Bermuda, Cows, Boating, and Friends

I looked at my last post and can't believe it was on October 30th...it has been awhile. We actually went boating on November 1st, what made me think about it was the fact that Bermuda was beautiful in November and we were actually able to go out and swim, boat, and water ski. I do vow that it will be the last time until May or June as the water temperature is now in the low 70's. We were able to catch some sand dollars on the boat that day. They were beautiful, but I threw them back for safekeeping. I should have saved them for Christmas tree ornaments!

This past weekend we attended the Bermuda Rugby Classic. It is a week long event where teams from all across the world come to play rugby. We bundled up that day as it was 68 degrees with a nice wind. We sat on the cold bleachers and watched a game I knew nothing about. It seemed as violent as American football as there was tackling, tripping, and general throwing of the body, but these guys weren't messing around as they wear nothing other than tee-shirts and shorts. No full padding and helmets. We tried to wait to see the USA play, but rain sent us inside for some soup and hot chocolate. I actually felt like it was a cool fall day in the US!

I just took what I would call a pleasant walk at Spittle Pond, that is until I let Limerick off her lease to chase some chickens. It is one of her favorite past times, and since she is too slow to catch them, I let her harass them a bit before continuing our walk. Today turned into more then chasing chickens. I lost track of her for a bit and ending up finding her in the cow pasture. Bermuda packages it's own milk on the island and you tend to see cow farms here and there. This particular cow farm is near the walking path and had about 10 cows milling around. Limerick found the biggest cow and was chasing it around. She also found a giant cow pie and to my relief wasn't rolling in it as expected. She did decide it was a tasty afternoon treat which may have been even grosser then rolling in it. This cow was huge and I was so worried that she was going to get kicked by it. She was trying to pounce on the cow which was 10 times her size and she was obsessively barking at it. The worst part was that fact that the pasture was surrounded by a barbed wire fence and what I thought was an electric fence. Yelling seemed to make her more obsessed and I had to shimmy under the fence to chase her through the pasture and back out to the path. The rest of the trip was uneventful but boring as Limerick was restrained on a short lease! Oh the trials of having a dog.

We will be in the USA on Sunday through Thanksgiving. This may give me an excuse to not write for a few weeks. Check back in December as I am sure we will be up to something new.

Until next time...

Scuba

Things have been slow in Bermuda and one friend mentioned that I should get certified in scuba. Funny she should have mentioned that, because Ryan has been spending his past 10+ weeks getting certified. Ryan decided to look into the BSAC which is the Bermuda Sub-Aqua Club. It is affiliated with the British Sub-Aqua Club. I guess the Brits take this certification very seriously because it has been quite the process. This process is not like going into your neighborhood pool and becoming certified the next day. The classes consisted of in-class sessions learning safety techniques, rules for scuba, and the basics. After about 10 classes, Ryan took a written exam. He then started diving with experienced volunteers. They had three sheltered dives and then five open water dives. Ryan will dive for his last time this Sunday and then will be a Certified Ocean Diver. He has loved the experience and hopes to continue with friends. He has experienced many parts of Bermuda that we had never considered going to. While he loves it, I prefer to stay floating on the top of the water staring down at the fish as opposed to entered into their world.

The water is getting chilly (75 degrees surface temperature), so Ryan is now wearing a wetsuit. I am sure it will help as the waters will continue to dip down into the 60's as winter is approaching. It is still beautiful in Bermuda with the high's this week in the mid-70's. I cant complain, it has been a beautiful October. As October comes to a close, we are looking forward to some trips to the USA. I hope the snow holds off as I guess I forgot to bring a warm winter jacket with me to Bermuda. I may have to pick one up while shopping at the much anticipated USA malls. We cant wait!

Until next time...

One Nation Under God

Today I went to the school that I have been tutoring at, and there was an assembly scheduled. Instead of going home (since I pulled myself out of bed at 7:30am to get there), I decided to stay and watch. The P6 students which means ages 10-11 were putting on a skit about how to stay germ free. People are worried about the swine flu, I mean excuse me H1N1 in Bermuda, yet no H1N1 vaccinations have made it to the island. There have been under 5 cases since the spring, so hopefully the island will stay swine flu free. Tourists are still arriving in droves from the USA, so hopefully only healthy people are touring the country.

Anyways back to my original story. Before the skit began, the principal led a morning prayer. I had heard the students reciting the lords prayer previously, but this session was much more than I expected. At a public primary school in Bermuda, the students were required to bow their heads in prayer, sing a rendition of the Lord's Prayer, and then the students had to stand and clap and sing to two Christian songs. Some of the P5 students were "too cool" to sing and dance along, and were reprimanded by being called out and forced to sing along. While Bermuda is mainly a country practicing Christianity, a 2000 census noted that 21% of inhabitants were unspecified or nonparticipating and 12% practiced religions other then those of the Christian faith. While I am a Christian and wouldn't mind singing along, I found it unbelievable that the public schools were participating in church practices. I feel it would have been extremely uncomfortable for both students and their parents if their households didn't practice or believe in the Christian principals. I maybe found it so hard to believe since students in the US aren't even required to say the Pledge of Allegiance in the morning since it says, "Under God."

Until next time...

