was able to steal these off of facebook from John, Hauser's brother. Here they are:

Ryan and Ben getting ready to "pop bottles"

The beginning of the day

I believe this is Friar's Bay

John and me

Ben getting ready to go under the bridge in Marigot

Possibly Grand Case

Carissa and me. Ryan is driving.

I think this is Long Bay.. so pretty

We are floating away!

Lagoon?

John floating with the camera.. nice feet!

Funny pizza place

The brothers

The Lagoon and there is where we live on the left

Long Bay again

This is a funny one! I look scared of the Andre!

Porto Cupecoy from the lagoon

Creole Rock in Grand Case- where Ryan and I were scuba certified

One last one of a boat in Long Bay

It was a beautiful day, and we all had lots of fun cruising around- pretending that we were famous.

Then on Ben's last day, we all went zip-lining. I hadn't done anything like this since I was in the 6th grade at summer camp, so I was a little nervous. We signed up for the "extreme" course which made me even more nervous, but it was tons of fun (work). Luckily, we went at 10:00 in the morning so we didn't sweat to death.. even though it was still pretty hot. They took us up to the very top of the (steep) mountain and then we zip-lined all the way down. Now when I say this, I don't mean that we literally zip-lined non-stop. It was more like we would go from platform to platform and then we had to climb down (scary) ladders and go across (wobbly bridges) with (slippery) wooden planks (that were too far apart). Do you catch my drift? Here is a video of Ben in action:

Here are some pictures of all of us:

Our group before all of the fun but hard work

Pictured (from left to right): Scott, Hauser, Ben, Ryan, Me, Hauser's mom-Laura, Steph (she had a very cool British accent), and Ramona

Here is part of our group riding in the truck that is taking us to the top of the mountain.

I guess we weren't ready for this one. (Note our nasty gloves)

Zip-lining through the jungle.. literally

See what I mean when I said that we had to climb… alot? Check out that tall platform!

Ben going across the (scary/wobbly) bridge

Ben and Ryan

A view from below of the scary bridges

Ben going across the zip-line

Weeeeeeeeeee! I think this is me

Ryan getting off of the platform and I am landing

This is Ben and me going down the ladder

I think this is me going across

The worst of the shaky bridges.. We had to basically walk across a (tightrope) cable.

Despite how scary the zip-lining adventure was and how much blood, sweat and tears went into it… it was pretty fun. Not sure if I would actually do it again, but I am glad that I can say I did it.

We had soooo much fun with Ben and the rest of the visitors that came to the island, that we didn't know what to do when they actually left. Thank you so much for coming to visit us, and come back as soon as you can! We already miss you!

For the rest of the break, Ryan and I were pretty lazy and basically watched about 20 movies and cooked a lot. It was an awesome break in between semesters, and it is now back to the grind for Ryan… boooo! My job is said to begin after this weekend, Labor Day weekend, so I am super excited about being busy and making some money! $$$$$$ I will keep you posted on that matter.

This weekend is the first Ole Miss game vs. BYU and it is going to be on ESPN! Hooray! We can actually watch it! Ryan and I have been looking forward to this game ever since they announced it, so we can't wait. I just hope that our Rebels play like they should! Hotty Toddy! Go Rebs!