So the first day was super overwhelming but I think it went much smoother than I had expected. Mom and Dad dropped me off at the airport and I cried until I got through security. It was so hard to say goodbye to them!!!! But I actually let go and I actually got on the plane! Hooray for me! I didn’t become excited until I got off the plane, and the Bahamas were SO HOT! I grabbed a taxi with Paroma from Pittsburgh, and this girl Shelly from UVA. Shelly’s best friend from home is actually my older brother Mike’s best friend from school Schev! So it was really cool to meet her and have another person that I knew on the ship. They got dropped off at the Wyndam and I continued to the ship for my work-study orientation. $30 from the airport to the ship, mad expensive for a short ride! Got the ship and was in awe. So gorgeous! I felt like such a spoiled brat walking around that ship until I made it to my lovely economy cabin. Don’t get me wrong I am extremely appreciative to be on this trip but damn I got the shaft when it comes to cabins, especially economy cabins. The economy cabins are smaller, and usually room 3-4 people. I had 2 other roommates as of the first day and I was so glad I got to move in first but I was pretty nervous about the amount of space we had in the room. Long story short, Alicia my roommate from Seattle moved in the next day and not the other roommate and at first we thought she was one of the people who’s flights got cancelled because of the snow, turns out she cancelled and is no longer coming on the trip!!! THANK GOD! Cause me and Alicia bump into each other all the time in that small room and I don’t know how we would have fit another girl in there.
That afternoon we had a quick work-study orientation and then I went out and walked around Nassau with Jake Fitzgerald from Highlands and my friend Tyler that I know from Jumpstart at Pitt! We met up with other work-study students and went out to a bar for a little to meet other people coming on the ship. I stay out till about ten cause I was wiped out not having slept much Monday night, so I passed out fast on Tuesday night and woke up at 6 to welcome and move in the 650 other students coming on the trip Wednesday.
Wednesday was SO much fun! It was so nice moving in early and knowing where thing were on the ship. It was also so nice knowing a bunch of the staff already and it felt good to be able to help people. I was a floater so I just walked up and down the line that people were standing in waiting to get on the ship talking to people asking if they needed help. It was a lot of fun cause I got to meet a lot of people and I scoped out any Pittsburgh/NY/NJ shirts. I met so many people from NJ and Pittsburgh so I already felt like I had a lot of people I could connect with and it made me miss home but feel excited about all these new people I was meeting.
Since I was a floater I was able to sneak out to Nassau and go shopping for a bit with my two friends who are on the ship with their professor parents Emma and Allison. I found a sweet giraffe that I bought for my Arts and Sciences advisor Mary Beth at Pitt. She is the sweetest lady and she was one of the people who helped me get through my homesick filled freshman year.
The day went quick and before I knew it I was in bed again ready to get up early for our next day of orientation. Alicia my roommate and I clicked right away so that was awesome. She is super sweet and she talks so fast! We figured out that we are both open to sharing stuff so that’s nice and I feel really comfortable with her so far!
Wednesday was so long but still very exciting. We had a full day of orientation on Wednesday and to be honest its already blurred together with Thursday. I have never met so many people in such a short amount of time so of course I remembered no one’s names but I am getting so much better as the days go on.
Yesterday’s trip was amazing. I was choked up the whole time thinking about how lucky I am to be on this trip. I will probably say this a thousand times over but I really can’t believe that I have this opportunity. The people I have met so far have been so nice and just amazing. I went on a Carib Indian visit where we saw the indigenous people of Dominica. Tyler and our new friend Raquel went with us and we were starved and looked miserable at the end of it but it was so worth it. The people are so environmental and use the land so well. They showed us so many different herbs and spices and taught us different remedies for sicknesses, it was really awesome! And I got the guava jelly I loved in Costa Rica from the chief's daughter!!! She was actually an extra in Pirates of the Caribbean 2! They filmed one of the village scenes in their little village and a few of the chiefs daughters were in the scene! SO COOL!
At an internet café right now but the lady told me she has no more internet cards so no internet today for me =( but that’s okay! Last night was my first night going out while on SAS and it was a blast! I went out with Greg, Gabby and Tyler from Pitt, Raquel, and a bunch of other people that I can’t remember names right now. We went to a small bar that was about a street away from where the ship was so it was nice and close. It rained on and off all night and we bounced back and forth between two bars, one of which had an open roof so you were getting rained on while on the dance floor so fun! There were like 600 students roaming around Roseau last night it was crazy! The locals were super nice, and I met about 10 people who were wearing Yankees hats so of course I went up to them and tested their Yankee knowledge. Not ONE of them knew who number 2 was on the Yankees. I was very disappointed and from there I educated them on the few Yankees players’ numbers I could remember. One of them did know Sabathia’s number, which was impressive at the time, but for the most part they knew nothing about the Yankees!!!!
We got back surprisingly early and when we did Greg and I ended up playing mom for a few hours to a bunch of our drunk friends who were either getting sick, or wandering around the ship trying to find their rooms. Most hysterical evening thus far. < wrote this on Monday the 17th – more to come soon!
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