Barbados Shenanigans

When we weren't trying all sorts of yummy food and meeting up with family, the gang and I found ways to entertain ourselves. One day we went tubing, which was nothing like the experience I had in Massachusetts, one evening was spent on a pirate party boat, and another day we went snorkeling and swimming with turtles.

I know what you're thinking. That's so cool! Why didn't you post about this earlier?  Well, the main reason is because Mike took some great video and pictures with his GoPro and I didn't bring the cable to hook it up to my tablet. Womp womp. And as cool as writing about it is, pictures really enhance the story. So I waited until we got home stuck in the Barbados airport for an eight hour delay, where we eventually ended up in the VIP lounge with a computer where I could hook up the camera and write about our adventures.  Thanks, American Airlines.  But not really.

Tubing
In June, Mike and I went up to his parents' to go tubing along the Quaboag River, where we slowly floated on down while shooting the breeze.  When Kim suggested we go tubing one afternoon, I thought it would be somewhat like that.  Oh boy, I was wrong.

These guys had huge inter tubes with the middle section covered up so that you could lie on them and had them tied to the end of their boat.  They then put the pedal to the metal and took sharp turns, trying to see how many people they could get to fall off.  It was so. much. fun.  Sadly, I don't have pictures, but Mike took some great videos that I'm going to edit and post on YouTube at a later date.  Keep a look out for it!

Jolly Rodger
If you ask my friends and family what sort of activities I'm not really into, I promise you that a party cruise would be a fairly popular answer.  When Kim suggested that we go on the Jolly Rodger, I was leaning towards skipping it.  But then Reggie and Linda decided to go as well, and it was hard to say no.  In the end, I am so happy that Mike and I did go.

Reggie, Mike, me, Linda, and James before getting on the boat.

Kim and Jerry.

The Jolly Rodger is a pirate ship that does lunch and dinner shows.  All of us went for the dinner show on Thursday and had a blast.  You arrive at the port in Bridgetown for pre-dinner drinks and a show.  They had a drag queen host and fire breathers, dancers, and more.

Kim with our drag queen Emcee. 

Crop Over dancers. 

After the show, you hop on the boat for dinner and, you guessed it, more drinks!  There is also dancing and another little show that they put on towards the end of the cruise.

The entire thing was admittedly a little corney, but we all had such a great time.  It was raining a little before and during our time on the ship, but towards the end it let up.  Nobody seemed to notice that the rain had stopped, which was fantastic because Mike and I went dancing on the top deck and no one else was there!  We were able to make total fools out of ourselves without onlookers.  Evenutally, we got Reggie and Linda to come up as well and they agreed that it was much nicer than dancing on the bottom deck like a bunch of packed-in sardines.

Even though this blurry, I feel like it perfectly captured our evening. 

Snorkeling and Turtles
You long time readers are already familiar with my past snorkeling adventures.  I have come to enjoy it so much that I am seriously entertaining the idea of becoming SCUBA certified.  Getting up close to these fish and other animals is absolutely amazing and I'd love to get closer.

I think it's a good look for us.

One morning, we got on a boat that took us out to a ship wreck where an artificial reef has been made.  We got to see all sorts of fish up close and personal.  I have never been so close to so many fish at once.  You could reach out and touch them (if you were fast enough).  It was nuts.

The reef on the ship wreck.

After we explored the ship wreck, we got back on the boat and headed over to see some turtles!  It was one of the coolest experiences of my life.  They even got close enough that you could reach out and touch their shells. 

So cool.

Now we can put turtles on our list of animals that we have swum with.  Hopefully we can add dolphins next!

These excursions were a lot of fun.  And being able to enjoy them with family that you don't get to see regularly made it even better.

Bajan Food

I feel like I am learning something new about Reggie all the time on this trip. One new fact I have picked up on is that he is a really good cook. 

Since food can get expensive here, Reggie cooked up a bunch of meals and snacks in Massachusetts, froze them, and brought them down with him. We have had the pleasure of eating all sorts of yummy things, such as fish cakes, curried chicken, and oxtail soup.  And it wouldn't be a Bajan meal without hot sauce. Mike and I are absolutely hooked on this stuff. I have bought two bottles of it at the grocery store to bring back with us. 

Look at all that spicy goodness.

The few times we have gone out to eat, we have tried to stick to ordering items off the local menu. Yesterday, I had roti for lunch. When I first heard of it, I thought of the Mediterranean restaurants in DC and Chicago, but I was kind of off base. Roti is spiced meat and potatoes wrapped in shell very similar to a tortilla. It's probably one of my new favorite foods. 

Roti!

Other delicious food that we have had includes macaroni pie and turnovers. On Sunday, we are going to meet up with Reggie's family for the afternoon and I'm sure there will be many more yummy things to try. 

We have also been drinking a lot of rum and the local beer, Banks. It tastes like water and it is easy to down a few without realizing that you have.  So we have been drinking mostly rum, with any sort of mixer we can find.  We also have bottles we are bringing home. :)

Now that I've written about food, I need to go find some. 

