First day in Paris and a big surprise

Posted on Monday, 14 September 2015, 0:18 by Alexandra

Our first day in Paris is over and we are all tired. But since I am traveling again, I feel like I need to update. The weather hasn’t impressed me at all sadly. It rained when we arrived at 9 this morning and it kept raining most of the afternoon. It wasn’t until later it stopped and it was actually kinda nice. Jeans were still needed and I had my big sweater and a jacket, but it wasn’t cold.

This morning Jesper and I woke up at 4:30am to catch a flight at 7am. The flight was only 2 hours and it was a nice one. I am pretty sure the company’s why. We had ordered a shuttle but it was late and didn’t pick us up until 10:30, and we didn’t arrive at the apartment until almost noon. The company mom works for has vacation apartments spread out over the world and this week she got the one in Paris, she has been here since Friday. It is a great deal, all the apartments are extremely well located and are nice. Last year we stayed in the one in London for a week.

Today we just walked around and looked at stuff. We went to Notre Dame, Saint-Chapelle, the bird market, St Jacques, a cool modern museum and just around that area. I have to admit that I couldn’t really enjoy today since I once again have a UTI. I get them all the time and it really sucks to have it while I am on vacation! I bought some medicine and hope it will work, otherwise I will have to make a makeshift heat-pillow. We had lunch at a small restaurant, the portion size was perfect and I had a pasta dish with a creamy mushroom sauce. It was delicious. For dinner mom, Jesper and I (there is also Helena, but she is allergic so she couldn’t come with us) went to a Creperie and had crepes for dinner. Mom a savory one and Jesper and I each a Nutella crepe. Yummy in my tummy! We discussed what’s on tomorrow’s agenda and now we are all in bed. But as the blog nerd I am, I am probably the only one awake right now.

And then to the big surprise! On Friday morning I got a phone call from Chalmers, it didn’t go through so I just heard the message, and it was a guy asking me if I wanted to take a reserve spot on a master program I had applied for, International Project Management. I was number 22 on the list so I didn’t expect to get in, but I did, and it took a little consultation with mom before I decided that I might as well. Even if I would have loved to go back to California, I have realized that it would be too hard to get Jesper to come as well. And since I don’t have much going on right now I felt like it was the right choice. Then there is the problem that I already missed the first two weeks (but I later that day found out that those two weeks mainly were introduction to the program and Chalmers (for new students) and team building. It is a bit of a problem that I am away this week, but it is project-based classes (no exams), so I should be able to catch up pretty easily. I am really excited about this opportunity and the program seems so interesting. And the coolest part is that I will get a dual degree, one from Chalmers and one from Northumbria University in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in England. The third semester is studied abroad at that university, and it is possible to stay for another semester to do the thesis there. Such a fantastic master program! Like I said, I am really excited for this.

Now I should get to bed, A long day ahead tomorrow again, can’t wait to explore more of Paris with the love of my life!

(The wifi just decided to not work as fast as it did earlier today, so the pictures from today will be posted tomorrow morning instead. Goodnight, readers!)

Churches, the ocean, Hard Rock Cafe

Posted on Monday, 10 August 2015, 23:29 by Alexandra

This post used to contain pictures, but due to new storage limitations from WordPress, I had to fix the problem and decided to create a new blog that works as an archive for all the posts from my travels. This full post can be found here.

This day was very touristy, we started the day bying a ticket for a “hop on, hop off” bus and it was a great thing to do. We could sit outside in the sun, we could get off wherever we wanted and go in it as many times today as we wanted. So first we went to Basilique (I call it basilisque) Notre Dame de la Garde which is the big church on the mountain in the city. We have a great view over it from the apartment we are staying in. It was really cool! And the view over Marseille from up there was amazing. But it is a rather boring city. All the buildings look exactly the same, a beige color and brick roofs. It looks very boring. Our next stop was Cathedrale de la Major. It was a cool church too, but not as cool inside. Before the church we had dinner at a place right under it and it was really good. I had a meat plate with lots of cold cuts. We then walked to the museum at the end of that pier. But it was 8 euro admission fee so we skipped that and walked around Fort Saint Jean. On the way back we walked through the market that had opened up in the Old Port and bought several nice things. Not gonna write what, since people actually read my blog, haha!

We also bought tickets for the Parc National des Calanques tomorrow afternoon. I am so excited for that trip. 29 euros for 3.5h of boat trip to beautiful nature scenery. In the morning I am actually going there as well, but to dive. I am really really excited for that too! And it will be an adventure going there in the morning. I am gonna take the bus and switch bus one time. Haha, wish me luck everyone!

