Time to Get Settled In!

Sunday morning started off with some breakfast made by Yazmin. After that we caught a maxi for the first time to go grocery shopping. Maxis are a type of transportation system here in Trinidad & Tobago. There is one that carries 9 people & another that carries 24. They're always out on the road & you can get picked up by one basically anywhere you are, it doesn't have to be at a stop which is convenient. We rode the maxi to Massy Stores which is a grocery store similar to a Super Walmart. You can find anything there which was perfect to stock up on food & anything we need while living at the lodge. Grocery shopping is always stressful for me but this trip was the most stressful I've had haha. Most brands are different from those in the US, doing the math was confusing as we only had 300 US$ to spend (1800 TT$), & having 11 people run around the store trying to figure their lives out among the local shoppers caused so much traffic! Haha. It was a lot of fun though. We got picked up with Roger Rabbit since it would be too much work to catch a maxi back to the lodge with so many bags & what not. We got back to unpack everything & watch our refrigerators stock up with food. Shopping built up our appetites so a few of us went out into Tunapuna to find something to eat but had no luck since everything closes by noon on Sundays. We just walked back to the lodge & cooked for ourselves. I was so exhausted from so much walking around & the heat so I took a nap before the playoffs. I tuned in at 4pm my time & a few of the other girls that are also Seahawks fans joined me. We tried to do homework during the game but it was so distracting haha. We kept commenting about Russel's performance & stressing about the score by halftime & even more when it got to the final quarter... I was ready to pull my hair out until they scored within those last 5 minutes! Everyone was gathered in the lobby by then for dinner & our meeting so we were all very into it. Candice let us finish up the game before starting the meeting so we were super thankful for that haha. Unfortunately, we didn't get to watch OT since it was cutting into our time but when it ended, I was excited to find out that the Hawks won & are headed to the Super Bowl once again!!! WOOOO!! I was so excited & proud to represent my city all the way out here! It made me really wish that I was at home to share that moment with my friends & family! The night ended with some organizing & preparation for the first day of school the next day. I felt so nervous but excited to learn as well!

See ya soon, Tobago!

Saturday morning was kind of rough since we didn't go to bed until like 1am haha. We were all up & ready by 7 on the dot & headed down to Scarborough for our Rainforest hike in Gilpin Trace National Park. Once there we were met by our tour guide, Junior Thomas. He gave us all a pair of rain boots to borrow then we were on our way through the trail. The first was super nice & shady the whole time. Hearing the birds & water, smelling the nature around us, & seeing a the pretty plants was a nice comparison to Washington's forests. Of course they were very different types of forests but still, it was nice haha. The hike was 2 hours long & during it, we stepped in huge puddles of mud, took pictures in front of huge bamboo plants & got to swing on some vines! It was a day well spent. We got back to the cabins with an hour to get ready before we left to catch our flight back to Trinidad. It was sad to leave Tobago because it was such a beautiful place & we got to do so many new things but we will definitely be back to visit! At baggage claim, we met a local Trinidadian artist, Olatunji, or Ola, & got to take pictures with him! Varsha followed him on IG saw that he posted a picture of us on his page so we were all super excited haha. You can pretty much say we're famous ;) Roger Rabbit picked us up & took us straight back to the lodge. We all disbursed & unpacked/had dinner together at 7 again along with a meeting to debrief on the past week. It was a great week overall & coming back to the lodge is bittersweet... Now we have to mentally prepare for classes at UWI which start on Monday! Ahhh!

