Baby shower in the Bahamas

 This past week Wilson and I were lucky to have a crew of friends come visit us. We hosted a crew of 6 friends with 1 baby. These 7 people include friends that we made when Wilson and I were just getting to know each other in North Carolina. So they are intimately familiar with the last decade of our relationship and now it is so exciting to share this new babydom phase with them.

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I didn’t know to what extent we would share our "babydom" phase with them on this trip. I thought that the trip would be primarily focused on showing them our new island home – the 500 feet walk to the beach, the geckos out the back porch and sometimes inside, Rose Island, and the abundance of fresh delicious fish. I didn’t quite realize that we would also talk and share so much about the babydom phase and our own childhoods. 

 For example, one friend shared a "poop" memory that I thought was pretty profound: he remembered the last time that he went in his diaper and that he consciously decided that it didn’t feel right and he wasn’t going to do it anymore. And then he didn’t. That struck me as profound for two reasons --one, he remembered that philosophic bit of reasoning at such a young age; and two, he engaged in that philosophic reasoning and then stuck to it.

But beyond philosophical "poop" memories, the weekend was also touching because our friends planned and executed a surprise baby shower. They decorated the baby’s nursery and the house so cute. They got us a tiara and button that said "mother-to-be" and "dad-to-be" respectively. And they organized presents from friends all over the country: Connecticut, California, New York, DC.

Everything about the day was so special. When we entered the room with its decorations, I teared up because I thought that our baby wouldn’t have a baby shower since we live here in the Bahamas and our friends and family are scattered throughout the world. Then, when we left the house for 10 or so hours to take a boat to Rose Island, go out to dinner, and see the aquarium at Atlantis, it was really fun to hear the congratulations that Wilson in his "dad-to-be" button got from complete strangers. (My belly has already been soliciting congratulations even without a tiara). And finally, when we arrived home to ice cream and presents, the first present was a puppet wall-hanging which one friend used to creatively photo bomb all the subsequent baby pictures.

Thank you, thank you, thank you dear loved ones for loving us and giving us such a special day!

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A supposedly fun thing I might do again

We honestly did thought a cruise was never going to happen. Never, ever. Just not our vibe, we are more of the do-it-yourself type and cruising was about as far afield from our prior travel. One of my favorite articles I have ever read is David Foster Wallace's A Supposedly Fun Thing I Would Never Do Again (http://mark.levengood.people.cpcc.edu/HIS132/LessonDocs/Wallace1.pdf). The late DFW does a very deep dive into the cruising experience which is captivating and did not leave me wanting to try it out myself.

Well it turns out we were wrong. For our babymoon, a concept I did not know existed a few years ago, Mu and I headed on a 7 southern Caribbean day cruise in and out of San Juan. As mu wrote about in her post on Santiago (http://livingthekoroldream.blogspot.com/2013/05/travel-thoughts-babymoon-in-santiago.html): “A babymoon is the trip that a couple takes before the baby is born.” Pretty simple.

We gravitated towards the cruise for a couple of reason. First, the southern Caribbean is surprisingly inaccessible coming from the Bahamas. Basically all travel to that part of the region is via Florida and hence at least as expensive, if not more, as coming from the United States. A cruise seemed like a good way to see a bunch of places in one shot. Secondly, a cruise was a nice for Mu while she was pregnant, with nice food options and a simplicity that fit this period in our life. We actually just barely squeaked in for the medical guidance and clearance required for pregnant woman. Thirdly, the cruise industry is huge here in the Bahamas so it piqued our interest in that mode of travel. Lastly, and one that loomed large as the cruise approached, was the focus on relaxing. We tend to travel via movement, and a cruise fit that preference, and we wanted and even needed some of the relaxing that is part and parcel on a cruise ship.

Our cruise on Carnival Valor left out of the old city of San Juan and then headed to St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, then had a day at sea followed by consecutive days in Barbados, St Lucia, St Kitts and St Maarten/Martin. The routine on those days was consistent starting with arrival at shore at 7 or 8 am, usually at some duty free port a bit out of the main town or city. We had to be back on boat by 4:30 and that is a hard stop. People are often missing their cruise ships here in Nassau and it is a huge pain as your passport is often onboard and it is up to you to get back to wherever the cruise left from to get your stuff. Not fun and hugely expensive. So I knew directly that we had to be on the boat comfortably for those departures.

My favorite stops;

- US Virgin Islands: for some reason the USVI had always been interesting, probably just based of the name. We landed in St Thomas and then I did research to learn we actually wanted to get over to St John and work out a schedule. We ended up taking a ferry over there and then took a return ferry and a public bus back to the boat. All worked great and we used public transportation which proved to be a great way to get a feeling for an island. St John was so intriguing because it has a delightful national park, http://www.nps.gov/viis/index.htm. Once we reached the park Mu and I did a invigorating hike up over a couple of peaks and to a beautiful beach, which had great snorkeling. Really good day.

