Jackson's report on the Caribbean....

Jackson was asked to give a report on the Caribbean as part of his make up homework form while he was absent from school. He worked on it until it was just right and we also made a poster with all the pictures. We made all of the kids in his class pina coladas and he gave an excellent report. He stated to get teary talking about his friend Jordan in Samana but quickly got a hold of himself and finished. He did a great job and I am so proud of him!!

I had a great trip on the sea. I loved going to the beach and meeting many new friends. We set sail on our boat The Norwegian Dawn from Miami, Florida. We had to do a evacuation drill as soon as we got on the boat. My life vest was too big and it was so hot. My mom got seasick the first night. Our tiny cabin 8080 had 2 bunk beds and a tiny bed for my mom. Every night when we would come back to our cabin, the ladies would make us animals out of the towels and leave us chocolates.

At our first port Samana, Dominican Republic we meet a boy named Jordan that took us around on his motorcycle/ricochet. He pulled us through the mountains weaving in and out of the cars. It was a very eye opening experience for me. I was stunned by how the people lived and had nothing. The city was very dirty and the beach was rundown and garbage was everywhere. We didn’t go to the beach that day. That night back at the ship I asked my mom if maybe Jordan could come live at grandma and grandpa's apartment so he could have a better life. It was sad for me to think of Jordan living such a hard life.

Next, we went to the island of Tortolla, which is a British Virgin Island and went to a beautiful beach. We traveled to Josiah's Bay through steep mountains and winding roads. I learned that Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed on this island! I loved playing on the beach and having sand fights with my brother Ayden. There was a man on the beach selling coconuts and we all got one. He used a huge sword to cut to coconuts and we drank the juice, it was yummy!

Our next port was St. Thomas, which is a US Virgin Island. I went snorkeling with my mom at Emerald Beach and saw some really big colorful fish! We got caught in a rainstorm but still played in the sand. My mom had a native lady put braids in her hair and she got a bad sunburn.

We enjoyed 2 full days at sea while going from island to island. I kept busy on the ship playing shuffleboard, basketball, swimming and making new friends. We meet lots of people like Warner from Haiti, Christine from the Philippians, Wilson from India and many more people that work on the ship. It is their home for 10 months of the year. My favorite experience on the ship was going to see magician Brad Rocket perform. I loved it and even helped Brad at an informal show. I can’t wait to practice the magic I learned. . I also loved getting a temporary tattoo and showed it off to everyone.

Our last stop was Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas on our last day. We played in the sand and had a beach barbeque. While eating my lunch, a huge sea bird swooped in and took my whole hotdog and gulped it down whole! We had to guard the rest of our lunch from the other birds. We took small boats to the island and back.

I had a great trip on the Caribbean Sea and enjoyed playing on the beach and going on our huge boat. I meet lots of great people form everywhere in the world and thankful that I live in the USA.