Day Two

Day 2
4/1-/07 Temp at least 30 C sunny am with thunder storm p.m.

We arose at 6a.m after snoozing the earlier hours away since about 3 a.m. where the jet lag kicked in suggesting to me that it was really morning and time to get up. As I tried to go back to sleep I thought of everyone UK side 5 hours ahead waking and beginning their day.

We both decided it would be a good idea to hit the town early as the heat would be unbearable later on with all the concrete and buildings in Castries the capital of St Lucia, we were going to try to get Bernie's mobile phone unlocked and also to go to the busy bustling market place to choose fresh produce to last for the rest of the week. The phone apparently was far to new for it to be unlocked after going to 3 different places we finally found someone who promised well maybe that when Mr somebody or other came back in two weeks he would have the technology to manage to do this, so we are with out a mobile until it gets done, maybe!

By 8 a.m. the heat was building and I was puffed out just walking around the town with my rucksack on my back which was by this time only half full. After a short rest to get my breath and a drink of water we set off to the market which was fully awake, we passed by vendors in little booths selling all sorts of rolls filled with cheese, meats and the like, coco tea mixed with large amounts of sugar went down a treat for Bernie, I munched on a sunbar one of my super food bars and felt very smug at not succumbing to the tea which I have had before, pretty yummy made from grated coco add lime skin, nutmeg, cinnamon, add water and boil up then add sugar and milk, quite a drink! We went on to find spinach, avocados. Tomatoes, okra, grapefruit, cabbage, carrots, cucumber, lettuce, peppers, a beautiful large papaya which has taken pride of place in the vegetable rack. Leaving Castries we headed on back north to visit ‘Home Depot’ to pick up one or two household things, it really shocked me the prices of really ordinary plastic things like garden tables small round table set for nearly £80, something we would pick up in the UK for around £25. Anyway gladly we did not want to buy anything like that, but it really shows how so many here don’t have anything like the standard of living we in the west take for granted. There is so much poverty here and yet people driving many ‘top of the range’ cars it’s a bit of a paradox.

It was great to meet up today with old friends who just seemed to pop up from nowhere as we were out and about, one thing being here is that everyone knows everyone and at least some of the time out is spent on catching up with old friends, waving as you pass others going in the opposite direction, tooting horns and yelling down the road ‘weh weh weh’ as you almost miss someone you think you know even if you don’t!

This afternoon has been spent in the pool discovering some good excersise moves with a flotation thingy, it is round approx 4 inches across and about 3 feet long, very good for all sorts of moves, I can feel myself getting fitter my the minute.

It was interesting after the thunder storm the gully which runs behind the house which we only discovered because of the rain filled up and was gushing along, it made me think about the amount of flooding which can happen so quickly as the water runs off the hills, nature is raw an uncompromising and here you can get reminded very quickly as the weather changes from dry and hot into full on storm where you cannot hear yourself speak and back to calm and dry within a short time, spectacular.