When the island came into view of the airplane, we saw some magnificent, lush mountains. It's a shame they wouldn't allow electronics to be on to take pictures. As we circled about the north end of the island, we saw rooftops along the prominent roads, rarely far from the roadside other than a few agricultural properties. Some land was grassy and we could see abandoned ruins of shanties damaged by hurricanes, but most of the land was uninterrupted tree life. Among other forest leaves that look similar to the Appalachain mountains from a distance, if you can imagine them without pines, the palms and other tropical trees towered in their midst.
Upon landing, immigration and customs was very quick considering that two flights came in at about the same time. My luggage was a bit dirty, but customs did not bother to go through our bags; probably because they recognized Professor Hains and knew why we were here. We rented a small SUV, which Prof. Hains drove on the left side of the road, and took the older of two routes to our lodging at Clemson's facility called Springfield in St. Paul. When we stopped for gas an older woman walked up o the car asking for money for bread; though we apologetically denied. The ride was roughly an hour long beside the coast, through mountains, over rivers, and past shanties and people walking along the road. A couple of times we passed some guys who made cat calls going "Sssssssss"; Prof. Hains said that last year some of the girls on the trip caught the guys' attention and they were called "white chocolate." Gosh I hope they don't say that to me! I'd rather be called sugar or butter; I don't like white chocolate...it just doesn't cut it as chocolate.
When we got to Clemson's property, Prof. Hains went off-roading a little to show us an old guest house called the "Bee House" and grabbed up some lemon grass for us to smell just by reaching his hand out the window. It was planted as an experiment for agricultural diversification. Clemson also has an overgrown area of banana trees.
After getting back on the main road, we entered the Springfield-Archbold station, a nice set of buildings and a beautiful garden. There's no powered air conditioning, but there's really no need. We are so high in altitude that even the middle of the day is comfortable outdoors. Most of the windows have screens on them & slats so we leave them open. Our group from Clemson is staying in the Stream Guest House, just on the other side of a stream from the rest of the buildings. Texas A&M has a larger group using the dorm rooms; they leave Tuesday. There are 3 bedrooms, 2 of which have on-suite bathrooms. We do have hot water! It is heated as it comes out the showerhead at the flip of a switch. The ladies' room has two single beds and a bunk bed; I'm on the top bunk next to the window. :)
Before dinner at 7, Kala, Diane and I went down through the garden to a pool in the stream just a short walk through the forest. We noticed crab legs along the path where birds left the remains of their snack. Some of the rocks down by the pool were a bit unstable, giving us practice for future excursions. Prof. Hains has told us that Springfield has soap that we can use to bathe in the pool.
At dinner we had some kind of purple potato-like things called "dasheens". I'm sure that's not the correct spelling. They are a root plant but when we saw the plants growing on the roadside they looked strikingly similar to elephant ear plants. After dinner we ventured into the laboratory to grab some outlet converters and other equipment for our studies. Then Roger, a teacher in Charleston's alternative school, showed up by taxi; he had taken a later flight on a different route. We finally settled in for the night.
Upon landing, immigration and customs was very quick considering that two flights came in at about the same time. My luggage was a bit dirty, but customs did not bother to go through our bags; probably because they recognized Professor Hains and knew why we were here. We rented a small SUV, which Prof. Hains drove on the left side of the road, and took the older of two routes to our lodging at Clemson's facility called Springfield in St. Paul. When we stopped for gas an older woman walked up o the car asking for money for bread; though we apologetically denied. The ride was roughly an hour long beside the coast, through mountains, over rivers, and past shanties and people walking along the road. A couple of times we passed some guys who made cat calls going "Sssssssss"; Prof. Hains said that last year some of the girls on the trip caught the guys' attention and they were called "white chocolate." Gosh I hope they don't say that to me! I'd rather be called sugar or butter; I don't like white chocolate...it just doesn't cut it as chocolate.
When we got to Clemson's property, Prof. Hains went off-roading a little to show us an old guest house called the "Bee House" and grabbed up some lemon grass for us to smell just by reaching his hand out the window. It was planted as an experiment for agricultural diversification. Clemson also has an overgrown area of banana trees.
After getting back on the main road, we entered the Springfield-Archbold station, a nice set of buildings and a beautiful garden. There's no powered air conditioning, but there's really no need. We are so high in altitude that even the middle of the day is comfortable outdoors. Most of the windows have screens on them & slats so we leave them open. Our group from Clemson is staying in the Stream Guest House, just on the other side of a stream from the rest of the buildings. Texas A&M has a larger group using the dorm rooms; they leave Tuesday. There are 3 bedrooms, 2 of which have on-suite bathrooms. We do have hot water! It is heated as it comes out the showerhead at the flip of a switch. The ladies' room has two single beds and a bunk bed; I'm on the top bunk next to the window. :)
Before dinner at 7, Kala, Diane and I went down through the garden to a pool in the stream just a short walk through the forest. We noticed crab legs along the path where birds left the remains of their snack. Some of the rocks down by the pool were a bit unstable, giving us practice for future excursions. Prof. Hains has told us that Springfield has soap that we can use to bathe in the pool.
At dinner we had some kind of purple potato-like things called "dasheens". I'm sure that's not the correct spelling. They are a root plant but when we saw the plants growing on the roadside they looked strikingly similar to elephant ear plants. After dinner we ventured into the laboratory to grab some outlet converters and other equipment for our studies. Then Roger, a teacher in Charleston's alternative school, showed up by taxi; he had taken a later flight on a different route. We finally settled in for the night.
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