You May Be Right, I May Be Crazy

The days leading up to our trip down to Barbados were a little busy, to say the least. It started with us seeing Billy Joel perform at Wrigley Field on Friday night (which was absolutely amazing), followed by going out to one of Chicago's suburbs on Saturday to photograph a wedding.  Then we got out of bed early on Sunday to fly to Miami, where we would spend a little under 24 hours before setting off again on Monday, finally to Barbados.  As someone recently said to me, we don't like feeling the grass grow beneath our feet. 

Billy Joel live at Wrigley.

Our layover in Miami was alright. I found a deal for us on Jetsetter at the Freehand hostel, which worked out nicely. We had a suite, which consisted of two rooms - one with a TV and couch and another with a bed. It was cool and quiet, which was nice. But I doubt the rest of guests were staying in those rooms as they appeared to be a lot of young Europeans on a gap year.  I felt a little old staying there because it seemed that everyone was in their early twenties and preferred to spend their Sunday evening getting sloppy at the hostel's cocktail bar while all I wanted to do was sleep.  But I will admit, that cocktail bar did make damn good drinks. 

We got to walk around Miami Beach and check it out. The portion we explored was somewhat underwhelming as the water felt lukewarm and there was seaweed everywhere. It was also a million percent humidity, which didn't help matters. But we eventually found a Cuban restaurant to eat at, so that was nice. 

When we arrived in Barbados, Mike's uncle, Reggie, and one of his family members met us at the airport.  We made our way to our hotel, where Mike's aunt, Linda, was waiting for us. There were hugs for all and you could immediately tell how excited they were (and still are!) to have us here. 

Our first view of the island.

Another fun part about this trip is that Reggie's grandson and his girlfriend are here as well. And they are hilarious and a ton of fun. Neither Mike nor I have met much of Reggie's family, so it's nice that we are able to now. 

On our first night here, we went out to watch some people sing karaoke with Reggie and Linda at a place called La Bouche in Speightstown. We had to take a bus, which was an experience. There are some government owned buses and there are some private ones. We hoped on a private one that was going a million miles an hour and blaring music. It was awesome.  The government ones didn't have music blaring, but they still drove like bats out of hell. Typically, that sort of thing terrifys me but I loved it here. 

I keep joking with Linda that we need to allow extra time when going places with Reggie because he knows so many people here and stops to say hi to them all. I feel like I am getting to know a lot of people here already.  And who knows what he still has in store for us. He has been a wonderful host so far and I am sure that he will continue to be. 

Family Fun in the Caribbean Sun

Before we went to Europe this past spring, I wrote that Mike and I are incredibly lucky to have friends all over the world.  I still stand by that statement and think that having friends who live and have ties to different places across the globe is fantastic.  But now, I want to change what I originally said to also include family.

For those of you who don't know, Mike's uncle, Reggie, is from Barbados.  Although he and Mike's aunt, Linda, live in Massachusetts, they still have strong ties to the island.  I love listening to Reggie talk about life there, and he is very well aware of that.  So a few months ago, he invited me and Mike to come with him and Linda to Barbados this summer.  It took us about two seconds to agree to that. 

Linda and Reggie at our wedding.

Part of the reason I am so excited for this trip is that we will get to see the island with someone who is actually from there and knows his way around, which, in my opinion, makes for a better time.  

An added bonus to this trip is that we will be going during Crop Over, which may sound familiar to some of you because Rihanna, who is originally from Barbados, sometimes takes part in it.  One of our friends whose family is from Barbados spent an evening telling me all about the celebrations, and now I can't wait to experience it, albeit with more clothing than RiRi.

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So where exactly is Barbados?  Glad you asked!  Here's a map that will help you out:

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As you can see, Barbados isn't super close to Chicago.  We have to connect both ways in Miami, which makes me a little nervous as I have heard less than stellar things about immigration at that airport.  Anyone care to refute that?  (Please?)  
Our flights down to Barbados didn't line up exactly the way we were hoping they would because American Airlines was only offering us layovers that had us stuck at the Miami Airport for a minimum of 9 hours (boo).  So we have decided to spend a day in Miami on our way down (yay!).  Even though Miami is not a destination abroad, I've decided to write about it anyway.  If anyone has any suggestions for things we should not miss during our 20-ish hour stay there, please let me know!

The week before this trip is going to be quite busy, so spending time at the beach is going to be very welcomed.  Keep your eyes open for posts our about upcoming various island adventures!  

Also, I created a Facebook page for my blog.  Like it if you have a second :)

Canada With Mom - Part II

Our second day in Canada, Mom and I got up at about a quarter after nine to got ready to see the Falls.  Our first stop was (obviously) Tim Horton's.  Even the monkey got in on some of the action.

Since our waiter from the night before warned us that parking was going to be a nightmare, the two of us walked over after we were done eating.  The view that awaited us was beautiful.