Liming at Banana Boat

Today we had class & it was the final day of reading the book for our religion class (yay!). We took a break & got to watch McKenzie & Megan from a distance help out some fishermen on the sea bring in a net full of fish they caught. After class, we went back over to our cabin & made some Mac & cheese & snacked on a few things to finish up the food we bought. I did some laundry afterwards then relaxed a bit while waiting for it. 4 of the girls went over to Pirate's Bay while the rest of us waited to go on the boat ride. The boat ride was so cool! We got to get up close to some rocks & one of them was the bird sanctuary & there were sooo many birds! It was so nice though. The waves were crazy out there & it was kind of scary cause I kept thinking about the worst case scenarios haha. It also made us a little sea sick but it was alright. When we got back to the dock we saw some fishermen fighting to reel their fish in. He was struggling so the fishermen on our boat gave him a hand. The guy let go of his line which we ended up catching & even then we struggled to bring the fish in. We couldn't imagine the size of this fish but it was putting a fight so I imagined it was a good one. It all happened so quickly but when he finally got a hold of it, a fish about 2 feet long was in out boat! I have never seen a fish that big being caught I thought it was super cool to watch these men do their job right in front of us! We celebrated with them then walked off to our cabins. Dinner was at 7 & it was our final night there. The night before, we all had agreed to go out one last time on Friday so we all were ready to go right after dinner. We went to the bar called Banana Boat which was just up the street from us. Other than a few guys & the bartenders, it was empty, but we got the party started! Haha. (P.S. Here in Trinidad, a common slang word for kicking it or chilling is "liming.") We each ordered a few beers to get the night started. It was a great night dancing & seeing friends that we had made over the week. We headed back to our cabins by midnight since we had to be up & ready by 7am the next day. We thought we were gonna eat a little bit then head straight to bed but it turns out that a few of the guys we met followed us back & wanted to hang out with some of the girls they had their eyes on. I was too tired to even deal with that but we eventually got them to leave.. It was definitely a learning experience for the group & it goes to show that Trinidadian men are very persistent. Just something to keep in mind for future outings! 

Being a Typical Tourist at Store Bay

So today we ended up switching class day with going to Store Bay! Man... It was so much fun! I got kind of queasy on the bus ride there but once we got there we ran to the glass bottom boats before they left us! We shared the boat with other people who were vacationing there since Bucco Reef also has a resort. I have never seen such tan & soft sands & bright blue waters... When the boat went departed the beach, we got a gorgeous view of the island known as Pigeon Point. Throughout the boat ride, the captain was pointing out fun facts & things to look at. Through the glass, we could see corals & fish beneath us which was super cool to see! We stopped in the middle of the ocean to get off the boat for those who were strong swimmers to snorkel. I got off & hung on to the rope. Being able to swim out in the middle of the Caribbean Sea & be so close to the fish & coral was such an amazing experience! I've never been close to doing something like that so that was really cool. We all got back on the boat then continued to drive out to the islands in the middle of the ocean there is a barrier reef that surrounds the coral reefs & all the sands & dead coral that get pushed up to the center make little islands that allow you to stand in the middle of the sea! You can see the waves crashing against the barrier miles away all around us! We all got off our boats & joined others in swimming & standing around those islands in the middle of the sea. The boats put music on so we were basically having a huge party out in the water haha. We got to take a group picture with the 12 flag too which was cool :)  The captain told us that the sands there are good for exfoliating so we were all rubbing the sand beneath us all over our bodies & faces haha. It really did make our skin feel so smooth! It kind of hurt since I'm still sun burnt but I didn't care. The boat ride was 2 hours long. We got back on the boat to head back & we were free to do whatever we wanted for 3 hours until we leave. We all were super hungry so we ordered some food. I got crab & dumplings that Candice highly recommended but I honestly didn't enjoy them. The crab came as a whole so it creeped me out but it was also hard to crack open which made it too difficult to enjoy my food. I threw it away & went to get a chicken roti but then that had bones in it & I couldn't enjoy that either.. I was a little disappointed but it was okay, what I had filled me up which was good I guess. After eating we walked around the souvenir shops & I got so many things there to bring back to people at home. I spent way too much money so I hope that what I got was good! Haha. We hung out on the beach for the last hour or so. I took a picture holding my 12 flag & it caught the attention of an older couple sitting on the beach. They turned out to be from Everett & had a daughter that also went to PLU! What a small world right? It was nice to see that my flag is a conversation starter haha. On the ride back to Charlotteville, everyone was exhausted but we were ready for our BBQ dinner that Candice had planned for us. We got arrived to the cabins with an hour to get ready then walked over to the restaurant. As usual, Suzanne, Michael, Declan, Linda & Luis joined us :) The food was delicious! The party started as soon as we finished eating so they cleared up some tables & got to dancing! We literally danced all night & even a few of the guys that live around here joined the party. It was such a good time with everyone & a great workout!

