Farewell Bahamas

I'm finally home! I had an amazing time in the Bahamas, a large part due to the amazing people.

Thank you to everyone for making my internship and trip so enjoyable. I am going to miss all of you, especially my new friends and family! <3

FLIPPER BEACH!!!

Today Andres, Meredith and I went to Flipper Beach. Lyle had recommended the beach to us, and it was the perfect place to go for my last weekend. I even got to go on a little trail, my fav thing to do in life, as the beach was 15 mins from Jaws Beach where the parking lot was located.

Jail & Tattoos

Today I went to PRISON!!!

Don't worry I'm not in trouble, Tim took me to Her Majesty's Prison aka Fox Hill Prison. We got to interview three American immates at the prison/jail. The conditions of the jail were terrible. First the roads were not smooth at all, and a lot of the facilities did not look up to 21st standards. The inmates actually wear the black and white suits that you think of when you think of prison. The low level security inmates had the black and white stripped suits, and the high level security inmates wore red and white suits.

It was really sad to see the conditions that they were forced to live in :-\

The first guy we saw was sentenced to 5 years in prison for credit card fraud, and the following two were in jail awaiting their trials.

For lunch the crew (Lexxee, Brian, Kiah, Miguel, Jonathan, Zach, his girlfriend Melissa, and I went to Hard Rock for lunch - I had the best quesadilla!!! :)

Afterwards, Alex and I got henna tattoos at "The Tattoo King." She got the Capricorn sign on the back of her neck, and I got a butterfly with some tribal bands coming out on the sides.

Next it was off to Daleena's for a surprise party for Tim and Nichole Walton, who are leaving in 2 weeks. Daleena danced for us, and her mom made some Indian food. It was a lot of fun until we tried to leave... the night ended in Daleea getting lectured in addition to myself and Alex...

Then we chilled at the Marine House and watched some movies, where I illegally stayed over as Ray and I both fallen asleep on the couches (separate ones).

COMPLY!!!

Today was a usual boring Monday, until... I got news that the Marines would be having a drill today, and I would get to be an intruder aka BAD GUY!

Kishawn, Alex, Tonya and I were all bad guys and had to find places to hide. Alex and I were told we were not wearing enough clothes to get weapons?

The boys did not find me, they actually stood a few inches away from me and walked right past me. :) I was hiding under these big boards that were up against the wall (that formed a triangle of sorts which I hid in, which had the podium in front of it.

Kishawn was the 1st to be found and died, next was Alex, then me. Tonya was not found.

Eventually in their 2nd run of the place they found me, I ran from the hall into the Spiers room, into the kitchen where I was cornered by Ray and Andres who both had guns. Ray got me to the floor and handcuffed me. However he failed to tighten them and my hands came out - lol.

Leslie's Memorial

I just got back from Leslie's memorial. It was very sad and unlike any other in the sense that his Junkanoo group had rushed through the memorial.

Today Meredith, my new roomie came in. So far so good, she seems like a sweetheart! We just spent forever talking. We - Meredith, Jonathan, Miguel, Derell, Marilu and her grandson Ethan, Barbara & Gary, Bertha, Dana & Steve and I, went to dinner at Traveller's Rest which overlooked the water and was gorgeous!

Later tonight I made some oreos for Ray's Birthday and decided to make some for the rest of the office as well. I took a break and made some warm deliveries, however in the process I left the stove down and almost burnt down the house... oops!

After that, John, Kurt and Goose (John's dog) came over to get some fried oreos, that was interesting...

Jet Skiing

Today was an interesting day, at first I thought we were going to the beach w/ Lyle and other embassy people. However the weather started to look bad, and it didn't look like we were going out, so I was kind of bummed. Then John called me and invited me to go jet skiing!

It was soo much fun, we went all around the island starting at Sandyport going all the way to Atlantis and past that. It was tons of fun. On our way out, we stopped at Senor Frog's, where I finally met Katie's husband, who brought us shots right to our jet ski's in the water which was pretty awesome! I had 2 shots, and didn't die, impressive huh?

Then we rode around some more, and the boys - John, Kirk, Aaron and Edgar wake boarded as I watched (I cant swim). While they were doing that I took John's wave runner for a ride, and that was so much fun! I may or may not have gone 60 km/hr while the boys said I should only go 30... oops...

Shopping on Bay Street

Today Yupa and I went down to Bay Street to go shopping! We spent wayyy to much money... but it was tons of fun! We went to tons of stores. I got a knock off chanel bag and watch, a pair of shoes, a shirt, and a cute shirt. :)

right now we're trying to find a ride so we can go out clubbing!

1st Day at US Embassy Internship

Today was my first day at the US Embassy in Nassau, Bahamas. I woke up at 6:30 AM (after having gone to bed at 1:30, wow I'm an idiot). Marilu, drove Yupa and myself, to pick up Miguel, and then we headed to the Embassy. I was really nervous and energetic for the first day!

When we got there we went in, and gave in our passports to get a visitor's ID. We then parted our separate ways, I went w/ Marilu. We had gotten to the office really early, so we were practically the only ones there. So I helped her out w/ a few tasks and met a bunch of people.

For lunch I went out w/ my supervisor, which happens to be a fordham alum and the #2 guy at the embassy. We went to Conch Fritters, which had some pretty sweet burgers.

Marilu drove us home at 4 PM. After that Yupa and I walked to the beach, which was gorgeous!

1st Day in the Bahamas!!!

Today I arrived at the Nassau Airport. The flight was super empty, I had my own row to myself. When I landed I realized that I had no idea where I was meeting my sponsor Marilu. It turned out that Dana Renfroe (the community liason office aka clo) and my new roomie, Yupa picked me and the other new intern Miguel from the airport. Luckily they had held signs so I knew it was them, or else I wouldve been lost and confused.

After we arrived and I took my bags into my room, we went to Marilu's for dinner. She cooked us chicken tacos which were very yummy! :)

The house is pretty sweet. It's 2 floors, the first floor consisting of a kitchen, living room, back area and a small patio. The second floor has 2 bedrooms, one of which is mine, and my roomie has the master bedroom, however i have my own bathroom and office area! :)