Travel Journal
barbados day three:
no love for rihanna; jersey drivers

The third installment in a journal of the Muhlenberg field hockey team’s trip to Barbados by senior Jess Kasza:

Unfortunately today I find out that everyone here in Barbados is not too fond of Rihanna. Therefore, I think I will have to give up my search. If she came back here she might get egged coming off the plane or something; they think she is stuck up and mean for leaving the island and forgetting about them ... harsh.

The Mules go for a swim in the ocean and pose with their opponents for the first game.

Anyway, this morning we woke up around 8:15 and had some breakfast followed by a pool/beach workout. Breakfast wasn't as good as yesterday but I guess I will still give it a 3 out of 5 just because the women down there are so friendly. After our workout we had the afternoon to ourselves, and we hung out beach and poolside for most of the day. During that time a few of us went to go get some groceries at the store down the street.

I forgot to mention before that they drive on the opposite side of the car and street down here; it is SO confusing. I was told that in Barbados they "drive like they walk" and basically if they

The Mules are staying at the Blue Orchids Beach Hotel.

have room they will squeeze into it and beep at the other cars. If they were in America there would be fender benders at every other intersection.

The grocery store was pretty standard, nothing too exciting to tell you about there. {HOLD UP - Cait Teegarden here, commandeering the keyboard for a moment - I have to say the exchange rate is still getting me, despite being a member of an elite academic community such as Muhlenberg. Here's a math problem: 1 kg of plums cost $18.79 BARBADOS, what am I paying in American currency? Just stop now before you go cross-eyed; I bought one, it was delicious, end of story.}

We rested up in our rooms for a bit (ate some grilled cheese courtesy of Nicole Fiorentino) and it was then time to leave for our game. I also forgot to mention one of our crazy van drivers, Carl, aka "Yellow." He is this big guy with a gold tooth and a terrible habit of stopping too close to other cars' bumpers. In short, he is a Jersey Driver at heart. He's great though and a part of the Hate Rihanna Club.

We have been told that here in Barbados they are on their own time and are pretty laid back about start times; what should have been a 6:30 start ended up being about a 7:15 start. For only having one practice I think we did rather well in the game tonight. Kiara Santana scored the Mules' lone goal of the night on an assist by Amanda DiMarco off of a corner. There was no scoreboard but I'm pretty sure the other team won at the end of the 70 minutes. We know what we have to work on and we are definitely looking forward to our next game tomorrow!!

As for dinner, we ate after our game at a place called Cheffette's. It was basically the Barbados version of fast food but the chain is exclusive to this island from what I've been told. It was about a 2.5 but we were so hungry it seemed like a 5 at the time.

It's been a long and exhausting day and we have a 6 a.m. wakeup tomorrow so GOODNIGHT!