Sint Maarten.Saint Martin

So I decided to break it up a bit for you guys, I have a tendency to write too much so this will give your eyes a break =) We continue our story Thursday morning, where a majority of our day took place in the airport of Antigua. We had a three and a half our layover and then a half hour delay, so we just relaxed, joked around, shopped, and talked about the future of our band. I have been traveling with Rachel, Lindsey, Lindsey's boyfriend Johnathan and her sister Kristen. Well before we left, Johnathan dislocated his shoulder, and at some point in Puerto Rico we decided we were a small army, thus we came up with the band name "The differently abled man and his small army of bikini clad women." We have a few songs in a making, including "Wiki Waka Waaaaa" and "If so then run because the alligators gonna getcha, NOM NOM NOM," accompanied by a harmony of irritatingly repetitive background music...I think we'll sell millions. Moving on, we finally made it to the best place in the world, Sint Maarten/Saint Martin! We stayed on the Dutch side of the island, conveniently close to the airport and many other activities (came in handy...we obviously didn't incorporate taxi fees into our budgets). That night we stopped by the Toppers restaurant at our hotel, Flamingo Beach Resort, which hey! gave us free samples of free rum! It's like everyone knows we're college tourists...if you take anything from these blogs, it's free rum. Nom nom nom. The view from our room was one of the prettiest views I've seen in a while...typical Caribbean palm tress, view of the bay/beach with the airport and mountains in the background...breathtaking. While Puerto Rico was rather rainy and less "Caribbean paradise" than we all imagined, we certainly found our tropical oasis here!

So the next day was perhaps the most unforgettable day of the trip...and perhaps for most of years. We decided to head out to Orient Beach on the French side, of which my parents have been bragging about for years now ;) As usual, they steered me right, as most of us can agree! Well. It was a topless beach. And impressively, all of us went topless...it was a very interesting experience actually. I'm use to doing bridal shows where I'm running around half naked and it doesn't concern me, but I could never imagine sitting in front of people completely exposing myself. However, this was a completely freeing experience; I was able to get up from the chair and walk the beaches and dive into the water without feeling awkward, it wasn't perverted and sexual but rather made me appreciate my body more (listen. if these people in their 60s and 70s can do it, why can't I?). Did some wonderful shopping at Adam et Eve, enjoyed the scenic tour of the taxi ride home, and then we got ready for our sunset cruise. The only information I will disclose about our sunset cruise is that there was a free/open bar and we never got them to play "I'm on a boat" for us. The rest is up to the imagination (which I guarantee will still not amount to what really happened...hahaha).

So after waking up at 7:30 the next morning and trading stories from the previous night, we decided to rest our weary souls and relax online/by the beach (fun fact, I saw my first waterspout? happened very quickly but was really interesting to see in real life!). We jumped aboard a boat later for some killer snorkeling by Creole Rock. After years and years of feeling like I'm about to suffocate in my snorkeling mask, I FINALLY got the hang of it! Actually, the joke was I was a fish by the end of the tour. Our skipper Junior took us to these rocks along the coast of Sint Martin (French side) where an interesting group of fish and coral called home. The coolest thing was being able to swim among a school of fish...you know how you watch videos where the entire school swims completely in sync, as if they were one? It happens, and it's amazing to hover over. We took the rest of the day to relax some more and then went to the infamous Cheri's for dinner...finally enjoyed some delicious seafood! I had mahi-mahi with shrimp in a lemon butter sauce, I think I took an extra 15 min to eat just because I didn't want to stop. The show was incredible, they had some showstopping talent there, but I think our favorite part was when the guy dressed up as a woman with enormous T'N'A, and attempted to serenade Johnathan...judging by our pictures, I think we saw a spark there...watch out Lindsey!

"Welcome to the Good Life..."

So that's been the song of the week for me, every time I turn a corner I sigh and think "Kanye, you had it right man. Welcome to the good life." I've only been down here a week (only. geez.) and already there are so many adventures to share I barely know where to begin. I guess Puerto Rico is a pretty good place! We arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico last Monday, and does anyone know how hard it is driving a rental Suzuki through the curvy roads of El Yunque? It's a challenge my friend, and I'm going to warn everyone I'll be the best driver by the time I get home (let's not all laugh at once..). So we grabbed our rental car, ate dinner at a local place (mofongo=delish. it's mashed plantains with chicken-I also had some local? drink made of evaporated milk, 4 spoons of sugar, orange juice and a dash of cinnamon...interestingly tasty!), and then decided to get some shut eye for the next day.

So Tuesday we stopped by Ocean Park, a lovely little beach right down the road from us. We enjoyed our first bit of sunshine until a giant storm cloud (thanks to the tropical depression) drove us out...so then we decided to check out the national rain forest of Puerto Rico, El Yunque. Two things you should know about El Yunque: a) it's incredibly gorgeous and we took way too many pictures here, and b) it's a death threat to those driving with a certain someone who has never driven a Suzuki before. Those cars have no front corner viewing space, maybe I'm just spoiled in my car back home! Driving to El Yunque was an adventure in itself, we got lost a few times (we chose the adventure route on the Garmin) and some kids had to tell us about some dead ends in between their uncontrollable laughter...thank goodness they used hand signals because I didn't understand the Spanish as much as I was hoping I would...at least we gave a few locals a good laugh that day! On a positive note, I was able to read a good majority of written Spanish on the islands...I just didn't understand a word anyone told me. Anywhoo, after that we decided to check out a bioluminescent bay in the Fajardo area, HIGHLY recommended to anyone interested. That was one of the highlights of the trip; the tour guides took us through these canals via kayaks, which led us to this incredible bay...whenever you ran something through the water, everything around it would glow due to the dinoflagellets in the water...we learned about it in my plant bio class but it was even better in person. We would splash each other and it looked like tiny lightening bugs lighting up your shirt like a fairy or something. Awesome adventure, check out Kayaking Puerto Rico if anyone's interested. OH! fun tip to those of you who like a nice rum drink (COUGH COUGH)-if you buy any rums from Puerto Rico, part of the extra tax goes to help save the mangrove trees/bay area in Puerto Rico...aka, SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT, DRINK MORE RUM!

So the saga continues Wednesday morning, with US winning our group and free shots a la Casa de Don Q! Better way to start the morning? Can't think of one. So we hung around Old San Juan for most of the day, at one point experiencing one of Old San Juan's flash floods? I don't think they really call it that, but I'll upload pictures and you guys can see what I'm talking about...the road we were walking about was practically flooded..I was laughing when I stood in water ankle deep, until I found an area that was mid-thigh level. At one point I started dancing in the flooded water and a local snagged a picture of me...nice little switch around right? Usually I'm sneaking pictures of them...We checked out the old fort building but unfortunately got there too late for a tour, the outside was still impressively enormous. Later that evening we decided to be tourists and enjoyed a little "ladies drink free from 6-9pm" at Sr. Frogs-need I say more? Afterwards, we decided to head back down to Ocean Park for a little local festival..we were told it was a religious thing where everyone jumped backwards 17 times in the water to renew their spirits, but we think it was just an excuse to drink and dance in the water...no complaining here! I wish we could have stayed longer, it was so nice to see people living stress free-sure everyone had work the next day but for one night everyone forgot problems and just enjoyed the moment...at least that was my outsiders take!