It has been pouring since the weekend

Have been busy with preparing a bunch of lectures but get out on occasion. There is a bunch of faculty that walk down to the other end of Simpson Bay and back on Saturday and, in contrast to the previous weekend, this last Saturday the rain held off. In the photo, we are outside a breakfast joint before we turned back walking along the long Simpson Bay beach. At the end, we cut through an apartment complex and come along a road where was a nest of iguanas eating some vegetables, presumably left for them. A nice break from lecture preparation since all the lectures are relatively new.

Since then the weather has changed. None of the nice sunny afternoons and warm evenings with sun worshiping locals and tourists enjoying Mullet Bay as I walk back to the apartment, but RAIN, RAIN, RAIN and greyness. This morning, I got trapped in my corridor since coming out would have drenched me in a couple of seconds when a cloudburst emptied into a strong wind. Everyone at the college appears to be dressed for cool weather and drink lots of hot coffee.

Getting to work is a little tricky since the road from Maho to Cupecoy is badly flooded. It is the only road available unless you go about 10 miles round the French side and it always floods after rain, but right now the car doors go under the waterline in places. I have driven through these deep puddles in my regular car, and so far have had no problem, but luckily, I am picked up by a colleague and ride in a jeeplike vehicle. Even then the water depth is a bit concerning. It is a good thing the spark plugs are at the top of the engine! I wonder if the country, once it gains new status on Sunday, will do something about this problem since, without easy access, I expect several people would be hesitant in investing in shops or apartments in the brand new and fancy development in Cupecoy (Porto Cupecoy). It's doubly problematic for those without a car since several buses, even more in bad weather, just stop in Maho rather than continue the full way.

The weather has stopped me revisiting Sarafina's, the bread store in Marigot that reopened this week. However, most of the bread types are also available at the local grocery in Maho, it just seems that the brown bread type that I really like is rarely delivered.

I recently found a good source for fresh seafood and ended up cooking red snapper. Had to learn how to make fillets and then use the non-fillet parts for fish stock. The internet turned out to be super resource since there was a short movie on this and it was all I needed. I think I almost preferred the fish soup, made with carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and some red and green pepper to the actual fillet!