Home at Last

I can now say I've spent six months living on an island in the Caribbean. I didn't just visit, I actually lived there. I took the time to get to know the people on the island, to understand the culture, to get involved in the community. I worked in the Botanical Garden, I worked in the Marine Park, I taught in the schools, I taught kids how to make crafts at the Center for Youth in Family, I played volleyball on a local team, and I learned what it means to make a life for myself.

I have learned and grown so much in the past six months. It's amazing how much can change in six months' time. I've learned how to love someone for everything they are and everything they aren't. To know them for their strengths and their weaknesses and to love them in spite of it all. I've learned that it's okay to get close to people and to share yourself with them. They aren't going to throw it back in your face or go tell the world what you said, they are going to love you and accept you for who you are. I've learned to trust other people and that the people who you love and trust aren't going to let you down. They'll come through in their own way and they will stick by you.

I've learned how to prepare half a pig. I've learned how to make wallets from Tetra-Pak (juice boxes). I learned how to make delicious chicken satay. I've learned to like (most) vegetables. I learned how to take it easy, to chill, to lime. I learned how to set up and run an art exhibition. I learned how to make something from very little.

I also learned that my Statia Family is so important and irreplaceable and I owe a huge part of what I learned to them.

Because you're my Statia Family, and I love you!

Less than a month to go and the opening of an exhibition!

I now have only about 26 days left on the island. It's been an incredible five months so far and I'm looking forward to the last few weeks.

This Friday was the opening of our first art exhibition. It included photography of mine, paintings by Claire, the garden ranger, prints and painted calabash by Dagmar Paulus, an Austrian woman who lives on the island, and a sculpture by me. The opening went really well and everyone enjoyed the art work and the food.



Last week, we had to move the sculpture from the welding yard to the garden. This is me, next to where my sculpture's home used to be.



Putting the beast into the back of the truck.



Moving the sculpture to the front lawn.




Ta-dah! In place with a lovely view of the sea in the background.

 

My initials on the back of the body.

Edsel's initials on the back of the body.

Welds on the wings.

Legs!

Close up of the welds on the legs.

Head of the dragonfly.

Corner of the box of the body. Welded and then used a grinder to make them flush with the metal again.

Design on the wings.

Happy sculptor!

Also for the exhibition--since it was about Mother Nature and recycling--I made some flowers out of soda cans and beer bottle caps. It was really fun to make because there were so many different petal designs. It was also quite dangerous because aluminum is very sharp! If you decide to do this on your own or with kids, be careful and try not to cut your fingers on the metal. 

All the flowers.

Close up of the one that resembles a lotus. It's made from two Arizona tea cans, gren tea and lemon tea. I alternated their petals and made a template when I found a petal shape I liked.

This is my favorite one of the whole lot. Made from a Ting can, a banana Fanta, and a Smirnoff Ice bottle cap.





Pinning photos on the pavilion for the exhibition. We used branches to attach the photos to and then put the branches on the pavilion.

Sapphira setting up the crafts table for the children.

The dragonfly ready for unveiling.

Making a speech and talking about the work.

Unveiling the sculpture with Fletcher, one of the contributors to the work.



Thank you to all the volunteers, interns, and staff members who made this exhibition possible! With out all your hard work, it would not have been as incredible as it was.



Lots of things to talk about!

It's been a few days since I've blogged so this is going to be a longer one than usual.

I've taken this week off so I'm going to be doing some different and exciting things.

Last week, on Wednesday, I went to go welding. I've been working with the welding shop since late January on a sculpture and I haven't said much about it on the blog because I've been needing to take pictures. We made some serious progress on the sculpture. I'm building a dragonfly out of scrap metal. It's going to be almost six feet long and it's wing span is pretty huge too. It's really coming along! And, I actually got to use the welding machine this past week which was very exciting. I have so much more respect for the welders now that I've done what they do. You have to wear a flame-retardant suit, heavy boots, super thick gloves, saftey goggles, and then a big, heavy welding mask. It's all black and even the tiny piece of glass you look through is so dark that you can't see anything until you spark something. They make all sorts of beautiful things in the complete dark! That is a truly difficult job.

The eye balls are finished! I welded the left one and Etsall welded the right one. I'm the one who burned the goobie, or calabash, to a crsip. :]



Me, welding!