We continued our walk over to the Maid of the Mist.  For those of you not familiar with the Maid of the Mist, it's the boat that you go on to get up close to the Falls.  As you board the boat, you are given a silly blue poncho with a hood to wear, which at first you think you won't need.  Observe how neither of us are wearing our hoods.

Little did we know...

The boat ride started out calm enough.  We were on the bottom deck of the two-story boat.  I had read that was the place to be because when you get close to the Falls, everyone starts coming downstairs.  We were also on the side of the boat that was farthest from the Falls while at the dock.  Pro-tip for those of you going on the Maid of the Mist: stand on the side of the boat closest to the dock when you first get on.  Everyone rushes to the other side, but the boat loops back around and you get to view the Falls on your way back into port.

We tried to listen to the recording that rattled off facts about the Falls in English and French, but it was nearly impossible to hear.  So Mom and I chatted until the mist started to descend upon us.  Then the wind started up.  We looked like this:

I consider myself very lucky that I didn't cause any major water damage to my phone.  The wind was unpredictable, so just when you thought it might be safe to snap a picture, you got a huge gust of wind and water in your face.  But it was a lot of fun.  The three year old girl who with her family next to us didn't think so.  There were lots of tears. 

After we got off the boat, we walked around a little bit.  The tulips were in bloom and it was beautiful to take in everything.  We stopped at a restaurant that overlooked the Falls for a drink and a snack, and then headed back to the hotel.  That night after dinner, we went back to look at the Falls.  At night, different colored lights shine on them.  It was pretty to look at.

The next morning, we got up early to allow ourselves plenty of time to get across the border.  Luckily, it only took us about 45 minutes, so we decided to go explore the US side of the Falls.

The Falls were pretty on the US side, but we definitely got the better experience taking them in from Canada.  We were able to get up closer to them on the US side.  I think that's because we didn't walk over to where you could when we were in Ontario.  It made for a cool contrasting experience.

Overall, it was a good trip.  The Falls weren't as tall as we thought they might be.  But it didn't lack in awe-factor.  The roar of the water going over and the width of not one, but three falls, was incredibly impressive.  And you can see the mist coming off the water from a long way away.  I'd say that it's something you should see and experience at least once in your life.  But I'm not sure that it's a trip I'd take again anytime soon.

Thanks for reading about this round of my adventures!  Stay tuned for posts about my upcoming trip to Peru.  Mike & I are leaving in about two weeks (!!) for the land of the Incas.  Should be a good time.

Canada With Mom - Part I

I love our neighbor to the north.  I really do.  I always have a great time whenever I'm there.  This round, my mom and I spent time in Ontario near Niagara Falls.  We flew into Buffalo on Friday and drove 45 minutes to Canada.  Of course, our first stop was at Tim Hortons.  My mom didn't get why I was so excited until she tried it.  She is now a fan, and rightfully so.

For those of you not familiar with this chain, Tim Hortons is the Dunkin Donuts of Canada and is as ubiquitous as Starbucks.  There were some locations in New York, but I couldn't bring myself to go to them.  It's like going to McDonalds overseas.  You just...don't.  That is unless you really have to pee.

We got a little lost trying to find our hotel because my cell service crapped out (thanks, Verizon) but it meant that we got to drive around a little.  A few words come to mind when it comes to the town of Niagara Falls.  Two I can think of off the top of my head are "kitschy" and "run-down." Let me explain:

• Kitschy: There were all sorts of stores there that I don't feel like you see anywhere else except at big tourist attractions or the boardwalk at the beach.  For example, there was a Margaritaville (because nothing screams Canada like Jimmy Buffett), a Hershey store, a Ripley's Believe It or Not, and so on.  Now, I realize that this is a vacation area, but still.  It felt like a little much.
• Run-Down: There were a lot of borded up and unloved houses that we drove by in the town.  It was sad to see.  The juxtaposition of rich tourists and poor locals caught me off guard.

Eventually, we found our hotel.  We checked in, took a quick nap, and then headed off to Niagara-on-the-Lake, a beautiful town about half an hour from the Falls.  I had booked us appointments at the Shaw Spa and it was amazing.  If you're ever there, I highly recommend them.  I had never been to the spa before, so I didn't know what to expect.  My mom and I both got body wraps and they were amazing.  After our appointment, we got a quick bite to eat and then decided to check out Lake Ontario, which was a stones throw away from where we were.

Lake Ontario

It was really, really beautiful.  I feel like this picture doesn't do it justice.  As I was looking around, I noticed a skyline across the lake.  I was trying to figure out what city it was when I noticed a needle-shaped building in the distance.  Then it hit me.  I was looking right at Toronto!  How cool.

On our way back, we noticed that there were lots and lots of vineyards between Niagara-on-the-Lake and the Falls.  I was kind of surprised.  We both thought it would be too cold up there to grow grapes, but I guess people do good business since there were a ton of vineyards.  Later I learned that we were driving on the Ontario Wine Route.

