Day 1 - Jamaica August 4, 2005

Ya Mon, No Problem
5:00 AM - Arrived at Lambert International in St. Louis
We were so excited to leave, I could barely sleep the night before and was exhausted at the airport.
11:00 AM - Arrive in Montego Bay, Jamaica
3:00 PM - Arrived at Breezes Runaway Bay Resort
We'd completed what may have been the longest bus ride I've ever been on (keep in mind...in high school marching band, we drove to Florida from Iowa - 24 hour trip). We were starving, hot, and ready to hit the beach. All we wanted was to change into our swimsuits, get some sort of food, any food, and relax. I appreciated that we saw some of the actual country, poverty and all. Some resort trips like to sugar coat this aspect for the tourist...any unpleasantness is swept under the rug. I think that's sad, and doesn't really give the true flavor of that countries people.
3:30 PM - Hit the food and the beach
L (my traveling companion and roommate) were excited to be there and hit the buffet right before it closed. I could have eaten anything at that point. So we'd fed ourselves, and were ready for the beach. We got there...and couldn't relax. We're both so used to being run ragged in the STL that we couldn't stop thinking, couldn't just sit. We were also a little uncomfortable with the copious amounts of alcohol EVERYWHERE. The people in Jamaica do not want to take no for an answer. We began what would be a 4-day binge of pina coladas with no alcohol. We drank those things like they had crack cocaine in them.
4:00 PM - We hit the wall and started planning activities...not ready to relax
We started looking around and saw the water sports area. We asked if we could go out in a Hobie Cat and they said they were closed. Apparently because we were so beautiful, he agreed to take us out anyway (it also turns out that he was the manager and had the ability to work after hours). It was pretty quiet on the beach and he took us out really far. The possibility of being sold into prostitution did cross our minds as we lost sight of the shoreline from the tiny vessel. We made it back safely and ready for the next activity!
6:00 PM - Got ready for dinner
We decided to eat at Martino's, the schnazzy fancy-pants restaurant in the resort. Dinner was excellent...antipasto with the best blue cheese EVER, tenderloin, etc.
8:30 PM - Circus Show
We were all dressed up with nowhere to go, so we went to see the circus show, which consisted of trapeze acts, juggling, knife juggling, and contortionists. It was amazing, and it was pretty funny when we realized we'd talked to those same guys earlier in the day about taking a circus class with them.
10:30 PM - I'm super lame...I went to bed...long day....zzzzz