Wasting away again.....

Dia dhuit !! (That means hello in Gaelic, for real, I looked it up.)

  My head is SWIMMING with facts today so Im just going to jump right in......

FACT OF THE DAY: People who move to the Island from another country (mostly from USA and 

               Europe are called Expats. (Ive know this for a while but thought it might be some demeaning       

               slang word until I read it in the newspaper. So I guess its ok to write here)

                                    The Caymen Islands are the ONLY Islands that have very strict alcohol ( all

              the bars/ restaurants must close at 12 midnight on Saturdays because Sunday is so highly

              regarded as a holy day) and nudity rules (NO nudity at all is permitted or you will be fined and 

              arrested) due to their strict religious beliefs.

                                    'Boxing Day' is a British holiday (which is the day after Christmas) where 

              everyone wraps up gifts (ect) and gives them out to those less fortunate. (When it originated a

              super long time ago, the rich would box up their old gifts, since they now had new ones)

                               And onto my day.....

 WASTING AWAY AGAIN IN MARGARITAVILLE....because...

    So many of you have been asking me what my uniform is so I took the liberty of taking some non show-offy pics so you could see it with your own eyes. Describing it just wouldn't do it any justice...

Lets start with the back. Anyone who had spoken to me prior knows that all I wanted to do was to nestle myself in a hammock...how perfect is this shirt for me!!! (oh and you can thank those nasty Caymanian mosquitos for the marks on my elbows.)

    And now.....(drumroll please...).....

  OH MY GOODNESS!!!  Im soo sorry, I didn't realize that I was making the "Na Na Na Na Na" face!!

And yes I am wearing a bandana and a grass skirt. BEST uniform Ive even worn (well except for when I was a lifeguard, but that doesn't count) [See how TAN my legs are getting!!]

   Most of the business comes in during the day so the restaurant closes at 9pm. EVERY night, except Sundays when we are not allowed to open. (That religious thing again) There are 3 bars, and 3 dining rooms (Disco, Main and Pool) We also have 2 retails areas where you can purchase anything from a beer cozy to a long sleeved shirt. What else can I tell you...there are about 15 different kind of margaritas, including top shelf ones. The beer on tap is Caybrew (the locally made lighter beer which is similar to a heinekin (sp)) and Caybrew Bock (which is a darker lager..but I cant remember what they compared it to..Sam Adams maybe?) The official Margaritaville beer is called Landshark which is comparable to a Corona (and the have a 'loaded shark' which means they top off the window with lime tequila or Captain Morgans Rum).

   There are all sorts of interesting things that go on here...beer chugging contests, balloon popping contests (to see videos click on the Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville fb page) line dancing (Jacqueline you'd LOVE it here, lots of western music) and sooo much more (Do I sound like an advertisement? YES I am plugging the restaurant!)

                                             Yesterday I got to see my first "body shot"

        First you buy a shot and he (Dave) makes it for you and pours it all the way down your stomach:

      THEN, he sprays whip cream on top of it (sometimes it gets on more than your stomach......)

   FINALLY.........you slurp up your shot.....(WARNING: this is not appropriate for children)

And OF COURSE you need to bring an entourage of people to cheer you on and make snide comments.

   

                  On that note Im going to move away from the activities of my new place of employment and onto the less scandalous part of my day.

          After work we took a long walk around our neighborhood and came upon...

  Camana Bay, which is a large ritzy development that houses high-end stores, restaurants and apartments. It's a high class outdoor mall if you will. (I love that...'if you will'...sounds very Masterpiece theater like [remember that show? Did I just date myself?]) We decided to take some pictures because that was the only thing we could afford to do here.....

(I couldn't believe this was a REAL cloud...straight up and down!)

   

                                               Then I had Morgan do a mini photo-shoot....

              He is VERY into Yoga.........(obv, I cant def NOT do that [ I tried it hurts like a .....])

              Then I convinced him to climb the LARGEST palm tree I could find, and he DID IT!!!

                                                            HAHA do you get the joke? 

            And then there it was, the moment I had bee waiting for since I got here. Heck...since BEFORE I got here. It was just sitting there, still, silent, as if it to had been waiting...

                                                         But it wasn't quite complete....

                                          Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.  Perfection. Finally

      After a few blissful moments we decided to move on. The walk back took forever (as it usually does) so we ventured to a place where we could sit and figure out our next move. Thank goodness we found 'The General'. He was just FULL of helpful advice...

                                  He suggested that we meet up with Chris and check out.....

  which is an expats bar right on the water (when I say right on the water I mean it was about 7 steps away from the water) that plays house music (we actually head 'Sandstorm') We walked along the beach while Chris filled us in on all the CRAZY stories from the restaurant and his exciting plans for the future of Margaritaville. (Yes another plug!) It was a wonderful day........

    Id like to end todays blog with a moment of silence for our dear friend Oscar. Even though we only knew him for a short time (about 26 seconds) he touched our lives in ways we cant describe....

     We tried to tell him not to cross the busy road but he felt like it was a path that he had to take...

         I couldn't watch, but when I heard the sound of CRUNCH....I knew his journey had ended.

                                                     Oscar, you will be deeply missed....

   Tomorrow were are off to HELL.....