On the Road

roach motel anyone?

2009-05-14T18:13:00.003-04:00

4 things that happened yesterday

1. woke to several nightmares about cockroaches. jumped out of bed thinking they were crawling in my sheets (premonition of things to come? very likely)
2. saw cockroach crawling on the wall of the food bank minutes before photographer arrived to take pictures
3. found baby caterpillar crawling on my sandwich wrapper at lunch (at least i know the lettuce was fresh...?)
4. went to subway for dinner, saw cockroach scurrying around in bread container. sudden loss of appetite, and yet another place on the island i refuse to eat.

yowza.

The Fam Visits 1

2009-05-11T18:26:00.008-04:00

The Froning clan was reunited recently for a week of pure Bahamian relaxation. Somehow, everyone made their flights into Nassau (and by everyone I mean Clay), and so began mini-reunion 2009. After a short sleep at my apartment in Nassau, we flew off to Eleuthera for the true island experience.

The Bahamas are not all picturesque beaches and palm trees, believe it or not. If I were to compare the country to Arizona, Nassau::Phoenix as Eleuthera::Sedona. Nassau is the capital city, home to 90% of the population and nearly all of the business. For these reasons the island has been a bit abused, and empty sands with gin water are harder to come by (although they can be easily found at many of the luxury resorts on the island).

Back to the trip. After a 30 minute ride East, we arrived on the island, and were greeted by none other than Friendly Bob, taxi driver to the stars (or anyone willing to pay $80 for the 40 minute ride to the cape). Eleuthera is over 100 miles long, but only about 1/2 mile across in most places. Enough boring narration, here are some pictures of our hotel.

The place we stayed, Powell Pointe Resort, was at the tip of Cape Eleuthera on a beautiful, well kept marina. We spent our days walking to one of the semi-private beaches, snorkeling, kayaking, drinking kalik, reading and relaxing. The resort was less of a resort and more of a grouping of 10 or so townhouses lined up on the docks of the marina.

Of course, we didn't realize that the bull sharks swimming all through the marina and surrounding ocean are one of the deadliest sharks in the world at the time. Only after countless snorkeling trips and dives off the dock did we think twice about the 10 foot sharks. Hey if the locals aren't concerned, why should we be...

Exuma

2009-01-05T20:36:00.003-05:00

Took a "powerboat adventure" with Lacey last week. Fed wild iguanas and sting rays. Lasso-d a shark (sort of). Laid on private island and napped. Snorkled briefly. Only complaint is the water wasn't quite blue enough...

Junkanoo

2009-01-01T22:47:00.001-05:00

New Year's Eve in Nassau means Junkanoo (huge parade, 2am-8am).

my worst fear realized

2008-12-08T19:44:00.004-05:00

i just came home from the gym to find a gerbil sized cockroach face-up on my tile floor. there is nothing i fear or despise more on this planet. island roaches are ungodly creatures, easily 2-3 times the size of anything i've had the displeasure of seeing in the states (except of course in hawaii last summer...).

after some words of encouragement (thanks doobie) i was able to sweep the beast out my front door. thankfully it did not wake up. i've spent the last hour tip toeing around my apartment searching for hidden crumbs or anything that might attract future unwanted visitors.

i think it might be a 2 ambien night.

schedule (pronounced shed-ewel here)

2008-12-05T11:57:00.003-05:00

6:30 am alarm
6:35 snooze
6:40 snooze
...
7:10 up
7:30 drive (no cd player, worst radio stations imaginable)
8:05 work, work
10:00 eat yogurt, i hate the lumps
10:01 gag from yogurt
10:03 throw remainder of yogurt away
... various work dealings
11:30 lunch plans cancelled
11:33 hungry, eat carrots, throw green nubs away
12:00 post boring blog
12:01 my baddd.

More Pictures

2008-12-02T17:12:00.003-05:00

Have I given you enough reasons to come and visit me yet?

More Reasons to Hate Me

2008-12-02T17:09:00.003-05:00

Regift of a regift?

