.. do you know how to swim? ..

so we decided to get up early and get on the island quick. we had heard the beaches here were great and that we would want to spend a good chunk of time there. so we got up early and ate breakfast in the dining room. again superior breakfast. I almost wonder why people even go to the buffets. crazy if you ask me. right as we got off there was a steel drum band, really rad. sounds so neat in person. we started to walk towards town. Now.. side note, we had decided to walk every where we could that was close to save money on cab fares and besides you get to see cool stuff. but regardless the cabbies think you are their only fare and they will die if they don't get you. honestly.

so we walked out of the pier and immediately were attacked by like 15 cabbies all trying to sell us a tour around the island and taking us to beaches etc. we weren't doing it. it seriously was so scary. after we made it past them we got into town. it was run down and so 3rd world it was nuts. we stopped in a bookstore to get a post card and were able to buy a postcard and stamps for $1.20. Cheap! especially for international postage. while we were in there a young boy about 5 saw our american money and asked what it was, we told him it was money from america. he was so shocked, so m* gave him a $1 bill and he just lit up. it was like 5 dollars there. cute.



we continued on to broad street and looked at the local shops and ended up at a flea market. it was pretty neat. afterwards we decided to hit up a beach. so we found a cabbie to take us to bathsheba beach. he looked at us like we were nuts but took us anyway. the drive was about 40 minutes, and he showed us some of the land too.


{in the van..}


{m* and e* in the back of the bus}

they grow sugar cane there, and apparently they also grow marijuana inbetween the sugar cane because police don't look there. then the cabbie asked us if we wanted some, he knew how to get it and he had just gotten high that morning.


{sugar cane fields}

 great. warm fuzzies on that. we got to the beach, it was nice and pretty, but rocky. our cabbie asked if we knew how to swim because the waves and current were strong and he would not swim out to save us. we all laughed. and told him we did. the waves were nothing compared to waves in hawaii or san diego. too funny. after about an hour there walking in tide pools and looking for shells we decided to go to a better beach.


{crab shells}


{me and t* with our shells}


{car ride to rodney bay.. you claim you never sleep in cars erica, i beg to differ!}


{don't worry they sleep as a couple apparently..}

 we ended up at carlisle bay. SOO pretty the sands are white and the water is teal so clear, oo i miss it. we swam for a while, and played in the sand. t* and c* went to meet the couple missionaries to deliver a package to her brother who was serving in the area so while they were gone we built a sand turtle


{boys with sand turtle}


{girls with sand turtle}


 and the boys buried me and erica in the sand.



at about 3:30 we decided to start back to the ship. turns out the beach we went to was only about a mile from the ship, right across the street from the bookstore we had stopped at that morning. too funny! so we walked back and got on board and showered up. we ate dinner and then went to a juggling show, battle of the sexes game and bingo in the theater. it was fun. i had unfortunately developed a heat rash from being in the sun. i had to stop at the ships medical unit and have it checked out. they told me to put ice on it, put a cooling itch gel they gave me on it and stay out of the sun. nice huh? i'm on a cruise in the caribbean and you want me out of the sun? ha! so we got ice at the buffet in plastic bags and i took a benadryl and went to bed. cody got room service, which is free on the ship so nice, and we watched a movie.

the next day.. st. lucia