So it's been an odd few weeks here in Arrecife. After Hurricane Dean dodged the island, business took a few days to pick back up. By the way - the best time to take a Caribbean vacation? Right after a hurricane. The storm scrubs the skies clean, so you get spectacular weather, very few other guests, very low room rates, and a bunch of hotel staffers sitting around waiting for something, ANYTHING to happen. The island is your oyster. Assuming it wasn't wiped out, of course - if a hurricane is looming over that little Caribbean getaway you've always wanted to visit, I'd still hold off on buying plane tickets.
We opened our department a day earlier than anticipated, which was cool, but we still had very few guests. Then some kids started showing up. Then more kids. Then more kids. The little guys were coming out of the woodwork! It was great at first, but remember that we were already understaffed before the hurricane. There were so many kids after the hurricane that we went back to triple shifts and 6-day workweeks. Still, it was just a 10-day sprint to the finish. Last Monday we closed down the department for six weeks, as kids are finally going back to school. And if they're not, they certainly won't be doing any CAOS programs for a while!
The day after we closed CAOS, I moved out of the apartment. My three other roommates had already left in May, August, and the night before, so I was left to clean out the place and try to get as much of our deposit back as we could (an endeavor in which I was successful, I might add). So where have I been living since then? My boss and her husband went on vacation the very same day I needed a new place to crash, so they've been letting me house-sit all this time. They have a very nice place right behind the Winchester-Swann, and since they own it rather than renting, I don't have to pay any rent either! And since there's no rent to pay, I've sort of started my vacation early. I've been doing a lot of reading, visiting with friends, relaxing, and two days ago I got certified as a Rescue Diver, so I've been having a pretty good time. Of course, I'm still on call for work every day since we're still doing the Stingray Sandbar pontoon trips and there's a big corporate event we're hosting tomorrow, so I'm not being completely lazy. Just mostly lazy. It's a nice break from August.
A while back I went to inspect the damage at Cemetery Beach after Dean. I'm sure you can see why it's called Cemetery Beach. These are fairly common sights along the shores of Arrecife, with the raised graves and pots of silk flowers baking in the sun. After the storm, one would think that the flowers would be gone, but many simply tipped over in the strong winds.
Some flowers managed to break away from their resting spots, however, providing the perfect building material for a sand castle of a different sort. Cemetery Beach, indeed. It should be noted that this picture was taken nearly two weeks after the anniversary of Elvis's death, but that the real date was in the middle of preparations for the storm. I guess there are some things that shouldn't go without recognition.
So now it's just a week or so until I return to the States for my real vacation. In the meantime, the ocean is calling. There's some diving to be done.
