National Kids week in the TCI

So it was National Kids week here in the TCI. Events went on all week like a movie night, a barbecue, and a game day. Friday was game day so me, Nick, Courtney, and Rachel went down to the Regatta to see what they were doing. When we got there, there was a hula hoop contest going on. We wanted to join, but there weren't enough hoops. When it was the guys turn, we forced Nick to participate, but once again, they couldn't find an extra hoop. I ended up blowing up balloons for some of the kids and then giving "donkey rides" which are just piggy back rides. The kids taught us all how to dance. They were laughing quite hard at our attempts. The girls wanted to play with our hair so we let them. Luckily since mine isn't very long, they didn't like it. Courtney, who has hair down to her lower back, ended up getting "dreads" from the girls. When we got back, Court ended up spending an hour to get the dreads out.

Yesterday for community outreach I was in the group to go to Bell Sound where the family BBQ was. By the time we got there, everyone had left so Steve, the center director, showed us around the Sound (that's the place I am doing my research at). He told us the developers plans are to rip out the mangroves and dredge a channel through it. This will ruin one of the last nurseries for fish and sharks in the Caribbean. Our research efforts won't completely stop their plans, but they may change their plans depending on our results, so seeing the Sound how it is now and hearing about what might happen to it in the future was good motivation for my paper.
Last night we went out to the bars because it was Rachel's 21st birthday. I didn't take any pictures, but I may be able to get some from other people.

This morning around 7 a HUGE storm rolled through. We all thought we were in a hurricane. The wind was howling, there was a ton of thunder and lightning, and it was pouring. We all set our buckets out to fill with water so we can do our laundry again. Our bucket ended up overflowing. Some of the rooms ended up flooding because water was rushing in under the doors. Luckily our room was not one of those. I did, however, have to run out in the middle of the storm to get my clothes that were hanging on the line to dry. I was too late though and they are still soaking wet. I should have just added soap and left them out there. Well, that's pretty much it. I hope all of you are doing well!

-Michelle