Still in Antigua. . .

So what is Jangles doing now that everyone else has departed you may ask? Well the classroom has come back in full swing and Rebecca and I are up doing schoolwork everyday. We miss the adventures with Talisman but I suppose that’s how this life is, you move around and boats don’t always move with you.

In the classroom

We are still in Antigua . . .sigh. It is as if a nuclear bomb has gone off, this place is dead! There are hardly any people left and most of the businesses are closing up as sailing season in Antigua comes to an end. We met the skipper of a massive super yacht, Slojo. Bruno (the skipper) was South African and that is naturally how we began talking. He arranged it so we could go aboard the boat to have a look around . . .some people have some serious money. The boat had a hot tub, huge master bedrooms and a television in every room, including the crew’s quarters! The boat gets washed from head to toe every single day so it is in pristine condition. They are busy trying to sell the boat for 35 million US dollars! The best part of the boat was the very spacious engine rooms, not like Jangles where I get put in headfirst and can barely move my arms around! After leaving massive Slojo, to our little Jangles we were in a daze. That night we went to the Lime and Coconut where we had the greatest meal we had had in Antigua to date. We ate until we couldn’t even drink a glass of water. Bruno joined us for a drink to say goodbye as Slojo was departing the following morning.

Slojo heading off

The next day was schoolwork, schoolwork and more schoolwork! It was also raining most of the day as Antigua had started moving out of the dry season. For dinner was nachos and Kerry’s amazing sweet potato and feta salad. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the master chef there herself to make the salad so we followed her recipe and came pretty close. I took the bowl of salad and held it tight . . .my mom had to ask very nicely to get a helping of my salad . . .yum!

My salad and I

The next few days were filled with schoolwork and rain. I had woken up four mornings to go for a run but it had been pouring with rain outside. So one morning I went for a swim with my dad to the beach and back to the boat . . .that short swim became longer and longer as we both realized how unfit we were! So we will be practicing our strokes from now on. We took a trip to St. John’s on Thursday night and went to a movie. We went to a film called Battleship; it was a pretty decent film that had a fantastic soundtrack. The closing song was called ‘Fortunate Son’ and my dad wasn’t convinced of the artist even though I stated over and over again that it was Creedence Clearwater Revival . . .so we stayed to watch the credits and I was right. The music buff had it all clued in.

Mom's navigating!

watching Antigua go by. . .

Friday we went to go and get photographs taken as we are in the process of applying for American visas (reason we are still in Antigua). So after living through verbal abuse from my family about how skew my features are and about my lopsided head, we finally had photo’s to attach to our online applications. Whilst we were waiting for the photographs to be printed, we saw two small kittens playing on a speaker in the restaurant next door. They were so funny to watch as they were rolling around and biting each other and just having a jolly ol’ time! That evening, after 4 days of no running I decided I would go as there was a break in the rain. It was one of the nicest runs I had been on . . .I ran my usual trail backwards so I felt as if I was getting lost half the time. The nice thing about being in a new place is meeting new people . . .on my run I met two guys from Spain, another family from Spain and two ladies from Guadeloupe. One tourist guy from England even asked me if I was a local! At the end of my run, I swam from the beach back towards the boat. I was told to get in the shower quickly as we were having a braai with a South African couple for dinner. I had to shower in my parent’s shower as the bilge pump was broken on our side of the boat (dad’s job tomorrow to fix). We went to Temo Sport’s for dinner and had a great time with new company.

Dino and his wife, Debbie, with the Jangles duo

To the joy of everyone . . .the Jangles family is doing very well on our own. Schoolwork is going well and nobody has been thrown over board . . . yet. Below is a poem I wrote, hope you enjoy it. Stay safe xxx

The breath of God

The wind bellowed as the breath of God filled my soul,

breathing life into my lungs as they expand with air.

Sparks ignited as my soul set on fire,

soaring within the supernatural realm.

The breath of God moves us forward,

capturing our sails, 

lifting us across the ocean.

The world smiles as we move with its pulsating rhythm.

Our hearts enlightened as we begin our journey,

Our journey of wonder and discovery.

A journey with our creator.