We took the bus home to the apartment, changed into swimwear and walked to the beach close by to go for a swim. It was so nice, 24C/75F. Amazing! But we didn’t stay in the water too long, we were paranoid over the stuff we left on the beach. It was very cloudy today, still very warm (and it would have been unbearable if it was sunny), so we didn’t stay at the beach but walked back home and took showers. There is a shower in the bedroom. And the toilet is in a small and very tiny room, the sink in another one with another shower. French people are weird. They also refuse to speak English and all the text and information around here is in French. It is an adventure.

Anyway, this afternoon I got an offer on an apartment in Kvillebäcken on Hisingen. I got super excited, called mom and asked if she could go to the viewing of it with Jesper on Wednesday when I am on the airplane on my way back. It is a perfect apartment, 57 square meters, 7115 KR/month, balcony, dishwasher, place for a washing machine and it is very close to downtown. I want it!! I told both mom and Jesper to tell the lady that I want it. I really really hope I get it. If I do, then I think my brother will stop hating me for wanting my student apartment back. The move-in date for this one is September 1^st, so very very soon! And I am so very very excited!!

After we were done with showering we went down to Old Port again to have dinner at Hard Rock Café, but first I bought breakfast and lunch for tomorrow, two bagels. I wasn’t very hungry so I had a salad for dinner, but it was really good. Arugula with grilled chicken, orange, dried cranberries, pecans, feta cheese, and a lemon dressing. I also had a pina colada. I love pina coladas!

Then we walked back home and I should probably go to bed now, the bus leaves at 7:24 tomorrow morning. Tomorrow will be so much fun! I hope the sun is out so I will get a little tanner again, I am honestly getting pale…Ponnykarusellen 2.0 On the bus to Notre Dame. Extremly narrow roads to the church. Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde. It was very pretty inside. The harbor. And the tower by the water to the left of the harbor is where we live. Cathedrale de la Major. Not as fancy as Notre Dame. Yes, he has a pigeon on his head. Palais de Pharo. Modern museum. Fort Saint Nicholas and Notre Dame from Fort Saint-Jean. The market. A narrow street with lots of restaurants.Hard Rock Cafe #15.

Marseille day 1

Posted on Sunday, 9 August 2015, 23:38 by Alexandra

Our first day in Marseille is over and we are already tired and exhausted, haha. At 10:20 this morning the plane to Marseille took off. It was not a comfortable flight, but you get what you pay for (RyanAir). I read some, slept some, and it was over very fast. I was in Marseille and in the apartment before Jesper was back home in Gothenburg after going by train from Söderhamn up north. He didn’t think he did too well in the competition, but I am still proud of him. Not everyone can compete in the Swedish high jump championship.

We were adventurous and took the bus to where we are staying. My brother and his friend flew with us but apparently weren’t gonna stay in Marseille at all but going direct to Cannes instead. Axel and I then tried to find the next bus from the train station. It took a while but at 3pm, two hours after landing we were in the amazing apartment. It is really really nice, on the 17^th floor of a skyscraper, we have oceanview and a nice view over half the city and of course the Basilisque Notre Dame de la Garde. It is really amazing!

First we went on a walk along La Corniche which is a nice walk along the coast. It was super windy but warm. Then we walked back and stayed a little at Palais du Pharo and then to Vieux-Port and had dinner there and then walked back to the apartment. The dinner was fail, haha. We wanted to be adventurous and try something French so I took a tapas plate with seafood and Axel the same but with meat instead. I got a bowl of whole sardines, and cold octopus. Not good. Ugh!

Tonight we have planned for the rest of the days. I booked a scuba dive on Tuesday morning, and we tried to book a tour to Avignon tomorrow, but it was declined because it was too late. Too bad. But we have other things we want to do. Like the Notre Dame.

The way-too-full beach right where we live. La Corniche. Yes, small cars can park like this… The tower we live in. Palais du Pharo. Vieux-Port. The harbor. One of the many forts here. I forgot this ones name. Weird statue. Not my favorite dinner ever… Fort st Nicholas.

Volvo Ocean Race in Gothenburg

Posted on Tuesday, 23 June 2015, 1:23 by Alexandra

Before I write about what happened today, on my first real day in Sweden, I will rewrite about my long way back home. I wasn’t aware of anything I wrote last night and I am not sure I want to read it. I was completely out of it and I’m sure it was the worst post I have had so far in this blog. So here goes again.

