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Published: November 28th 2008
Well I guess it's been about a month now since I've written (time goes by fast!) and there have definitely been some highs and lows - to summarize:
It's been mostly working here in the field and taking care of the animals for me, cooking of course, going to the beach when possible, etc. We knew that the rabbits were pregnant from when we put them altogether in the battery room for the hurricane, so we were preparing for some births last week. Unfortunately, a few of what we thought were males were actually females and vice versa (we got different stories from different people instead of actually just sexing the rabbits). So it turns out that the female was in the larger cage when she gave birth (we wanted her to be in the smaller and higher-off-the ground cage). She littered 4 babies of which they were so small that their legs stuck through the mesh wire cage upon which the chickens started pecking at (they have dead aim, and if they were the size of humans I would be deathly afraid of them...you should see the way they get the cockroaches). So we put the chickens in their
coop and tried to fix the situation as best as possible because we had a Slow Down dinner to prepare for. The next morning was the most stressful day on the farm so far for me: I woke up early to feed the chickens and rabbits and came to find out of the 4 babies: 3 heads and the one still alive was the one with no front legs because the chickens had pecked them off. As I walked up a mongoose was on it's hind legs under the cage still eating. We had completely forgotten about the mongooses!! I felt so terrible for the mama rabbit and the baby still alive I just broke down and cried - I don't approve of keeping rabbits here, plus this was the second unsuccessful litter since I've been here. So we killed the baby and took out the heads and tried to prepare the other cages as best we could for the other births by putting cardboard in the cages and fencing in the openness beneath the cages. And so far we've had 2 successful litters of 6 each and 2 other rabbits should be giving birth in about 2 weeks. I
Me at the sugar mill
PHOTO: MANDA PENDLETONhave no idea what we're going to do with all of these rabbits! I think someone is coming to stay at the farm who works with animals so maybe she has some ideas.
Well, the jazz festival came to town last weekend and we enjoyed some local artists while dancing and hula hooping on the beach, chatting with neighbors and friends, and eating some local food...fun fun fun! Manda and I went to the first 2 days of the festival with the rest of the farm, but skipped the last 2 days to go island hopping! We left last friday to take the ferry to St. Thomas (I didn't get that sea sick!) where we spent the day, and then hopped over to St. John to stay with Manda's friend for a few nights (we brought her the hula hoop that I'm carrying in the picture). All of those islands north of St. Croix topographically are so different. They are pretty much huge forested mountains popping out of the ocean with absolutely NO flat land, which is why St. Croix used to be the breadbasket of the caribbean because there is a lot of flat land here. So we
Nicole and Manda at Cinnamon Bay
gorgeous beach...
PHOTO: MANDA PENDLETON spent our time in St. John hiking on the beaches and in the forest, visiting old sugar mills and seeing the ancient Taino Indian petroglyphs. Not to mention visiting some of the most picturesque beaches around - catching some rays, waves, and playing some beach volleyball!
We decided to visit the British Virgin Islands (BVI's) for a day so we hopped on a ferry to Tortola with absolutely no plans of where we were going to stay...but it worked out. We hitchhiked our way to the north side where all the beaches are, got some food, and then hitched it again to a campsite on the beach where we hung out with some other travelers round a campfire for the evening along with the locals that had given us a ride. The beach we were camping on was supposed to be the best beach for snorkeling, but the waves were too big that it stirred up the sand and we couldn't see anything. So we hiked our way to the next bay over (which means you have to climb a 1,000 feet up and down to get to the next place) and were bombarded with all the british tourists
Frangipane - plumeria
PHOTO: MANDA PENDLETON there who had been taxied in from the cruise ship ported across island. We tried to find a quiet place but there were too many people! So we caught a ride to another beach before taking the ferry back to St. John. We went to Long Bay Beach which we were told is the beach in a lot of island photos, and it is nice indeed. Almost a mile long at the end of the island, you have a view of nearby islands, while lounging in the white sand and blue ocean.
So our ride dropped us off about a mile from the ferry station so we walked it, semi looking for mushrooms (they're legal in the BVI's) when Manda spotted a fruit we had never seen before. It looked smelled, and tasted like a green apple. She ate the whole thing and I ate a little bit. As we were walking our throats started burning and when we described the fruit to the locals at the ferry station they started freaking out, saying that the Manjaneel Apple is highly poisonous and can kill people. They say it is the forbidden apple of Eden. We told them we had
Gumbo limbo tree
PHOTO: MANDA PENDLETON already eaten it and asked them what we could do, but because they had never eaten it they didn't know but suggested we drink milk. Fortunately the ferry waited 10 minutes while Manda ran to the nearest restaurant to grab a glass of milk (I hadn't drank straight milk in a few years) and the whole 25 minute ferry ride over we drank that milk, poured honey and aloe we had down our throats and hoped we wouldn't drop dead. Once in St. John again, we asked some more locals about it who didn't help us much, but found a clinic and talked to a EMT who told us that if we were going to die we would have done it awhile ago. She said to ignore the burning in the throat but if it gets worse to come back to the clinic. So we heaved a sigh of relief and soon after that felt the toxin move through our body, causing us MAJOR diarrhea for the next few hours. 24 hours later, we were fine. Lesson learned: don't mess with tropical fruits you know nothing about.
Anyways, thanksgiving was great! We hosted a dinner here - there were
about 40 of us altogether with tons of food and wine to eat and drink. And the best part of course is that there are leftovers! After everyone left around 6ish us farm crew just hung out and me and Manda did some hooping (I'm getting better) and then I turned in early to catch up on sleep.
Today the first cruise ship is coming to St. Croix (blahhhhh...we saw how St. Thomas and Tortola are with cruise ships...I like St. Croix because they AREN'T any tourists) and I think there is a festival in town. And then tonight is a reggae concert. St. Croix is a main homested for reggae, a lot of big name artists come from here and do world touring. Reggae shows here start at like 11pm and go til 5am. So I will be up late tonight. Will write about it later!
Ahhh can't believe I have less than 2 weeks here.... maybe only one more entry left...
Well, enjoy your Fridays everyone! Love love,
Mon
PS: the crazy ants have moved out!! for at least a short while...
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nuraini
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gingiber offinale
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