So, this (<-----) was saturday's backdrop. When I took this picture, I was actually standing on this (It's the one under this.)













All in all, life saturday was pretty good. Friday was great too, because it was my first biology class, and, after searching for hours upon hours for it, I successfully had a cell bio class, and understood the vast majority of what the teacher said. Oh, and lately I've taken to playing my guitar outside the dorm, and the first day I think about 20-30 people showed up. The next day it was around forty, and both times there were a couple of reunionnais people there who, by the way, don't seem to like to deal with internationals very much. Plus they think that I'm really good, so that's always fun.

Then, on sunday (yesterday), I went canyoning. yessssssssssss...

This one on the left is the first one, where you had to climb out a little ways to the rope, then clip on, then descend down the bottom, most of the way you're being pelted with water (which is surprisingly bewildering when you're dangling fourty feet in the air). When I got to the bottom, the pack that was suspended from my harness got stuck on something, but I was so disoriented by the waterfall on my head that I couldn't figure out what to do for a little while. so I just stood there and feebly tugged on my pack, and then on the rope, and then tried to walk, remembered my pack and started all over again. eventually I loosed the rope and then worked on my pack and I got out alive. But it was scary. The one on the right is the last big descent we did, and it had a zipline (WOOOOOO!) So that was freaking awesome.




This is the first one (<-----). Oh, and there were big stretches where we had to get to the next descent, and so we just slipped and slid our way along this slippery stream! It was awesome, because the stream bed was one big, volcanic rock, which is very carveable by water, and so leaves nice little waterslides all over the place.





Here's a good one!----------------->
If you can't tell, there's a person in that giant splash. yep. And then, all of a sudden, the stream dried up, and we had nothing else to do but hike down to the big arch (which I forgot my camera before going on the little side trail!) and then out. But it was awesome, and we drove back up by the east side, so I made a whole tour of the island in one day, and saw the giant swath of the destruction from the lava flows from the new volcanoe. And this was the last thing that we saw before rolling back into St. Denis...

O yeah, and we did this too...

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Ok....ok..........ok, ok. so it's freaking awesome here. I'm so glad that I came!!! But I'm not gonna lie, at first it really sucked, because I came here without friends or anyone that I knew, and sadly, people here don't like talking to people who look like Americans because they think that we will speak only in english to them and they won't understand anything. It's really stupid, but there wasn't much I could do. Anyways, I was walking to the beach yesterday (yeah!) and I nodded to some kids I had seen around the dorm (there are only two at this university), and kept on walking. Then two of them ran up and asked me if I wanted to go get some ice cream with them (there were nine in all). Of course I said no, spat in their faces and told them I had better things to do. And then I went with them. :) Strangely enough (thank you Laura) they were mostly canadian and the like. I think that I've found the french and british people here to be really snobbym which is fine, I like canadians, even though they have wierd french accents. Anyways, the day ended with all of us sitting on Melina's balcony sipping wine and telling jokes and stories. It's been good so far, despite whatever set backs I've had, I certainly have learned a lot. And my french is a lot better too!!

O yeah, about the plane ride over: (suprise suprise) Air India lost my bags on the first leg of my flight, and calling my parents racked up a hefty phone bill of close to 80 dollars, and I didn't get to lie down for close to a day and a half. You don't understand how wierd it felt to lay flat for the first time after all of that. But of course, somehow I lived and I'm here and my bags got here the day after me, and I think I converted the guy who makes sure I take care of what I need to because of it, because he kept blathering on about how he'll trust my god now that I got my bags the day after I got here (what?!). whatever.

Ok, about the island. Its absolutely beautiful here, the sky is always full of big, pretty clouds and its always blue and there are flowers on almost every plant. and, of course, there's always a nice tropical breeze. But it is hot. And I'm so jealous of Greensboro right now....I want snow. :( Well anyways, I'm gonna upload some pictures!!! You'll love the view from my room!

Love y'all!

The Mountains from my room!












The beautiful sky!






St. Denis at sunset AND under a full moon!