Life of a different kind

How do I begin? This island is alive. You can feel it everywhere from the morning breeze rushing through the window to the smiles on people's faces to the super itchy mosquito bites all over your legs. I feel like I am home.

It has been 10 days since I arrived here and every single day has been crazy and interesting in its own ways. I have made a bunch of wonderful friends here - we had a potluck at my place just 2 days ago. It was delicious! We made everything from scratch, using the ingredients and vegetables we bought from the vendors on the island. Speaking of grocery shopping, there is a 'market day' here. Every Saturday starting at 5am the market opens with tons of fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as the great blue marlin! Last Saturday I didn't make it because I could not wake up in time, but this Saturday I went with my big carry-on bag. And I loaded it with freshness! It was an interesting experience at the market. I was reminded of the times when my grandma took me shopping in the morning when I was younger. Great memories :)

I cooked my third meal last night - vegetable stir fry with scrambled eggs. Yummy! As I was eating it in front of my computer, one of my roommates arrived! She is super sweet and we had a nice chat. I have a feeling that we'll get along just great! Now we're just waiting for another roommate to get here on Monday and we'll be complete!

There have been so many adventures that I went on since I got here that it feels impossible to go through all of them. I tried snorkeling for the first time and it was a bit scary but exciting! I was fine until some water got in my tube and I started panicking hahaha but I got my fins and was floating fine! Perhaps what frightened me was the numerous sea urchins on the bottom of the ocean - they looked so close to me and I made sure that I didn't accidentally step on them. Yesterday I also went on my first ride in a speedboat! Man, what a rush! I forgot how much I loved speed (one of the reasons I got my road bike with racing tires). The waves underneath us were just bouncing the boat up and down as we flew forward in the blazing sun! It was amazing. The vast ocean looked majestic and calm. We found an octopus too while we docked at a secret beach to go snorkeling. This is a picture of it - just a baby :)

School starts tomorrow. I am excited about it! We'll see how everything goes then. Now I am gonna get ready to go on an island tour with my friends! Ciao for now!