Half Way Through
Trip Start
Jun 29, 2005
1
6
Trip End
Jul 31, 2005
Sandy POint,
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Today at the beach I met 11 year old Jakeema who lives in Sandy Point. She was very articulate and told me that she is interested in history and science and wants to live in New York when she grows up. I told of her our reasons for being on the island and she was also interested in our work. I also told her of my interest in creating this archaeology workbook for kids and she said she thought kids her age would enjoy it. I asked her more about the island and what she thought of the tourists. She said that the golf course north of Sandy Point is a good thing. She likes tourists because of the color of their skin and their hair is smooth and shiny. She invited me to her church. She was very sweet and mature. I hope I see her again.
It's been so hot this week. This humidity has been low enough that we can see the islands of Statia and Saba off in the far distance. For some reason the low humidity seems to make it hotter than it should. By 8:30am we are sweating profusely. I've continued to work on the mortar floor and stone steps. Nothing much interesting has become of it. Still just some nails and bits of glass in terms of artifacts. In turns out there is also a large stone bath tub on the site. These living quarters for the engineers were really posh. These guys were in the upper echelon of importance at the fort and they built the best of what they had. The bath tub is adjacent to a very large cistern that caught the rain water. The cistern had a hole in it that would allow the water to flow out once it reached a certain level. The bath tub is by no means what you would think of a tub to look like. This one is about 6 feet tall and rectangular, with stone steps leading down into it. The bottom was sloped with a metal pipe feeding the waste water out down the hill. It was quite the luxury to be able to fully bathe in such a large tub because water was such a precious resource on the hill. These engineers designed elaborate water catch-all systems and huge cisterns.
On Sunday we drove all the way around the island. The windward side is much less populated than the leeward side. I suspect it is because the plantations were built on the windward side and following slavery emancipation, all the workers fled the plantations and squatted their own land on the other side of the island. Also on Sunday we were at Turtle Beach, which is the tourist beach very close to the Marriott. I saw a monkey in a diaper on a leash. It was very sad. The monkey's owner was trying scam a little money out of the people who were taking pictures. I guess I don't blame him, but then again I didn't take any pictures.
This weekend the grad students are going to spend a night at the Marriott. One of them is celebrating her wedding anniversary, and since she is away from her husband, she asked us to keep her company. There will be 5 of us and we are getting the room for free! Another girl's dad volunteered his reward points for a free room. So we are getting a sea side room with a balcony. Air conditioning, stiff drinks and a warm shower- here I come!!!
