Rose in Guadeloupe!

Day 15-07.14.11

2011-08-14T19:30:00.000-04:00

Today is Bastille Day!!!
morning:
-breakfast
-wait for the beach-clean up taxi and practice lassoing

Dylan lassoing

Moss, who actually got it, lassoing

James, pretending to be a cowboy, lassoing

  group:
   Moss
   Jeff
   Ora
   Dylan
   James
-met a group of French tourists with a baby who were really nice...they were going on the same hike we had done before, only the other way; they also told me I spoke very good French which made my day!
-a lady gave us juices and oranges to snack on because she was so thankful/felt bad for us because we were working on a holiday when no one else was out

Ora chilling out in the cabana on the beach

-we had to walk at least half of the way back to home base (all uphill) because the taxi never came due to a paint spill when we were finally picked up along the road
-went to l'anse-a-dos for a Bastille Day Party and swimming fun
Then...this happened:

I was swimming in the ocean. All was good. Then I went to get out on this pier/dock thing that was really the only manageable way to get out. Cool. So you have to make sure you go with the wave to get out, and I just missed the wave so I let myself fall back into the water. In the midst of falling back into the water, I managed to kick a sea urchin and perhaps the stone wall as well. So, I wound up with 12 spines on the top of my foot, and an ankle injury.

It was Bastille Day, of course, so there were a bunch of people around as I am sobbing on the beach. EMS arrives and hauls me away in the ambulance to the one doctor on the island who of course was not there that day. So, they took me back to the place we were staying where they put candle wax on the spines and then put a flame on my foot in the hopes that the spines would come out, but no...it just burned my foot.

ahhhh!!!!!

I spent the rest of the day soaking my foot in water, and icing it.
When the pain returned, the staff figured out that it might be an ankle injury, so they made a makeshift splint and tied me to a bench.

That night, I was tied to the bed post because they were afraid of me moving my ankle in my sleep...ahh the life!

Day 14-07.13.11

2011-08-13T19:30:00.000-04:00

morning:
-breakfast
-prep for kids camp
  Juliet
  Jeff
  Erica
  Andrew
  Lindsay
  Cam
  Matt
-only four kids showed up due to the large amount of rain
  Ann Sylvie, Giovanny, Axel (telephone man), and Emmanuel
afternoon:
-lunch
-lunch clean-up
-stages~salako hat making...fun!

sewing the hat

Cam and I with machetes

the finished product...of course we never got to that point:)

  Sophia
  Cam
  Jeff
  Casey
  Molly
  Rebecca
*machetes

machete"ing" bamboo with Patrice

oh yeah! I love wielding machetes!

oops...accidentally cut myself with the machete

*sawing bamboo

Patrice sawing bamboo

*fruit=carassol

C'est bon!

*Patrice was super nice to me
*saw Chantal and Bernard
-had a nice chat with Lindsay
evening:
-dinner
-dinner clean-up
-started reading Claire's trashy book...didn't make it too far
-bilan
*long business meeting
   La Souffriere
  *sharing
  *small group discussion: 2 emotions that are easy to express and 2 that are hard to express
   Jess
   Claire
   Meghan
   Andrew (staff)
*talked with Erica afterwords
-bed!

Day 13-07.12.11

2011-08-12T11:53:00.000-04:00

morning:
-home base set up
-breakfast
-clean up
-home base duties
  showers, sinks
  bathroom clean
  sweeping staff room...whoops, Andrew was still sleeping!
-a bit of kids camp with James
-Gwo-ka with the two funny guys

  dancing
  rhythm
  singing
  circle time
  family with the little girl and the baby girl
   mom had cool glasses
   the little girl was lost...but was found eventually
   the little baby started to like me!
afternoon:
-lunch set up and shopping on the way back from Gwo-ka
-lunch...probably the best lunch we have had...little pumpkin/squash fritters

-lunch clean up
-talked with the musicians
-went to la stade
  capture the flag~we won 3 times...I only fell once!
-town with Molly
-prepared for home stay
evening:
-dinner stay
  with Lucy and Sophia
  toured their amazing garden

played with Rachelle

  the mom works for the mayor
  lemon leaves, apple fruit thing
  went to Grande Anse...in a car!
  saw the internet cafe

comic books for sale at the internet cafe

had a bokit in la place a Grande Anse with Brigitte~jambon et fromage (ham and cheese)

  returned to their home for dinner
   fish sausage thing
   chicken and rice
   passion fruit with sugar
   coke and water
***they gave us fruit to take back to home base and a medicinal grain to make into an oil to soothe bug bites

-my bug bites are back and are really bad again
-took a Benadryl
-went to bed....super hot!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NAOMI!!!!!!!!

sorry that is sideways...did not know how to fix it...