Soaking up the Sun in Pirate's Bay

We had class this morning & we finished an hour early which was perfect because the sun was out & we were all really excited to take advantage of it & actually do something outside! We had planned to go up to Pirate's Bay so when class ended, we went to change & put out bathing suits on, had some lunch then hiked over to the beach. It was about a 20 minute walk there with a steep incline so we definitely broke a sweat but the views on the way there were perfect! We stopped to take pictures then continued to make our way down. There were some really steep stairs going down to the beach which was kind of sketchy to walk down but we took our time. Once we hit the sand we all did nothing but take pictures of everything. The beach is gorgeous, the sand was so soft, the sun was shining, the water was so blue... Man, it was beautiful! We laid our stuff down & took our clothes off & ran into the ocean. The water felt sooo good after hiking down there! Varsha didn't know how to swim so Debbie, McKenzie & Megan all taught her how while the rest of us went out into the blue haha. She actually picked up pretty quick though & it was nice to celebrate with her a new accomplishment :) We literally spent out whole day doing nothing but tanning & swimming & it couldn't have been any better. A few hours passed & Suzanne & her family & friends (Linda & Mexican MacGyver) along with Candice & the baby came down to the beach & it was nice to have everyone there even though we were all sprawled out. We met a guy named Clayton but he told us to call him Bash.. He was a friend of Candice's & told us how he lives & works on the beach renting out lawn chairs. He was real nice & kind of hung around our group wanting to talk to us. After a while & after finishing our snacks, Lauren, Katy & I walked over to a fruit stand on the beach. They had coconuts, bananas, & pineapples so we bought a big pineapple to share with the group.. It was delicious! We continued to tan & lay around then half the group decided to head back over to the cabins. The other half stayed back a while then walked up too. The sun & water definitely wore us out & made us hungry so when we got back, I made quesadillas for our cabin with sliced avocados on the side. I noticed that I got a lot of color. Myface, chest, back, & arms are super red & burning.. I'm excited to see what the tan will look like though:) We showered, chilled & did some homework before dinner then went over to have dinner which was delicious! During dinner Candice had us do an activity about our hopes, fears & expectations of the trip & just cleared the air on some things for us. When that was over, cleaned up then headed over to our cabin & on the way, Morgan mentioned something about pranking their cabin... Right away, Lauren & I were in! Haha. We went to tell McKenzie & Q about it so we got to planning it right away. Morgan & I went over to make sure that the kitchen door was unlocked so we played it off by going over for a grapefruit. While there, Morgan unlocked the kitchen door for us to make sure it stays that way for our plan. We put on dark clothes & found sticks to use as our noise making objects. We snuck over & scratched the window of Harmony & Varsha's room with the stick & heard them freaking out right away. I signed McKenzie with my flashlight to make the call to Debbie & make it seem like someone was making noises at our place too. Q, Morgan, Lauren & I went around the house to the kitchen door for the grand finale. We made a few more noises then made sure that they were all in the living room, which they were & that's when Q barged in screaming with us following in behind him & they screamed their heads off hahahaha. It was the funniest thing to watch! Our plan went just as planned which was perfect & scared all of them so good! It was a great way to end the night & I'm excited to see what they come up with to get us back.

Slow Day on the Island

Today we woke up with enough time to have some breakfast that Q kindly offered to make. He made us some scrambled eggs with turkey bacon & toast on the side. We all ate & then got ready for class. Class was held in Cabin 5 next door where the other half of the group was staying. I think today was a good class cause we had small group discussions & out group got pretty into it.. Towards the end of class, Bailey noticed that the floor was wet so we looked around & notices that he toilet was leaking & flooded the entire bathroom & was making its way to the living room. Class was pretty much over so we all got up & moved things around & kind of freaked out haha. Suzanne called Candice & she told us that the plumber wasn't in town at the time. We all just threw any towel we could find to stop the water & soak it up in its tracks. Candice shut the water off & we started to ring the water out of the towels to try & soak everything up. While we were doing that, someone saw a huge cockroach & Debbie freaked out haha. Bailey tried to pick it up to take it out but it ended up making its way into the shower room where I was & so I freaked out & tried hopping my way out without stepping on it or falling haha. We cleaned up as best as we could then I went back over to my cabin. Morgan, McKenzie & Lauren were all eating sandwiches & chips so I joined them. We decided to take advantage of the rain stopping & walk around Charlotteville so we did that. Us 4 walked around & went to a store, passed by the field, the library, police station, a little school & basically toured our surroundings. It was nice to get out & see what's around even though there wasn't much. We did notice that there was a small handful of other tourists around which was cool to see. When we got back we all kind of did our own thing & I decided to take a nap. It was nice to not hear the rain for a while & walk around without having to get soaked but it made its way back & now it's raining again. Q came in to kind of wake me up but I was kind of awake already so I got up & went outside with Morgan & McKenzie who were gonna go swimming & ate some cereal. Morgan had wandered off for a bit & came back to tell us she found a lemon tree so Lauren & I joined her to pick some. We decided to make some drinks & sit on the beach while it wasn't raining so we mixed some white oak, fruit lunch, sprite & lemon juice from those lemons & got to watch the clouds change colors from the sun that was peeking through the clouds. It was such a nice & relaxing moment to sit back & relax out there. Once it started to get darker, we went back in to get ready for dinner. Dinner was held at the cabin next door so we went over & had some delicious food once again. Afterwards, we had a small meeting then when the adults left, we played some games & drank a bit. It was sooo much fun playing charades & another game that Harm showed us haha. We took a break from the games & went from a walk on the beach after having a few drinks which was also really fun haha. We came back & walked over to Sharon & Pheb's.. They were closed but Sharon heard us coming & opened it just for us to get some drinks which was super sweet of her! We walked back with our drinks in hand & some went to the beach but Debbie, Katy & I stayed back & hung out in my cabin. It was such a a nice relaxing day today! Our group is definitely a good one & I love that everyone is down for anything!

