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Buck Island

Dol?a pomoI had written a few paragraphs for today, but they were lost when I had a kernel panic. That doesn't happen much anymore. I was using iPhoto when it happened -- probably a bug in Apple's new core imaging stuff.

We went to the farmer's market again on Saturday and this time all of us went. We got lots of interesting tropical fruits: genips, of course, and bananas, star fruit, and pomegranates. We also found something I hadn't seen before called "sweet apple". It has a rough, pebbly exterior and the inside is kind of slimy and full of seeds. You suck the slime off the seeds and then spit them out. It doesn't really taste like anything else, but the closest I could come up with is "very sweet, overripe banana, with watermelon seeds". We also visited the fish market. Buzz commented on the gruffness and reserve of the men who were selling fish, as compared with the humor and openness of the women selling fruit. I agreed, but pointed out how the men were happy to show the kids the different kinds of fish and pulled out a live spiny lobster for them to touch. We ended up buying a red snapper and a lobster for Tom to prepare, along with some steaks, as a "Surf and Turf Luau" later in the day.

We went on a snorkeling adventure the other day to the north side of the island. We had been there the last time I was here and I remembered that there was a current, but this year the current was extremely strong. It was so strong, there were standing waves over the large rocks and corals. Swimming into the current as hard as I could, I could only manage to stay in place. Tom, Daniel, and I swam out to the coral, but I was afraid to swim farther into the coral for fear of being swept against it and getting cut up. Today, we plan to go to Buck Island where the snorkeling is reported to be magnificent.

We met a woman travelling with her two daughters, Carey and Alexandra, who joined us on Saturday for a visit to the "Monks Bath", north of Fredriksted. The monks bath itself was less interesting than the tide pools nearby. We saw chitons, snails, hermit crabs, sea urchins, and a sea cucumber. I got a lot of good pictures of the boys and girls looking at cool stuff. They're planning to join us today on the trip to Buck Island as well.

After the luau, expertly prepared by Tom, we had movie night. We were joined by the girls and another couple of children, Zack and Ari, to watch Spirited Away. We couldn't start until after 8 waiting for Zack and Ari to get back from the French restaurant, but by 9:30 or 10, Jonathon was simply exhausted and Buzz carried him away to go to sleep. It was a big day for a little guy.