BAHAMAS

SATURDAY - January 17th, 2009

Right when I get off the plane, I am greeted with a live band in the customs processing gate. I have traveled all around the world but never have I had a live band to jam out to as I enter, It was seriously too good to be true. I get outside the gate and grab a cab. Right away I quickly realize how expensive this country was going to be. I was hit instantly with the 40 dollar cab ride to the Atlantis. As we make our way to the hotel, I realize how beautiful it is here, I mean not Hawaii but close. There is definitely a huge gap in the social classes and some poverty going on here but overall not too dirty. We make our way over the bridge and I catch a glimpse of the GIGANTIC hotel Atlantis. It took them 15 years to build this place and it lives on an island of its own. I checked in and headed up to the room. I was greeted by my new roommate Bubber. I quickly gave him the nickname of Bubz. Right away we connected, and it was easy to see this was going to be one of my main boys this trip. We took a stole around the ginormous hotel and it really hit how big this place is. They have the largest outdoor aquarium in the world, in the mother fucking world. It is so crazy, there were sharks everywhere. I was just so stoked! we then instantly hit the bar up for a beer to sip on while we adventured around. 3 beers 23 dollars. OMG everything here is twice as expensive here it is crazy! We eventually went back to the room and tried to catch up on some sleep, but we both realized that wasn't happening really quick. I was running on 4-5 hours of rest within the last 3 days. I was just too excited to miss a moment. With no sleep in sight we headed down to downtown Nassau. We hoped in cab and asked the driver to take us to some local food, non tourist. In a matter of 10 minutes we ended up at a tourist buffet. I think the driver was on crack, we couldn't understand a single word that he was saying it was ridic. We were not willing to pay 20 bucks for the buffet so we ventured through downtown. We came across a small bar with burgers, pizzas and whatnot. They were playing the local jams and the Bahamians were showing us a little dance. We pounded a couple vodka redbulls and ate a burger. Within 15 minutes combined with several shots and no sleep, we were quickly feeling the buzz. Eventually we grabbed a couple bottles of local rum and headed back to the hotel for some pre-game action. We gathered some SAS kids from the lobby when we got back, and they told their friends, and then they told their friends, and so on.. eventually we had a full party in the room. It was sooooo much fun meeting all of these new people, it was like freshman year all over again. I was meeting so many fascinating people from places all of the country.....It was crazy that I managed to throw a rager in my hotel room the first night, I quickly earned the reputation of the party planner. We were all feeling pretty good when my third roommate walked in. Alec. We had been talking on facebook quite a bit and he seemed real legit. and.. he was!!! he serious took the shot as he walked into the door! The three roomates were connected at last and it was too good to be true. We quickly became the "TriPod".... After we finished our bottle from duty free, we headed down to the club everyone was meeting at, "senior frogs". Not going to go into this much further as I dont remember all of the details... ;) .... but it was one the best nights of my life and a perfect way to start off the night! I ended up having to carry bubz out of the club and to the room. It was epic.