On Saturday June 20^th I was supposed to wake up at 4am so I would have time to remove the sheets from the bed and soon. But I accidently turned off my alarm and didn’t wake up until 4:30am when my ride texted me that he was outside the house. Shit! I got stressed, and I hate being stressed. But 15 minutes later we were on our way, and there were surprisingly many people on the freeway, not enough to slow us down, but still more than you would think at 5am on a Saturday. We got to the airport at 5:20 am, I thanked Andrew and then hurried in. I was surprised at how many people there were. I stood in line for the kiosks to check in. But once I got there, twenty minutes later, it said I couldn’t do anything so I had to stand in another line. When it was 50 minutes left until my flight left it was finally my turn, so I put my suitcases on the scale, and of course one of them was overweight. I am stressed out of my mind, but right there on the floor, I open up my bags and repack them. I was lucky enough that the security line was short, usually that can take time. I got to the gate with two minutes to spare before boarding, so I bought a little breakfast and then boarded.

The first flight was 4 hours to Chicago. Those flights always seem to be overpacked, so I could check in my carry-on for free all the way to my final destination. Pretty awesome! I got an aisle seat, I was tired, but normally I can’t fall asleep on planes because it is so uncomfortable. I almost manage to fall asleep this time, an 18h long day followed by 4h of sleep makes one tired. But right when I am about to fall asleep, the lady in the middle needs to take her 6-year old daughter to the bathroom. And after that I couldn’t fall asleep again so I read for the rest of the flight.

The second flight was 8.5h long and was all the way to Berlin. Over the Atlantic Ocean, through the night. That is the worst type of flight really. We left Chicago at 3:25pm, flew against time, skipped the night and landed early the next morning. We only got a few dark hours and I couldn’t sleep more than 1.5h, if you can even call that sleep. That flight was actually okay, not as good as the last time I flew over the Atlantic when I had three seats all to myself in the back of the plane, but almost. I got a window seat at row 50 of 50. There were only two seats and the girl next to me was nice, although she took up some of my seat once she fell asleep which was annoying. We got a blanket and a pillow like always on those long flights, but we also got a carebag with socks, earplugs, a blindfold, and a toothbrush and toothpaste. The socks were perfect since I was flying with flipflops. I watched two movies on that flight, first the third Hobbit movie (finally!!) and then American Sniper. Both were really good. Then I tried to sleep some, but was pretty unsuccessful. I “woke” up 1.5h later because a guy on the other side opened up the window and the rising sun blinded me. And that was that sleep… I started watching Jumper, saw about half of it before we landed.

The third flight was from Berlin and only 1h and 20 min. I had a window seat again. I just wanted to be home so I just sat there listening to music the whole time. I got sad to when I realized that that was it. California was behind me and Sweden ahead.

I was excited when we descended and I saw the green forests of the outskirts of Gothenburg. All those trees, and lakes, and red houses with white corners. It was nice to see.

We landed on time, I went to baggage claim, just to wait there for a long while. And one of my three checked bags didn’t even come. I talked to the baggage service lady and she told me it got stuck in San Diego already. It was gonna get flown in that same evening, but too late for driving out. So I got it today instead.

Here is my snapchat story from the trip:

My day yesterday was super weird. I was so tired already from the beginning, but I did my best to stay awake. And I succeeded til 7pm when I just couldn’t keep my eyes open any more. During the day I hugged my cats all the time, I couldn’t keep my hands off them. I have missed them both sooo much. My two fluffy balls!

My mom prepared some Swedish midsummer food and I enjoyed that sooo much in the sun on the balcony. It was perfect. The pickled herring, the fresh potato, the meatballs. Yummy!

Then I tried unpacking but I was just so tired so it took forever and I only did a few things. Mom and I had picked up some of my boxes from the basement. Mostly clothes, can’t really put anything else anywhere. My room is kinda tiny, haha.

We went to the grocery store to try and wake me up at 4. I couldn’t go to bed just yet. There wasn’t really anything I needed, but we bought tea, some fruit and falukorv (a Swedish sausage that I have missed). It didn’t really help and I was still tired back home. I lasted until 7pm when I was about to fall asleep in front of the TV. My mom told me I coulnd’t, so I went to bed, fell asleep right away. I woke up at one point, it was light out and I thought that I had slept happily through the whole night. When I looked at my phone, it was only 10pm, haha! I have missed the light we get in the summer, it is amazing. Then I fell asleep again and woke up at 8:30am. 13h of sleep and I was still tired when I woke up, but I didn’t leave bed for a while, so it was nice. I fell asleep last night with Stuff right next to my face and when I moved around too much Chip took her place. He spent the whole night next to me or on my chest. That cuddly fluffball.

