We walked out of the hotel to where all the taxis were and of course had to wait for a long time. Everyone else was trying to get to the same place we were, and everyone else also had 2 giant suitcases and 1-2 carry-ons. Since most of the taxis are big taxi-vans, we found a group of 7 and attempted to all fit in. I’m not sure if we ended up fitting all 7 of us into that one taxi, but it was an adventure trying. The taxi driver was loading all of our luggage, and ran out of room after about the third person’s bags. It was ridiculously hot and he was sweating like crazy, but the people who work in the Bahamas are so hospitable to the tourists. They know it’s their job and they really do put 100% into it. It’s so different than America!
The driver packed as many bags as he could into the back of the taxi-van, then started trying to fit some in the front seat. He pushed my bag in and knocked his rear view mirror right off! He just laughed and shrugged his shoulders, and said it’s better than breaking his window like he did the day before. It was quite the ordeal trying to fit all the bags along with all the people. We all felt so bad standing and watching, but he knew what he was doing and didn’t want help. Once we all crammed in, we had to get to the port. Well, since half the tourists on the island were trying to get to the port too, it took quite awhile. Everyone else was on some kind of edge of the taxi or had a source of airflow (hot, though) at them. I, however, was the only person stuck right in the middle with absolutely no window crack to stick my fingers out of or put my face up to. After about 25 minutes of sitting in traffic, my body started getting panicky. I couldn’t move my legs because they were pinned under all the luggage. The luggage was starting to push on and rub my bug bites, majorly irritating them. On that note, my bug bites had gotten even worse. When I woke up in the morning, they had developed clusters of blistery fluid-filled bubbles at the center of each one. Some of the huge red swollen circles were starting to deform and develop tails pointing upwards. Even the ones on my arms and shoulders were growing tails and spreading. Okay, back to the taxi. So along with the current claustrophobia I was experiencing and the misery of my bug bites, it was SO stuffy and hot. I got to the point where I felt like I couldn’t breathe. It was at that panicky point where I was on the verge of literally getting out of the car because I was so desperate- I couldn’t move, I was in so much pain, and I couldn’t breathe because it was so hot. The taxi driver heard me ask if anyone had a paper of some sort to fan myself with, and handed me a booklet. It was actually a BahamaHost Lesson 2 booklet- how to be a good host to tourists! It was funny that he gave that to me- he was currently putting it into practice! I somehow made it to the port, and we got our bags and tipped him extra- he was definitely the best taxi driver we’d had. He let us ask him questions along the way, too, and answered everything we wanted to know!
We got to the ship and prepared to get in line. Only thing was…..we had to walk for about ten minutes to GET to the back of the line. In the sun. :( I’m talking, walking for ten minutes, THEN came the line we had to wait in. Well, at that point I wasn’t worried about getting to the ship before my 11:00 check-in time. There was no way I’d get there before then! Luckily, we moved up enough in the line so that we were waiting in the shade after awhile. We waited for about 2 and half hours in the brutal, humid heat and finally got to the front. I found out my room number and proceeded to the security line. I had to take out all of my paperwork, including proof that my hair straightener and curling iron were auto shut off. I got through! Just before getting onto the ship, I had to turn in the immigration form I got at the airport. Luckily it was still in my backpack…nobody told us we’d have to present it again after the airport. I had to search for awhile, but found it thankfully. I turned in my passport as I got onto the ship-- I was on my new home!! We were directed first up to the Union to go through all of the registration steps- it was a room full of tables we had to circle around. Yes, I signed up for classes, yes I took my alcohol awareness test, yes I took my moral code (in the airport, right before leaving!), yes I signed up for trips, and I got my medical insurance card. When I was at the medical table, I took the opportunity to show them my lovely bites- that now resembled giant welts. I showed the Physician’s Assistant and Doctor and they were slightly shocked. They took me right down to the Walden Clinic on the second deck, and got me in a room to see me. The Doctor had to go back up to the registration table, but the P.A. stayed to check out my bites.
She didn’t have to look at them for very long before telling me that she was really worried about them. Yes, I was too! She said the most worrisome part was that each bite was swollen to an abnormally large size and had developed a tail. All of the tails, regardless of whether they were on my legs, arms, or shoulders, pointed toward my heart. She described to me that when something poisonous was trying to attack your body, it got into your blood stream and made its way to your heart. And that’s why all the tails were doing that. Then she told me she thinks it’s developing into staph, and that we wanted to stop it early when we could so it wouldn’t get too serious. She immediately put me on antibiotics and steroids (lots of them), and warned me that I would probably have the appetite of two men for the next couple days. She then sent me off to lunch after telling me not to touch or scratch or pop the blisters, in order to prevent spreading. I got to lunch, found some of my hotel roomies, and proceeded to eat three platefuls of pasta. She really wasn’t joking when she said I would get a huge appetite. After lunch, I went to my room and met my roomie! I unpacked a little bit, and then heard a knock. The P.A. was at the door and had calamine lotion for me!!!!!! That has seriously been one of the highlights of my trip. Is that sad? I guess it just goes to show how miserable I was! I immediately covered myself in the calamine lotion and was now everything but presentable to the rest of the world. Great first impression on my roommate, huh? First, walking in with diseased-looking skin, then being covered in calamine lotion. She was super nice regardless and we chit-chatted as I unpacked some more. It was finally time for the muster drill. Well, I had to put my clothes on and get up the station. Once the calamine lotion was dry, I put leggings over them to keep it on. I wore sweats over the leggings because we were required to wear long pants for the muster drill, and put on a long sleeved shirt and close-toed shoes. Keep in mind that I was still in around 100 degree weather….
Luckily I got to blend in with everyone else in my pants, so nobody had to question why I was dressed so warmly. The muster drill alarm sounded and the Captain spoke, so Lauren (my roommate) put on our life jackets and made our way up. I brought my little camera and documented some of it. :) We had to stand for awhile until everyone was accounted for, and only one person was missing. When that person showed up, we were dismissed and the Captain said we had done one of the best muster drills he’s ever had. Apparently he never says that!
After the muster drill was embarkation. We all went up to the top deck and waved goodbye to Nassau as we pulled out of port and started on our way. There was a group of parents we could see who were waving back at us! THEN, it was really hot. The rest of the ship had taken off their pants and long sleeves and were back in shorts and tank tops. Not me. Nope! I was still in my 2 layers of pants and 2 layers of tops. I wasn’t about to be making more first impressions with my bites and bright pink calamine lotioned skin…I thought it would be better if people just thought I was crazy for wearing long sleeves. Needless to say, though, I was sweating like a pig! Once we were on our way to Spain, we went to dinner and ate again. I met some more people, then went out on the deck to play catch phrase with them as the sun set. At night, we had our first snip-it of orientation. We had a welcoming lecture to attend. I don’t really remember the details of it- probably just a condensed version of all the info we got at all-day orientation the following day. After orientation, I showered and got ready for bed. It was time to sleep in my new bed for the next 2 months! The gentle rocking of the ship rocked me to sleep and I was out like a baby in no time.
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