This past week with flew by, but I can remember every second of it. Let's start at the beginning.

Sarah Donna Rachel ME
Emily

Thursday (March 3rd) I woke up, ate breakfast, and tried my best to remain calm as I prepared for Sarah's arrival. I wasn't feeling well the days before but by Thursday I either was too excited to notice or maybe I was all better. That morning I did homework for my SCUBA class at 1:00. Thursday's are just the lecture part of the class so it only lasts an hour. When class got out I walked to the airport. Normally it's a 40 minute walk but I got there in 30. She was supposed to land at at 3:00 but I wanted to get there as early as I could just to make sure I was there when she arrived so she didn't have to find me. I had to go to the bathroom and wipe the seat off my because I didn't want to gross Sarah out when I hugged her. I only had to wait about 20 minutes for her to land. I was so happy. We got a ride home from my friend Rachel where we immediately changed and when to Brewer's. The weather wasn't the best. This is probably why no one came with us. We didn't get in, just talked and waded in the water. It was kind of cold to be honest. From there we went to the dock to watch the sunset, but there was none that night due to the clouds. That was kind of a bummer. That night we wanted to go out, but none of the people in the group felt like it so we stayed in, ate dinner at the cafeteria, and watched Friends.

At mountain top

On Magens

Friday morning we went back to the beach, but this time we snorkeled so Sarah could see the turtles. The water was cold again, but the weather was much better! We got to see a turtle so it was a success. We had planned on hiking to the rock immediately after, but ended up riding with Rachel to this place called Mountain Top that has incredible views. This was great because it allowed Sarah to get a small tour of the island. We shopped at Mountain Top for a while and then headed down to Magens Bay.  I hadn't been to Magens yet so this was a first for me as well. It was beautiful. Luckily there weren't any cruise ships in on Friday so the beach was pretty empty. There were some clouds in the sky but for the most part it remained pretty sunny. I think we still managed to get burned a little even though we made sure to put on sunscreen. I loved Magens Bay. It seemed untouched to me. The beach had a lot of sand and there were picnic tables and shade where the sand ended. It was huge too. I really loved how quiet everything was. There wasn't a busy city, loud music, cars driving by, or anything that could take your mind away from the beach. There was just birds chirping and gentle waves lapping against the shore. It was incredibly peaceful. From there we went back to the school, got cleaned up, ate some dinner, and headed out again with Rachel and a few others to Señor Frogs in Redhook. It was a great time and Sarah got to meet a few of my friends down here. We didn't stay out long. We had to get back at a reasonable time because we had to wake up early.

Sunrise form Redhook

Inside Ivan's

Beach in front of Ivan's

Foxy's at night

Friday at 5:30 a.m. we were up and packing our bags for Jost Van Dyke. Our ferry left at 8:00, but they way things are here you need to plan extra time because something is probably going to go wrong. Luckily for us we made it there with plenty of time, which was good because if we missed it the next one wasn't leaving until 4:30. The ferry only had about 30 people on it, and Sarah and I sat on the top. It would have been about a 30 minute trip if we went there directly, but we island hopped to it took about an hour and a half. Jost Van Dyke is in the British Virgin Islands so we had to have a passport to get through customs and immigrations, which we did in Tortola because the one on Jost didn't open till 9:30. The tickets to go to Jost are pretty expensive so it's pointless to do a day trip. To make it worth our while, Sarah and I got a "cabin" at Ivans Stress Free Bar and Campground where we spent the night. The cabin was pretty basic, kinda sketchy, and about 4 feet wider than the width of the bed, but it was only one night so it worked. At 9:30 in the morning when we first got to Ivan's (and even thoughout the entire weekend) not many people were there, not even the people who were supposed to have our room ready. We ended up leaving our stuff in the bar and hanging out on the beach for 3 hours until it was ready. We packed a food bag, so for lunch we ate sandwiches inside the bar. The bar is not really what you would think about as being a bar. It was super quiet and open to the outdoors on three sides. I heard during New Years that it's the place to be, but as we were eating lunch in there we were the only ones besides the bartender who was siting down on the computer. After lunch we walked down the beach to Soggy Dollar, another very famous bar that created the drink called the Painkiller, so of course we had to order that. We continued walking and checking out the other places down the beach, and then strolled back and basically hung out and watched the sunset. Being college kids we were accustomed to eating dinner much later than normal, and since we were both tired of the food that we brought we decided eat at the bar. However, it was closed, so we walked down the beach to the other places and they were closed as well. There aren't any restaurants on the Jost, only the bars served food and they all happened to have shut their grill off by now, except or the this place called Foxy's. Being our only option, we bit the bullet and paid for the taxi and the pricy menu items because we had no other choice. I'm so glad we did. Of the entire week, I think this was my favorite night. Foxy's is what you imagine a beach bar would be like. It had local beach music, lots of old white people dancing really badly, great food, and t-shirts and memorabilia hanging up on the ceiling. It was great. The atmosphere is something I don't know how to describe that you'll have to experience for yourself. For instance, I was grumpy, hungry, and upset with how no one near us was serving dinner and bummed with how much it would cost me to eat out here, but ended up having the best night of my entire trips so far. The place was incredible.