This morning I had breakfast, and unpacked some more. Went much faster today. I was still feeling a bit weird and that will take a few more days I think. As long as I sleep through the whole night I am happy :).

Soon after noon mom came home from work so we could take the public transit (wow, I missed that, haha) down to the harbor to watch the boats in Volvo Ocean Race sail over the finish line after 9 months of racing all around the world. The sun was out and it was amazing. T-shirt was no problem at all! We watched all the boats come in to the harbor. Alvimedica (the American/Turkish boat) won, and the Swedish came in last unfortunately. We stayed the whole time, even through the rain, which was cold… Ugh, I do not like rain! But it was a fun event to attend.

#1 #2 #3 Dongfeng. This boat had a Swede onboard. The big ship Götheborg! I don’t think I have ever seen it actually. It was a grand ship. #4 Abu Dhabi. It turned very quickly from sun to this… #6 Vestas. #7, the Swedish boat Team SCA, an all girls boat.All the ships being welcomed in the harbor.

On our way back home we stopped downtown where I could by more nosespray since my nose is very congested. All the rain here makes everything super green (which I live, and isn’t even comparable to California), but that also means a ton of pollen, and even if I am not allergic I definitely feel it. Maybe I am allergic now? I am gonna contact the health center tomorrow and ask for an appointment to take the tests and also find out my mysterious allergy. I have a lot of stuff I need to take care of, but I look forward to it.

Now I really have to go to bed. I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow. I will try to head to Liseberg to sign my contract for the summer, I am meeting up with my cousin Malin, hanging out for a bit maybe, will try to get some stuff before then, unpacking. And in the evening I will go to the One Direction concert here in town in the evening! Malin asked me yesterday if I wanted to come because one of her friends couldn’t go. Very unexpected, but I am actually excited. Not everyone can say that they have seen 1D live ;). And they do have a few good songs.

Goodnight!

This is a peacock that kept me company at the pool on Friday. Beautiful birds!

Back home in Sweden

Posted on Sunday, 21 June 2015, 18:17 by Alexandra

This weekend has been so long and really hard. I have stayed awake for a very long time and the only thing I can think about is going to sleep. But I have told myself that I can’t go to bed before 9pm because that will mess me up. I have been awake for 29 hours (6pm Swedish time) now, with only 90 minutes of half-sleep on the plane. And before that I only slept for 4 hours and the day before, Friday, was a very active day with scuba diving, and I was up for 18 hours. So far it’s been 47 hours with 5 hours of rest. Ugh. Not my favorite way to spend a weekend.

The flights went okay, On the second one, the long one from Chicago to Berlin, I got a window seat at the very back of the plane which was the best. I tried to sleep but couldn’t. So I tried and succeeded after watching two movies; The Hobbit 3 and American Sniper. Both really good. That flight was amazing in another way too. They gave each and every one of us a goodie bag with socks in I, a brush, toothbrush, earplugs, blindfold. Everything to make the trip better. Since I was traveling with flip flops the socks were especially welcome.

The food wasn’t good and I’ve felt it in my stomach all day, nauseous, ugh!

After the 18 hours I finally landed in Gothenburg. Lots of mixed feelings. When I get there I realize my third bag is nog here. So I went to the baggage lady and she helped me locate it. Apparently it got stuck in San Diego which is rather strange. But she said it would land in Gothenburg late tonight and they would taxi it out to me tomorrow sometime. Can’t wait for that bag, I have so many things in there.

I hugged my mom and we went home. It felt so weird to be back in Sweden. It kinda already feels like it was a dream again. I have tried to unpack, but with this sleep-depriveness it’s been really hard. I just managed to finish unpacking my one suitcase and carry-on. The boxes will have to wait until another day when I feel ready for it.

I apologize for the probably not very well-written post today. I am literally sitting here by my desk and can’t keep my eyes open and nod every now and then. I don’t think I have ever been this tired before. It has probably affected my speech today, I have mixed Swedish and English words everywhere and mom has laughed at me.

I feel like a zombie right now, so I think I will actually go to bed now, I can’t do this anymore. 29 hours of no real sleep is not very fun!