Day 12-07.11.11

2011-08-11T12:33:00.000-04:00

morning:
-breakfast, rain=yuck
-carpentry with Vince
built a wall!

the wall we built!

   saw horse=finished
   used a hammer, electric drill, and a hand saw (the electric saws were not working)
  group:
   Casey
   Cam
   Naomi
   Sophia
   Erica
   **Gaby (a man from the island who owns a store and helps out with the carpentry project)

Sophia, Erica, and Naomi working away

afternoon:
-lunch
  really good today-fish, rice&beans, fruit, cukes, mango, roasted veggies
-language partners
  letter game
  elephant, jello, house, etc. game
  list of questions (similar to Madame's oral activities at school)
  Leila and Chloe were in our group
evening:
-shower
-did sidewalk chalk
-dinner
-dishes
-corassol sorbet, but we didn't know what it was...thought it was coco sorbet that had curdled
-chatted with Naomi
-bilan
  1 thing we contribute to the group
  1 thing we lack
-nice chat with Lindsay

Lindsay and I, obviously not on this day

-bed...home base tomorrow!!!

Day 11-07.10.11

2011-08-10T22:06:00.000-04:00

***today a tropical storm blew through Terre-de-Bas***
morning:
-late wake up...breakfast at 7:30!!!
-went to the bathrooms
~tried to flush a gift someone else left
~wound up throwing up behind the bathrooms...yummy
-ate cheerios and had some soda
-went on an amazing hike

trail head...after we walked for 45 minutes uphill

an interesting tree

stopping for a pic...hey mom! there are trees in Guadeloupe

first peak at the water

jumping the fence...with a little help from my friends

^crazy inclines-Route du Nord
^ON TOP OF THE WORLD...when I reached the top

I was on top of the world...

^lots of falls

then I fell off the rock that I was standing on...

^2 asthma incidents...nothing serious
^watched rain come onto the island from Terre-de-Haut

beautiful

kind of epic, if I must say so myself

and then scary...on top of a mountain

^hung out with James, Jackie, Jeff, Lucy, and Ben

about 10 feet away from a cliff

Ben being Ben

Ben freaking us out by being up in a tree?

interesting cactus

back of the pack-pack

-got to Grande Anse soaking wet
afternoon:
-sat and shivered

and the rain is gone

about 50 yards out, there was still run-off water...brown and nasty

-had lunch
-did a pre-clean of plates by dipping them in the ocean
-Magnum Bars...2
-played pattern games with Naomi and Andrew
-hung out with Julianne and Ocean
evening:
-dinner
-yum=Casey's birthday
-dishes x2 due to not really washing them after being at the beach
-played Mafia in James' group...he did lots of funny accents...British one was the best
-bed

Day 10-07.09.11

2011-08-09T11:49:00.000-04:00

morning:
-breakfast
-prep for Terre-de-Haut (the other island that makes up Les Saintes)
-took taxi to the port...Andrew's suit remarks:)
-took a nice boat to Terre-de-Haut

trying to quick learn how to snorkel

-SCUBA TRAINING!!!

the place where we got the equipment and got "prepped"

-SCUBA DIVING

the area the boat left from

   *probably one of the most amazing experiences that I have ever had
   *beautiful, tranquil
   *hard at first but then Claire (my instructor) just kind of pushed me under
   ~saw amazing fish, coral, and eels
   ~the forced breathing became increasingly unforced and actually quite therapeutic

Pointe-Cabrit=where we actually dove

-the boat ride out and back from scuba diving was beautiful, and fast moving
-swam around after we went scuba diving with Naomi and Dylan
  my group:
   Dylan
   Naomi
   Melissa
   Moss
   Hannah
   Vince
   Andrew
afternoon:
-walked to the gelato place

a HUGE amount of flavors

-ate creme caramel and chocolate gelato

yum!