Arriving to Tobago!

Today we left the lodge at 7am to get to the airport on time for our flight to Tobago! We were all really excited to go & when we were walking out to the airplane, we took a bunch of selfies & pictures of each other haha. It was like a scene from a movie. The flight from Trinidad to Tobago was about 20 minutes so it was a new experience to be on an airplane for that amount of time. On the plane I met a Jamaican guy whose name was Devon. He's 35 an works for Digicel, a cellphone plan company popular in the Caribbean. He was flying to Tobago for a presentation he had. He mentioned how he has been to sooo many pales around the world & thought that was really cool. The whole plane ride, we talked about traveling & the different places he's been to & how different they are & stuff. We landed in Tobago & had to run out of the airplane through some rain & wind.. We were looking through the window while waiting to get off & watched a ladies hat fly off her head & it took like 3 other guys to run after it & chase it haha. It was pretty entertaining. We got our luggage then went out to get on our bus. We stopped at Penny Savers, a grocery store to stock up on some food for our cabins since we'll be in Tobago for a week. My group had me, Morgan, McKenzie, Lauren, & Q. It was fun walking around the store figuring out what we need & want. Seems like we got more than both since we went $100 over our $700 budget! After, we made our way to a produce stand & got some stuff from there too. Some of us stayed on the bus & were telling the other group members what to get through the windows & stuff, it was funny. After that, we stopped at a restaurant to get some food & I got fries, potatoes & macaroni salad. I've been getting tired of eating meat with bones in it so I avoided that. Leaving the bones in is a thing here so that's another thing that I have to get used to. From there we finally continued to make our way to the cabins. Upon arrival, we dropped off Suzanne & her family off first then went over to ours. We unloaded the bus & checked out the place. Ours is pretty cool.. I'm sharing a room with Morgan then McKenzie & Lauren are right next to us & Q has his own apartment almost in the back part of the cabin. Everyone kind of did their own thing. Some were unpacking, some of us went to the beach which is basically our front yard! It's like 20 feet outside of our cabins which is so nice! We hung out for a bit then decided to go to a bar down the street. We went to one called Sharon & Pheb's Restaurant & Bar. It was super nice & on the hill so there were like 3 flights of stairs to get up to it. There, we all ordered some drinks. It was actually our first time having drinks as group! Everyone got Carib's- a local beer that's pretty good- and I got a Smirnoff black ice which was also pretty good. We were all talking among each other then some of us decided to get another round. Harmony, Morgan & I asked the cashier what kinds of drinks she makes & she ended up making us one that she called "rummy fruity" which had some dark rum, lime, brown sugar & some orange juice type thing- it was real good! A few of the others went to get one too haha. I saw that Debbie got some Bailey's on the rocks so I went for my 3rd & final round & got some too! The cashier warned me about mixing drinks so I made it clear that this was my last one haha. It was so much fun just hanging out, joking around & sharing stories as a group.. Everyone is so laid back & fun to be around. We hung out there for a few hours since it started to rain so we waited it out for a bit too. We left the bar with 2 bottles of White Oak rum to have for ourselves & went back to the cabins to kill some time before our meeting. We ran into Suzanne, Michael & Declan on the beach & they followed us in to get a tour of our cabins.. Declan came in with a branch of big red leaves that he found on the ground & gave it to us to have in our little home haha:) Q, Varsha, McKenzie, Lauren, Morgan & I hung out in the room & chatted then Harmony, Megan & Bailey came to join us. That was also fun just kicking back for a bit :) there are a couple of stray dogs on the island & some wander around the cabins & follow us around which is pretty cute but safe cause some have open wounds & we can't do anything with them, but, we names them which is really funny & cute when they're around trying to figure out who is who. We named them with dessert names so one is brownie, one is muffin, another is cupcake & one is lemon pie haha. We went over to cabin #5 where the other girls were staying & had dinner there made by 2 women that work here. We all chatted it up at dinner with Suzanne & the family then went back to our own cabins & ended the night doing some homework. Also, it was pouring nonstop all throughout the day so we hope that it clears up for the remainder of our time here!

