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We woke up this morning at 4:30 in order to catch the 5 o’clock shuttle to the Orlando airport. Our flight left at sevenish to Miami and since it was less than an hour, the flight wasn’t too painful. So far the most exciting events that have occurred started with a family of three who attempted to bring aboard eight carry-ons including a life-size pony. Then, when we got to Miami, everyone and everything disembarked from the plane except for Savannah’s backpack. After frantically searching for said backpack, Savannah ran down the jet way dodging the closing doors with Lauren chasing behind where she found her bag on a seat. Once in Miami, we found our gate and went to Starbucks, of course, to get breakfast. Until eleven o’clock, the team hung out and bonded awaiting our flight to Barbados! Sleeping and/or interpretive dancing helped the three hour and fifteen minute flight pass by. Kamryn sat next to Holland in the exit row, while Savannah sat next to Kendal (our youngest tourie) in the back of the plane. After almost every one of our touries filled out their custom forms incorrectly, we finally were met by Carol-Lyn, our Barbadian tour guide. The five Nease seniors, Katie J, Meghan, and Lo were delighted to be driven to the retreat center by Barry. Despite its lack of AC and bedroom space, its short distance to the beach complements the retreat center. The five Nease seniors, Kamryn, Savannah, Mariah, Ashley, and Holland, were placed in a room together while the rest of the touries were into two rooms by age, rank, and serial number. CJ, Sav, Mariah, and Ashley went to the grocery store with Carol-Lyn while everyone else stayed behind to take pictures around the center. At the grocery store, the group managed to spend more than they could have imagined in BBD (Barbadian Dollars). Holland and Kamryn prepared for the lessons while the others played cards until it was time for dinner. Two hours after leaving for the grocery store, the group returned in not one, but two cars in order to fit all the groceries. All fourteen girls led by the three fearless leaders headed out to Chefette, the local Barbados fast food. (Shout out to Tip Top Timmy, from Kam, Mariah, Marissa, Ash – it rivals Tip Top in Nica. Thinking of you!) We placed a rather large order of various pizzas, chicken sandwiches, and chips, which are actually French fries masquerading as chips. We headed back to the center where we quickly discussed rules and our plan for nightly devotions. Throughout the course of the week, we are going to be addressing the topic of lies that young girls experience throughout adolescence. Together the girls will discuss the many lies we are told, and learn with each other how to overcome them. We then entered the topic of hygiene and we soon discovered that many girls had no desire to shower this evening or maybe even ever (Greasiest hair award shout out from Bash 7).
Editor’s Note:
The customs/immigration forms were quite possibly the most confusing forms ever distributed on a BIP tour. Even our most recent college graduate struggled with filling out the form, requiring a second attempt, a mulligan. The weather is absolutely gorgeous, and all baggage made it successfully onto our new favorite island. Unbeknownst to many of our touries, here they drive from the right side inside of the car, stick shift with their left hand, and drive on the left side of the road. Scariest moment? When we drove on a round a bout. Backwards. While driving with Barry, we learned that there are 11 Parishes dividing the island of Barbados. Tomorrow we will join the locals in celebrating Kadoonment Day; also the Crop Over festival celebrating the end of the sugar cane harvest (main export) will be taking place in the city next to ours.
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