-ate my baguette and brie sandwich as well as an apple
-continued walking to the beach and got to walk past cute shops and vendors
-got to the beach (La Plage de Pompiers?)

la plage

  it was super beautiful and scenic
-went on a trek across sand, across the water (up to our chests), and up and across mountains while having an intense discussion about religion among other things
  Lucy
  Sophia
  Naomi
  Casey
  Andrew
-Andrew got a job offer, and told us on our hike...so proud of him!
-some of the most amazing views that I have EVER seen...we could see Dominica off in the distance, churning waters
-I WAS ON TOP OF THE WORLD!
-hung out on the beach and went into the water
-Andrew did 2 back flips on the beach
-Vince did a somersault...oh so impressive
-we walked back to the port

a view on the walk back

-went to the tourism office and got pamphlets
-took the ferry home

me with pamphlets at the dock

-showered...yes!
-super delicious dinner
fried bread
cucumbers
watermelon
chicken with onions
salad with dressing
-what could possibly come next...dishes!
-bilan
self-reflection
-spent some time in my crazy creek for awhile looking up at the moon
-bed

Day 9-07.08.11

2011-08-08T21:31:00.000-04:00

morning:
-late wake-up...7!
-breakfast
-went to a hardware store on the way with Casey and James...I was not much help, and it was super hot...the hardware store was cute-blue and white
-beach clean up
  Molly
  Olivier
  Dylan
  Casey
-Mr. Bananas came and played with us
afternoon:
-lunch
-went to la stade (the stadium, a big open field)
  *frisbee with Vince who tried to teach us forehands
  *basketball
  *swingset
  *bench
  *sat and ate apples
~it was super pretty at la stade with the mountains surrounding us
-went into town with Erica and Jess
-called home for the first time
-first ChaCha bar...oh man, yummy! kind of like a Kit Kat but with caramel
evening:
-dinner
-dishes
-chatted with Naomi in my crazy creek in between her bed and Lucy's bed
-a boy talked to me in the street
-went into town
  tried to get crepes and bokits...alas it did not happen...too long of a line, but I took a picture anyway

-played with 3 little boys and James, twins and Mendy!
-skipped home singing "This Little Light" and other folky songs
-meeting~first scuba group the next day with Andrew and Vince...that's me!
-bed

***got homeopathic topical meds for bugbites from Pierette, and they really worked well

Day 8-07.07.11

2011-08-07T10:56:00.000-04:00

nota bene: I did not take any pictures today, but I had some from other days that would fit
morning:
-breakfast
-beach clean up

the horrible view we had to look at when we were on beach clean up

-worked with Sylvan and Mathieu (2 little boys who wanted to help out-they were a HUGE help)
-after 1 hour of working, my ankle swelled from the bug bites, so I had to stop working
  took a Benadryl
  as I was lying on the picnic bench, I hung out with Mr. Bananas even though someone tried to hit him
  with a coconut

this is what I was forced to look at when in my "Benadryl haze"

afternoon:
-I napped due to having taken Benadryl
-lunch...mango smoothies, yum!
-did a lot of dishes including one greasy black pot
-went to Anse-a-Dos
  long walk
  dove off the dock, it felt great on my bug bites
  ripped my leg open on the barnacles
  played set in the cabana

our calendar of the month!

-huge storm hit
-showered and little Andrew walked into the bathroom :p
-had bonding
  Bounty bar
  orange Sunkist
  hung out on Sophia's bed
-napped
evening:
-dinner
-Vince told me that les Petits thought that I spoke French very well....best part of my day:)
-Pierette let us eat apples with peanut butter
-another Benadryl induced nap
-bilan
  people said that they appreciate me
  did an activity called Jehorah's (?) Window
  it was a great activity to open up to people, although I was still a little bit out of it
-Benadryl and bed...late wake up tomorrow!

**the activity we did had four parts:
1. what I know about myself and everyone knows about me
2. what I don't know about myself, but someone else does~feedback
3. what I keep hidden
4. what no one, even myself, knows about me (the mysterious)

Day 7-07.06.11

2011-08-06T16:28:00.000-04:00

It's been a week!!!
morning:
-Rebecca woke me up to ask if I would be home base for Matt, which I agreed for
-performed morning home base duties (getting breakfast out and ready, little cleaning jobs, etc.)
-part of breakfast was mango brains!!! (just halves of mangoes sliced)
-we had a meeting in which we were informed that one of our group members was being sent home
-cleaned EVERYTHING!
-went to the post office and got a postcard for Madame (the post office is the only building we get to go to that has air conditioning!!!)
-hung out around home base
-helped the carpentry team build picnic tables
afternoon:
-set up for lunch (getting dish buckets ready, help prepare the food, get out serving utensils)
-ate
-cleaned up (dishes, sweep, etc.)
-went to la place to make bokits, but wound up making them with Brigitte at home base in the kitchen, yummy!

