Happy Transfer Day!

Transfer Day is the US Virgin Islands holiday to celebrate the transfer of the islands from Denmark to the United States on March 31, 1917. This is another government holiday, so my coworkers have off work today. As during the Easter holidays, I will be treating both outpatients and patients upstairs in the hospital. Above, you will see a picture of the original newspaper "The Bulletin" where it lists the activities of the original Transfer Day Ceremony.

As for yesterday, we were unable to ride up to Paradise Point, as we arrived at 4:30 and the area closes at 5:00. In fact, most of the stores close at 5 pm on Sunday (when the cruise ships leave). I still plan on riding the tram up to Paradise Point, I will just have to wait until another time.

International Rolex Regatta

The International Rolex Regatta is being held at the St. Thomas Yacht club this weekend, so I wanted to go out to see the sail boats. I found out that the large pretty sails are called Spinnakers and are used for sailing downwind and act sort of like a kite. It was amazing to see all of the sailboats in the water racing around. These pictures were taken from Secret Harbour, a little secluded beach where you can rent various water equipment and has a little restaurant. There were also numerous lizards and 2 iguanas looking for handouts.

Video of Waves

Here is a video of the giant waves from last week. Debbie took this video the day after I took the pictures of the waves at Hull Bay. This video is taken at an area near Magen's Bay. Enjoy!

So much for sleeping in...

Well, I was hoping that I would get to finally sleep a little later today, but Toby has other plans. This morning, at 6:30ish, I awoke to little puppy whimpers. Apparently, he was ready to get up, go outside and play! Hopefully, I can convince him in a bit that it will be a good idea to go back to sleep...we'll see.

As for last night, I met up with Jay and Debbie at Hook Line and Sinker where we had some dinner. As always, great food and good company! You can go to www.hooklineandsinkervi.com to check out the restaurant.

Beautiful Day

Well, today is Friday, which means it is the weekend! I had a busy day at work today, but it was good. Now, I'm sitting outside by the pool in the 80 degree weather in the lounge chair! It is so nice here and I love the weather! Toby is also outside enjoying the outside and sitting here on the chair with me.

This weekend, there is the International Rolex Regatta, which is a big sail boat race they have yearly. I hope to go out sometime this week to watch the races, it should be fun! I also want to go out and do some shopping sometime this weekend, so we'll see what I actually end up doing.

I hope that everyone had a great Friday!

Dancing Toby

Last night, I ate with Jay and Debbie, so I brought a cookie up with me for Toby to have when we were eating. Well, Toby saw me grab the cookie and take it upstairs with me, and decided he had to have it. So, he started pretending to choke to get my sympathy vote for the cookie, he did this for a while, so Debbie grabbed her camera to film him. Unfortunately, he stopped the fake choking thing, so we didn't get that on film (that is the pause in the front; me seeing if he will fake choke), but we did get him dancing around

No Squeaky Brakes!

So, I drove to work this morning, and no squeaky brakes on the way down the mountain! I was very excited!

Busy Day!

So, everyone at work was back today, so it was nice to have more people around! It was great, one of my former patients brought us all in bottles of wine today. Everyone was very excited. During lunch, I had to take my car to the rental place so they could change the brake pads. I began to notice a few days ago that the brakes were squeaking, so the owner told me to bring it in today. Thankfully, the guy was quick, and it only took about 20 min. total for him to change everything. It is nice knowing that if anything happens with my car, they are happy to do the repairs.

For a weather update, it has been raining most of the afternoon, so that hasn't been the most fun. Toby has not been happy, as he likes to go outside everyday to run around on the pool deck. Since I didn't want him getting wet and smelly, I made him stay inside...so he has me playing fetch with him!

Easter Surprises!

Well, I went to PO Box and the Easter Bunny came to visit! I got two cards (one from my aunt Joy and another from my grandmother) and then a package from my mother. Toby got a new bandanna to wear from the Easter Bunny since he had to leave all of his at home! I also got a sandwich container and lots of crystal light drink mixes! Mom also had some other surprises in there for me. It was definitely a pleasant day at the post office!

A Note from Toby

Toby wanted me to tell everyone that he is having a great Easter! He said that he is trying to learn to howl at the full moon that we have been having the past couple of nights and that he helped me take these pictures of the moon and the parrot that he is naming Polly. We often see these green parrots around (they are called Brown-throated or St. Thomas Conures), but this is the first time that one stopped long enough for a picture. We have also seen Hummingbirds too, but they are way too quick for a picture.