2008-12-01T12:04:00.003-05:00

1st regift of the holidays season, and I'm already looking to pawn it off on somebody else. Does anyone actually like these cookies? They are not soft and chewy. They do not contain chocolate, caramel or nouget.

Step it up Denmark.

Food

2008-11-26T13:03:00.002-05:00

Unfortunately, Thanksgiving is not a holiday here.

Fortunately, Bahamians don't need an excuse to eat ridiculously large meals.

So while I may have to work on Thursday, rest assured that I will be spending a large portion of my day eating a huge Thanksgiving "lunch", followed by dinner at a coworkers house.

I guess this means I am scrapping my original plan of eating an entire green bean caserole by myself while watching steal magnolias for the 10th time since I've been here. Thank God!

dizygotic twins

2008-11-20T21:03:00.005-05:00

Famous Amos saves the day. Serving size is 4. Not enough. Lucky for me, when I reached inside the bag to grab cookie #7, his conjoined twin popped out as well.

No, I'm not bored tonight. Why would you think that?

Sarah Visits!!

2008-11-18T14:05:00.003-05:00

Selected photos from Sarah's visit a few weeks ago. We had a fabulous time! Spent a day on Harbour Island, shopped, drove around in a golf cart, ate a delicious meal at Nobu, gambled, hit the beaches, and most importantly...Sarah made her homemade Mac & Cheese.

There was a strawberry daquiri incident, but we don't need to get into that.

Seeing Red

2008-11-14T14:28:00.003-05:00

I purposefully don't talk about my job much on here. Something about working for a Christian non-profit and discussing it in a personal way on a "public" forum does not seem like it would be a good idea. However, I will say I am a bit worried about the future of my own job, and all fundraisers for that matter.

Working for a non-profit can be a bit tricky at times. When the economy goes south, our number of "clients" goes through the roof. Unfortunately, the number of donations are simultaneously plumetting somewhere far, far below the floor boards. It's understandable. The middle and upper classes are watching their 401k's and life savings vanish before their eyes.

Unfortunately, this leads to a huge decline in charitable giving for social service organizations like my own. Most non-profits receive about 40% of their annual income during the months of November and December. In a time when I should be overwhelmed thanking individuals and companies for their donations, I find myself sitting and waiting for that next check to come in, while more people than ever are lining up downstairs at the food bank.

And of course, living in a country whose economy is based on American tourism is not helping the situation. A few weeks ago the famous Atlantis Resort was rumored to be at 6% capacity; this week they laid off 800 workers. Did I mention this is the island's biggest employer? Not good!

Gitarren-und Videospiele

2008-11-13T10:14:00.004-05:00

I have taken up a new hobby, and it involves a recently purchased instrument and a borrowed 1971 lesson book. I suppose I shouldn't label it a hobby just yet, but I am working on it.

This is top of the line. Originally priced at $45, I was able to negotiate quite the deal at a cool $38.50.

Private lessons are for suckers. I'm all about becoming the self-taught prodigy I was always meant to be. Before long I will be playing such selections as "On Top of Old Smoky" and "Johnny Has Gone for a Sailor."

Who knows, perhaps a video recital is in this blogs near future...

Found

2008-11-12T17:14:00.001-05:00

Sitting on a lawn chair on the back patio. Sign of the times??

The List

2008-11-08T13:26:00.003-05:00

A few things I have learned thus far in Nassau:

It's not a good idea to go downtown when there are 5 cruise ships in port.

9-1-1 is actually 9-1-9.

Pick you up at 1pm = pick you up between 2-5pm.

Just because there are speed limit signs, does not mean there are speed limits.

Conchburgers aren't as appetizing as they sound.

80% of traffic lights work 50% of the time, and are obeyed by 1 in 3 people {driving is confusing}

An expiration date on raw meat is a luxury.

It's all about the Vitamalt. Yes, it actually does taste as bad as it sounds.

Bahamas for Obama

2008-11-03T15:26:00.001-05:00

The world is watching, let's not screw up this time!!

Mom Visit

2008-11-02T21:10:00.003-05:00

Pictures from my mom's visit a few weeks ago. I still haven't replaced my camera, so only am able to post pictures when other people take them and send to me.