- St Lucia: Of all the stops heading in to the trip, this was the one I anticipated the most. It delivered. We rented a car for the day and headed south to Soufrière. This town sits at the base of the iconic and breathtaking Piton mountains, which are reminiscent of Rio de Janeiro. Basically the opposite of the flat Bahamas. The entire island is incredibly rugged, formed by volcanos. It is so rugged there are hardly any roads in the interior and almost the entire population lives around the coast. The drive south was only 30 miles but took well over an hour because of the windy roads. No matter--as the views were spectacular. Once we arrived we parked and walked around, stopping in a cute art cafe for some wifi and the some of the best coffee I have ever had. The art cafe grows its own beans, dries them on the patio outback, and then roasts them on site. Single estate coffee at its finest. We also found time to hike 2 miles to a black sand beach with some amazing snorkeling. Then it was time to get in the car and head back north, don't want to miss the boat!

- St Kitts: did not know exactly what to expect on St Kitts, I knew we had to get to the Brimstone Hill Fortress (http://www.brimstonehillfortress.org/) but beyond that the day was pretty open. We grabbed a “bus” (read mini-van) heading north right after we got off the boat and had it drop us off at the entrance for the walk to the park. I am so glad we went there first as Mu and I had the park to ourselves, high up on the hill in a fort that began construction in 1690. The views of St. Kitts main volcano and other mountain islands in the area was stunning a mix of the Greek Isles and Bali. Then we headed back to the road and made our way around the island, eventually catching a ride from the director of food safety for the government of St Kitts. (We thought his minivan was a bus when we waved him down but lucky for us, he stopped and we talked about everything on St. Kitts from sports to energy supply.)

Those days were the best and even the day I was most concerned with before the trip was the single day planned at sea. I thought: Would I feel trapped? Would I get stir crazy? What would I do? I needn't have worried. The day passed wonderfully with a nice mix of working out including lifting weights in the gym, doing yoga in the room and playing basketball on the 11^th floor of the deck, which was kind of a trip as the boat moved along at like 12 mph. I also really enjoyed the sauna in the spa, which had windows looking out on the ocean and became a favorite spot on the ship. Beyond sweating, also got to read and work through the backlog of longform articles I had been wanting to read for weeks and months. Oh yeah, we got to sleep in too. Loved that.

Overall it was a great week. Who knows if the confluence of our travel will line up again to get us back on a cruise, but my personal stigma has been disabused and it is certainly an option moving forward – a supposedly fun thing I might do again.  

I like the city of San Juan

Mu and I have just returned from a very welcome and super enjoyable week+ trip to Puerto Rico andCartagena the southern Caribbean. We became very excited to explore the Caribbean region when we learned about my assignment to the Bahamas.  But it turns out that getting between islands is a lot harder and pricier than you would think. The distances aren't large, but the air routes tend to work as a hub and spoke through Miami. So we decided to book a cruise to see a bunch of islands for our babymoon.  The cruise was out of San Juan so we had a fun weekend in San Juan as well.

The trip delivered in spades. The first part was an action packed but relaxing weekend in San Juan. This city is thriving with cool restaurants and such a great atmosphere. Plus it has a world class historic Old San Juan that is as captivating as any we explored during our travels. It felt a bit like Cartagena, Colombia with a grander old town and more historic. Amazing but true.

We rented an apartment in a neighborhood kind of in the center of the city, near the beaches and about 3 miles outside of the old town. This proved to be a great decision as the neighborhood, Miramar, ended up being that perfect traveling location of great local spots to hang out and really allowed us to feel like we sort of lived in the city. I loved pretending that this was our home for a weekend. I especially enjoyed the urban nature of San Juan, walking to dinner or the modern art museum or a hopping outdoor street party. It felt just a tad like we were back in beloved SF and able to walk to damn near anything. I miss that here in Nassau and San Juan was a wonderful reminder of why it is so nice to be in a walkable built environment.

We kind of split our days between the more modern eastern side of the downtown and the Old San Juan.

Walkabout San Juan style: our first day we headed out in the morning and ended up walking well over ten miles. Our kind of relaxing. Stops along the way included the modern art museum, which was okay. The funniest thing was how everyone wanted to help us navigate the museum, fully 7 people told us what to do next over the course of our short exploration. We also hit up the beach, got mangos and smoothies from the Mercado Santurce. Mu was also keen to get on a stand up paddle board, so we took a pair out in Laguna del Condado near the beach. This laguna has a family of manta rays that swam maybe 100 feet from our boards, along with a flock of huge pelicans and massive iguanas hanging out in mangrove trees. Super cool.

Old San Juan: as noted, this is a place that I think everyone should check out. It is sometimes hard to believe that this historical gem is part of the U.S., as the vibe is so different from anywhere else I have been in our bountiful country. The cobblestone streets are lined in tight with colorful colonial houses that all have these majestic and huge wooden doors. Then on either end of the city these massive forts guard the entrance and the ocean facing side. The city is ringed by 3 miles of seemingly impenetrable stone walls, that give vivid relief with the Atlantic. The original settlement of the city dates to around 1500, so there is serious history in these houses and walls. I loved just walking the streets and checking out little historical or architectural quirks. Also the forts never got boring, with great vistas of the city, both old and new.

So yes, I like the city of San Juan.