Hello St. Kitts

Hello St. Kitts

Sometimes it seems like more than just fate is working with us. For at least the past three years Renee has created and guided you through the Island Babble website. Because of the site and fate, I met Renee and am excited to be coming aboard the Island Babble site and babbling away as I learn the ropes on this Island paradise.

Renee and Michael, as you may well know, have moved back to the U.S. just a few days ago and will now be starting a new adventure in the Florida Keys. If I can be only half as humorous and half as entertaining as Renee then I think we’ll have a great time in Island Babble.

Enough with formalities first let me introduce myself and how I ended up in the beautiful Caribbean nation of St. Kitts and Nevis and how I was so lucky to be able to share my experiences with you.

I am Ben Williamson. I am from between Pittsburgh and Erie Pennsylvania and went to Thiel College and graduated with a History degree and soon after spent a year in Belgium with the U.S. Army, which I was in for seven years. I grew up basically on a farm and had a grass-fed beef business and most recently worked as a newspaper reporter for the local newspaper.

Writing has always been something I’ve enjoyed but who would’ve thought you could actually be paid to interview interesting people, attend events, and write about it. I never did. I finally found a career I enjoyed doing and I found it easier to express myself through written words than through any other means of communication.

So, you probably wonder how I made it to St. Kitts? Well, my wife is a veterinarian and has done a lot of International work in Africa. We were just recently married in December of 2011 and wanted to do something exciting. Unfortunately, we couldn’t sell our house, buy a sailboat, and sail away, But we’re in St. Kitts and that’s a lot better than the “rust belt” of Western Pennsylvania, where it snows horribly every winter and the closest large body of water is an hour and a half away. Anyways, Julie is starting her brand new position at Ross University of Veterinary Medicine and I am basically just along for the ride.

We arrived here only one week ago, so we both have a lot to learn and I have a lot to write about, so I hope you are ready to read and experience many new situations along with me. I must tell you all that I’m an information addict and along with my history interests, my love of the water, and love of different cultures I t shouldn’t be long before we’re cast into a lot of interesting situations.

I must tell you how Renee and I met. After Julie received an invitation to interview at Ross I believe I was on the computer searching for information about the “possible” move before we even had an answer. I couldn’t find much of anything about St. Kitts and Nevis anywhere. I wanted a book, an informative book about the history, the culture, and the people because I knew nothing about the country and frankly had never heard of it. After searching the web forever I came across the Island Babble blog. Before I even read an entire post I saw Renee’s advertisement for her book. So I ordered it that minute. It arrived quickly and I read it quickly. I honestly first went to the St. Kitts section of the book first because that’s what I wanted to find out about, but once I read the story I was hooked. So only by chance did I find Renee on facebook and our time, through chance helped us meet up only a few days before her and Michael left. My biggest concern about being here was not having anything to do, but now I’m pumped to be able to continue writing and learning at the same time.

So for today I will close but before I do, I want to let you all know that I plan on keeping most of Island Babble the same as has always been. As a historian, a reporter, and new resident I plan on bringing you some new information about a lot of varying subjects. I was only here three days and was already out on an island Hash, my first ever. I want to jump into the culture of a place I find fascinating because of the history, its location, and its people.

I also want to share with you the many events taking place here. I will be the first to tell you that I’m not here to just sit on the beach and sun myself. There’s a lot to see and do here and we’re going to find it. The last thing I want to do is get “rock fever” which I’ve heard does happen after coming from a country of 300 million to one of 39,000. Stay tuned.

I will leave you with some pictures of myself and Julie and soon I’ll blog about how you move an entire house full of belongings from the U.S. across the Caribbean to St. Kitts. I’ll also give you a firsthand look at what I’ve learned about Kitts already and how I’m adjusting.  Til, next time. 

           From the cold to >

Feel free to email me with any questions and friend me on facebook because that's how I found the information and tools to be able to do this. Thanks. 

my email is jeffben19782003@gmail.com or jeffben19782003@yahoo.com