Happy Easter from Toby!

Happy Easter!

Sorry for no post yesterday, but the internet has been down since Friday. That is just the way life is on the islands I suppose!

So, this weekend has been one of great excitement for me, as I became scuba diving certified today! Yesterday, I went out for my first open water dive, and I got to see a reef called Flat Cay and then another reef area called East Wind (there was also a small boat wreck there). In the water, I had to show off some of the skills that I had learned in the pool, and then I could enjoy the rest of the dive. I saw tons of colorful fish, conch shells, sea biscuits, an eel, baracudas, and a few lobsters. It was so amazing being so close to the water, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Today, I went out to the military wreck site (no war story here, just the Kennedy aircraft carrier was loading equipment onto the barge, missed and crashed through the barge to sink it) called Kennedy and another reef called Spratt Point. In the first dive, I got to go down as far as 60 feet and saw a HUGE sting ray buried in the sand (it was at least 5 feet wide) and numerous fish. On the second dive, I saw 2 sea turtles, another sting ray, an eel playing around, a baracuda, and lots of fish. Since I finished the last of my skills at the beginning of this dive, I was a certified diver for most of the dive and I got to go through a couple of coral tunnels and use my bouyancy. Sorry, no pictures from the dive (I found these on the web) as I don't have an underwater camera...but I will have to get some pictures on other dives that I take. I will have to find a good underwater camera! I have to give a big thanks to Admiralty Dive Center and my instructor Dave for making this such a great experience for me!

Happy Easter everyone!

St. Thomas on Holiday

Since moving to St. Thomas, I have come to realize that they are truly in another world and have their own time. This week, being the week of Easter, is deemed Holy Week. Last Sunday (Palm Sunday) began this week long celebration with 'parades,' and now, here I sit at work alone. Why do I sit alone? Well, Thursday (Holy Thursday), Friday (Good Friday), and Monday (Easter Monday) are all government observed holidays. This means that all of my coworkers have out of work, and since I am a traveler and wouldn't get paid otherwise, I am at work. Not to worry, at least I have a beautiful view from the balcony here in the office (see the picture above)! The speech therapist has been coming in for a few hours each day to treat her patients, so I am not completely alone here. Plus, I am treating some of my outpatients and some of the patients up in the hospital.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Good Friday and Easter weekend!

Giant Waves at Hull Bay

For those of you who don't know, the Caribbean is getting hit by large swells at this very moment. Something to do with a cold front coming through. Apparently, this does not happen often, and the last time was in 1991 when the ship "Andrea Gail" was wrecked (you may remember the movie based on this wreck "The Perfect Storm). So, I decided that I would take the opportunity to take Toby to the beach at Hull Bay for his first time and check out the waves. Hull Bay is on the North side of the island, where the waves were larger.

Well, I get there and the waves are HUGE! I was carrying Toby the entire time that I was on the beach, as the sand strip was narrow and waves were coming ashore quickly. So, I had finished taking my share of pictures and some other people had dogs and grabbed my attention. I walked about 20 feet from where the waves had been hitting, and then let Toby get down to see the other dogs. Just as I was about to take a picture (I had my back to the waves), a rouge wave came crashing on the beach and came all of the way up about 30 feet from the water line! Poor Toby started to get washed away and started to swim...who knew, my little dog can swim?...and I grabbed on his leash and pulled him out of the water and into my arms. At first, he had a look of horror on his face, but then he kind of looked like "Hey mommy, I can swim!" Needless to say, I was drenched from my waist down and poor Toby was soaked (but his head managed to stay dry). I think Toby was more upset that when we got home, I had to give him a bath...I felt like a horrible mother, but there was no way to know the wave would crash up that high. I wasn't the only one who got soaked, everyone on the beach was drenched as well.

Letters from Home...

So, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I finally have a PO Box. This is a good thing because the first package I had delivered was to general mail. This meant that I had to go check every few days, stand in a line for 20 minutes or so just to get told "sorry, no package." Finally, after 10 days, I received my package. It included much needed Skin-So-Soft to help keep away the mosquitos! My mother also surprised me with candy...yum! So, now I have a PO Box, so I don't have to go through the long lines anymore. I got the box last week, and went to check it yesterday to discover that my mother had sent me and Toby (yes, he gets his own mail...he is my baby and gets treated as such) an Easter card. These cards took less than a week to arrive, so I was very impressed!

