Jumping off Shark Rock—

They must call it Shark Rock for a reason…

So last week was a flurry of theater—rehearsals for Threepenny, The Island opening (the current show here), getting this Student Shakespeare thing off and running.

This weekend was filled with fun and sun.

Oh yeah, one of my favorite bathroom signs:

IN THIS ISLAND
OF FUN AND SUN,
WE DO NOT FLUSH
FOR NUMBER ONE.

So on Saturday, I went out on Shanna’s friend’s boyfriend’s boat (ha) with a bunch of people to enjoy Tortola, snorkeling, and Yost Van Dyke. There were nine people: Shanna, her boyfriend Kyle, Kyle’s daughter Kaiden, Shanna’s best friend Ellie, her boyfriend JB, and friends Shaun, Charles, and me. JB (Jordan) runs a charter company out of St Thomas, so if any of you are on St Thomas and want to go island hopping for a day, he’s wonderful.

Anyway, so after clearing customs in Tortola, we went to Willy T’s, a boat-turned-restaurant (picture above) in the near-by Bight of Norman Island. People used to jump naked off of Will T’s upper deck, but no more. All it takes is a mis-calculationg tourist to stop a fun tradition… So we all did the “Shotski” which is an old wooden ski with 4 holes for shot glasses carved into it. So four people stand next to each other to take the shot together.
There’s a hilarious sign at the bar:

SEXUAL
HARRASSMENT
IN THIS AREA
WILL NOT BE
REPORTED.
HOWEVER,
IT WILL BE
“GRADED.”

Ha. Ha.

Stomachs full, we headed to “The Caves” to snorkel in the caves of the island. It was gorgeous and so refreshing. Then we went to Jost Van Dyke for dinner at the Soggy Dollar. There ensued the dead fish incident:

JB found a small fish (3 inches long) dead on the beach. He dared his girlfriend, Eliie, to eat it. He and Kyle eventually raised the wager to $20, but she wouldn’t eat it for less than $100. Kyle responded, of course, “Hell, I’ll eat it for free,” grabbing for the fish.
“No,” JB insisted, “I want Ellie to eat it.”
So for 10 minutes: “Eat it.” “No.” “Eat it.” “No.” And so on.
So JB offered to eat the top half if Ellie would eat the bottom. She acquiesced, and he bit off the top half, chewed, and swallowed. She wasn’t really watching him at the time, so she doubted that he had in fact digested the rotting fish. Bleagh.
So that argument went on for another 10 minutes: “Yes I did.” “No you didn’t.” “Yes I did, smell my breath.” Ugh.
JB was holding something behind his back, and Ellie assumed it was the uneaten fish. JB had eaten the fish, but his hidden hand suggested otherwise.
Then she said, “fine, I’ll eat it, jeeze.”
And she made like she ate it and stuffed it into her bikini top.
JB, who was distracted somehow, believed that she did eat it, and all was well. They had both eaten the fish.
Later, at a potluck, she revealed that she hadn’t eaten it after all, and so he gave her a wet willy (1. Lick your finger, 2. Insert into offender’s ear, 3. Wiggle around.) Mature relationship. Ha.

After Yost, heading back home, we stopped at Shark Rock to climb the jagged cliffs, avoiding the sea urchins, spiders, and lizards, and then leap clear of the rocks in the water below. Really fun. JB, Charles, Beth and I had no trouble getting the courage to jump. Kyle, though, he was up there for ten minutes “gauging” everything, etc.

So we returned to St Thomas safe and sound, and Shanna and I dashed to the theater to run the box office, then to a Pot luck at Arley and Marlas’ house. Lovely. So that was my Saturday, tah dah.