It's Fall

Man have I been neglecting my blog. Not for any particular reason, mainly because not too much is new in Bermuda. We had guests this past week and had a wonderful time with Kim and Christian our Erie friends. They are beach bums, so we spent some quality time beaching it and snorkeling some new areas. We explored John Smith Bay which we had never been to. On a Thursday afternoon we were the only people on the beach! The waves were rough on the south shore, but we still enjoyed seeing some great parrot fish. It was parrot fish central with abut 10-15 parrot fish combing the reefs. We have friends for Philadelphia visiting next week and have enjoyed the comradery of good friends. We are also looking forward to November when we are going to Boston for Ryan's actuarial conference where he will get his diploma for becoming a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society. We will also be spending Thanksgiving in Pittsburgh with Ryan's family. I am excited for our upcoming trips.

While we have heard that Halloween and Trick or Treating is popular here, I have yet to see any pumpkins. I love carving pumpkins and am not sure I will have that opportunity here. Every holiday and event is a surprise in Bermuda as many times the traditions are very different. I will have to keep you posted. We live in the last house at the top of a steep hill, so I cant imagine we will have very many goblins and ghouls stopping by Halloween night!

Until next time...

English Tea

This past week I had my mom and aunt in town to visit. Ryan went for a guys weekend to State College and had a grand old time taking advantage of the conveniences of the states. It was fun to have guests again. We did some of the same things we have done before such as the Gibbs Lighthouse, Tobacco Bay snorkeling, and the zoo (we did witness two mating giant tortoises, which was well....unique). We did do one thing that I had been wanting to do. We had afternoon English tea at the Elbow Beach resort. We all tried a different kind of tea while sharing plates of quick breads, scones, and tea sandwiches. I loved it! While it is still too hot outside for tea, I still enjoyed my cup in the air conditioned resort!

I have been very busy planning a big event at the Centre on Philanthropy where I volunteer two days a week. The event is tomorrow and is called the Give Back Games. Nine re-insurance companies will compete in beach games. Nine charities were chosen to run the games and be recipients to the charity donations. Over the course of the day $54,000 will be awarded! I have really enjoyed event planning and have seen how generous Bermudian companies and people can be. I have enjoyed learning more about the charity sector here and hope to continue to give my efforts to charities on the island. Volunteer work can be just as rewarding as a paying job, so for now my time is wisely used!

Until next time....

Fall is here and I must admit that I miss jean/sweatshirt weather already. I think my favorite time of the year is fall in Pennsylvania or Minnesota. I love the changing colors of the trees, warm apple cider, pumpkins, and being comfortable in your favorite pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. It will be hard for me as September and October still bring in the 80 degree temperatures. We are excited that it will still be warm for our fall guests as we have three sets of visitors coming starting this week. We had about 2 months off from visitors and I am excited to share Bermuda with guests again as Ryan and I now know the island like the back of our hand. It isn't too hard when the island is only 21 square miles! Bermuda is actually one of the smallest territories in the world. Monaco and Gibraltar are the only notable islands smaller in size. Through all of the excitement we have had over the past 7 months, we realized this weekend that Bermuda can be boring. While we still enjoy doing touristy things, it is easy to try it all and feel lost for new ideas. I think that may happen anywhere you live, but on a rainy weekend such as this past one it was particularity true. I feel that Bermuda is focused on the family and Sunday is a day to attend church and relax/eat with relatives. Almost everything on Sunday is closed or open limited hours. The grocery store is only open from 12pm-5pm, and many cafe's and restaurants are closed. Most coffee shops aren't open so you can't even grab a cup of coffee. On weekdays boutiques, hardware stores, and cafe's are only open until 5pm or 6pm. While I think this is a good thing, it is hard to adjust when I am used to 24 hour supermarkets and shopping malls being open until 9:00pm.

Ryan kept busy this weekend by diving with his scuba club, the BSAC. Ryan has been taking classes for the past two weeks, but was finally able to go out and try diving. Right now lessons are focusing on safety techniques, but Ryan said being underwater is amazing. For some reason, it doesn't sound appealing to me, and I will continue to be happy floating on top with my mask and snorkel!

Until next time...

PS the picture is an old picture I took of a cemetery in Bermuda.

We're Driving Now

Our new Daihatsu Terios has been wonderful. Thanks to Jack we have been cruising around Bermuda listening to some old Grateful Dead cassettes. Life is good. Life is good for Limerick too as our car has allowed us to take her more places on the island. We even discovered a great underground dog park. The Botanical Gardens in Bermuda are a wonderful area to walk your dog. You can walk the dogs through paths of flowers, wildlife, and wonderful gardens. This week we even discover a secret society of dog lovers! There is a ring in the garden which I have been told is for horses, but Monday-Thursday people bring their dogs to this fenced in ring for a romp session at 6:30pm. The reason this is shady is due to the large sign that says, "NO DOGS ALLOWED!" We are all respectful dog owners and pick up poo, but still the off-leashing of dogs in this area is not encouraged. Limerick had an initiation Wednesday, but passed with flying colors. The other owners don't want aggressive dogs to join this play session.

Last night we went out for a curry buffet at the Elbow Beach Resort with some friends. Curry is big here as there is a strong influence from the English. I didn't know that the Brit's enjoyed their curry, but I guess that is true and there are many places on the island that have extensive curry menus. Bermuda's expanding Indian population is also a reason for curry being added to many menus. Good old Erie, PA didn't have that cultural influence, so Ryan and I are now discovering this new food. A buffet was the way to go, as you could try many different dishes. The buffet was $18 and beer/wine was $6 a glass. It was quite a reasonable meal for Bermuda.

We are excited for a long Labor Day weekend! I hope you enjoy yours.

Until next time...