Happy Valentine's Day everyone! It's Sunday of course... I surprised Kater with a home made card, bottle of her favorite wine, and some flowers. Simple, but nice I think. She seemed to like it.

She has made it through another week and continues to earn high marks on her exams. She has one more test to go before the mid-semester break which falls on March 1st.

For me, this past week I didn't do much adventuring. I went for a few swims and spent a better part of the week here, working on different projects. I continue to work on Sam and Jam. I have sent in the story board and the first completed page, which in turn is being sent to publishers. Now we just have to wait to hear back. I'm told they aren't the quickest about it, so who knows what that means.

In addition to posting photos here, I also add them to our Facebook albums. You can click here to view the photos there also. Sometimes I have better luck uploading to that site than to this one. It also allows me to add more photos faster too. So you may find some there that I didn't put here. Usually I post my favorites here though.

Here are the photos from this morning and the past week:

This first pic, is of a new humming bird to us! He is very small and as you can see, has a very stylish mohawk! We got a lot of shots of him, but as you know they move so fast it's not easy.

Another shot of the little guy, stretching out his wings. I wasn't ever able to capture it, but every once in a while you can see them stick their tongue out- it's pretty funny.

This is the larger, more common humming bird we have seen here a lot. Kater was able to get this one in flight, which is a hard shot to get in focus. These guys were very territorial over their flowers, chasing off a lot of bananaquits and bullfinches for their food!

Here is a funny shot of a male bullfinch taking a bath! He was getting water everywhere!

Another lizard, which I believe is an anole but have not confirmed as of yet. Most locals just call them lizards, which surprises me.

Another shot of the larger hummingbird. This one really shows off his colors in the sun.

We went for a walk yesterday and discovered these fellas. I want to say they are a type of orb spider but I'm not 100% sure. There were tons of them along the campus edge in the bougainvillea flower bushes. I was able to see some catch some flys too.

You can see this next one here has a fly in its fangs. It's amazing how fast these spiders can run from the center of the web to grab the bug.

This one is the fly wrapped up and being eaten.

I found this feather stuck in a web also... It reminds me of a dreamcatcher, or nature in reverse where a spider caught a bird in a web instead of a bird catching/eating a spider.

Not only were there lots of orb spiders to be found among the bushes, but we came across a few other interesting varieties. This here below is a type of crab spider. They are very small and with the wind here it took a lot of tries to get a picture that was clear.

These last few photos are of the bougainvillea flowers all around campus:

Well I guess the photos worked this time! I took advantage and posted as many as I could get away with. Hope you enjoy!

It's market day at Ross once again. I picked up more fresh produce again. It's really nice to have those people come to campus. I got another dozen eggs as well.

Kater had her second exam on Monday, which was Anatomy. She feels like she did pretty well. They will get the results by the end of the week hopefully. The teachers have to score this one by hand as the test was taken in "the field" so to speak. They had to palpate and identify structures of live animals like the dog and horse, as well as speak to their hydration level and many other things I'm sure.

Today they have their third exam, in Physiology this afternoon. After that the next exam isn't until next Tuesday. Hopefully they will take a break for themselves to give the brains a rest even if only for a few hours!

Other than that, it's more of the same for me. I went for a short snorkel on Monday morning. We went out looking for new spots down in the lower peninsula but our map was lousy and we could find roads that would take us to the spots on the map. So we came back up to mid-island and snorkeled off the shore at the Marriott. They have a few real reefs out a little ways so we spent a little time there. The Marriott is on the Atlantic side, so the water is a little choppier, which lowers the visibility. I really didn't see much, except that the reef itself was very cool. It had somewhat of a mushroom shape which allows for one to swim almost under it.

Tuesday and today I've spent a little time working on the storyboard to the Sam and Jam book. Things aren't progressing quite as I had hoped but I still feel like I should linger a little while longer... It could prove to be a good opportunity for me.

This is a piece I began working on for a T-shirt for the Aviary club here at Ross. As a miscommunication, I didn't make the deadline but it was fun all the same. It's my first full computer illustration and I'm pretty happy with it so far. I have an idea for a design including a few more birds, all looking rather dorky... I'd call it 'birdnerds'. I'll post anything new that comes along.

That's all I've got for you at this point. I may go for a swim with John this afternoon. Catch you later.

Good morning. It's SATURDAY and a beautiful day at that. It has been a slow week in the way of adventures, however it's been a big week for critters!