Home sweet home

Posted on Tuesday, 6 January 2015, 2:00 by Alexandra

I am finally home in SLO, exhausted like I don’t know. I had to spend 6 hours at Phoenix airport today because there was no chance of me getting on the standby flight at 11am (the aircraft was changed to a smaller one so 20 people were without seat, and ahead of me on the waitlist). I was at the airport at 9 am, and left at 3pm. Long day.

But it started pretty good. I had difficulty falling asleep last night, but when I did, I slept like a rock. The bed was so soft and awesome. I got up at 7am, took a hot shower, put on the hotel complimentary body lotion and felt awesome (the dryness was back when I was at the airport three hours later, it was nice as long as it lasted). I got free breakfast buffet. It was definitely an okay breakfast and I had a lot because I knew it was gonna be a long day either if I got the earlier flight or no.

For lunch I had Starbucks, I helped my dad get Snapchat, texted with Matt and my mom and just tried to keep myself busy the whole day. I was bored, but 6 hours was actually over pretty fast.

This flight was also delayed. The crew was not there on time. I couldn’t believe it! Once they arrived everything went smoothly and we took off ten minutes later than planned. The flight was a very comfortable one. You couldn’t even tell you were on an airplane, it was so smooth. I read two chapters, listened to a few songs, and then it was time to land. It was only 1.5 hours.

I landed and my baggage didn’t come to baggage claim. Great! It took almost 30 minutes for the security guard to tell us that our bags had arrived with the early flight (even if the lady at the gate told me she rerouted it to my later flight). I was relieved. This horrible trip was over!

Matt picked me up and drove me home. I was tired, but started unpacking and talked to my neighbors. At 7pm Måns from Sweden told me he was at Slodoco, so I managed to get a ride there and we went back to my place. Stayed for a few minutes and then headed to Firestone with Lauren, Rachel, Toby, and Pelle. It was a great way to end a long day.

Back home and I did laundry and finished unpacking. I looked at my schedule and made one for my door. I have a pretty great schedule this quarter too. Not as nice, but it is still okay.

Oh, how could I forget? We didn’t get a new roommate! So it is just gonna be the three of us this quarter. Kinda boring actually, the closed door ruins our corridor. But now we are all over 21 so we can have alcohol in our room, yay.

I have to go to bed now, my first day of class is tomorrow!

January 4: Stuck in Phoenix

Posted on Monday, 5 January 2015, 18:19 by Alexandra

This day has been the worst. I was so looking forward to come home, but instead I am stuck at Doubletree Hilton hotel in Phoenix for the night. It is kinda comical how much bad luck I’ve had today. Never before has this happened that I missed a connecting flight. But I guess there’s a first for everything.

This morning I was in a good mood, I was ready to go home, I was ready to start school tomorrow. But US Airways had other things in mind for me today. My first flight from Montego Bay to Charlotte, NC went as it should. I was nervous about missing that connecting flight since I had to go through customs and recheck my bag, but it went smoothly and I reached the gate 20 minutes before boarding. But then the flight got delayed again and again and again. When I got to the gate and asked for my boarding pass from Phoenix to SLO I understood that something was wrong. The guys back there were on their walkie talkies all the time and something was clearly wrong. We then found out that they had some serious maintenance problems and we had to change plane. So we all ran to gate D7 (we were at B something). Boarding was supposed to happen within 20 minutes. They said. That would have made the plane takeoff an hour later than originally planned. BUT, then there were problems with this one too. First the people on it had to get off, which took a long time, then the crew had to get on and get ready and our boarding was said to happen at 5:30pm (originally the flight would have taken off at 4:15pm). Still all good, I had two hours in Phoenix. I wasn’t too worried. BUT, then we found out that there was a flat tire and it had to be changed. It took an hour apparently. Okay, I was most probably screwed, I started to realize that the possibility of me spending a night at a hotel in Phoenix was getting bigger by the minute, since the flight from Phoenix to SLO was the last for the night. But they still gave us hope and told us we could board any minute, as soon as the doors opened. BUT they didn’t. It thought it was an international thing. So first we had to wait for a British plane coming in and dropping off the passengers, then the doors could open. I don’t know exactly what it was, but it had something to do with an international flight. This took forever and three hours after original take off time we finally boarded. BUT, it took us an hour more to actually take off. First there was some trouble with baggage not reaching the plane. Nice that they wait, but seriously, WTF?! And then we stood probably 20 minutes on the runway.