Etsall next to our dragonfly.



Side view of the dragonfly with the wings on.

 

Front view of the dragonfly with the wings.

This weekend was a good, but sad weekend. We said goodbye to Randy, Ella, and Matt. Randy and Ella had been with us for four months and Matt had been with us for a month. We all got very close and it was tough to see them go. I'm sure they're enjoying hot showers, and good produce though! On Friday, we all hung out at the beach together and had a good time.

All of us on the beach on Friday. In the front from left to right, little Katie, Matt, Roel, and Randy. In the back from left to right, Eve, Kyle, Jean, Bint (Kate's puppy, one we rescued from the dump!), Saph peeking her head in, Claire, Me with Lallia Hannah's baby, Nadio, Ella, and Hannah.  

Yesterday, I woke up and something told me to walk up the Quill. So, I said okay, I'll go. I ate some breakfast, put my hiking boots on, packed my backpack and went. On my way up there was a rainbow.

My favorite view on the whole island is coming down from the Quill at the trailhead. You can see town, the Northern Hills, and the sea. It's so beautiful. 

Anyway, so I walked up the Quill. It had been raining that morning so when I got to the top the rocks were getting pretty slippery. I decided it wasn't a good idea to go into the crater by myself in the rain so I just went to the lookout and relaxed for a few minutes. It started to rain more steadily so I came back down.

Me at the top. There was a self-timer involved.



...and a little bit more artistic one.




The view into the crater.



I was so amazed when I got to the top and looked inside the crater of an actual, dormant volcano. I see the volcano every day, I live at the base of it but it's hard to truly grasp the concept of living on a volcano. I have made my home on the side of a volcano! It's crazy! Looking down into the crater is something so beautiful and breath taking. It is still something I'm learning to really appreciate. I can't wait to go inside the crater. I'm hoping to do that on Friday.

Leaves growing on a fallen log on the Quill trail.



This is what my hike looked like when I got closer to the top of the crater.



Yesterday afternoon and last night was girl time. There are only four of us at the garden right now and only girls, well, Kyle got back last night. So there was only four of us girls there. But, I walked down to Statia Lodges to hang out by the pool with Eve and then Jean and Saph joined us in the evening. It was really nice, we talked and talked, and drank yummy juice.

Today, I walked down to town and visited the fort. I have been to the fort before but I didn't have my camera. I brought it along this time and took some pictures. It's such a beautiful day today and the photos turned out nicely.

The fort overlooks the whole bay.

Beautiful!

After I was done at the fort I walked down the Old Slave Trail. As I was walking I looked down, and say my very own shadow. So I took a picture. The thumb describes how I feel right now :]

Here's to another two months in the Caribbean. Missing everyone at home, but loving it here!

 

One Day Away from Four Months!

I've now been on Statia for four months. The time has gone by really quickly and I'm still learning new things every day.

The past few weeks have been good ones. I've been building a dragonfly sculpture out of scrap metal at the welding shop in town. It's coming along nicely now and it should be finished soon. I've been putting together yet another catalog of plant and flower images. And I'm also in the planning stages for an art exhibition at the garden in April.

This past weekend, we went camping on Zeelandia Beach which was good fun. We also hung out at the beach and relaxed.

I finished reading "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver. It was such a good book. The language was rich and descriptive and I soaked in every word.

Today we took a boat ride around the bay, did some snorkeling and then soaked up some sun. It was so nice and then sun felt good. This afternoon we're going to the beach, having some dinner in town, and then going dancing! We're diving on Sunday so it should be a great weekend.

More pictures!

Bananaquit singing in the palm tree.

 Please do not copy with out permission.

More pictures! and a Drop in the Bucket

I have certain photography goals in life and one of them was to capture a picture of a hummingbird in flight. Yesterday, I camped out in several locations in the garden hoping and praying that a hummingbird would flit over to drink nectar out of the plants. One did exactly that, and I was able to capture it on camera.

We had a really lovely night last night in the garden. We just finished our Corn Hole board so we played corn hole. I was on a team with Randy and we won! We also played glow in the dark frisbee for a while which was quite exciting.

Dead pig on the road! Right in the heat of the action!



Teeny-tiny fungus, or some sort of eggs. Eve found them on a twig.



Pictures!

My blue bead!