(big red crab burrowed under a pipe)

(creepy looking pelican at dusk)

(humming bird feeding)

(humming bird profile)

(humming bird from rear)

(unidentified lizard, approx. 7-8" in length)

(smaller lizard of same species, about 6")

(monarch just hatched from chrysalis)

We were finally able to get some good photos of one of our hummingbirds. We got pictures of some really cool lizards, a pelican, a crab, and another monarch butterfly hatching. Also, not on photo, I saw a whale jumping way out to sea! Something caught my eye and then I realized what it was. We (Chris and I) saw it jumping about 5 or 6 times, each time with a big splash. It was very far out, but only something as big as a whale could be seen from that far making that big of a splash! Very cool.

I've continued working on my art, one of my designs is now up online at www.threadless.com for voting. I honestly don't expect to win the contest, but it's nice to even have it accepted for judging. The submissions are judged by other artists that visit the site. You can click this link and judge my work: http://www.threadless.com/submission/253795/Will_work_for_shoes

This design challenge is in spirit of TOMS SHOES, a company who donates a pair of shoes, for every pair bought. The shoes are donated to children of third world countries who can't afford shoes. I highly recommend visiting their site and watching some of their videos. It is extremely moving and a great cause. I bought a shirt, so I could donate 1 pair of shoes.

The design of the person on the bicycle has been selected for print on the sweatshirts for the YMCA adventure program. This will help them raise money for their department so they can offer more activities to their kids.

(This is a picture of me next to a huge plant, I think possibly an agave plant or similar. This shoot has grown tremendously over the last few weeks from nothing!)

(This is the spot where Kater often studies on her breaks from class, also where we usually meet for lunch.)

Well, I guess that will do it for now. More later.

Well its Wednesday, and it has a been a slow week for me (which is just fine by me). As I mentioned on Sunday in the last post, Kater had been preparing for her first test. I'm proud to say she received an A! Did we have any doubt?! She is very relieved to have that out of the way. The next exam is Anatomy on this coming Monday, which she's preparing for now.

This week I've been working on my graphics projects, including a revision for the YMCA sweatshirts:

They asked me to make a few changes including the positioning of the leg, adding some climbing equipment and a life-jacket. No problem!

I have a few more projects going on as well, including another T-shirt design for the AAV (aviary club on campus), so I'm keeping busy. This is how I've spent my week so far. No snorkeling yet this week!

Today is Wednesday which means the market comes to campus, so I'll be heading over to pick up come more fresh fruits and veggies.

What else, I'm still running regularly- after sunset now. It's so much better once it cools off! I guess it would make sense to run in the heat to sweat more but it's just not tolerable at this point. The gym on campus has opened but at this time they are only allowing students to use the facility. We (the VIP group) are upset with this and are in the process of trying to speed up the process so we can us it as well. They say they want to see how much its getting used first but the impact of our use would be negligible (there are less than 30 of us, and would use it at different times throughout the day- that is IF all of us even went...).

I'll keep you posted on that, we're hoping by Friday some changes will be made.

That's it for now.

Welcome back. I just got back from another run. I went out at sunset this time- that's the key, running once it gets cool out.

So.... What's new here... Well, Saturday wasn't the most eventful of days. Kater and friends did a lot of studying and sometime after the last blog update, we went to see the dogs on campus. PAWS, (People for Animal Welfare on St. Kitts), hosted a meet and greet event/ open house. We showed up to meet some of the shelter dogs available. Kater quickly fell in love with a girl named Brimstone:

Brimstone was brought to PAWS after being found hit by a car. She's been through a lot and several surgeries. She is the sweetest thing and very affectionate. I spent some time with several of the dogs, but found myself falling for Ellie, who no longer has a picture available on the website unfortunately. She has been with PAWS for over a year, and really needs a home. We of course are not in the position to foster because we're in the dorms, but I think I would like to look after a dog while I'm here and have the time and opportunity to give on my full attention. It is also an incredibly simple but effective way to bump up the security of a household, as locals are afraid of dogs in general.

We also spent a little time with a new batch of puppies:

There were four girls and one boy, all very cute and cuddly. They were so sleepy from so much action all day they didn't leave much of an impression. Kater and I will have to fight over Brimstone or Ellie!

Later that evening we all got together in the lounge to watch a movie and give the students a break from the books. We had some laughs and we hit the hay.

Sunday, Kater, Jon and I went down to meet the Swim Club at Timothy Beach. We carpooled over to Shipwreck and swam just over a mile back to Timothy Beach.

During the swim, we saw lots more jellyfish, and a 6-sided sea star. We also saw another small sea turtle. Kater thinks it was a hawks bill, and I think it was a green. Either way, it was very exciting and we had a good time.

We returned to the apartment and I made us another breakfast like Saturdays.

The afternoon was spent with a nose in the books for Kater, in preparation for her first test tomorrow. I just returned from a run, which brings me back to where I started. Time to start dinner.

That's it for now.

Hey folks, good morning!

Again, it's been a few days- my apologies! It's been a busy week for us. Since our last blog update (Tuesday) a few things have happened.