Cabbage Beach, Atlantis, Parliament Building and displaying our latest sunburns at nearby restaurant.

Turks 2

2008-10-22T20:55:00.005-04:00

You can't have a Part I without a Part II. Better late than never I suppose. These pics represent some of the highlights of my trip a few weeks ago to the Turks & Caicos Islands. I got to take a private helicopter ride from Providenciales to Grand Turk, traveling along the coast of several islands in between. It was truly breathtaking. Now that I think of it, there will probably be a Part III on the way with aerial shots of the other islands.

Until then, here is a picture of me, a few SA Officers, the Chairman of our Board, and the Governor General of the Turks. Yes, I am hob-knobbing with high profile politicians and celebrities these days.

The other picture is me in the helicopter.

Chicago

2008-10-14T19:12:00.005-04:00

I was lucky enough to spend Discovery Day weekend in the city with my friend Thomas (& our new bud in the window). Walked the streets, ate too many hot dogs, drank too many martinis, saw a lot of art, listened to some great music and had my first subway experience. I highly recommend Hotel Sax if any of you are planning any future trips.

It was definitely nice to get back to the states after the recent shenanigans in Bahamaland. Of course, traveling without credit cards isn't easy. But, walking around with $600 in your pocket does tend to make one feel like a high roller.

Highlight of the trip, finding my new halloween costume. Not sure I can pull it off as well as this guy.

Welcome to the Neighborhood

2008-10-08T14:11:00.004-04:00

Yet another first for me in The Bahamas....I've been mugged! After returning home Friday night from a Salsa Club & Casino, I was greeted at the car door by a young man looking for a hand out. Only this wasn't the type of hand out I am used to after 2 years of working for The Salvation Army.

30 seconds and one purse later, we were en route to the police station (thankfully I wasn't alone during this little adventure). Unfortunately my digital camera was in the bag (which contains all of my Bahamas/Turks pictures that I have not uploaded), my phone, all my credit cards and my driver's license. Of course, everything is replaceable, except the pictures, so I am trying to stay positive about the whole thing. As I told my friend Lesa, "it was as good as a mugging could be."

I am now looking forward to carrying way too much cash with me on my trip to Chicago this weekend. Note to self: always keep at least one credit card hidden away someplace safe, like the freezer. Let's hope lightening doesn't strike twice...

Turks & Caicos Pt. 1- THE BAD

2008-10-02T16:56:00.010-04:00

The local grocery store had the roof almost completely torn off.

Piles of mangled steel, wood, appliances an other household items littered the entire island. Keep in mind 3 weeks of clean up had already taken place by the time I took these pictures.

More destroyed houses. Some areas on the island were luckier than others, but this was pretty typical.

The following is an excerpt from a press release I wrote after a trip this past week to the Turks and Caicos Islands. For those of you who don't know, Grand Turk was hit hard by Hurricane Ike. The pictures explain more than I can.

Although it has been more than three weeks since the storm touched down, Grand Turk is still without power and many still do not have adequate shelter. Almost every building on the island was damaged in the storm, many with roofs partially or completely torn off. ReD X's mark buildings past repair, which are now set to be bulldozed in the days ahead. Most of these belong to Haitian refugees, further complicating their situations. Tents scatter the landscape in areas where buildings are no longer inhabitable.

More pictures and info on this to come.

Numero Uno

2008-10-01T18:02:00.000-04:00

So much to say, and so little desire to type it all! I've been in Nassau for 3 weeks now. Assimilating to the climate, culture, food and driving laws. The first week was definitely harder than I thought it would be. I didn't realize how addicted to communication I was until picking up a cell phone or getting online wasn't an option.

I am beginning to meet people and have started exploring other parts of the island. For awhile my life consisted of apartment, work, gym, grocery store, apartment. Now there is a bar/casino/restaurant/resort mixed in there every few days.

No pictures yet, as I left my camera cord in Tucson by mistake. Dad sent it by mule 3 weeks ago, so hopefully I will have visuals up by March or April.

More to come later, just didn't want to put this off any longer.