Cam, Pierette, and Brigitte

The balls of dough that would soon be bokits

one bokit in the pan that is cooked, and another bokit in the process of frying

completed bokits

Cam with a bokit full of goodness

Me eating one of about four bokits that I ate that night

-Pierrette (our chef) fed me a bite of coco sorbet...my first taste, and it was super sweet and cold and delicious
evening:
-dinner; set up and clean up with Naomi
-I did not eat anything for dinner, but iced bug bites instead
-played frogger with staff and a couple of kids
-had a great conversation with Rebecca for awhile
-helped Naomi latch her window
-went to bed
-IT RAINED...A LOT

Day 6-07.05.11

2011-08-05T21:49:00.000-04:00

morning:
-breakfast
-waited a long time to get a taxi to our work site for the day

-beach clean up with Lindsay
  super hard
  LOTS of seaweed to pick up
  beautiful views

  learned the game "stuff, stuff, stuff"
   like rock, paper, scissors but you make up the final word and verbally spar to see whose is better
-group
  Aidan
  Lucy
  Dylan
  Jeff

-doggie...Mr. Bananas showed up=super cute!

-a boat from Dominica got stranded with a crew of 3-5 guys, and we helped bail them out (with Laurent's permission...of course!)

-lots of snack breaks
-Magnum bars

-returned to home base
afternoon:
-many dishes
colombo (curry) dish to clean....oh man, that one is challenging
-bilan in the sun by the water at the Grand Ravine
*one of the most amazingly beautiful spots on the island

activity: the person we admire most=Julie T.
-prepare for dinner homestay/get ready

-thought we were going to physical manual labor, but wound up not
-went to town with Lucy and Molly-had an orange soda!
evening:
-homestay at les Petits with Ora & Dylan

-they had an amazing view as well
les Petits
Chantal
Bernard-fisherman
Angeline
a younger boy
Wilson (was not there then)

-we had LOTS of food:
  snacks/chips
  fruit
  Fanta

veggies (carrots, tomatos, etc.)
sardines

chicken

rice

fruit cocktail
***the first time I held a conversation/spoke French for 2-3 hours
-we met Sylvie from le boulangerie
-saw one of the huge centipede/millipede things (never figured out which was which)
-bed! (but no fan, sadly)

Day 5-07.04.11 (The Fourth of July Edition)

2011-08-04T11:17:00.000-04:00

morning:
-sign up for groups
-breakfast
-dishes
-plan for kids camp
-I was SUNBURNT
-trek off to kids camp!!!
  we walked there and put up signs along the way
  kids there:
   Axel
   Angelou
   Emilie
   Norea
   Leila
   Julianne
   Enid
   Laurelie
  *fantastic experience

-Oliver and I did outdoor games
  colors, hopscotch with numbers, frisbee, soccer
-indoors: list making, coloring, etc.
afternoon:
-lunch, yum, yum, yum
-partenaires du langue
  an opportunity for us to converse with local kids so that we could work on French, and they could
  work on English
-I was in a group with Geriche
-laster at home base I played bocci ball with Geriche and Andi
-went into town with Molly
  **had an orange Sunkist (much better, more natural there) and my first Bounty Bar=amazing
evening:
-dinner (4th of July-esque feast)
-dishes
-la fete with the community
  cookies
  games with younger kids
   frisbee, ball roll
-cute 2 year old there who monopolized all of our attention
-huge centipede
-sang some songs with Enid and Laurelie
-Ora sang the National Anthem
-talked with some boys about music, watched some music videos on their phones
-kids loved my watch for some reason...maybe because it lights up?
-learned a bit of Creole:
   cazla=house
   cao fait=ca va
-aloe, and bed!