Wednesday I went to a BBQ for the VIP group, another get-to-know-you type gathering. It was a decent time. We swam at a pool in living development called the St. Christopher Club, and had hot dogs, burgers, etc.

Thursday I stayed in and helped Kater make some more flashcards to study with. Her first test is Monday and although I'm sure she must be stressed, she's playing it cool as usual! I continued working on the Sam & Jam book and got another four pages drawn out. I haven't colored them yet or taken pictures, but I will soon.

Friday Chris drove me into town and I got my temporary drivers license:

(pretty fancy eh?!? It's not even laminated!)

There's not much to say about the process. You go in, tell them you want a license, they ask how long for (1 year max at a time), and you pay them. Five minutes later they come back with a little yellow piece of paper, you sign it, and you're on your way.

I spent some time at Chris's house, we had burgers on the grill and played with his dog Mia. Around noon we went to pick up a friend and do some grocery shopping. Our friend Bianca had just adopted a new dog! He's a 7 month old mix, and was just great. We played with him for a little bit too- great dog, I hope she takes good care of him.

Afternoon came and the students had finished another week of school. Friday afternoon after classes means 'Burgers and Fries Fridays' at Shipwreck. So off we went and did our usual routine. Shipwreck also happens to make really delicious fish tacos as well as their burgers. Kater and a few others went snorkeling and I stayed on dry land to play with Harley and Damon. Damon is 2 years old like I mentioned earlier, and he's learning so fast. He was drawing shapes in the sand and talking about colors too. It was pretty neat. Harley was telling me how yesterday he was carrying D inside and he looked up at the moon and said, "can I have that?" Just like my cousin Nathaniel said a few weeks ago, how about that!!

(Harley, Damon, Kater, at Shipwreck)

(sunset at Shipwreck)

On the way home we made a quick stop at the grocery store for the others, and got back home around 7:30-8 pm.

A few of us got together and played cards for a little while before we all went our separate ways for the night. Kater and I watched a movie and went to sleep.

This morning (Saturday) I made a big breakfast for us: Fried eggs with cheddar cheese, cinnamon-raisin bread, and coffee. It was delicious, I hope it's good brain food for the long weekend Kater will put into the books, studying.

As for me, I'm off for a run I suppose. And I guess that's it for now.

Hi all,

It's Tuesday I went out for a snorkel yet again. A friend and fellow VIP has a sister visiting and she asked Chris and me (the resident snorkel experts) to take them out and show them a good snorkel spot.

We chose Timothy Beach, where we went for the turtle research this weekend. There was some hesitation on my part due to the rough weather we had yesterday and some lingering strong winds, but we decided to take a look and see for ourselves how it looked.

The water looked calm, so we jumped in. Now, we didn't have as much time to explore but we had a good hour or so. During which, we were able to show our friends some of the things we had learned names of, as well as got another good look at the jellies.

I noticed today, and am very excited to say, that I discovered upon closer inspection that these all produce bioluminescence! That's right! If you look closely enough, there are tiny little lights that stream from top to bottom of these marble to ping pong ball sized jellies. The colors of the lights flicker and change from blue, to green, to red, to yellow! It was absolutely amazing and so fun to watch. I found this online: "There are two types of chemicals in the bodies of bioluminescent jellyfish- luciferin and luciferinase. When triggered, the chemical luciferin gets oxidized by the action of the chemical luciferinase . When these two react, the result of the reaction is a photoprotein. This photoprotein is the cause of the bluish glow that the bioluminescent jellyfish acquire."

Now, the jellies look something like these here (again not my photo), with no visible tentacles. I've been searching online to identify the species but currently I'm not having any luck. One possibility could be the 'thimble jellyfish' which is small and common in the Caribbean. I'm pretty convinced however that this is not the correct species. But I digress, on to the rest of the day.

We called it quits after about an hour, and returned to a beachside spot for a small lunch. Chris and I dropped our guests back at their house and we returned to campus.

We had a little extra time so we went down to the stairway by the sea to wait. I saw what looked like lots of little bugs crawling around but when I looked closer I saw that they were in fact the smallest hermit crabs I have ever seen! Most were able to skitter away but I was able to gently get this one for a picture. Check this guy out:

As a reference point, it (with it's shell) is not larger than the width of my ring, which is 4mm.

After that, I met up with Kater for a quick hello, and went to take some photos of the newly settled chrysalis' (2) on the giant milkweed that we have been checking in on from time to time. Kater had sent me a message earlier in the day that they were there, so I had to see.

I got these pictures:

(both together)

(#1)

(#2)

That brings me to where I am now, back in the room trying to rehydrate and rest up. I have a few more things to do but I'm considering a brief nap- I didn't sleep that well last night.

That's all for now.