When we got back, we walked around a little bit, ate dinner at an amazing steak restaurant and watched fireworks that went off over the Falls.  It was pretty neat.  We then poured ourselves into bed so that we could get a (relatively) early start on our adventures at the Falls in the morning.  That part of our adventure is coming up in Part II...

Celebrating Mom

Happy Mother's Day to all!  I know lots of awesome moms and mommas to be.  You are truly amazing ladies and I tip my hat to all of you.  But there is one lady in particular that I have to take a moment to honor.  And that's my mom, Margot.

My amazing mother with me.  Man, I totally rocked that bowl cut.

My mom's pretty awesome.  Here are five reasons why:

1. She started a business with my dad 10 days before I was born.  Can you imagine being that pregnant and starting a new business?  I can't.
2. Over the years, she has lived in four different states, DC, and Australia. 
3. She has worked at and attended Inaugural Balls in DC.
4. Not only was she my Girl Scout Troop leader, but my sister's as well.
5. She can really sew! For my 50s-themed birthday party in second grade, she made felt poodle skirts for 20-some odd children to decorate and take home.  And pretty much every single Halloween costume and Christmas dress I wore growing up was made by her.

This Friday the two of us are jetting off to Niagara Falls, Ontario for a long weekend of sight-seeing and pampering.  I'm really excited to be spending time with her in Canada.  Now I realize that the word "abroad" is in the name of this blog and that not many Americans consider Canada as abroad.  But I looked up the meaning of the word, and here's Google's definition:

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Looks like it does count.  Plus, you need a passport in order to get in so that has to count for something.  So I've decided to write about our long weekend in Canada.  It's going to be nice to take a long break with her before my wedding, which is only a little over four months away (woah - what?!?).  I love you, Mom and I can't wait to explore Niagara with you!

Me, my sister, and our mom at my sister's college graduation.



Why Turks and Caicos Will Always Hold a Special Place in My Heart

Back in May, I was messing around on the internet (like any good millennial) and decided that Mike and I should go away for a long weekend in November to celebrate being together for three years.  After searching Kayak and JetSetter, we picked Turks and Caicos.  It wasn't super expensive and not terribly far away, so it looked like the perfect place to escape to.

A few months later, Mike was diagnosed with cancer.  When the doctors finished removing all the cancerous tissue, we knew that this would also be a trip to celebrate overcoming that obstacle.  Needless to say, we were both looking forward to our long weekend away for many reasons.  But Mike had an additional reason that he was keeping from me.

Our first night there we had crummy weather, which I thought was making Mike antsy.  After all, we had been on a plane for the better part of the day.  He was pacing around the room, trying to find any reason to go outside. Once the rain let up, I agreed to go for a walk around the resort.

In the middle of our resort was this very cool pool that had a waterfall and many little bridges that you could walk across.  Mike told me to look for a place for us to sit. While I was looking for a dry chair, I suddenly hear Bruno Mars' "Marry You"  starting to play.  I spin around and see Mike down on one knee, holding out a ring, asking me to marry him.  Needless to say, my answer was yes.  I was so overcome with emotion that it took me a couple minutes to actually take the ring from him.  And as you can see, Mike did a great job picking it out.

As of right now, we don't have much of anything in the way of wedding plans.  It will probably be awhile before we do.  But we want to thank everyone for all your warm wishes. It really means a lot to us.  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I know I did :)

The bridge where he proposed.

A Little Bit About Provo

Our last two days in Turks and Caicos were spent on the beach, which I now miss terribly having landed in Hartford on Tuesday night. We didn't really do anything of note, so I wanted to use this post to talk about the island we were on.

Mike and I were on the island Providenciales, or Provo as most people call it. In talking to the hotel staff, we discovered that a lot of them were originally from Haiti. There were also some people from Jamaica. It was very interesting walking to the Haitians and hearing about life over there. Most of them had not been back in years.

I can understand why they would want to come to Provo. We were able to safely walk on the beach at night, which was so nice. You couldn't do that in Jamaica, and I'm guessing Haiti as well. We also walked down the main road at night and felt completely safe.
Provo is in the process of being developed. They didn't have any cars on the island before 1964.  A lot of nice, new shopping centers have gone in but thanks to what happened in 2008 a lot of the storefronts remain empty.

Since I'm typing on my phone, I'm going to cut this post short. But stay tuned!  I still have one post left that you definitely won't want to miss...

Snorkeling, Diving for Conch, and Hanging with Iguanas

Yesterday Mike and I were handed a brochure for various excursions you can take from our resort.  While we lounged on the beach, we flipped through it and saw one for snorkeling.  We had heard good things about it from multiple people, so we decided to sign up.  This morning at 9 AM, the boat came and got us for our adventure.

To quote Andy Samberg, "I'm on a boat!"

Mike and I, along with three other couples, set off on the incredibly choppy waters of the Atlantic to the reef that lies just beyond the island.  There were a couple moments when the current was getting so rough that I was getting nervous, but arriving at the reef made it all worth it.