A Day of Relaxation

Today was a slow day for us. After class ended at noon, I did some organizing in my planner then went outside to see what everyone was up to.. One of the girls put up her hammock in between two palm trees we have in the courtyard so I put on some tanning oil & laid on it for a bit. What started off as tanning turned out to be a 30 minute power nap haha. It was a very nice nap & it was also nice waking up to some tan lines on my very pale legs haha. I am excited to see how much darker I get while here! When I woke up, I did some reading for our next class which wasn't too fun but it was a good use of my time. We had an orientation at 5 pm to talk about our home-stays for the weekend. We were all eager to find out who we will be staying with & who we will be partnered with from the group. We leave tomorrow morning at 8 am to stay with our host families & I'm so excited to see what that's going to be like! I don't want to give away too much information until afterwards so hang on tight! Throughout the day I noticed myself reapplying bug spray. I have been itching like crazy non-stop & I have many mosquito bites to prove it.. I took some time to count up how many bites I had & I counted 58 bites! I bought some ointment to relieve the itching & it helps a bit but it's annoying having to repeatedly reapply throughout the day haha. I'm dealing fine with it but it just sucks when one starts to itch & then another & so on! Dinner arrived by 7 pm again tonight. I am not sure on the name of what we had tonight but it was almost like a macaroni & cheese type of serving with chicken on the side that reminded me of the Mexican dish, mole, & some beans on the side. Once again, I was not disappointed with the food! We watched tv while eating in the lobby & I enjoyed that time with the group. We were watching Ridiculousness on MTV so we were pretty entertained & shared some good laughs haha. Today was a very slow day which was a nice switch up from the other days. We are still adjusting to everything & we're kind of ready to get a consistent schedule going but we definitely can't complain about this down time in paradise! :)

Day 2: A Very Eventful Day!

Today was the first day of our Religion 231: Myth, Ritual, & Symbol course that we are taking over the month of January here in Trinidad. The course is taught by a professor from PLU & she is out here with her husband & son to teach the course to us! The class was taught in the lobby of the lodge which is outdoors & undercover. It was weird for both the professor & the students since it wasn't a normal classroom setting with a white board & all but it was a different experience! The class was from 9am to 12pm. It was pretty interesting but kind of hard to stay focused since we are in a beautiful & sunny place haha.
After class, me & a few of the other girls took advantage of free time & went to buy some notebooks & other supplies we all needed. It took a lot longer than planned so of course we built up an appetite. We dropped our stuff off at the lodge then went to add minutes on our cellphones/look for a place to eat. Not all of us had wandered towards UWI's campus (which is like a 5 minute walk from the lodge) so we walked that way to see what restaurants we'd run into. We came across Eddy's which is a restaurant & bar but they didn't have any food prepared because it wasn't lunch time. We all thought that was really weird since in the US a restaurant has food from open to close. We walked out & continued our search onto UWI's campus. We came across a little cafe called "Rituals Coffee House." There I ordered a BBQ ham & cheese panini with a blended Dulce de Leche chiller... It was soooo yummy! After eating, we took pictures in front of a few of the buildings around us which was exciting to see since we will shortly be starting classes there! We made it back in time to the lodge for our 2nd orientation which was about the Caribbean Culture & Society portion of the semester. We received so much information about this course & realized we have a lot of homework for it but we feel confident that it will be easy as it consists of the trips, excursions, & everyday activities we will be doing throughout the semester.
Shortly after the meeting, dinner arrived! Tonight we had "Pelau" which is a traditional dish made of pigeon peas & rice cooked with meat and coleslaw & salad on the side. It was also pretty delicious! After dinner, was our trip to go meet with Rosalind Gabriel- the designer of our costumes for Carnival!!! We went to the very building where all the costumes are designed & handmade... Let me tell you, these costumes are verrryyyy detailed & extravagant & they are all made by hand! People pay thousands of TT dollars to have these made for Carnival but I can say that every penny is worth it. This woman & her workers are very talented & there are many trophies in here house to show that! The costumes we saw were beautiful & I am so excited to be wearing one for Carnival in February! :)
After this visit, we went to a few steel pan band camps to watch their rehearsals. The steel pan is a traditional instrument played here in Trinidad. We went to listen to 3 different bands who compete during Carnival. This was really cool because we got to see what goes on behind the scenes for this part of the event.. It was really cool & fun to watch & listen to!
We thought we were going straight back to the lodge after these visits but little did we know that Ken & Norvan had a little surprise in store for us. They took us to a to "Parang" which is an outdoor party that is hosted by anyone who wants to host one. Here in Trinidad, Christmas holiday ends until January 6th. So to keep the holiday spirit alive, Trinidadians host these Parangs which people usually go door to door to be a part of. Neighbors, family, friends & even strangers are welcome! This was such a surprise.... especially when they took us to the kitchen to serve us drinks haha! Imagine that? Kicking it at a party with our directors & even our PROFESSOR! Yes, our professor from PLU was there haha. They served us a few drinks with Trinidadian rum & they were delicious. We had a live DJ there playing local music. The music was so local that even one of the artists whose song played was there! We got to meet the guy & he was very humble & kind to us. Everyone was! We danced & drank as a group & with everyone that was there & had so much fun! The Trinidadian culture is much like the Mexican culture where we welcome anyone that wants to party with us & have a good time! I felt so comfortable being there & had such a great time dancing to their music. Tonight was definitely a night that I will remember forever! What a warm welcome we had & what a good way to start the festivities that are awaiting us!