SUNDAY - January 18th, 2009

I woke up a little early this morning, the excitement was still rushing through me. Alec woke up with me and we both tried to wake up bubz but there was no way. He was after all covered in a pool of his own puke hahahhaha. If this is only the first night, I cant even begin to imagine what will come next. Alec and me went downstairs and exited the hotel to find some more reasonably priced food. We ended up a deli where we later found out was owned by the atlantis as well. It is crazy the monopoly they are running in the bahamas. We got one egg, a banana and an orange for 14 bucks. fucking ridiculous to say the least... After that we went back upstairs and smack bubz in the face several times until he reclaimed consciousness. After we were all awake and ready we began our journey around the gynormous world of Atlantis. The day was filled with water slides and relaxation on no-so lazy river (it was the most intense lazy river ever, no lazy at all). After a good 4-5 hours of water fun we started to fill hungry again. This time we weren't settling for anything but non-atlantis food, so we wandered on a 15 minute walk to the local Quiznos subs. I told myself I wouldn't be eating any american food but with these bahamian prices it was completely necessary. Although it was still overpriced it wasn't anything compared to the prices I have been paying recently. After munching down on a sub, all three of us passed out and set our alarm for the SAS group pre-club meeting in the lobby. We ended up waking up a little latter then we wanted too but everything worked out according to plan again.. and we ended up with another room party. I met some very cool girls tonight, and we once again ended up going to senior frogs. When I arrived at senior frogs it was a complete shit show. It was completely loaded with SAS kids and people were going crazy, jumping up on stage, spilling drinks over each other. all in all it was a very good night. Towards the end a couple of my newly acquired friends and several girls went and ate some local Bahamian food to end off the night. It was fried "Conc", other various fish and some calamari type things. I was verrrrrrrryyyyy delicious but just loaded with grease. I felt like i gained 10 pounds after and clogged up my arteries to a near death level. once again, epic night.

MONDAY - January 19th, 2009

I ended up waking up super early this morning (5 am) even though i fell asleep only a couple hours before. The jet-lag was really taking its toll on my body, but I wasn't about to allow it to prevent me from doing anything. This was because today was a special day, a life changing day, the day I begin my quest around the world. I chugged a couple glasses of water and headed down to the atlantis. I walked around for a couple hours, revisiting the several extensive aquariums and taking my fair share of pictures. It was very interesting to see how the staff maintains this huge premises. I found that all of the landscaping and maintenance takes place in the early hours. I ended up having quite an extensive talk with some local Bahamians. They told me all about life in the bahamas. I was curious about how they work each day while all of these white people have the time of their lives right in front of them. They had one simple answer. Irie. :) After relaxing by the pool with my newly acquired friends (they said they are coming to Hawaii soon to visit), I headed back up to the room to wake up the rest of the "tripod". We had to report to the ship in 3 hours so we quickly packed and checked out of the hotel. I was slammed with a huge 80 dollar bill even though I only bought one beer. They slammed me with all sorts of bullshit fees such as "bell mans fee" (even though i carried my own bags) and others like a "hotel tax fee"... preposterous. When we arrived at the ship, the excitement just filled my whole body. I saw my home/school for the next 4 months of my life. The line was quite long but it offered a great opportunity to meet more fellow SASers. It took about 2 hours but when finally on board it really hit me. It was happening, it really was happening. The anticipation was finally settling... I went to my room hoping to find my new roommate.. but he wasn't there quite yet so i set down my bags and wandered the ship for 30 minutes or so.. and then I heard the call for the movement of the ship. I quickly ran up to the top where it was a sight I will never forget. Even though my parents weren't at the bottom it was pretty incredible to witness such an array of parents wishing their sons and daughters off. As the ship moved, I felt an amazing feeling of relief. I made it to the Bahamas, I made it on the ship, I made it. I sat out there for a an hour or so until no land was in sight. I went down to my room and met my roommate Spencer. He is from Colorado, and I can tell that we will become close in the upcoming weeks. He is definitely chill and I am glad I lucked out and didn't get some....fag... We both went up to the union for the introduction lectures. The rocking of the ship was getting stronger and stronger by the minute so i threw on a patch.. I never really thought about the rocking of the ship as being a big deal before but it definitely rocks very hard. Every student was walking around like they were drunk and I even saw a couple poor kids puke :( The introduction meeting was very hard to sit through. The rocking of the ship just puts you to sleep. Its magic. It is definitely going to take some getting used too. After the meeting we all headed up to our first pub night. The whole ship-life experience was so fascinating. Each one of us grabbed our 4 allowed beers and it turned out to be a greaaaat night. I seriously have met like 300-400 people in the last 3 days, and their is no way in hell I will be able to remember even close to half of them. I eventually wandered back to my room, I lied in my new cozy bed, pumped the A/C on high and passed out. Goodbye Bahamas and hello world.