CYW wishes to inform you that she has, against her own wish, dragged her sunburnt ass back from the sunny paradise of West Indies back to the grey and rainy reality of New England:

How hypocritical of me to blog about my spring break cruise extravaganza right after an entry on anti-war protests. I spent 7 worry-free days floating somewhere between Miami, Jamaica, Cayman Islands and Mexico. Got tanned like Kogepan, complete with strange overlapping shapes on my back from different swimsuits.

To summarize my trip Bridget Jones style: [cos I really need to shower, unpack and get back to my painful Structural Analysis design project (*o*) zzzz]

- Nautical miles traveled: 2000+
- Ports visited: Miami, Labadee - Haiti, Ocho Rios - Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel - Mexico
- Alcohol consumption: an angelic 0
- Calories consumption: god I'm in buffet-brunch hell. Middriff is reappearing
- Spent: $$$$$ - o shit.
- Book(s) read: 1 (I turned the intellectual part of my brain off [as if it exists])- Nick Hornby's Songbook [thx shortfuse]
- Sunblock SPF: 130 - still didn't stop me from getting fried in spite of frequent re-application
- Cool things done this week: [in order of coolness]
1) "Hugging" sting ray(s) at Cayman - I didn't have the guts to feed them but they do have the softest, silkiest touch. The piscine creatures are surprisingly friendly and act like cuddly dogs around humans.
2) Climbing up a waterfall at Ocho Rios - the place was swarming with fellow cruiser-tourists, but it was still a heart-wringingly exciting climb.
3) Going to the Mayan ruin site / beach from heaven at Tulum, Mexico - I can die now.
- The only insane thing I've done all week: running barefoot in nothing but swimsuit [think hippy triathelon athelete with midriff] for what felt like a mile or two at Xel-Ha, Mexico, in fear of missing tour bus => being left behind South of the Border => being abducted by some tourist-kidnapping pimp => coerced into prostitution as semi-nude sex slave...