Each person was given a pair of flippers and snorkeling goggles and was told to head out.  We set off from the side of the boat and began to explore.  The fish were all sorts of magnificent colors, ranging from white to purple to black and yellow.  I even saw one that was yellow and purple and thought it would be the perfect mascot for the Minnesota Vikings because its colors were exactly the same.  Since the water was so choppy, it pushed the fish in all sorts of directions that they didn't want to head into.  They were trying so hard to eat off of the coral but kept getting swept away.  Even I was getting swept away.  But it was a great time, especially since the last time I went snorkeling I kept getting water in my goggles, making it very hard to see anything.

After our group was done taking a peek at the ocean life, we left the Atlantic and headed towards the Caribbean Sea to go dive for conch.  While the water was much less choppy, the current was very strong.  I managed to find a conch within five minutes, but me being me, I went to pick it up and the seaweed freaked me out so I dropped it like a spaz.  A few minutes later, I found another one that was face up and got really excited, but manged to drop that one too.  After another fifteen minutes of searching, I found one, picked it up, and started to head back to our boat.  I was so proud of myself for finally finding one that I willed my tired legs to get me to the boat.  I arrived, beaming with pride, only to be told that the conch I found was too small and that I had to throw it back.  Needless to say, I was bummed.  And then to add insult to injury, Mike one- (or should I say three-) upped me by coming back to the boat with three conch.  Only one of them was big enough to keep, so we had to throw the rest back.  He was the only person that managed to find one big enough to hold on to, so that was pretty cool.

This is what the conch looked like in the water.

Our next stop was the uninhabited Iguana Island.  The first thing we did at Iguana Island was watch one of the crew members get the conch ready to eat.  First they hammered the shell, and then pulled the conch out of the shell and cut it up so that the meat could be prepared.  Fun fact: the conch spine is an aphrodisiac.  I tried it and I have to say that a.) it tasted like a salty spaghetti noodle and b.) it didn't really work.  Keep that in mind in case anyone ever tries to offer it to you.

A female iguana.

The iguanas on the island were only about a foot long.  One of our tour guides had a bag full of chopped up veggies that he would throw out so that the iguanas would come out.  They weren't really scared of us and they were really fun to watch scurry around.

On the other side of the island, there was a beautiful beach with amazing water where we went for a quick swim.  When we got back to the boat, conch salad was waiting for us.  It was a lot like ceviche, meaning it was absolutely delicious.  Now, the last time I went on a maritime excursion in the Caribbean, it did not end well for me.  So I really had to work on not eating a whole lot to prevent reliving the St. Martin's Boat Trip of '06 nightmare.  It was not easy, but I made it back to the resort without my lunch making a reappearance.  Overall, it was a success.

Conch salad.  Super yummy.

I'm really glad that we decided to go on this trip.  Usually I have reservations about excursions like this, but the guides were a lot of fun, as were the other couples, and I didn't feel like it was super kitschy.  It made for a great day.  Plus, we got to keep the conch shell that Mike found.  In my opinion, it is one of the coolest souvenirs that we have ever gotten.

TCI: First Full Day

We are finally here!  Thank goodness.  Our trip here wasn't too eventful, unless you count the last 45 minutes of our flight that had just enough turbulence to make me feel like I was going to lose my lunch.  It was not fun.  But we arrived in one piece and that's all that really mattered.

Our resort is really awesome.  We have a view of the ocean from our room and were welcomed with complementary rum punch, so it's fair to say that we're pretty happy with the place we picked.

This is where we lounged this morning.

When we arrived it was raining quite a bit, which I gathered is pretty unusual.  Mike and I ended up hanging out at our beachfront restaurant/bar that's at our resort and then went to sleep relatively early last night because there wasn't much to do.  But we made up for our lack of activity today.  We spent a good part of our day hanging out on the beach.  Since our resort is beachfront, we had to walk a grand total of five minutes to get where we were going.  We picked out an umbrella, put our stuff down, and headed out into the water.  An hour and a half later, we decided we needed a change of scenery.  There is also an area that has a couple of hammocks in it that we ended up hanging out in during the afternoon.  Today was a lazy day for sure.

The water here is the bluest I have ever seen.  I don't remember it being this blue in Jamaica, nor do I remember it being this blue in Corsica or St. Martin.  When you first get in it, the water is kind of cold but then your body gets used to it and it's absolutely lovely.  We made it through the day without a sunburn, so that's a plus.

We've been eating pretty well here.  I had conch pizza for lunch today and Mike had conch wantons at a resort close to ours, and last night we had conch fritters.  Sensing a theme here?  Tonight we went to a pretty fancy-pants restaurant down the street and had an amazing meal.  You can tell that the restaurants here are struggling a little because they aren't super full and they are offering all sorts of deals.

Conch pizza.  Complete with rum punch.  Yum!