We finally took off and the flight wasn’t too bad. Okay, it was pretty bad. The guy next to me smelled real bad, I was tired, upset, sad, angry. Everything at once. I hardly slept and felt awful when we finally arrived after 4.5h flight.

As soon as I landed I started up my phone and I had three voicemails. From US Airways telling me my flight to SLO had been delayed due to previous delays. Could the world really be this nice and try to make up for the stress I went through in Charlotte? NOPE. They said in the first one that it was delayed until 10:43pm (which was five minutes after we landed). I ran as fast as I could to the closest US Airways person with hopes on getting home tonight anyway. BUT no. Apparently it took off at 9:50pm. Which my second voicemail said. STUPID F-ING US AIRWAYS to give false hope like that. I got frustrated and upset again. WHY ARE THEY SO MEAN?? I am already a whole day delayed, I will miss my first day of class.

I went nicely to customer service. I was booked for the 2:50pm flight tomorrow, but when I got there apparently it wasn’t so anymore. It took forever to get me on that flight again. The bad thing about that flight is that it is not the earliest flight, because that is full booked. I am on standby for that one at 11am though and I am crossing my fingers like a crazy person and hope that I will get a spot. How much bad luck can one person have in 24 hours?! If I get on that one I will have time, not much but still a little bit, and will make it to my classes that starts tomorrow at 2pm. I really hope I will get on the flight at 11. I don’t think I deserve more bad luck. And I don’t wanna spend another day at the airport. I’ve kinda gotten tired of it after this trip. 9 flights in four weeks. And in the past 8 days I’ve stayed in 5 different hotel rooms. I am sick and tired of this now. I want my own bed…

I will go to bed now and hope for everything in the world that tomorrow will be a better day!

2015-01-05, 01:12

It was a very nice room and the best bed I have slept in in a very long time. Even better than my own bed!A cookie at check-in made me feel a little bit better.

Hello Jamaica

Posted on Saturday, 27 December 2014, 23:25 by Alexandra

I have arrived in Jamaica, been here for about 6 hours and so much have already happened. First I had to spend 6 hours going here, up to Orlando, FL and then back down again. Very unnecessary, but that’s what happened. The immigration at the airport took forever and then I tried to find a cab. While I was looking for a guy I saw someone with a paper and my name on it. Weird, I didn’t order a driver from the airport. But he had all my flight information and the place where I was staying so I tagged along. Just ten minutes later (after realizing that they drive on the left side here!) I was at the hotel. It is a beautiful place up on the hillside. Our room has an amazing view over the ocean and the sunset. The pool is very cute, and the room… yes, it is very very nice!

I was greeted by Michael when I got here, and straight when I had my things in the room we went to dinner at Margaritaville which was right next to the hotel. We watched the sunset from the upperfloor patio. It was a beautiful sunset. Right below, out in the water there are a lot of big floatie things you can play on, like a big trampoline. There are also free flyboarding over there. Where you stand on something and water spurts out at the bottom and you fly. We will probably try that tomorrow, as well as check out the Doc Cave’s beach right here.

Then back to the room and then out to hit a bar. On our way we ran into a guy, he seemed a little sketchy but at first turned out to be okay. That changed later during the evening though. We sat at a bar close by for like an hour, I had a cubalibre and the guys a couple of beer each. The beers Elvis drank we bought for him. Then on our way back he took us through a dark park (where there were a lot of people) and then he asked us for tips for his kids. We just bought him beer!? But we didn’t wanna do anything stupid so we gave him 1000 Jamaican Dollars (I exchanged 300 USD and got 28,000 Jamaican dollars, the bunt of money is huuge!). Damn hustler.

Everywhere we walked today we smelled weed. We saw people right in the middle of the street smoking. A guy asked us straight up if we wanted some hash too. It is definitely different here than any other place I have ever been. But so far I like it. It was around 84F when I got here, during the night it was really nice and warm, nothing else needed than shorts and a tank top (the jeans I packed where kinda unnecessary).

I look forward to our first day tomorrow when we will hang out at the beach, maybe do some souvenir shopping (there are a ton of shops on the “hip strip” right below us. Then we are renting a car in the evening so we can drive east of here the day after tomorrow.

An eventful short day and after today I realized that I will only stay at the “safe” beach of Doc’s Cave. Unless Michael decides to stay more than four days. I don’t really feel safe here if I were to be alone. But the Doc Beach is a safe beach where security guards are, and it is close, so I can go there.

I am excited to start this third and last adventure tomorrow!

View from our hotel room.