Sarah walking to Soggy
Dollar for breakfast

Pic of the tire swing from
the roof of Ivan's

Our cabin

Sunday morning we woke up, and agin being tired of the food we brought, waked down the beach in search of breakfast (because again the cook at Ivan's hadn't come in yet). This time we were in luck and ate surprisingly well at Soggy Dollar. Sunday was more of the same. Ivan had a tire swing on the beach which occupied a lot of our time. Around 3 we got taxi to Foxys (which is right beside where the ferry leaves) and hung out again till 5:30 when the boat came. Foxy's was a lot different in the day than it was the night before. Different vibes, but they were still good. We even met THE Foxy. He's an old local dude who sits and plays guitar. He's famous in the islands down here. On the spot be sang a song to Sarah. That's something not a lot of people can say. The 5:30 ferry got us back in time to catch the last safari to campus, but since it was past 7:00 when we got there dinner was no longer being served. We ended up getting Dominoes Pizza and watching Friends that night.

Monday and Tuesday all of our plans were canceled due to the rain. Monday was supposed to be a day trip to Water Island where they have free equipment and a free movie at night. Tuesday was supposed to be a hike to the rock and a half day trip to Coki beach. Instead, it rained all day and we stayed in a watch (I kid you not) 4 movies Monday and two more Tuesday. Tuesday night it cleared up Sarah and I went out to eat. It happened to be exactly 11th months since we started dating, and since we weren't going to be together for our year anniversary, this date would have to do. After dinner we got to go out with a bunch of my friends down here. That was fun and I was happy Sarah got to meet all of the friends I've made.

Cinnamon Bay

Sarah and I on Cinnamon Bay

On Wednesday we went to St. John to Cinnamon Bay. Cinnamon Bay was nothing like what Sarah and I were expecting. The water was actually rough, there was very little sand between the waves and the tree line, and the beach of packed. We found a place to put our towel and ended up just napping, hanging out, and walking the beach. The area behind the beach was a campground and it looked awesome. I would love to come back one day with a bunch of people and spend a few nights camping just 100 feet away from the ocean. That's on my bucket list. Around 2:00 we got a taxi back to Cruz Bay where the ferries dock, and walked around that area for the rest of our day. We got some lunch and rested a while in The Quiet Mon Bar and Pub. Sarah wanted to shop so we ducked in and out of several stores. Our final stop was Joe's Rum Shack where we both got drinks that we loved. We got on the ferry and made it back to Redhook in time to catch the last safari back to campus. Again we missed dinner so we had another Dominoes/Friends date that night.

Thursday after breakfast Sarah packed her bags and I went to the library to print off her boarding pass. We had several hours to kill before she had to be at the airport so we went into town to shop. I didn't shop but she definitely did. She ended up not getting anything. I was proud of her. We ate lunch out, got a safari back to campus, grabbed the bags and headed to the airport. I tried to go past customs and immigrations with her but they airport lady was mean and kicked me out. Our goodbye was abrupt but that's probably good because I like to avoid sad situations.

This week made me forget the two months I spent without her. It was a tease, but and now I have another date to look forward to. I had a blast despite half of our activities getting canceled. My only regret is that I didn't take enough pictures.