As far as being in a foreign country goes, there really isn't too much that is different here.  The biggest difference I've seen is that people drive on the other side of the road and speed limits are posted in kilometers.  The cars here aren't consistent with which side the steering wheel is placed on, so sometimes you view them placed on the left and sometimes you see them placed on the right.  The cars are also pretty large.  I remember St. Martin having everything ranging from SmartCars to SUVs, but here I've seen more of the bigger cars.  Another interesting thing that I've noticed here is that the poverty isn't as stark as it was when we were in Jamaica.  Don't get me wrong, it is still present here but nothing like it was when we were on that island.

Our view during lunch.

Tomorrow morning we are getting up early to go on a glass bottom boat/snorkeling tour.  We also get to go to Iguana Island to check out some of the wildlife.  Needless to say, we're both pretty excited.  Stay tuned for my next post on that!

The Good and the Bad: 2012 Edition

I know we still have about a month and a half left in the year, but I'm ready to call 2012 one of the most up-and-down years of my life.  There's been the good: Carnaval in Rio, many beautiful weddings of dear friends, a new, absolutely adorable addition to Mike's family, a trip to Fenway to see the Sox beat the Yankees, my sister graduating and landing a job in a theatre in Florida, IU Basketball being ranked No. 1, and so much more.

But there has also been the bad.  Like the NHL lock-out (seriously guys, get it together), stressful moments at work, the Nats losing in the playoffs, IU Football (but who am I kidding?  They've always sucked), and on a more serious note, the day I found out that my lovely boyfriend had cancer.  Now before you all start freaking out, he's totally fine and has been a rock star through everything.  Two surgeries later, they got everything out and there is no need for chemo or radiation, so we are thanking our lucky stars that we were given the best possible scenario.  I also want to take a second and give a shout-out to our friends and family because all of you were super supportive during all this.  Honestly, I don't think we could have gotten through the past couple months without you guys.  Thank you.

Needless to say, our summer was not the best.  Between surgeries and doctor's appointments, there was not much time for an extended vacation anywhere.  But now that things have temporarily slowed down, Mike and I have decided to get one more stamp in our passports before the year ends.  On Friday we are off to Turks and Caicos to get some much needed relaxation before heading up north to New England for Turkey Day.

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For those of you going "Turks and wha?" the Turks and Caicos islands are an overseas British Territory that is made up of eight main islands.  We are staying on the Providenciales island.  The country is about 620 miles from Miami, which means that the flight isn't super long.  There is supposed to be amazing snorkeling and some of the bluest waters you can imagine.  I'm getting excited to go exploring!  Throughout the trip, I'll be updating every once in awhile to let you in on our island-life experience! 

Last Night in Jamaica

Here I am, last night in Jamaica. It's amazing to see how fast a week passes by. Well, a fair amount has happened since I last wrote, so let's do a quick re-cap.

On Wednesday, Marvin (the main housekeeper) was asked to go to the store to pick up some items. Mike's brother-in-law and I decided to accompany him on the trip, and am I ever happy that I did. It was a really neat experience. We took our caddy to the store, up the mountain, over numerous bumpy roads (once again my appreciation for paved roads made an appearance. We were hitting potholes the size of SUVs), and through various neighborhoods to get there. Everyone was so smiley and friendly. Just about every person we passed waved and said hello to us. It was interesting to see the varying levels of poverty and how quickly the neighborhoods were changing from having big houses with gates to little shacks. There were also a fair amount of churches that had groups of people clumped together talking outside in their best clothes, getting ready to go in for services. My mind is still boggled as to how people here can wear long-sleeved shirts and jeans in this weather. They say you get used to it, but I know I'd be sweating up a storm.

Anyway, when we got to the store, we pulled up behind someone's house to park while we went inside. Grocery stores in Jamaica sort of remind me of pharmacies in Europe. Everything is behind bars and you ask the attendant for what you want and he goes and gets it. I'm sure they do this so that no one steals anything (as if the security guard walking around with a rifle wasn't off-putting enough.) But Marvin had a friend that worked there, so we got to go into the back and poke around. I love seeing the different ways foods are packaged in various countries, so to quote Mike's brother-in-law, I looked like "a little kid in a candy store." We got a lot of food and I managed to find another kind of Jamaican beer beside Red Stripe for Mike called Dragon Stout (which is bottled by Red Stripe - no surprise there.) Included in our purchase were banana chips (more like potato chips in the States because they don't add any sugar, which is better in my opinion), Jamaican spice buns (which I have yet to eat but I'm sure I will on the plane tomorrow), and lots of other yummy items. When we were done getting our groceries, we went into a room that was connected to the front waiting room and bought everyone Jamaican patties. They reminded everyone of empanadas and tacos. They were good, but I didn't much care for the processed Kraft-like cheese that they put on them. I had to wolf mine down, but I'll get to that in a minute. As we were leaving the store, our golf cart ran over an exposed PVC pipe to the house we parked behind that was carrying their water supply. But just based on appearances, that seemed to happen frequently because there were joints all over it. We paid the guy a little bit for parts, and then went on our way.

