Honeymoon

I've been itching to journal the best/worst week of our lives: the honeymoon. Don't get me wrong, it was the most amazing week visiting new places and embracing my new life, but it had a more long lasting effect than I would've imagined.

Ryan and I ventured on a 7 day cruise to the Caribbean Islands visiting Haiti, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Mexico. I've never been on a cruise before so the 'moving hotel' was incredible. It housed about 4,000 people, included a strip mall, ice skating rink, a theater (the kind with a stage and balcony), a casino, a putt-putt golf course, a rock climbing wall, a gym that over looked the ocean unless we were docked, and soooo much more. It was a bit overwhelming at first, but I warmed up to the fancy-style living pretty darn easy. Go figure.

The first day, we were at sea so all of the amenities were open on the ship and we took full advantage. On the second day, we arrived in Labadee, Haiti, which is pretty much the cruise's own island on one side and a local village on the other. We kayaked on beautiful clear waters and then stopped at the village to buy some handmade items. Now that is what I'm talking about. All in all, it was a good day, and we soaked up as much of the culture as we could.

The next day, we docked in Falmouth, Jamaica. Ryan and I really wanted to get to the heart of the Reggae masters, so we got a personal local taxi man, Xavier, to take us to all of the right places. We drove to Montego Bay, saw the most beautiful view of the entire city, stopped at a few historical cites, and ate the BEST jerk chicken I've ever had, of course. The people are so relaxed and kind. It warms my heart to see how loving they are to people they don't even know. I learned a few words: wa gwaan or how are you/how's the good life? If they want to answer yes, they usually say ya maan which actually just means yes, not 'yeah man.' My favorite place by far and I've fallen in love with sugar cane Mark my words, I will be back. 

The Grand Cayman Islands were definitely second on my list and the most "adventurous." We met with some locals for the best deals and booked the day to swim and feed stingrays and snorkel. We went to a sand bar, which if you aren't familiar, is a small piece of land that is covered in sand and only about 4-5 feet deep...in the middle of the ocean might I add. So there we are just standing in the middle of the ocean waiting for the stingrays to come and see us. Let me tell you, these are some amazing creatures. History fact: about 100 years ago, fisherman used to dump their trash at these sand bar locations and stingrays would come and eat the leftover scraps. At first the stingrays would only go there to eat and then leave but after years would pass, the fisherman would stay and bring squid and other goodies to feed the rays personally. Talk about some crazy fish catching men. After a while the stingrays would gradually just stay at the sand bars waiting for their handouts, and now they don't leave the area and have made it their homes. We swam with them, fed them squid, and even got stingray massages. It was a day I will never forget.

 

The next day, we arrived in Cozumel, Mexico. You are going to go crazy when you hear this. So as we are trying to plan out our day, we decided against swimming with the dolphins and instead rented a Mexican scooter to drive through the town. At first, we thought the scooter was a great idea, it was cheap, and we had the free range to make it a personal day, instead of tag along with a big group. When we were driving (on one scooter) we wobbled and trucked our way slowly but surely to the beach. By then, I was extremely skeptical of the automobile because it was near impossible to drive and not of those in the U.S. However, we managed to somewhat get the handle of it and made it safely to the beach. We relaxed all day, got couple's massages, and rented some jet skis for a while. After a great day, we wanted to head downtown to get some souvenirs and eat some authentic Mexican food. As we were driving to our destination, we lost control of the scooter, hit a boulder about 2 feet wide, knocked down the street sign, and tumbled our way into the gravel and bushes alongside the road. Thankfully, we are O.K. with no broken bones: just a few sprains and some cuts and bruises. I can tell you that, that was the scariest day of my life, but I pray every night about how thankful I am that God saved us both.

The rest of the cruise is a blur. I crutched around the ship on our last adventures and really just remember the feeling of wanting to be home and as far away from scooters as I could be. But before we headed home, we had a day in Florida to spend, so we made the best of it and visited Sea World. I am so blessed to have an amazing husband now. He even pushed me around in a wheelchair with his bad back and hurt leg. He's an angel.