Day 4-07.03.11

2011-08-03T10:30:00.000-04:00

morning:
-early mini-breakfast
-massive clean...during which I had the best mango-eating experience...ever
-amazing/crazy hike-walk to the beach at Grande-Anse

Lucy and Rose at the beginning of the walk

A terrific view of some unknown small islands

and...again

the small islands along with beautiful indigenous trees called "flamboyant" trees

Rose and baby islands

La Place at Grande Anse

-swimming in the ocean at Grande-Anse
***I actually liked it!
***bodysurfing, wave-jumping, and just rolling around in general

ahh...the beach at Grande Anse

Moss=coconut cracking man

afternoon:
-lunch
   peanut noodles
   PB sandwich
-more swimming and rolling around
   swam to the bottom where we were
   wave jumped...or should I say, tried to wave jump
   got A LOT of sand in my bathing suit
-bus ride back to Petite Anse
   flat "pneu" (tire)
   had to walk the rest of the way (about 3/4 of the journey back), although it was very scenic; group:
   Jess
   Juliet
   Casey
   Hannah
-best shower I have ever had, even if it was only 2 minutes
-SUNBURN...even though I put SPF 60 on about every 5 minutes
evening:
-dinner outside
-dishes:)
-Andrew's b-day "party"

Andrew in the first birthday hat!

-bilan
   5x5 sharing time in which each person (of 5) got 5 minutes to talk about himself or herself; truly
   awesome
   closing/peace fists
*1st workday tomorrow!!!

paradise....what a hard place to be...

Day 3-07.02.11

2011-08-02T18:22:00.000-04:00

morning:
-breakfast
-carpentry project
   *first time using a circular saw!!! (with Vince assisting)
   *hammering station
   *painting station
   *measuring and marking station
group:
   Rose
   Cam
   Aidan
   Michaela
   Erica
what we made:

Our group's is the one in the middle with the triangle

***had to present it in French***

afternoon:

-lunch

-dish crew

-beach orientation!!!

-walked to the pier/beach (Anse-a-Dos)

saw this little girl and played soccer with her:

the walk was pretty long, up a crazy steep hill, and very scenic

-the water was very salty at this rocky beach/pier area

-the view was terrific

-the barnacles getting out of the water gave us lots of scrapes and scars though

-I did flips off of the side of the dock....not that successful though...

-tried to teach Naomi some synchro

-on the way back from the beach, we stopped off at a wedding...beautiful green and white theme

-went out exploring in town

*girls bonded on the pirate ship

*had some refreshing coca-cola!

-saw and fed goats on the way back

evening:

-yummy dinner....finally got to eat outside!!!---and in my crazy creek!

*peanut noodles

*cantaloupe

*pineapple

~talked to some friends about college

-more dishes

-evening drama/improvisation session

great impressions of Snookie, Elmo, and many others

-I finally found my lost bag of Benadryl and band-aids (there were Hello-Kitty and Spongebob band-aids in there, and they stick much better...I promise!)

-bonding with the girls in the shack

-chat with neighboring roommate

-hypothetical dinner planning (it never happened, but fun to plan anyway)

~ramen coleslaw

~shish kabobs with meat and/or roasted veggies

~garlic mashed potatoes

~fruit in an interesting display

Day 2-07.01.11

2011-08-01T14:28:00.000-04:00

Waking up to the roosters today was crazy. From now on, this journal will primarily be in outline format with notes along with it:
morning:
-breakfast: yummy yogurt, bread, fruit
-clean up with Naomi and Ben
-orientation....long, and inside due to the rain, although we did get to sit in our crazy creeks...yay!
-med interview while everyone else went into town
-lunch: brie, ham, bread, BEST mango and pineapple I have ever had
-lunch clean up
afternoon:
-carpentry orientation with Vince, learned what types of tools we would be using
-shower---2 minutes...navy style!
-walked around town a little bit, and jumped rope with a little girl at "la place"
~called "les americaines"
-bathroom/toilet orientation with Rebecca so that I understand how the darn things worked
-scavenger hunt around town in the rain-people let us onto their porches
-saw/met Geriche, Andriche, and Chantal Petit for the first time
-Geriche asked me about my Ray-Bans
evening:
-dinner
-dinner clean up/dishes....a crazy time once again
-James and Aidan arrived, yay!
-first bilan, and because Melody Vice was playing, we had to move to the road to the Grande Ravine
-shared with Michaela
~high point and low point of the last year
-fists...peace tradition started
-Ora and I ran back to the bathroom

***Melody Vice played all day, and one of the guys there threw our frisbee onto the roof and he went to get it but wound up falling on the way down...pretty scary

Juliet, Rose, and Ora by the Service Technique (island maintenance) shed on home base

The above ground cemetery by the church that we saw on our scavenger hike around town in the rain.

