Like father, like son I guess. I arrived at about 1:30pm today, and not 6 hours later we find the intrepid traveller sitting in an Internet Cafe. But it wasn't my idea. Tray, the other OAS/STEP/Net Corps participant who is working in the Bahamas, saw that there was an Internet Cafe literally in the lobby of his hotel, and he had to check his email before we went to dinner. Personally, I just want to eat!

More background: This is the 5th "deployment" for this program, and there are a total of 8 people participating. Seven of us were able to spend last week in DC for an orientation session. That's where I met Tray. I knew his flight was arriving an hour after mine, and when my flight was late, I suggested to the coordinator that met me at the airport that we wait for Tray instead of letting him languish at the airport while she drives me to my hotel.

I will be spending a week at the hotel that I'm staying at, and Tray is just staying one night at another hotel. He's taking a 6:30am flight to Andros Island. I'm spending 3 weeks on New Providence (most people think that the whole island is called Nassau, but it's actually just the main town) then flying to Andros.

Not much else to say, but there's a half-hour minimum for Internet usage. For those who have nothing better to do, I guess I can go into more detail. You've been warning that this is some pretty dry stuff.

The DC orientation did a good job of preparing us for living in a very different culture. I think I've got the easiest assignment. From what I've heard, the largest settlement on Andros island has few than 1000 people. Tray is spending 6 weeks all over the island, and most of the hotels are probably the only thing around. There are four participants each going to different areas of Jamaica (Kingston, Montego Bay, ?, and ?), one going to Belize, and one going to Trinidad and Tobago (2 islands united as a single country).

After I arrived, got my baggage, and got Tray, we went to my hotel. I'm maybe a quarter of a mile from a row of super-hotels on Cable Beach, Nassau. Nice! The beach is right behind my hotel, and I plan to do a lot of snorkling--hopefully I can fit in some diving. I'm jealous of Tray's new Canon digital still camera and underwater housing. I decided that I couldn't take my video camera and underwater housing, and it was the right decision. My suitcase weighed in at 57 pounds, and I doubt many of the hotels I'm staying at have elevators.

I dropped my stuff in my room, and then we ran errands. Clarisse, the local coordinator is a very nice lady. We stopped by her house, met her two sons, dropped one off for a haircut, went to the mall, then went to the local supermarket. It was called Solomon's, but I'm convinced it's owned by WalMart as all the signs had the same coloring and style. The employees all wore blue shorts with big "I CAN HELP, ASK ME" or something written on the back. After Clarisse did her grocery shopping, we picked up her son from the barber shop, and then went to Tray's hotel. And that brings us back to me sitting in an Internet Cafe, listening to TLC's "Scrubs" over the sound of my stomach growling. And yes, my back is to the setting sun.

Tray just said that he's got 5 minutes left on his half-hour, and I can't wait to get out of here.

I should also mention that while I'm in the Bahamas, I don't expect to have enough online time to read (much less respond) to any email sent to me. That's why I've got Victor doing the email-to-Web thing, because I can hop online, shoot off an email, and then disconnect before incurring huge charges.

If you send me any email, it will be saved and eventually read when I return. I can't promise a reply. I will also not be able to return any messages left on my cell phone as they will probably be deleted way before I get a chance to check them. Sorry!

I guess I should also explain that most (if not all) of the following posts to the Weblog will be posted by my good friend Victor Vergara, who has graciously agreed to be my human email-to-Web gateway. Rest asured, the insanity will be my own.

My itinerary:

Saturday, June 1 - Fly to Nassau and transfer to Casuarinas of Cable Beach (on the island of New Providence; the same island the city of Nassau is in).
Saturday, June 8 - Transfer to Sun Fun Resort (also on Cable Beach, New Providence).
Saturday, June 15 - Transfer to Park Manor Guest House
Saturday, June 22 - Fly from Nassau to Andros Town, on the island of Andros. Transfer to Conch Sound Resort.
Friday, June 28 - Transfer to Green Windows Inn in Nicholl's Town.
Saturday, July 6 - Fly from San Andros to Mangrove Cay (pronouced 'key') on the island of Andros. Transfer to Moxey's Guest House
Friday July 12 - Fly from Mangrove Cay to Nassau International Airport. Transfer to West Bay Hotel.
Saturday, uly 13 - Transfer to Paradise Island Airport. Fly on Chalk's Ocean Airways flight 522 to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.