Toby's Adventures!

So, to tell you a bit about how Toby is adjusting...HE LOVES IT! He goes outside to play at least once a day and if he's lucky, Jay or Debbie are home to provide extra attention. On the days Jay has off of work during the week, he will let Toby out to play. Toby thinks that is the coolest thing that he gets to "help" Jay around the house.

So far, Toby has seen birds fly by, chased small lizards, gotten nose to nose with a large tree frog, and found an iguana. The birds and small lizards were mildly amusing. The frog was at night and when it moved a small amount, Toby ran behind me and growled at it until it hopped away. Pretty funny that he was trying to be all big and bad behind me! As for the iguana, now that was hilarious!

So, Toby and I were heading up on Friday (3/14/08), and he stops at nearly the top of the stairs and starts growling. I look down, and there is a giant iguana sunning under the stairs! Debbie called for Jay, and he handed me the camera and I got a picture. As I was panning out to take a shot of Toby growling at the iguana, Toby got a little too close and the iguana jumps out from beneath the stairs and takes off! I scream, Debbie screams, and Toby is off on hot pursuit! The iguana tears across the pool deck (looking like a dinosaur) and then proceeds to jump onto the raised flower area/landscape and smack into the fence. Toby is down below barking, and the iguana is looking around like "how do I get away from this furry thing???" Finally, he sees an opening, and wiggles down between the fence and the deck to safety. Toby is still there barking, then jumps up on the flower area and sniffs to try to trail where he went! Now, every time that Toby goes up the stairs, he stops every so many stairs and looks for an iguana!

St. John (Sunday, 3/16/08)

So, today, Jay and Debbie invited me out to St. John with them. You get to St. John by taking a ferry from Red Hook that costs $5 one way, and lasts about 20 minutes or so. The ferry leaves every hour, pretty much like clock-work (the one thing on the island that is timely). You arrive at Cruz Bay, St. John and there are a few little shops. We took the 10 am ferry and went to the St. John Spice Shop upon arrival so that Debbie could buy a beach bag. I still need to buy a beach bag, but I think I am going to get one in St. Thomas at Havensight.

We took a safari taxi to Maho Bay to meet with a family that Jay and Debbie know from the Virgin Islands Forum (there was a huge group of people from the forum that were going to be on the island that day). Maho Bay was so pretty, and I even got into the water. The water is a little chilly, but once you got in, it was okay. It began to rain a little, so that wasn't as fun, but hey, still better than being in NC in the cold air! We stayed out in the ocean when it was raining, and all of the tourists quickly packed up and ran for cover. While we were on the beach, we saw 2 dolphins swimming around near the beach...very cool! Since the sun wasn't out, I didn't feel the need to be adventurous and take my snorkel gear out. Maybe next time...

After the beach, we headed to the house that the family we met up with was renting. It overlooked Coral Bay, so I got to see a different side of the island. Apparently, every year, they have an event called "Eight Tough Miles" where people walk the windy, hilly, and steep roads from Coral Bay to Cruz Bay...if you drove that road and saw it, you would see why I say "no thanks!" The curves are hairpin, where you have to honk before approaching to ensure that no other car is approaching. While at their house, we got to change out of our beach clothes and put out some sugar to see the bananaquits. These are tiny little black and yellow birds that LOVE sugar! There were about 8 on the dish at one point!

Later, we drove back to Cruz Bay, where we went to a place called 'The Beach Bar' and ate dinner, listened to Jazz music, and Jay and Debbie met some of the people from the forum. I also got to call my mother from the Web camera so that she could see me online! There was about a 20 second delay, but at least she did get to see me in semi-real time.

We took the 7 pm ferry back to Red Hook and drove back home. Toby was SOOOOO excited to see me back. He's a mamma's boy for sure! Speaking of Toby, he loves it here! He insists on going outside every day to run around on the pool deck. He loves the outside warm sun.

Week Two

So, my second week at work was better. Most of my patients are now showing up, so that helps. It is still a more laid back style here, so at times, my patients show up late, but I am getting used to it.

Good news! I found out where the large K-Mart is, and right next to it, there is a Mail Plus store. I finally was able to get a post office box! The good news is, it acts as an actual address, so they will accept my packages, and they have late hours and weekend hours. I can go check my mail after work and pick up things at K-Mart if needed, very good set-up.