My First Day in Tunapuna!

My first day in Trinidad has been soooo tiring! We landed in Port of Spain around 12am Monday night, went through immigration (which took forever!) and got our bags which all together took us about 2 hours to get through. At the airport, Candice, a Trinidad native and one of PLU's program directors for Trinidad and Tobago, welcomed us as soon as we exited the airport. We put all of our luggage in a bus and then they took us to the Caribbean Lodge which is our home for the next 4 months. Once there, Candice gave us the keys to our rooms and a quick overview of the place and the plans for the next day. We all have our own rooms here at the lodge and the building is shared with other Trinidadian students that attend the University of West Indies where we will be taking classes as well. Once in my room, I unpacked a few things just to get a little comfortable then went to bed by 3:30 am (Atlantic time). I was exhausted from so much flying and hauling my luggage around but I couldn't fall asleep right away because of everything that was running through my head!
The next morning, breakfast was ready by 7:30am but was optional. I woke up early enough to go down to the kitchen and have some. I was greeted by Yazmin, the kind woman that will be making our food for the next week & helps out around the lodge. She was excited to meet and greet everyone that came down and enjoyed the food she made us. We had to be ready and in the lobby by 9 am for an orientation so those who ate, went back to finish getting ready then met with the group. Candice introduced us to two men that have worked with the program for many years, Kenneth & Norvan. They all gave us some simple rules about safety, transportation, and even a little motivational talk. We left the lodge and toured a small part of Tunapuna, the city we live in. We went down the main road and familiarized ourselves with the Tunapuna Market, the shopping center, the bank, cosmetic store, the police station, pharmacy, the post office, and a few restaurants and bars- all the important places we need to know while living here. I love that everything is walking distance! The roads were pretty narrow and crowded with people and cars. They drive on the left ride of the road here which was so weird to see, especially when we needed to cross the road haha. While walking, we got many stares and catcalls from the locals but nothing that made me too uncomfortable. It was actually pretty funny because sometimes we just don't know how to respond so we just laugh it off haha.
The directors let us roam around on our own for a couple of hours to do whatever we wanted so our group split up into smaller groups. Me and a few others went to the bank to exchange our currency, then we went to the shopping center to get a few things we need for our rooms & got some food to go. I ordered this thing called "Bodi Potato Channa" which was a wrap type thing stuffed with potatoes and spicy peppers. It was really yummy & very spicy, just how I like my food! ;) After eating, I went up to my room to finish unpacking and put things away then took a nap.... a much needed nap haha. I woke up feeling pretty well rested then headed downstairs for a scheduled meeting with the group then enjoyed some dinner together. We had BBQ chicken with rice, potato salad & noodle salad. Now I'm hanging out in my room, about to take a nice shower, read for my first homework assignment, then call it a night.. Tomorrow is our first day of our Religion class with a professor from PLU so I gotta be prepared for that! Overall, it was a great first day! I am in love with the place already & I know I'm going to love everything else we have planned! I'll try my best to keep this blog updated! Hope everyone reading this enjoys it! :)