By the time we got back, we had about an hour to get ready for the wedding. I managed to get ready in a flash (I was impressed with myself), wolf down a patty or two, then head on down to the beach. The ceremony was behind one of the villas where some people were staying. It was low tide, so there were all these really pretty rocks showing through the water. Everyone looked beautiful, and the ceremony was as well. It took about 15 minutes, and then the photographer was taking lots and lots of pictures. Mike, his sister, his brother, and I got kind of bored, so we decided to go out climbing on the low rocks. His sister and I were having some problems because the rocks were sort of sharp and not so easy to walk on with bare feet. But we snapped some cute pictures, that was for sure. When the pictures were all done, we were loaded on to buses, driven up the hill, and were dropped at the reception which happened to be at the hotel two houses up from up. We had a blast at the reception, which had a killer view of the water from up on the mountain. Everyone seemed to have a good time and we were even making friends with the staff. I tell you, everyone here is so nice.

The next morning, we all dragged ourselves out of bed and back up to the hotel for brunch. Everyone who was invited to the wedding was asked to come. We ate your typical Jamaican fare (with a few screwdrivers thrown in) and just had a lazy morning. Afterwards we headed down to the beach. It was a nice, lazy day. The water was so nice and I floated around in it quite a bit. Mike's nephew also loved playing in the sand, so I did a lot of that with him. All the while, I managed to not get sunburned! Me - 1, Sun - 0.

Since last night was Mike sister's and her family's last night, the staff here prepared a candle light dinner out by our pool for all of us. We ate curried goat with rice and peas, ending with chocolate cake. It took them a little while to get everything ready because Chefie wasn't here, but it was very sweet of them to do and it was really good. So far, the curried goat has been my favorite thing to eat here.

Today, I napped (who's surprised?) and hung out at the pool in our back yard. Mike and I threw the frisbee around for awhile, and then thought it might be fun to try to jump into the pool and catch it at the same time. So we spent quite awhile doing that. Right now, I can smell our Chef cooking our jerked chicken dinner. I just went outside and saw that he is cooking it in an old propane tank. They really don't waste anything around here. I'm excited because he's making an extra spicy half for me and Mike. Yum.

We leave early tomorrow from our villa. Keep your fingers crossed for us because we have a very short lay over in Charlotte. Here's to hoping we get through it in time! Speaking of leaving, I should really do something about packing the pile of clothes on the floor in my room... Until next time!

Lazy Beach Days and Walks in the Jungle

I'm back for post number two during my week in tropical paradise. To be honest, I've been kinda lazy while here, so I don't think this post is going to be super long. So let's get started.

Our second day here, we just hung out on the beach. There is a private beach behind some of the villas where some people who are going to the wedding are staying. We took our caddy (translated to American: golf cart) down the hill that our villa is on to the beach. For all you Easton people, the second I saw the golf cart, all sorts of farm memories came flooding back to me. It's the exact same one that Pop Pop had, but this one has a gas engine. Oh the damage we could have done if we had one of those. But I digress. Back to the beach.

The sand out there is a beautiful white and you can see through the water straight down to the bottom. It was a pretty bumpy ride due to the lack of paved roads up here, but it took us maybe ten minutes to get down there. There was a little concrete building at the edge of the beach by the road that sold hot dogs, which were pink, hamburgers, fries, and most importantly, Red Stripe. It's only about $2.00 for a beer anywhere you go here. It's a nice and welcomed break from D.C. prices.

While we were down there, we saw a boy riding a horse on one of the adjoining beaches. He tried to cross ours, but a woman came over and yelled at him, saying that he couldn't cross our beach. So he did what any logical person would do. He took the horse out into the sea and they swam across. It was quite a funny site. The beach also had some people walking around, selling various kinck-kancks that they had made (necklaces, bracelets, etc.) I cannot imagine making a living like that. Once again, so much poverty in such a beautiful place.

Yesterday, we went to a cook out at the Cranbrook Gardens with everyone who is here for the wedding. While there, we went on a three mile hike up to see the waterfall where the river that runs through there originates. The plants that were there all had some sort of purpose in local Jamaican culture. For example, there were flowers you could eat (which I did and it tasted like a green apple), a tree that you use to make bug spray, and flowers that cure pink eye. Since it had been raining so much, the trail was pretty muddy and the river had a huge amount of water flowing it at a very fast pace. Our guide told us that usually you can see through the water, but the runoff made it look like coffee with creamer in it. When we reached the top of the mountain where the waterfall was, you had to cross the fast flowing waters to get across to the original pool. I was the second person that crossed, holding on to a rope and trying to feel where to put my foot next because I couldn't see anything under the water. Not many people crossed over, and in my opinion, they missed a really cool sight. The trees seemed to go up and up forever and there were little bits of mist spraying everywhere. It was one of the more beautiful hikes that I had ever been on.

