Playing Tourist with Alison

Alison and me at graduation 2007

Last week my friend from college came to visit! We had a great week with Alison, full adventures and relaxing beach days. We spent time on several different beaches around the island, went cliff jumping, did some shopping in Philipsburg, sailed to Anguilla for snorkeling, went zip lining on the french side, and even watched a crab race. We're so glad she was able to visit. Here are some pictures and videos (hopefully they work, if not I'll try to upload again later) from her visit. Enjoy!

Alison and I jumping together off 20ft cliff

My jump off 45ft cliff (we all jumped)

After our jump together

Nasty eel right where we were climbing out

Snorkeling at Prickly Pear, Anguilla

 

                                    

On the boat before lunch in Anguilla

Extreme Zip lining at Loterie Farms

View from starting point

One of many rope bridges between zip lines

Alison coming in on a zip line

Me on one of the long ziplines

Our photographer stopped for a picture :)

Hermit crab races at Kim Sha Beach (it's a local thing)

Pina Coladas at Baie Rouge (I think she had a pretty fun visit)

Officially a Triathlete

I completed my first triathlon!! There is a company on the island that holds races almost every week and it never costs more than $20 to participate. So I figured now is the best time to try it out. This race (Feb 6) was 3 mini triathlons held in a row. The distances for each event were 200m swim, 7km bike, 2km run. I did the first race and Owen did all three (the equivalent of a sprint triathlon). I had such a great time that I will be traveling to a nearby island in April to do two more. I'll be doing another "try-a-tri" as they call the really mini tri and relaying a medium tri (300m swim, 3km run, a friend will do the 30km bike). Check out the race pictures below. 

Marked for the swim

Other news from the island. Owen did well on his second set of exams on Monday. I'm still tutoring and seeing kids with the neurologist. I've been cooking more lately with great success. We went on a hike Monday after exams were over. It's a really pretty hike right on the water with "mountains" behind, you can see two other islands along the way and you end up at a secluded beach only accessible by the hike. It's nice to experience the beautiful, non tourist sections of the island. Owen is going scuba diving on Saturday to finish his certification. We have our first visitor coming in on Sunday! Alison, my good friend from college, will be here for a week and we have lots of fun things on the agenda. Another post with pictures from her visit will follow. I booked my flights to CT for Michelle and Evan's wedding in July! Not much else to report for now. Enjoy the pictures. Let us know how you all are.

Our swim on the first race. We started out this distance apart and maintained it the whole swim

Owen finishing the bike on his last race

Owen finishing the run, racing the other guy

Finishing my bike

Owen came back out to finish my run with me

After all the races

Christmas in the Caribbean (and CT)

Just a few pictures for now. Above is after the Full Moon Run. Owen did the 10K and I did my first 5K. Below are some of the island at Christmas followed by our break in Connecticut. Monday is the first set of exams for the semester so Owen is studying all weekend. I volunteered with the neurologist finally. It went really well and I am very excited to continue helping out. We went to a party at my boss's (tutoring) house on the other side of the island. It is really nice to get out of the school area and really know some locals. We saw her and her fiance at the race last night which was nice. All in all we're pretty settled into life here now and things are going well. Check back for apartment and school pictures I've been promising, I've almost got the apartment decorated now with the stuff we bought in the states. Hope everyone is doing well!

Christmas Party at Porto Cupecoy

Porto Cupecoy's lights

End of semester spouses night out (borrowed from a friend)

The Landgren's Christmas Tree

Snow Storm the day after Christmas 10"

Front of the house with lights and snow

Burying Jared's car 

The day after

Island Thanksgiving

We celebrated our first island Thanksgiving (and first Thanksgiving outside the states). Owen had class and I tutored, but I was able to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with a friend. The school served Thanksgiving style lunch. We were able to call/video with all of our families back home, some friends in Texas and some in China. It was a very quiet day, but great to catch up with all our loved ones. On Friday I spent the day cleaning, cooking and watching Miracle on 34th Street (the old version on course). That evening we hosted a potluck dinner at our apartment for 11 people. It was a great time. I made my first turkey and it turned out excellent. I also made a spiced apple cider in the crockpot which was also a hit.  Our guests brought really good sides and desserts. Not much else to say, so enjoy the pictures!

Preparing my first turkey!

The finished product. A success! (proof I can cook)

Owen carving the turkey for our guests.

Some lovely sides

More sides and dessert

Finished product

Makeshift dinner tables/seating

Most of our guest, minus the few that left early

Races

Just a few new pictures for you all to enjoy. These are from some races on the island that Owen has done recently. The first few from a relay triathlon on Nov. 7, Owen did the swim portion, the last is from an island relay on St Martin Day Nov. 11. We should have more pictures of life down here soon. There have been requests for pictures of the school and apartment, so those should be up in the next couple weeks. Also we are hosting a potluck Thanksgiving at our place, on Friday. I'm even cooking a turkey! So I'm sure we'll have pictures from that. Hope everyone is doing well. Enjoy these pictures and check back for new ones soon!

Triathlon Relay Team

All AUC triathlon participants

AUC Spouses (+ students) Island Relay Team