Day 1-06.30.11

2011-07-30T08:03:00.002-04:00

Today began at 3:30, well I actually woke up earlier because I was too excited to sleep!!!
After easily obtaining my boarding pass and going through security, the 22 of us flying from JFK hung out and bonded. The flight was delayed, but we made it easily to Puerto Rico with little time to catch the next plane. After going outside to catch the "baby" plane, we got on it. Aidan lost his passport and could not travel on with us. We arrived in Guadeloupe around 2, went through customs, smashed our way onto a bus, and then finally got to the ferry that would take us to our small island. Although Jackie (first aid honcho) warned us that the boat would be rough and recommended that we take Dramamine, I did not and thus suffered the consequences. To make matters worse, a storm started while we were on the ferry, which drenched us. We then took a crazy van ride on La route du sud to Petites Anse, and unpacked. Dinner was yummy pasta and a preview to the wonderful fruit yet to be discovered by me on the island. After dinner we had a mini-orientation in our crazy creeks, and then went to bed. It poured the ENTIRE night. At 11pm, it was almost as if a mini-hurricane-CRAZY...windows blowing everywhere and slamming, and water...everywhere. An amazingly hectic first day.

And here are the actual intended posts

2011-07-30T07:56:00.000-04:00

So, after not having any internet access while in Guadeloupe, I have decided to blog using my journal as a reference. It will be the same day exactly a month later, so if something was written on May 15, I would blog it on June 15. Each post will be entitled with the date it actually occurred on.
Happy reading:)
Rose

1 day until departure:)

2011-06-29T11:41:00.000-04:00

I think that Tsonga beating Federer in Wimbledon was foreshadowing my awesome summer in Guadeloupe!!! I am leaving for New York shortly, and thus this may be my last blog post until reaching Guadeloupe.
Au revoir!

2 days until Guadeloupe, New York tomorrow!

2011-06-28T18:01:00.000-04:00

With two days, not even a full 48 hours until departure, all of my packing is completely finished! I will be heading off on my adventure with a new pair of glasses, yippee! Tomorrow I am heading into New York to get ready for the group flight to Guadeloupe on Thursday morning!

4 days until departure

2011-06-26T21:58:00.001-04:00

Four days, and it can not come soon enough!

6 days until departure!

2011-06-24T23:46:00.000-04:00

Wow, six days until I will be on a plane to Guadeloupe.
I am beyond excited, if you have not already been able to tell.
I am almost done with packing, and praying to the luggage gods that my suitcase weighs less than 50lbs.
I can not believe it is really happening, and I wish I was hopping on a plane right this moment for the Caribbean.
Before I know it, the super early Thursday morning will occur, and I will be on my way.

23 days until departure!

2011-06-07T20:58:00.001-04:00

With 23 days until I am on a plane to Guadeloupe, and all of my final exams completed, I could not be more excited!!! Now the counting down begins. For your reading pleasure, I have put some links to interesting material about Guadeloupe that may be of interest to some of you:

Why to get to Guadeloupe super soon:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/21/travel/guadeloupe-sleepy-idyll-no-more.html

A bit of the view into the native culture:
http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/americas/guadeloupe-slaves-to-the-ancestral-rhythm-671506.html

Bananas:
http://www.ilsr.org/columns/1999/050699.html

Enjoy:)

48 days until departure!

2011-05-14T14:26:00.001-04:00

With 48 days until I board a flight to Guadeloupe, I can not convey how excited I am for the trip to begin!
I have begun thinking about packing and carry-on luggage and all that fun, and the concept of it happening is becoming closer and closer to a reality! Looking forward to keeping the countdown continuous-
Rose

53 days until departure!!!

2011-05-09T18:26:00.001-04:00

58 days until departure!

2011-05-04T20:57:00.001-04:00

59 DAYS UNTIL DEPARTURE!

2011-05-03T15:26:00.001-04:00

60 days until departure!!!

2011-05-02T12:21:00.001-04:00

61 days until departure!!!!!

2011-05-01T20:16:00.002-04:00

Gear, gear and more gear!

2011-05-01T13:00:00.001-04:00

Looking at the packing list for this summer, I thought that getting everything wouldn't be too hard, but boy, was I wrong. I finally got a pair of "hiking'esque'" boots as well as Tevas the other day. I also received my water bottles, snorkel, and mosquito net that we ordered too.

Tevas

Nalgene

hiking boots

Getting Started

2011-05-01T12:48:00.001-04:00

Well, as this is my very first blog, I am excited about Guadeloupe this summer! I have added information to the blog about exactly what I will be doing as well as pictures and links.