Flat Hunter: Intro and snorkeling

My nephew's class read Flat Stanley a story about a boy who is flattend then travels via postal mail to far away places. My nephew's class drew flat versions of themselves and then mailed them to friends and family. 'Flat Hunter' visited us on St. Croix. This project is long, so I've split it over a few posts.


Good Morning or Good Afternoon, Miss Haynes’ class, whichever time it may be there. In the U.S. Virgin Islands, one says Good Morning or Good Afternoon to every person one meets: it would be rude not to do so. Flat Hunter learned this when he traveled to meet his uncle and aunt.

Where are the U.S. Virgin Islands? Well, Flat Hunter was not so sure he knew either, but the post office helped him out. The U.S. Virgin Islands are about half way down the chain of islands known as the West Indies that begins just south of Florida and extends to Venezuela, in South America.

The Virgin Islands were named by Christopher Columbus, but we will talk about him later. Three islands make up the U.S. Virgin Islands: Saint Thomas, Saint John and the biggest island where Flat Hunter visited, Saint Croix (pronounced Croy like he words ‘crow’ and ‘boy’ put together). Saint Croix is French for ‘Holy Cross’ because at one time Saint Croix was a French island. Flat Hunter learned that flags of seven countries have flown over Saint Croix: Spain, England, Holland, France, Malta, Denmark and America. America bought the island from Denmark in 1917. Saint Croix is bordered by the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean to the East.

The people in Saint Croix are Americans and speak English. Flat Hunter learned that people from Saint Croix, called Crucians (Say Crew-shuns) have lots of different sayings. If you drop something on your foot or your mother scolds you about cleaning up your room, you might say “shoot” or “ darn” but in Saint Croix, if you’re upset you say, “cheese and bread.”

The children in Saint Croix go to school just like Flat Hunter, but they start earlier and get out of school earlier. Children walk to school, take the school bus or might take a taxi van. Taxi vans travel the island and pick people up all along the road. Cars in St. Croix drive on the left side of the road. People get off and on the taxi van at different places and pay a fee to ride. School children wear uniforms. The boys wear polo shirts and pants while the girls wear white blouses and plaid skirts. Different schools wear different colors.

Now that Flat Hunter knows a little bit about the island and the people on the island, he is ready to explore.
Saint Croix is shaped like a shoe. Flat Hunter began his journey across Saint Croix at the heel in the town of Frederiksted. Saint Croix has two towns (yes, only two) and Frederiksted is the smaller of the two, but it has a long pier where the cruise ships can dock. Flat Hunter walked out on the pier. Many people fish off the pier in Frederiksted. While Flat Hunter was walking on the pier he spied many fish in the water. His uncle suggested they see the fish up close and go snorkeling at the beach park in Frederiksted.
Flat Hunter put on his special mask and snorkel. (photo 1)

He waded out in the ocean, put his face in the water and was amazed at what he saw. He saw many fish: purple and yellow, black and yellow striped like bumble bees, very small blue fish, lots of silver fish, black fish, white fish and red-striped fish.
He saw coral reefs, which are living things and must not be touched. He saw sea fans; an underwater plant that sways in the ocean waves. He saw spiny urchins that are black prickly beings that sting. He saw squid and crabs. And when he swam over a rock two big fish, as long as Flat Hunter’s arm swam out and the fish and Flat Hunter were both surprised! “Cheese and Bread!!” they all said and each swam quickly away from the other.

Veteran's Day: Virgin Islands

On Saturday, November 11, the U.S. Virgin Island celebrated Veteran’s Day with a parade through downtown Christiansted to the sea.

Representatives from all the branches of military present in the Virgin Islands marched along Company Street accompanied by members of the American Legion and Auxiliary, groups of scouts, ROTC from local schools and kids from the elementary school where the parade kicked off. The route wound through town to the grounds next to historic Fort Christian where a ceremony featuring distinguished speakers and the Cruzan Brass Band marked the occasion.

The Virgin Islands became a U.S. territory in 1917. During World War II islanders were exempt from the draft, but petitioned to join Americans in defending their country. Virgin Islanders have served in all major U.S. conflicts and currently have units stationed in Iraq.

A few years ago I met a native of Jamaica who immigrated to the United States and worked in public relations for a well-known luxury hotel. I questioned her about the island: where to stay other than an all-inclusive resort. You see, I’m a Europe through the Back Door type traveler not a tour group/all activities planned/chain hotel type traveler. I wanted to know if she had any suggestions on visiting the authentic Jamaica rather than the pre-packaged one.

She rolled her eyes dismissively. “You don’t want to see the real Jamaica,” she assured me. “It’s not paradise for the people who live there.”

While I haven’t encountered such a dark description of life in the Virgin Islands, locals stress that living here does not equate to a permanent vacation. The worries of the economy, jobs, education, affordable housing, gas prices (currently a low of $2.29/gallon) exist here. And on this Veteran’s Day they share the worry for the safe return of family members in Iraq. Perhaps next Veteran’s Day will find us a nation at peace.