This past Monday was officially the midway point of the semester #1 (of 7 semesters). So far so good. To celebrate the occasion, Alex studied for an exam and I wrote some lesson plans! Quite memorable.
Things are going well here. Alex has been very focused and diligent and the results are solid grades and a lonely husband. She is a woman on a mission and it shows. I'm very proud of her for getting back into the swing of academia so well after some years off. She says she is tired but she never quits. I feel proud to watch her work. She is currently in the midst of round two of exams for the semester. She has two this week, had one last week, and will have another next week.
Since Ross U doesn't give a fall break, or recognize any US or Kittitian holidays, they throw the students a bone and give off the Monday that falls closest to the half-way date. I slept in and ran some errands that I had put off while Alex prepped for the week.
I did take the opportunity last weekend to sign up with my friend Long to get some sailing lessons and it was.....interesting. I come from a land of mountains, and have spent the past ten years in a land of tall concrete buildings. Let's just say that the sea is not my home. Long and I were taken out by our instructor. We shall call him Paul. We shall call him Paul because, due to my being flustered, dumped in the ocean, and nearly knocked unconscious from repeated blows to the head, I don't remember his name.
We were taken out on a ten foot long, twin hulled catamaran (like the one in this picture). After some vocab lessons (hull, sheet, head, foot, stays, halyard,, port, starboard, bow, stern, batten, bunghole, tiller, etc etc etfc), we were taken out where we learned how to "tack". This is where you have to turn the boat 180 degrees all in one quick motion. You have to work the sheet (which controls the slack of the sail) with one hand while holding the tiller (which controls the twin rudders) with the other. To add to the confusion, you have to hop from one hull to the other at the mid way point of the action in order to allow the sail to pivot without knocking your head off.
After taking turns tacking (say that five times, fast) we had to practice righting the boat if it capsizes. Paul (or Peter, or was it Stephanie?) thought it would be more authentic if, instead of jumping in the water and than tipping the boat over, we actually cause the boat to tip while moving forward. The first time resulted in me falling in, Long falling in (knee first into my head), followed by Paul, followed by me catching the rudder off my head. Long did a great job righting the boat and we hopped back in, only to have Paul do it again (with the same painful results) for me to try to right it. After a few false starts I was able to get it righted.
It wasn't all rope burn and concussions, though. Once we were finished with the pain, we were able to cruise for a few minutes where we saw some fish jumping clean out of the water and some massive sea turtle cruising in the straights between St Kitts and Nevis. After returning to land (beautiful, stable land) Paul decided to throw in a quick knot-tying lesson. Granted it all went in one water-clogged ear and out the other, but don't tell Paul that.
In the car ride back I found out that I wasn't the only one in pain. Long tore a chunk of flesh off of his finger during one plunge in the water and had his shoulder pop out no fewer than 3 times during our two hours. The good news is we only have 4 more hours of lessons before we are done with the first class. Should be.....interesting.
