Still hasn't sunk in..

It still hasn't really registered with me that I will be gone for so long. It still feels like I'm on a week vacation in the Bahamas. I wonder when and if it will ever hit... until then here is what we did on Jan. 21st, 2008

Woke up, 30,000 feet in the air, on the plane, as we were approaching Atlanta airport in Georgia. I was surprised to learn that it was almost 7am in Georgia but the sun hadn’t even risen yet. Luckly the gate of our connecting flight was only a 10 gate walk down the airport. Kristin and I had Cinnabon (Cinnamon Rolls) for breakfast and met a few other SASers, some with their parents, on our flight.

I slept most of the way during the two hour flight from Atlanta to Nassau. As the plane descended through the thick clouds I was shocked to see the most beautiful blue water. When I think of the Atlantic Ocean, I imagine cold frigid waters, however the water is even more amazing than Hawaii’s and reminds me a lot of Belize and the Caribbean. Arrived in Nassau around noon EST. The airport was very tiny and our luggage was one of the last to come out. We hired luggage man to help us carry our 60 + pound luggage. (Luckily I dodged the $50 overweight fee in LA, weighing 46 and 40 pounds). We had met a girl from Long Beach named Kara who shared a Taxi with us from the airport to our hotel. She has work study and had to board the ship yesterday around 3pm.

To our relief, we were able to check into our hotel early, around one thirty. Our room is on the fifth floor with an awesome ocean view. The end of this ship is visible from out make-shift 3 inch balcony with a sliding door. Surprisingly, the room is very large, two queen beds, bathroom and TV. After a nap and shower we took a taxi to the infamous Atlantis hotel on Paradise Island. It was pouring rain with Gail force winds! The Atlantis is simply magnificent!!! Walking through the entrance took my breath away! (see picture) We toured the hotel for a while and found the marina where we ate Johnny Rockets for dinner; our waitress’s name was Vannda! Probably the last hamburger I will have for a while- sad. After dinner we stared at the million dollar yachts in the Atlantis harbor while almost getting blown away by the wind. (see picture). We talked our way into gaining access to the pool and slide area at the resort. It reminded me of Wild Rivers with a lazy river and huge waterslides. It began to get dark so we decided to get a taxi to head back to the Quality Inn. Our driver, whose name we did not catch, entertained us with funny stories of his many taxiing adventures. It took us about 30 minutes to get back due to one-way streets, rain and traffic. It is weird driving on the opposite side of the road, even when you’re crossing the street you have to look the other way first! Strange. Arrived back and tried to connect to the internet, but no luck.

*Still have to play with image size to add more pictures...

Love you!