What happens in Provo...

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Like always, I apologize for the extended period of time sans new blog post. I'm busy and well I'm really pretty lazy. Sorry...

The camping trip I spoke of last time was a miserable event. Within minutes of arriving at the beach I felt the sand flies start biting me. I ended up with about 300 sand flea bites all over my legs/feet/soles/back/ ENTIRE BODY! grrr... It was fun at time but really it wasn't worth it. I set up my tent alone (be impressed, I was) and then spent most of the evening trying to stay as close to a fire as possible to discourage flying insects/ sand fleas without overheating. Of course we woke up at the crack of dawn the next morning to come back (while running on little sleep, thank you bug bites), clean the center (you have to be kidding me!), and then have community outreach where I was forced to deal with small children for 2 hours. Needless to say, it wasn't my favorite day on TCI. However, that night was Saturday night and you can only have a bad time for so long before Saturday night fever kicks in. Gotta love it.

We all got our grades back from our midterms and well no one did well. It was a big shock considering I thought the tests were all easy... Not sure what happened but I'm going to continue to blame it on everyone but myself. It's really the best option for everyone.

Tuesday marked the first day of the Providenciales (Provo) trip. Provo is the island where all the tourists go. After living on South Cacios, Provo seemed like NYC. It had so many people and CIVILIZATION! At last. It was a breath of fresh air. I know Kinsley will appreciate this comment, but boy oh boy did I miss AC. It was everywhere and I was able to sleep like I haven't slept in weeks! I'm actually dreading going to bed tonight for fear of not being able to sleep in the stagnant heat that fills my room at the center. BOO.

The first day was spent visiting resorts and surveying/ interviewing tourists and Provo residents. It was fun but really we just wanted to be free already. That night, however, Provo showed us an amazing time. We went to the Seven Stars resort to get drinks and ended up meeting the penthouse owners. They decided we are the future which apparently means we needed a lot more alcohol than any of us could afford at $17 a drink so they bought 4 rounds of drinks and 4 rounds of patron shots for us all. We even split an incredible bottle of wine. It was a great time, although our curfew cramped our style tremendously. I could really get used to hanging out with millionaires who own castles and penthouses in the Caribbean. SERIOUSLY. Best night here so far, until...

The next day we took a boat over to North and Middle Caicos where we visited one of the only farms on TCI and went to the most beautiful beach I've ever seen in my entire life. It was beautiful and secluded. It had wave and was lined with mossy cliffs that formed caves of shadow to help escape the hot tropical sun. We found a natural hot tub/ tidal pool for relaxing in (until the waves came and crashed us into the jagged edges all around). We returned to Provo after lunch on the beach and had the rest of the time to ourselves. We ended up eating pizza at Pizza Pizza which tasted soooo good. I've been really craving pizza. Afterwards I caught a taxi over to the Windsong resort to meet DAD!!! It was so nice to see him again. When I first arrived at the hotel I said goodbye to Virgil, my favorite cab driver, and hello to the bell hop who knew my name and was in charge of taking me to my room. Unfortunately, he had no idea how to locate room 143 and took me to two different elevators and made a stop on every floor possible before finally arriving at my door. It was an adventure but worth it to find dad at the end of the quest.

The next day I went out a snorkeled directly in front of my hotel. It was some of the best reef I've seen since I've been down here. The reefs were stocked with fish and I even saw a few species of fishes that I didn't recognize. It was marvelous. We lounged on the beach for a while after my swim and had Charles bring us Turks Head beers and fruity girly drinks for an hour or so before heading back into the hotel to take my 50000th fresh water shower. I had forgotten how incredible they really are. I took at least 2 a day for the entirety of Provo.

We ate at Bella Luna, an excellent Italian restaurant. It tasted soo good and filled us right up. The rest of our meals where just as good, especially when we ate at Da Conch Shack. A local joint right on the beach serving up fresh seafood. We ate some conch fritters and delicious jerk chicken with this incredible hot sauce that I would love to have more of. The rum punch was good too, but just not my thing.

We had massages on Friday and explored Beaches the all inclusive resort where the majority of the other students stayed. It was nice to sneak in and take full advantage of the free drinks. However, it was HUGE. Like walking around Disney but less scary. Too overwhelming for me. I'm happy I only had to assault the beaches bars once because it was just too much excitement for a vacation. Staying with dad was a much better choice, if you ask me.

Interesting facts about Provo: Taxis don't have meters. They just tell you how much it costs when you get out. It doesn't seem to make very much sense at all. I had rides ranging from $8-$26. However, once you found a good taxi it was easy to rely on them. They all had cards which made it easy to contact them wherever we ended up.

The last day was probably my favorite day. We were supposed to SNUBA. Which is like SCUBA and snorkeling combined. You have a hose to breathe through so you can go up to 20' deep but the tank floats at the surface to make it easier/ available to everyone rather than just certified divers. Unfortunately, it stormed and we weren't allowed to go out. Instead, we went to the Somewhere Cafe next door and drank for several hours while watching football and talking to the manager/ bartender/ each other. It was really nice and I definitely feel like I haven't had as good a talk in quite some time. The rest of the night was lazy and quiet just as it should be. It was hard to come back today and face the loads of work due over the next two weeks.

OH OH OH. The manager of the cafe we hung out it is actually the son of a former SFS student and a belonger (TCI islander)! It was crazy. I guess it is possible that my stalker down here could be true love? Doubtful, but hey you never know. I was really surprised to meet him. SMALL WORLD.

More news to come soon!

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