When we got back down to the pavilion, we were starving so we ate some pumpkin and tuna fritters, which were so good. Our main course was barrel drum pork and chicken (like this guy ate), along with various other sides including bammy, festival, and fried plantains. For desert, there were two kinds of bread. One was pumpkin and sadly, I cannot remember the other type. After we ate, Mike and I decided to work on our holding a beer in one hand and catching/throwing a frisbee with the other skills (watch out Wildwood) in the beautiful yard. There were peacocks all over the place and Mike's 2-year old nephew had a blast watching them. It was a nice day.

When we got home, we had red pea soup and jerked chicken sandwiches for dinner. Funny language note: pea means bean here. So it was actually red bean (kidney) soup. I'm not a huge soup person, but this stuff was amazing! It had just the right amount of spice in it and was really filling. This morning for breakfast, we had johnny cakes, boiled bananas, and ackee and saltfish. I'm loving the fact that everyone in the villa is willing to try the local fare. And we are all loving it. I really had no idea that Jamaican food would be this good.

So today is the big day. The wedding is going to be this afternoon on the beach and the reception is about three minutes on foot from our villa. It looks like the weather is cooperating and hopefully will continue to stay this lovely. So I think I'm going to go outside and enjoy some of it by the pool.

First Impressions of Jamaica

Hello all! After a pretty full day of traveling yesterday, I've made it to Jamaica. It's a nice change from the cold, winter climate on the East Coast. The temperature is around 80, with a lot of humidity (think D.C. in July). It's been raining on and off, with periods of really intense downpours that last a maximum of ten minutes, then immediately stop. I'm thankful for the rain because it seems to cool everything down a little, which is nice when the sun started beating down on you.

Yesterday, we were picked up at the airport with a bunch of other people who came down for the wedding as well. Driving from the airport to our villa took about an hour. The drive was interesting in that it was full of juxtapositions. You would look on one side of the street, and you would see these beautiful hotels and villas that were clean and painted beautiful, tropical colors. Then you would turn to the other side of the street and there were shacks. I'm not exaggerating at all. They looked like sheets of metal that were propped up against pieces of wood. Doors were few and far between and forget about seeing electricity in them. Honestly, it reminded me of something that someone would make while camping. The poverty is so in your face. I see now why people like to stay in the all-inclusive resorts here. Out of sight, out of mind. The other interesting thing from the drive was that there were all sorts of unfinished houses. A floor would be built, and then they would just leave it. Some houses had people living in the bottom while others were completely deserted. They say it's because people run out of money so they just stop and let them sit there. Not surprising, especially given todays economy.

But I digress. On our way to our villa, we stopped at a restaurant on the side of the road for jerked chicken. There were jerked chicken places all over the place, but people were telling us that this was the place to go. Mike and I split half a jerk chicken and got two bottles of some local brew (Red Stripe) and it was so good, not to mention cheap! I was watching the chefs working in the back, and it was so different than watching a kitchen in the States. It was pretty Spartan in the back as far as utensils go, but there were rows and rows of chicken waiting to be cooked or chopped up. We were so hungry that we devoured our food in no time at all.

Then we made it to our villa, which has an amazing view. When you step out onto the back porch, you can see the sea. There is a pool and a huge yard (where we promptly went out to so we could throw a frisbee around. No surprise there). Everyone has their own bedroom suite with a bathroom, which is really nice. There is also a chef, two members of house staff, and three of the friendliest watch dogs I have ever met (don't worry - they are really good at doing their job when they aren't demanding attention from you). I'm having a hard time getting used having people waiting on us all the time. The staff here is super sweet though. Martin, the head of the staff, is just about as nice as he can be. He was teaching me some of the Jamaican language (Patois). It is based off of English and it's interesting to see how they have shorted words, given words different meaning, etc. Anyway, all of us ended up staying up late talking. I'm slowly getting used to having all these people wait on me. I feel like this is going to take awhile to adjust to. This morning, they cooked us a really good breakfast with jerk sausage. Hands down, new favorite breakfast food.

Anyway, I think today we are going to hit the beach. I guess I should go figure that out. I'll try to write again tomorrow, recapping today's adventures. Lots of love!

Dust off your reading glasses boys and girls. I'm back!

So as many of you know, I started this blog when I was in Russia so that I could keep everyone up to date with my life in the tundra. And as many of you also know, I did a horrible job at keeping it current. So here is my new resolution: I'm going to use this whenever I'm traveling abroad. This way, anyone who is curious about what I'm doing in a certain part of the world can click the link and find out for themselves. Sounds good, no?

Well, I'm off to Jamaica in a few days for a wedding and that's when I am going to start updating this thing again. I am going to be there for a week and I plan on doing as much as I can while I'm there. Numero uno on my list is to see the "glowing waters." Check out this website. The picture makes it look really cool, right?

Alright, now it's back to work (boo). I'm not on vacation yet! Less than five days to go (woohoo!!!)