BAHAMAS: Sunday, January 15-Thrusday, January 19

The day I arrived at the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas was the only chilly day, but it turned out to be a great day to meet everyone. A group of around 15 of us went to the Fish Fry, a local block party, to get some cheap drinks and have a good time. We all wanted to dance, but apparently they “don’t do that here,” so we headed back to the Atlantis to dance the night away in the casino bar. I meet some awesome people that night- people I still hang out with on the ship.

All the successive nights we really fun, but it was a little overwhelming as there were more and more people staying at the Atlantis and we all wanted to go out together. It’s pretty hard to get 100+ people organized and to try to meet everyone, but I did my best. I ran into one girl that I was with in Costa Rica last summer which was pretty crazy, and everyone seems to run into someone that they knew- small world.

Atlantis is gorgeous and never ending. The have so much going on there that you really don’t have to leave the hotel to do anything, and they are still adding on a whole lot more! I was especially excited to see all the marine life in the aquariums, including my favorite, sea turtles.

Bye Mom and Dad, see you in Vietnam!

PUERTO RICO: Monday, January 23- Wednesday, January 25

I was pretty excited about Puerto Rico because I had been there for half a day (cruise ship) and thought it was beautiful, but others on the ship were not happy about it being chosen over Dominican Republic and Venezuela. All the skepticism made me worry if there would be anything to do on the island but I’m very surprised by all the island has to offer- perfect for the first 3 days (well, port days).

The first day was the day I checked out San Juan with about 10 people (mostly guys which is the first time I’ve been with mostly guys since the beginning of the trip- lots of estrogen here). Old San Juan is quite a sight especially if you get to the really historic district (which was definitely better with the tour bc I had no clue where to go without it) and check out the forts. You can tell it’s the second oldest city in America if you get to the forts that look like old castles. I spent the afternoon at one of San Juan’s beaches which was perfect because it was walking distance from the ship and the water felt great in the heat!

It kind of felt like Spring Break late Monday night when we ended up at Senor Frogs and found more than 100 other SASers dancing the night away. It was crazy and it didn’t feel much like I thought SAS would be, so I decided I wouldn’t do the typical American partying until I’m back in the states. I think there is more to what we will be experiencing than getting drunk and not feeling like I’m absorbing everything about the countries as I could be.

The next day I got up really early and went on a trip to the El Yunque Rain Forest (aka Caribbean National Forest). I was really surprised with how incredible the forest was. It reminded me a lot of Costa Rica and had amazing waterfalls that we swam in. We took lots of pics, which I will post later since it takes a long time.

I had arranged for about 10 of us to go off to one of the smaller islands of Puerto Rico, Vieques, and we needed to really hurry when we got back from the rainforest to catch the last ferry in Fajardo, an hour and a half away from our port. By the time it came down to it, only four of us girls went. We had to hurry A LOT to pack our bags and run to catch a taxi to make sure we got to the ferry in time. Turns out we just made the Ferry by 10 minutes so we got pretty lucky- that trend continues throughout the trip.

We got to Vieques at around 6 o’clock in time to catch a beautiful sunset. I tried my best at my Spanish and got a taxi driver to figure out where we wanted to go (Bahia Mosquito in Esperanza to see the best bioluminescent bay in the world). He dropped us off at a cute bar/hotel on the beach that quoted us $80 for the one night which was out of our budget. Five minutes later we found out that the biobay trip was leaving from the building next door at 6:30 (a few minutes away). We ran over with all of our stuff hoping they still had room & luckily they could fit the four of us, so we paid, changed, and left our stuff not knowing if we had a place to stay. We kayaked in the complete dark out in a cove of the ocean where we could see every star in the sky- AMAZING (you might be reading this world a lot since I don’t have too many other ways to describe my experiences). We kayaked until we reached a deeper spot probably a mile away and jumped into the water which sparkled around us. The phosphorescent bacteria lit when it was touched and if was fascinating to have glowing dots all over as we swam under the stars in the cool ocean water. It was really cool to lift my arm out of the water and watch as the glowing dots drifted back down to the ocean.

After kayaking and the swimming for two hours, we were starving and worried about finding a place to stay. One of the tour guides called one of his friends that ran a guesthouse and got us a place to stay for cheaper (turned out to be a nice two bedroom apartment right off the ocean). We ate before heading to the guesthouse and had a great time laughing and talking about how great Vieques is.

We spent the next day on a gorgeous beach near by that spanned a mile even though we were the only ones there. We were sad when we had to leave to get back to the ship, but we’re on to the next adventure.

ON BOARD (so far)

I was so anxious to see the ship and meet people that I was in line early enough to be one of the first people on the ship. The ship is beautiful on the inside and very well kept. They are constantly cleaning everything, even our rooms and I’m getting spoiled already. My room is pretty cool since I’m one of 20 students out of 700 that got a suite. I like my roommate a lot too, so things are off to a great start.

Classes keep me fairly busy considering that we have lots of reading and journals to keep for the countries. I have already done a presentation, a paper and taken a test. I enjoy classes for the most part, especially my Environmental Politics and Policies class. The professor, Scott Sherman, is amazing and inspiring. He also heads a club called “How to Change the World,” which teaches us how to find our life passions and make a difference in the world.

I spend most of my free time playing games, reading, hanging out, working out and tanning on the decks. I have never found a better place to do Yoga than on the deck with the ocean and sky all around with the sounds of the waves- its amazing. I have learned to really love Elipse machines and stationary bikes since there is no running track.

January 30 was Neptune Day since it was our first time crossing the equator (my first time in the southern hemisphere!). The woke us up early with a parade in the hallway with loud drums and whistles then the parade continued up to the top deck around the pool. Teachers and crew were all dressed up for the festivities. A lot of people shaved their heads (don’t worry mom and dad, I didn’t have the guts to do it, but Amelia did!) as per tradition for crossing the equator. There was a long line of students waiting to get “fish guts” poured over their head on the edge of the pool. Since they’d all jump into the pool right afterwards, the pool water quickly turned a musty yellow (yuck!). By the time I got the courage to do it, they were out of fish guts. I did kiss a fish- so that was my only real participation in Neptune Day, but it was still really fun.

I am heading to the Amazon with 13 people today (February 1) and am really looking forward to it. We’ve meet up to talk about everything and it seems like a really cool group to go with. The organizers have done an amazing job putting the whole thing together, so I don’t really have anything to worry about, just to be excited about.

Sorry this took so long... I haven't been online, ever, really. So I'll try to keep it up a little better than I have been. Leave me comments if you're reading this.