All of this week, I was taking my online courses to get scuba diving certified. Basically, you sit at your computer, go through slide shows, then take quizzes. At the end, you take a 50 question test, print off your records, and you are ready to begin actual training! On Saturday, I had my confined water driving course (meaning, in the pool with the gear and the instructor actually doing what I learned on the online course). It was a lot of fun, but very strange experience breathing underwater! I have my open water dives planned for next weekend...wish me luck!

Week One

So, I arrived on Saturday, March 1st to St. Thomas and followed my new neighbors to the house. I must say, it is a very strange thing to drive on the left side of the road! The trickiest part at first are the intersections. On Saturday, I moved my things into the cute new apartment and let Toby run around. The poor thing was still drugged from the plane ride, so he wasn't in full force until the next day. Jay and Debbie grilled out, so that was nice that I didn't have to worry about finding something to cook on the first night! I went to sleep early and the next day, I lounged around the pool, went out driving/exploring on the island, and then we all went out to dinner at the Fat Turtle that sits out on the marina. Very pretty scenery, I still cannot believe that I am down here finally!

On Monday, I began work, my first day was sitting through orientation all day (boring). Then, on Tuesday, I got to meet all of my coworkers and work with a couple of patients. On Wednesday, I had a case load of my own patients and have been working on my own since then. My first week, I think about 1/4 of my patients showed up, so I spent a lot of time being bored...thankfully, this has changed. My coworkers also gave me some directions, so I found how to get to some other places on the island. Driving here is still stressful, but I'm getting used to it.

For the weekend, I went to Magen's Bay on Saturday. The Virgin Island's Therapy Association was having a health fair there, so I got in for free! The beach was gorgeous and the views phenomenal! On my way back, I stopped at the St. Thomas dairy for a milkshake...very yummy! On Sunday, Deb and I went to a different grocery store, so I got to see the East end of the island. Some of the roads to that end are like roller coasters! Food items are definitely more expensive here, so it is difficult adjusting to that!

Overall, my first week on the island went well, and I think I will enjoy my time here!

Hello Everyone!

So, I finally decided to start a blog! My upstairs neighbor have one of their life living in St. Thomas, so I figured now would be a great time to document my travels...

As many of you know, I graduated from PT school in December 2006, too my PT boards 2 weeks later, then began working at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center as a PT in January. I worked there for 6 months, first in the Acute care setting, then in the long term acute care setting, including wound care. While I loved my job and my coworkers, I decided to try my hand as a traveling PT.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, traveling PT's basically work for a company (I chose Platinum Select and absolutely love my recruiter Mikalyn!), then get contracted out for short assignments to various locations around the US. I thought this would be a good way for me to see more of the US and see a variety of PT settings before I finally decide to settle down. Plus, I get to bring my sweet angel Toby (my nearly 2 year old maltipoo) with me wherever I go! Going back to the story to catch everyone up...

I was initially planning to head to St. Thomas in January for my first assignment, however 'island time' prohibited this from happening. The contracts were taking forever to get signed and the PT board was not meeting to approve me fore a PT license! So, Mikalyn and I decided that I should take a short-term assignment in NC to provide St. Thomas more time to complete the paperwork. So, I decided to take a job in a nursing home just outside of Wilmington, NC. It was so beautiful living in Wilmington, and I got to go visit the USS North Carolina while I was there. In addition, I loved my coworkers in Brunswick Cove and I had some patients who will stay in my memory for a long time (some for good reasons, others for not so good reasons...). Although I was only at Brunswick Cove for 6 weeks, I did enjoy my time and met friends, not just co-workers.

When I left Brunswick Cove (Feb. 28, 2008), I packed up my things and headed to High Point for some last minute packing. Okay, so by last minute packing, I mean throwing all of my winter stuff in my mom's house and staying up late for 2 nights packing for 3 months in the Virgin Islands! Poor Toby was so confused to what was happening. On Saturday morning, Toby and I were taken to the airport in Charlotte and we flew down to St. Thomas. My rental car company picked me up at the airport, and my neighbors met me at the rental car place so that I could follow them back to the house. Needless to say, it is a very strange thing driving on the left side of the road, but I am used to it now.

Now, here I am in St. Thomas and am loving the tropical paradise! Look to future blogs for stories about my first weeks in St. Thomas, and I will start regularly posting blogs from here on out for all of my time as a traveling PT!