I legitimately strained my quad yesterday playing sloshball. I think that may be a first. It was totally worth it though, I'm kinda getting better at the game. And my cousin just arrived on the island yesterday and she joined us for the game, so it was super fun. And work today wasn't bad, Muffy and I went up to the pond today (where we will be working with one of the irish lads for two weeks during the mornings). People allegedly travel long distances to see the scenery around the pond, so we're pretty lucky to be working there. And only three students are signed up to sail tomorrow, so its going to be really chill. Here's a quick pic of the pond:
After hanging out there and moving boats around, we went back to the boathouse with the other instructors for the afternoon. It was pretty chill, and then Bunny and I went out windsurfing again after work. I can sail on both tacks now (lol)! I'm going to be a world-class windsurfer at the end of the summer.
And.... good news! I'm going to be leading a back packing trip of freshmen for an orientation group at the end of the summer! Yay!
Cutiepies. Today was the first day of work with the kids. It was nuking out so we didn't take the beginners out in the boats in the morning. Instead, I helped with the windsurfing class. Yup, that's right. I don't even know how to windsurf, really. But it was fun, and we ended up playing capture the flag with the windsurfing boards. Then in the afternoon, we reefed the main and took the kids out on a capri, but it ended up being a pretty chill day regardless. Mucho divertido.
So now I'm on my way out to our second game of sloshball. Thanks to everyone who voted in the poll last week; nantucket red is a smash hit apparently. Make sure to vote again this week for seersucker! Google it if you are unsure of what the print looks like.
At the beach yesterday, this seagull tried to steal our food. A different seagull stole the irish lad's sandwich. And I saw this cute bunny on the path.
I snapped this photo quickly before it ran away.
Day eight: One full week at the vineyard has passed. Today was pretty low-key, we watched sleepless in seattle, ate lunch at the yacht club, hung out with some people from school, got dolled up and went to an art gallery opening show, and ate dinner at an awesome mexican restaurant. This week, I've been sailing, swimming, windsurfing, and running around. And I am exhausted. Work officially starts tomorrow (the kids start coming for classes), so I'm calling it a night early and going to sleep.
Cilantro. Yesterday was great, we did a few things around the boathouse during the morning for work and then went to the other yacht club on the island for some more team racing. After the races we went back to Muffy and Archie's house and had a cookout for the instructors for both clubs. Then we went back to the instructor house for some drinking games (I learned a few new ones to bring back to the mainland at the end of the summer!).
Today, I woke up at noon, watched Rookie Blue (it was amazingly awful), and then went to a beach out in the shticks with everyone. The waves were huge, so we played in the surf for a bit, then the boys (lads) found a huge log and everyone played with that for a bit too. On the way back to the house we heard a lot of David Guetta on the radio. Remember watchya say? Love that song. Especially, "when the roof caved in and the truth came out I just didn't know what to do,". Seems like the truth has a way of confusing everything, right? This is totally not pertinent to my life on the vineyard right now, but the mainland is a bit dramatic so I thought it was fitting.
I've been obsessing over this new song by the black eyed peas for days. Seriously. I heard it the other day in the car, and finally found out through itunes what the name is/who sings it. So today was productive.
Work, however, was not "productive". In the good way. We did some 2-on-2 team racing today with all of the instructors, which was pretty bomb. And the breeze was up, so everyone was hiking and having a good time. But now I'm totally wiped out from all of the climbing telephone poles, windsurfing, sailing, and running around. And since we've been so active, I opted out of a run (again! whoops) and went for a walk downtown. I wandered into a cool tie-die shop, but it was totally overpriced for something that I could make in my backyard so I didn't buy anything. But in true Kittie-spirit, I did end up buying a pair of board shorts in a different shop. I cannot resist buying things.
I wandered around a bit more after window shopping and wanted to take some photos of the harbor, but I couldn't find a good place to get onto the beach. I ran into one of the irish boys as I was walking around, bought an iced coffee, and then it started to rain. Not downpouring, just misting. So I gave up my search for a good view of the harbor and walked back to the house. I'll be watching Rookie Blues later, its a new series that I lost a bet to and now have to watch. I suggest that you watch it too, and check out my other blog (roshamblues.blogspot.com) for episode synopsis and other random stuff. It's funny. And from Canada.
Here's another quick photo I snapped as I was wandering around, its of the only "mall" on the vineyard.
And for those of you who are reading my blog but are not registered followers, its time to join the in-crowd.
Again, another beautiful day on the vineyard. I couldn't wake up early for my morning run again due to a late night with the other instructors, and work got to be a little tedious with all the lesson-plan writing, but windsurfing in the afternoon definitely made up for the not-so-great morning. And I made up for my lazy morning by going for a run after windsurfing, so in the end it was a pretty active day.
I spent the evening relaxing with Muffy, Bunny, Skip and Archie getting ice cream at Mad Martha's and watching movies. The first movie I picked, Remember Me starring Rob Pattinson (!!) was a dud, since it was a total bummer movie and ended unexpectedly. So, to lighten the mood, we watched Made of Honor starring Patrick Dempsy (!!). And made up for the totally active afternoon by having an incredibly relaxing evening.
I snapped this pic as I was leaving the boat house today and thought it was pretty cool.
YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE WHAT I DID TODAY: ropes course. With 50 ft poles and a "swing" that consisted of a wire and a hoisting rope that flung people into the air. But it was a great way to spend the second day of work.
Muffy and I started orientation week yesterday, when we met 5 irish (4 lads and Bunny), a local, our boss, our older boss, and the high school sailing coach. The first morning was pretty boring since we had to go over protocols and whatnot, and we spent the afternoon moving and cleaning optis. After work, we all met up for a game of sloshball (kickball with beer) with the instructors from the other sailing programs and hosted the afterparty at Muffy's house. This morning I had a bit of a hangover (I neglected my morning run) but it soon wore off once we started balancing on wires and climbing 50 feet into the air. After the course we went to the boat house and practiced driving the motor boats. By that point, it was already 4 pm, so our boss called it a day and sent us home. All in all, it was a good, but tiring, two days.
Ok. So I just arrived at the vineyard today. Muffy met me at the ferry and we walked to her house, where Archie and Skip were already busy in the kitchen making burgies and guac. Muffy took two beers out of the fridge and Skip changed the tv from obnoxious nascar to a more-relaxing golf channel. Then Skip tried to get us to put tabasco sauce in our coronas, but I thought that was yuckie so I opted for lime.
After dindin we walked downtown to mad marthas for some yummy ice cream, then came back to the house to watch the next food network star (Muffy's pick). Tomorrow we start working at the local sailing program.
