Life in the Left Lane

Welcome to the Virgin Islands!  My new home for the next few months is The Buccaneer Resort on St. Croix.  Check it out at www.thebuccaneer.com!  We 4 interns live in the Strong Box, which we like to think will offer some extra protection should we experience a hurricane during our stay!  After a beautiful afternoon yesterday, my first day on the island, today was pretty much a wash.  By mid-morning the rains started and didn’t let up until early evening.  It postponed some of our beach training until tomorrow when we plan to go out to Buck Island.  Here’s hoping for sunshine!

Our second day was basically spent preparing a multitude of things.  We learned about the resort and our responsibilities for keeping up with the housekeeping.  We collected backpacks full of gear for heading out to Buck Island—everything from pit tags and flashlights to ponchos.  I think we’re all looking forward to getting started with some of the real field work.  There are always a few days at the beginning of a project just organizing and getting your bearings.

The highlight of the day was learning to drive on the left side of the road!  They have American cars here, which means the steering wheel is still on the left.  All seems well until you come to an intersection and have to think to yourself: wait, which side of the road am I turning onto?  We all caught on pretty quickly, though.

The resort is beautiful!  So lush and green and such a relaxed feel to it.  The people are warm and friendly and make you feel welcome.  There are three beautiful beaches and a couple pools as well.  I absolutely cannot say enough great things about the views, but I will certainly try!  They are amazing!  From almost any angle there are velvety green mountains or ocean stretching out to the horizon.  I've already taken a lot of pictures, but I'm having difficulty uploading them with the super-slow internet.  Hopefully in the next few days...

Tomorrow promises to be a busy day, providing the weather cooperates.  Even under heavy cloud cover (and at times pouring rain) it’s still beautiful here.