Travel Journal
barbados day seven:
congratulations! you're a winner!

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

This morning started at 6 a.m. again as we had our final training session at the turf field. After our 7-9 practice we came back and showered for our 9:30 breakfast. Breakfast today was the usual: pancakes, bacon, hash browns, eggs, toast and some kind of pound cake. I think it was about a 3.75 today.

After breakfast we went shopping in the city where the locals apparently do most of their shopping. We all were able to get a good amount of souvenirs and even some snow cones! The vans picked us back up around noon and we came back to the hotel with the rest of the afternoon to ourselves. Most of us went straight to the beach, which was not as welcoming as usual because it was overcast and raining. The waves were merciless but they were a lot of fun to try to jump and bodysurf on.

After time by the beach and pool everyone split up until dinner at 7 p.m. Right before dinner a lot of us sat by the pool and watched an awe-inspiring Barbadian sunset. It's crazy how everything here in Barbados has a way of being just right. For example: It was pouring this morning in the middle of our practice, but a giant rainbow lit up the sky behind us. Heck, even the rain was great!

Anyway, we went to good old Bert's again with our wonderful tour guides Domonic and Melissa. Speaking of those two, I would just like to say that they are absolutely amazing; we love them and appreciate everything they do for us! Dinner was a little slow today, taking about 2 1/2 hours to complete but I guess it still got about a 3.25 on the food scale. We were getting a little restless by the end and were glad to finally be back at the hotel after our long day.

I'm not sure how many of you have stayed with a team or even extended family for a long period of time, but after a while it starts to get a little monotonous. Our team, however, has found plenty of ways to keep it fun and keep everyone on their toes. For instance, tonight while most people were in their rooms, Cait Teegarden prank called Shelby Smith's room from the hotel phone. Cait faked a Bajan accent telling Shelby that she won a random contest and that her prize was 1,000 puka shells. Shelby, being the nice one on the team, was very excited and immediately planned on sharing her winnings. Meanwhile, Cait and her accomplices (Brittany and Courtney DeAngelis and Renee Norton) told the front desk to play along and act like they knew what was going on. When Shelby went down with her passport the woman at the front desk actually played along like she had the information and was going to get Shelby the shells. Within the next few minutes Cait rememberd she had a heart and let Shelby in on the secret.

Hearing this story secondhand I can only imagine the look on poor Shelby's face. Obviously we are finding ways to entertain ourselves here on this beautiful island and it is a shame that we only have 2 1/2 more days left. Tomorrow we are going on a safari tour of the island in covered jeeps and it should be a really great time. Stay tuned to hear about all of the native Green Monkeys that we're supposed to see!!