WELCOME TO THE BAHAMAS

"Mon, I hope you got a good lotion on, 'cause you white girl."

We arrived in the Bahamas on the 31st after a fairly painless and sleep filled flight from Milwaukee to Ft. Lauterdale FL. We then took a puddle jumper to Nassau and I some how managed to fall asleep even though it was ridiculously loud. It was -2 and freezing when we left WI, but sunny and 80's when we arrived. I couldn't complain. We hailed a cab, and took a beautiful drive along the shore to our hotel on Paradise Island. It's funny though, because even though I had done pretty much nothing all day, I was exhaused when we arrived at the hotel. I hate to admit it, but we fell asleep around 8pm, or 7pm WI time. I guess I'm just gettin' old.

The next day, I woke up thinking it was around 8am until I rolled over to find the room compltely empty and myself alone. Awesome. It was actually 10am. Great, I wasted 2 hours at the Bahamas sleeping. So I dragged myself out of bed and found my parents sitting by the pool. We then went to the Atlantis, a ridiculously nice hotel that we had free access to. We laid out on the beach and got some drinks to enjoy. I was falling asleep until I heard someone yell, "Sharks, get out of the water." My first thought was, " Oh, that's not funny... whoever yelled that is going to be in trouble." But, it turned out that the lifeguard, who appears to not be paying attention actually yelled it out and by gosh, sure enough, 3 sharks right by the shore. It was pretty crazy. After the beach, we packed up and decided to head to downtown Nassau for the local fish fry. We took a ferry and as Anna and I were gawking at a huge carnival cruise ship, my mom yelled and pointed in the same direction. There almost dwarfed by the carnival ship was the MV Explorer, my home for the next 3.5 months. I'll admit that it was the first time I was truly excited for the trip. We went to eat at a local fish fry where I got my fav. food, conch fritters. We walked back over the HUGE bridge to Paradise Island and passed out early.

The next day, I woke up alone, AGAIN. We went to a local market under the bridge in the AM. It was neat to see all the fishing boats and fresh fruit stands. Anna and I, with the support of my parents, went on the 'Booze Cruise' in the afternoon. We were told we would be with other SASers, but it ended up being mostly a boat full of awfully tanned, middle aged people. We went snorkling and had lots of drinks. It ended up being a good time, as we met up with a few other SASers. Anna and I then went out to the bar downtown, had some drinks, met more SASers, but we called it an early night at 12.

Today, I woke up and laid by the pool waiting for my bro to arrive. It was kinda crummy weather, so I didn't mind missing the beach. He was wired when he showed up because he hasn't seen the boat since he arrived in FL in2005. He's really excited for boarding tomorrow. My parents went to the Desmond Tutu dinner while Paul, Anna, and myself went to the local maket under the bridge for some lobster and conch fritters. We then hung out at the hotel and went out for the night.

I board the boat and leave for Puerto Rico tomorrow morning, bright and early. I'm both excited and nervous... I still can't believe it's here!

Miss you all!

Laura