On my mind

In the spirit of jeniwilliams, 10 things:

1- Tropical storm Delta formed today way out in the central North Atlantic. Delta is the 25th named storm this year, 4 more than have ever formed since 1851 (well, that we could detect anyway... our detection skills weren't as good in 1890 as they are now!) We'll see if Delta becomes a late-season hurricane. Just in case you're curious, Epsilon is the next name should we get that far

2- I had a very enjoyable time at "Courts of Praise" church in eastern Barbados on Sunday. The church is contemporary (the message/sermon was delivered by a woman - *gasp*), and has a sweet view of 3 of Barbados's four coasts (south, east, and west). After church, I strolled the grounds with this guy named Trevor and ate guava fruit off the trees growing out back. He pointed out that the church has a coconut tree growing there, too.

3- After church, I went back to Trevor's house where his wife Pam prepared a stellar Bajan meal (chicken, noodles/veggies [broccoli, carrots, onions], fish cakes, and cinnamon buns). It was my first "home cooked" meal since arriving on the island. Seriously. So I guess that means they could have served up dog food and I woulda scarfed it like there was no tomorrow. sure beats my "rice & spaghetti sauce" [bethany!!] leftovers that I almost ate 3 wks ago!

4- I got my hair cut today. Back to the short & easy "cru" style (picture "Brad Pitt" and put my face in place of his).

5- While in town for my haircut (which, btw, was a 3.5 hr ordeal - meaning it was all I did today), I stopped by the post office, only to find that it was closed due to a "water shortage". Whatever that means. I think those people are in a conspiracy against me!

6- Last night I accompanied Tyler, Lauren, and Zach to St. Lawrence Gap, the "tourist" district of Barbados. We headed there after the Tue. night Crusade meeting (which, btw, i LOVE bajan acapella worship music-- their voices, combined with only a tambourine, are just awesome... plus they like to clap and move around, which is definitely my style, and the praise songs are cool and mostly new to me... ok enough with this parenthetical aside...) The 4 of us ate at a mexican food restaurant, which was my first time eating a sit-down meal where a waitress brings you the food. 12.5 weeks, and this is my first sit-down restaurant meal. Yup. So who cares that our bill was >BDS$200.

7- While strolling around town today getting my haircut and finding the closed post office, I saw at least 3 Salvation Army kettles with bell ringers. Talk about culture shock! It was almost 90F today for the high. I am definitely NOT in the mood for thanksgiving/christmas - especially with these tropical temperatures.

8- Pam (Trevor's husband, and the one who had me over for sunday lunch) has invited me over to celebrate Christmas with her family! I am excited :) She told me on Sunday that she knows how it is to be a foreigner, to experience culture shock, and to not have people reach out to you and help you out. So she insisted that I come over, and being the lonely culture-shocked foreigner that I am, she didn't have to press the issue. So Christmas will not be alone. BTW, did i mention that Pam and Trevor live a 3-min walk from me?

9- Over the weekend I got into a big cooking mode and prepared soup, spaghetti sauce, and chicken/mushroom dishes-- enough to last me all week and into the next week. Unfortunately, I think the chicken was bad. Well, now I know it was bad. It tastes terrible (spoiled), so I have to throw it out. Makes me sad, considering I spent over 2 hrs preparing the dish, and that it definitely represents $20 worth of not-cheap food!

10- I really don't have a 10th thing... but here are a few candidates. let me know which you prefer: a- I haven't eaten a carrot in 3 days (w o w). b- my friend andy is in London now. I don't know which would be stranger-- a Bajan or a British thanksgiving. c- I ran 3.75 miles today and remembered how much I dislike being drenched when I finish a run. If it doesn't get cool here, why can't it at least be dry? (oh yea, there's 10 billion cubic feet of 85-deg water surrounding us... perhaps that's a start)

Oh yea- everybody- if I don't get to personally speak with you, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!