Mercedes and the Girls

Grandma got in late Tuesday night, and after we came home and went over everything I had prepared for her, it was time for me to finish getting ready to go.  This, of course, meant that I didn’t get to sleep until almost midnight, with a 4:45 wake up time.  I ended up waking up around 4, and then dozed until it was time to get ready. 

The flights went just fine on Wednesday morning, but I was seriously anxious about the taxi ride I would have to figure out upon getting to Nassau.  The only time I’ve ever ridden in a taxi was in Mexico, where the rates were haggled over, and had to be determined and agreed upon before driving anywhere.  I am no good at haggling!  Luckily, the taxi situation is much less harrowing here in the Bahamas!  Rates are set, and there was literally a whole line of people waiting for one at the airport.­  A nice guy happened to overhear me tell someone I was headed to Atlantis, and he was too, so we ended up sharing a taxi.  This was so much better than I had feared it might be, because I was also worried about traveling alone.  After I got to the hotel, I got hold of Brad, and we finally met up.  He has been working on a large presentation for months that he finally gave yesterday.  I went down to the conference rooms and helped him and his coworkers set up for the big event the following morning. 

I was technically not supposed to attend any of the facets of this conference, as I’m not an employee, but the main organizer had told Brad to bring me to whatever I wanted to go to.  That was fine, but they were checking badges!  We were walking into the beach party later on Wednesday night and they stopped us, wanting to see my badge or get my name to check against their list.  I was ready to just turn around and go back to the hotel room, when the organizer turned up out of nowhere right behind us, and let me in.  Whew!  But at that point I knew I wasn’t going to attempt the gala they were having on Thursday night without a badge. 

I attended one of Brad’s presentation sessions today, and it went really well. It’s interesting to see him in a professional setting, doing his job.  Then I had a couple hours after lunch to keep myself occupied while he worked so I headed to the pool with my book.  What a lovely place!  The hotel we stayed in was pretty over the top—outrageously expensive, and full of all kinds of entertainment.  They have water slides, lazy rivers, rapids, multiple pools, aquarium type exhibits with sharks and 10 foot span sting rays, and high end shopping and dining.  Not exactly the place we’d stay at if we chose to come here ourselves. 

The gala was very nice, with a four course meal served, and a rather entertaining awards ceremony.  It ended with a DJ box coming down from the ceiling and people young and old rocking out on the dance floor.  Brad and I have never been big on partying or dancing, so we headed out pretty quickly after that.   Back at home, today was Leiden's 100th Day of School.  Last Monday (when I have only a day until I leave, of course), she tells me that they are supposed to try and wear something that has to do with the 100th day.  So I found some polka dot fabric in my stash and cut out a 10 dot by 10 dot square, sewed it to a shirt, and called it good.  This was finished at about 8:54 PM the night before I left, but it was a hit!

Starting Friday, Brad was free!  We spent all day on Friday playing in the island heat, going on water slides, swimming in pools, and sitting poolside.  They have some pretty intense water slides, with almost vertical drops, where you feel your body coming off the slide!  I screamed all the way down the first time! 

The lazy river is really fun, with rapids and a wave section that really make it stand out.  Of course, because you spend 40 (!) minutes going around the enormous lazy river sitting in a tube, both of us got sunburned on our chests.  Somehow we forgot sunscreen there, which was unfortunate!  This evening we took a taxi into downtown Nassau, where they have the straw market, where locals sell their cheap souvenir type wares--this was time to haggle! 

It really was such an odd place.  The main street in Nassau is filled with haute couture and high end designer shops that cater to all the cruise ships that dock for the day.  But you go just a street or two inland, and it’s poverty and dirtiness, where you’re advised not to be out past dark.  Such a strange juxtaposition with the trappings of extreme wealth and extreme poverty a street away from each other.

We ate dinner at Subway, which was lovely, especially for Brad, who's been eating out or very nicely at the resort for 6 days already.